Let Go and Go

What? That’s all the voice on the other side of the phone said. The question was surrounded by silence. My dad and stepmom bought me a fender Stratocaster for my birthday last year. Of course at the time my stepmom had not yet been informed about the birthday gift that she purchased for me. So a couple of weeks post purchase my Dad calls me and asks me how the guitar is doing. I said, “well I think it’s broken.” Silence. What? More silence. Well, I said. I have the same kind of guitar that Eric Clapton has. But when I play it, mine sounds nothing like his.

When we ask the question, “What?” It’s usually because we are craving clarification. As in, “He said what?” “You did what?” or sometimes the shock is so great that you get just that one word and it pretty much sums everything up. “What?” That’s a question I’ve heard a lot in my life.

You’ve got to imagine that this was a question that people were asking about Abram quite a bit too. “You’re going to what?” Don’t you find that question on your lips as you hear the story of this guy? In Genesis chapter 12 we meet Abram. We’ve talked about him a few times this summer, but it’s a great story, and doesn’t hurt to talk about it again. Do you remember what the name “Abram” means? Exalted Father.

This exalted father has no children. He is 85 years old and he is living in the land that is in the modern day country of Iraq. You have to imagine that life is pretty good for the guy and he and his wife are well cared for in his father’s household. Things are going well, no big deal, we are comfortable, we are secure, we have everything we need…

And then God shows up. “Go to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation.” And Abram goes. But you got to figure that there were some people who knew this guy that were saying, “What?” You can almost picture how the conversation would have gone with his wife Sari. “Hi honey. An interesting thing happened at the office today. The Lord told me we are going to move. Not sure where but start packing.” Silence. What? Silence.

Sometimes it can seem like the things that God want us to do are too much. The things that God asks us to do are too risky. I mean for Abram to leave his home and all the securities and the benefits that come along with it. That’s asking for a lot. That is taking a really big risk. I mean you don’t just do that kind of thing. What’s wrong with you? And wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago that Jesus warned us about not counting the costs? Don’t just start building something unless you know you have the resources to complete it. Don’t just march off to war unless you have a big enough army. So how is this any different?

Well, the difference is in who is deciding to build or to march or to go as the case may be. In the examples that Jesus gives, it is people making decisions on their own. In the case of Abram it is God who is telling him to go. And because God is who God is, when he tells us to go or to do something, we can do it. Because he always gives us what we need in order to be able to do it. We never do it on our own, or in and of ourselves. But it can be really scary at the time. What is it that God is asking you to do right now?

A man is walking along the edge of the grand canyon when he trips and falls over the side. On the way down he is able to grab onto a branch that is sticking out of the side of the cliff, and momentarily delays his descent. He is too far down to climb back up. He is too far up to survive the drop down. So he begins to call for help. “Help! Help! Is anyone there?” After several minutes, his throat is starting to hurt and his fingers are numb, and he is just about to let go when he hears a voice. “Hold on a minute. I see you. It’s me God. I am going to help you.” And the hiker says, “Thank you. Thank you.” The Lord responded, “You will be safe. You no longer have to worry. So go ahead and let go of the branch and I will get you back up top.” Silence. What? Silence. The Lord said, “Let go of the branch and I will get you back up top.” There was a long pause and then the man screamed. “Help! Help! Is anyone else up there?”

Sometimes the things that God ask us to do seem like the risk is too big. It would certainly be foolish to embark on such things if anyone else asked us to do them. But when the request comes from God, when the risk belongs to him, we can let go. We can pack up and move. Because God is worthy of our trust. He will not fail us. He will not let us down. He is more sure and sturdy than anything else that we would be tempted to be secure in. Therefore when God asks us to go or to let go, we can do so, just as Abram did.

Of course Abram did but this doesn’t mean that everything was moving along perfectly from that point on. One of the great things about the scriptures is the honesty that we find in them. They don’t pretend that people like Abram were perfect and that he never made a mistake. He didn’t always get it right. There was one time where he was a visitor in another land and he told his wife Sarah to tell the people that she was his sister. He did this because he was afraid that they would kill him and take her for themselves.

Now is that the act of trusting in God? No. Not at all. But Abram was not perfect. In fact he does the same thing again, but at a later time and in a different country. God’s people are not perfect. We get it wrong. We mess up. We act out of fear. We act in our own selfish interests. And yet God in his grace and love does not abandon us or give up us. Nothing that we are faced with, nothing that we find ourselves contending with is too big or difficult for our God to handle. We can say this because we know that our God has defeated the biggest problems out there that anyone could ever be faced with: sin and death.

Jesus defeated the powers of sin and death. There is nothing that is too big for our God to handle. But again, this is a perspective that we often need to be reminded of again and again and again. It is all too easy for us to get caught up in the situations that we find ourselves in and in so doing we lose sight of the bigger picture.

Abram has just literally survived a war. He went in to rescue his nephew Lot. Maybe it was a bit of a reality check for him. There is still no child. And he is questioning what God is doing. God comforts him by saying to him, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” And Abram responds and says, “What difference does it make? I don’t have anyone to leave it to?”

Then God takes him outside and shows him the stars of the heavens and tells him. “Count them if you can. That is how many your descendants will be.” And Abram believes God and it is counted to him as righteousness. He believed God. Even though everything around him suggested that what God said was not possible. Abram believed. Why? Because he had a reliable source.

Faith is not just a synonym for believe. But faith is more than that. For us, faith is the hand that holds on to the promises of our God in Jesus. Nothing can take that away from us. Nothing can lessen that. In that faith there is salvation. There is forgiveness, life and restoration. In that faith there is life, real, true, abundant and full. This kind of faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This kind of faith can’t help but bear fruit. Any more than a fruit tree cannot bear fruit, or bears a different type of fruit.

Faith in our lives will take risks, when God is the one that asks us to take them. Faith in our lives will hope, even when everything else around us seems to be hopeless. Faith in our lives will let go, because we know that all we need is our God and nothing is more important than he is.

Abram eventually becomes Abraham. And he eventually has his son, Isaac. I think he eventually understands the whole faith in God thing to because when God asks him to take his son Isaac up a hill to sacrifice him Abraham does not respond with silence. What? Silence. No he goes.

I can’t even begin to imagine this. The thought as a parent of losing a child is bad enough. I saw a video on youtube this week. It was just a dance to the Steven Curtis Chapman song, Cinderella. I cried like a baby. So that thought is difficult as you look at this situation. But beyond that also is the thought that Isaac is the culmination of everything that Abraham had been waiting and hoping for at least fifteen years.

Isaac asks where the lamb was for the sacrifice, and Abraham responds by saying, “The Lord will provide.” And just as he raises the knife, and angel steps in and stops Abraham. There is also a ram that has gotten stuck in a nearby bush, and so that lamb takes the place of Abraham’s son. This picture ultimately points us to what our God does for us in Jesus. Instead of Abraham sacrificing his son, God ultimately ends us sacrificing his only son. He did it because he loves the world so much, and that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have life that never ends.

It’s an amazing story. And one that we live in today. The God of Abraham is our God too. He makes promises to us. He is faithful to us. He asks us to do some things that may cause you to scratch your head a bit. Or to respond with silence. What? Silence.

For us, as a congregation we can consider what it is that God is calling us to do in this place, and at this time. The mission is God’s. It does not belong to us. But we are included in the work that God is doing in this place. He has blessed us greatly. But with that blessing there is also responsibility.

The ministry that takes place here at Faith Lutheran Church is not the responsibility solely of the staff or the professionals. The ministry of this congregation belongs to the people of this wonderful congregation. It is all of ours together. We each have a role, a play, a job, a responsibility to support, care for and enable the ministry of this congregation to take place. Not for ourselves, or for our own sake. Not to build ourselves up or to be able to say how good we are (although you are pretty good). But so that we can touch our neighborhood and our world with the greatest news that has ever been announced.

Is this a risky prospect. Of course it is. No more than what Abram faced in leaving his home and comfortable surroundings in the land of Ur. Is it a little unpredictable? Sure. But this is not of us, it is from God. So that means there is always hope. Will it be hard to let go? It can be. But again. With God, we can and know that he always provides.

What an exciting journey this is for us. And I can’t think of any group of people, that I would rather be on this journey with. The more time I spend with you, the more my love for you grows. This is a wonderful congregation, made up of wonderful people. I see God in you and his love flows through you and the things you do. May we together have the grace to hear God’s voice. To take those risks. To hold on tightly to hope. And to let go of everything else that would get in the way. And in so doing may we know our awesome God more deeply, more closely and more fully.

May our answers not be: silence. What? Silence. But yeah and let’s Go. And may we be greatly blessed in that. Now and Always. Amen.