When God Says "Go"

Good morning! Welcome to the Vineyard. If this is your first time, my name is Kevin and I’m the pastor here. Our vision at the Vineyard is simple - we want to embody Jesus to our neighbors. This happens by growing in three ways, through what we call our pillars.

First, is Presence. We want everyone to experience the presence of God. This is what transforms us to love him and others. God’s presence is where we become fully alive. We want you to know the Father.

Then, Formation. God doesn’t just love us; he is forming us to be his people who can carry his life and love to those around us. Formation is where we learn to embody the Jesus way of life. We want you to imitate the Son.

Finally, Mission. Being on mission is how we join God in the work he is doing to bring his reconciliation, justice, and mercy to earth. This is how he is bringing healing and renewal to the world. We want you to partner with the Spirit.

Presence. Formation. Mission. Be thinking about your next step. Where is God calling you to go deeper with him?

Pray...

Intro

The sermon this morning is titled When God Says “Go”, and we’re going to talk about the life of faith. Faith is a common message in our world. George Michael wrote a song called “Faith” saying “I gotta have faith, faith, faith”. It seems that faith in our culture is more like wishful thinking or hoping things turns out OK. One definition I read said that “Faith, at its core, is deep-rooted in the expectation of good things to come.” Faith is important, and the Bible agrees. The author of the letter to the Hebrews writes, Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Faith is important - even crucial. But what is it and what does it look like? During this season renewal during Lent God is calling us to a renewal of our faith in the faithful One.

Read Genesis 12:1-4a

The walk of faith

There are two “go’s” in this passage. The first is a go from. Abraham is called to go from his place of origin, from his family, from his place of economic security. “Leave every support structure you have behind so that only I will be your support.”

When God calls us to a life of faith it also involves going from something. We may have to leave behind friends. It might be comfort or security. We are definitely called to go from old patterns of life that are sinful. Part of my walk of faith was leaving a secure career to enter ministry. The call to follow can be costly, and we should not embark on the life of faith lightly. Faith always includes a call to “go from”.

But there is also in this passage a call to go “to”. Faith calls us out of, but it also calls us to something new. The problem is that oftentimes there is no clarity or certainty what that is. For Abraham it was simply - “go to the land I will show you”. That’s it - not much in the way of directions. There can be tremendous uncertainty when God says “go”.

And this is also true for us. We sense a calling, a longing, a stirring in our heart that we can’t ignore. For me, when I was wrestling with leaving my job for ministry, it was a feeling of holy discontent. I knew I could not be happy staying in my country. When God says “go” he asks us to step out in faith, often not knowing where you’re going or how it will work out. All we know is that we have to respond. This was true for Abraham, and it is true for us.

While Abraham didn’t have certainty about where he was going or how it would work out, he did have one promise: God was leading him to ‘better’. He would have his own land, established as his own household. He would be honored by God above others. This childless man would have descendents without number. And most of all, he had God’s promise that if he would walk by faith God would use him to bless the world.

When God says “go” it may feel like a sacrifice. Let me re-frame that; it will involve sacrifice. Yet God never calls us out of where we are without calling us to better. It may not be better in the sense of more economic security. It probably won’t be better as our world defines better. It’s a better in that I have given up what I cannot hold to gain what I cannot lose kind of better. God’s call of faith always leads to abundance for our soul.

Here we got to what is most important about the life of faith. But we need to return to the question of what is faith? In our modern world faith is more like wishful thinking, hoping something will come true. I heard one person describe it as speaking a wish into the universe and trusting it will come about. Even in certain church circles faith is the idea that if you just believe something intensely enough God is beholden to give it to you. This is not faith; that is presumption. Just believing something “real hard” does not increase the likelihood of it happening.

Faith, the kind of faith Abraham displays, is grounded in the object of faith. It’s not faith in faith, but faith in who stands behind that faith. Abraham’s faith wasn’t in the promise but in the One who promised. There is no information telling us about Abraham’s relationship or encounter with God before this moment, yet when God said “go” Abraham trusted in his character.

The life of faith we are called to live is one built upon the character of God. It is not certainty regarding how things will look or how they will work out. It’s not a guarantee that we won’t face hardship - in fact every person who has ever stepped out in faith faced struggles, even though they were exactly in the center of God’s will. We go because we trust that God is trustworthy.

The faithful One

Abraham’s faith points us to a greater reality about faith. It is faith in the One who is faithful. The gospel passage for today includes the most famous verse in the whole Bible. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” In Jesus God fulfills his promise to save the world. Jesus is the faithful One who comes to deal with sin and death and to establish God’s rule upon on earth. And for those who put their faith in this faithful One receive eternal life.

This is the first walk of faith God calls each of us to. To go from a life that leads only to death, and to go to a new life with God. Have you ever accepted his invitation to new life… (next steps slide).

It’s time to go

God said “go” and we read, “so Abraham went”. This is the faith of Abraham, the one that our Bible calls the father of faith. It is this kind of faith that God is pleased with, and it is to this kind of faith that God seeks to renew in us today. He is renewing your faith to trust him for your daily needs. He is renewing your faith to step out in ministry. He is renewing your faith to step out in serving or giving. He is renewing your faith so that it is re-centered on him and his character and not only how things might look or work out. 2 Cor 5:7 “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

When God says “go” we may not know the where or what, but we do know the One who calls us and we can place our faith in this faithful One. Amen.