Don't be a packrat

Let’s start today with a one-point English lesson. Our English word for the day: pack rat. Do you know what a pack rat is? A pack rat is someone who never throws anything away. It doesn’t matter how old something is, or whether it’s broken, or you never use it anymore, you still keep it. How many of you are pack rats?

I’m kind of a pack rat. It can take me forever to throw away things. For example, I hold in my hand a gameboy. Do any of you young people know what a gameboy is. This was our version of a Nintendo Switch. It had very basic sounds with black and white graphics. My brother bought it for me in about 1995 or so. I have exactly one game for it, a baseball game. It was fun for its time, but I have barely touched it in 30 years. And yet I have kept it to this day. That’s a pack rat.

Of course, being a pack rat is not such a great thing. I’m sure it’s a bit annoying for my wife. But it’s a much bigger problem to be a spiritual pack rat. What do I mean?

Well, we’ve been talking over the past few weeks about how as Christians, we are on a journey into the unknown, a journey of faith in which we’re walking with God. Last week, Pastor Fumi talked about how in order to receive God’s blessing in our lives, there are things we need to leave behind. But often times, instead of leaving things behind, we carry things with us that are not only unhelpful, but actually become a hindrance to us. What kinds of things? Fear, for one. Fear of people, fear of future. There are all kinds of fears that can hinder us in our faith walk.

Old patterns of thinking and old patterns of life are another hindrance to our faith walk. Pastor Fumi talked about that last week. God calls us to a new way of thinking, a new way of life. But often times we’re still clinging to the old. And as a result, we end up stumbling around in our Christian lives.

How about you, are you a spiritual pack rat carrying things with you that hinder your faith walk? It’s not a new problem. Thousands of years ago, a man named Abram had the exact same issues.

We’ve been looking at his life in this series, and we saw that God called him to leave his homeland, to leave his father’s house, and to go to the place where God would show him. And when God called him, he made some incredible promises to Abram. Let’s look at verses 2-3 again.

I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Pretty incredible promises, right? But let’s focus for a moment on that last part of verse 2. God told Abram, “You will be a blessing.”

In the Hebrew, that’s not simply a statement of fact or a promise. That’s a command. You can actually see that in the 2017 Japanese translation. God was saying, “Abram, I’ll make you into a great nation, I’ll bless you, I’ll make your name great. Now go, be a blessing.”

Anyway, as we saw the past couple of weeks, Abram obeys and soon arrives at a place called Shechem. And when he does, God speaks to him. Verse 7.

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. (7)

Now at this point, Abram’s probably thinking, “Great. We’re here. Why don’t we explore this place?” That would be a pretty natural response, right. And so that’s what he does. Verse 8.

From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. (8-9)

We’re starting to notice a pattern here. Everywhere Abram’s moving, he’s building an altar. And we see in verse 8, that he called on the name of the Lord. Now that could simply mean that he was worshiping God and perhaps offering sacrifices. But it can also be translated, “He proclaimed the name of the Lord.”

The same Hebrew words are used in Exodus 34:5-7 when God proclaims his name to Moses and tells him exactly the kind of God he is. That he is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.

And so we have Abram, who really doesn’t know much about God yet, but he’s telling everyone who will listen what kind of God he serves. I think sometimes young Christians feel inadequate to share their faith because they don’t know much about God. Sometimes even older Christians feel that way. Do you? I know I’ve felt that way before.

But we don’t have to wait until we know everything about God before we start telling people about him. If we did, we’d never tell anybody about God. I’ve been a Christian for over 40 years and I still don’t know everything about God.

So don’t wait until you know everything before you start telling people about him. Just tell them what you know. And if they ask you questions you can’t answer, that’s okay. Just tell them, “I don’t know, but I’ll try to find answers.”

That’s what the people in the church are for. To help each other know God better. We’re all on this journey together. And as Pastor Fumi has said, our faith is not complete the moment we go under the water to get baptized. Knowing God is a lifelong process.

That’s why I find verse 9 interesting. The English says that Abram went by stages down to the Negev. The picture is of Abram constantly picking up his tents and going from camp to camp. That’s what our Christian life is like. We don’t simply “arrive” as Christians. While we’re on this earth, there will never be a time when we can say, “I’ve arrived. My faith is perfect now.” Rather, we keep going from stage to stage in our Christian life. And with each step, we grow in our faith and get to know this God we’re following better.

But as we continue in that journey, we will face challenges, and we see that in verse 10.

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.

I do wonder if God was happy about Abram going down to Egypt. I mean, God had just promised not long before to give his descendants the land of Canaan. And yet at the first sign of trouble, Abram went to Egypt?

Was it wrong for Abram to go? I don’t know. I do know that later on when another famine hit, God specifically told Abram’s son Isaac not to go to Egypt. He told Isaac, “I know there’s a famine now, but I’ve given you this land. So stay here. I’ll bless you.” (Genesis 26:1-6)

On the other hand, God did tell Abram’s grandson Jacob in another time of famine that he should go to Egypt. God had set Jacob’s son Joseph in a position of power there so that Jacob’s family could be taken care of.

So was Abram right or wrong? It’s just my guess, but I think he was wrong. I think he was just doing what he thought was right without consulting God. I think there are two things that point to that. First, when he arrived in Egypt, he stopped building altars. And second is what he told his wife Sarai. Look at verse 11.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” (11-13)

Now think about this a minute, ladies. Imagine your husband says to you, “You’re so beautiful. Everyone knows it.” How would you feel? “Oh what a wonderful husband.”

But then he says, “So tell everyone you’re my sister.”

“What?!?”

What is going on here? I think we’re seeing here the immaturity of Abram’s faith. On one level, he had great faith in that he left his homeland to follow God. But on the other hand, Abram was still a spiritual pack rat. In what way? What was he carrying with him? One thing was fear, We’ll learn later in chapter 20 that from the time that Abram first left Ur, he carried with him the fear that Sarai might be stolen from him. (20:11-13)

But fear wasn’t the only thing he was carrying with him. He was also still carrying his old ways of thinking. Namely, a light regard for the truth. And so right from the start of their journey, he told Sarai, “We’re going to tell everyone you’re my sister, okay?” Now technically, that was true. Abram and Sarai had the same father, but different mothers. But holding back from people that she’s also your wife is a pretty big omission.

What was Abram thinking? Well he probably thought that if someone did take interest in Sarai, it was customary for that person to bargain with her “brother” and get his permission to marry her (e.g. Genesis 24:29–61). And perhaps Abram was thinking, “Well, if they ask, I can say, ‘Sorry, I’m not sure you’re suitable for my sister. You’re going to have to prove yourself to me.”

That would probably buy them some time, and also maybe get the people to treat him more nicely. And if someone really got pushy, then maybe they could sneak away from Egypt in the middle of the night or something. But something happened that totally threw that plan out the window. Verse 15.

Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. (15-16)

What happened? Someone got interested in Sarai that Abram couldn’t say no to. I mean you don’t just say to Pharaoh, “Sorry, you’re not suitable for my sister.” You’re liable to get your head chopped off.

Now there is the question of why Pharaoh thought Sarai was still beautiful at age 65. But remember that though lifespans were starting to shorten, they were still pretty long back then. Abram lived until 175, and Sarai until 127. So Sarai was our equivalent of perhaps early to mid-40s. Not as likely to have kids at that point, especially after years of marriage, but still young enough to be considered beautiful.

So here’s Pharaoh and he says to Abram, “Hey, I really like your sister. I’d like to take her into my harem. Here, I’ll give you a huge dowry for her.”

What’s Abram going to say? “Sorry, I need more.”

Of course not. So he’s probably going, “Yeah, uh, looks great. Uh, thanks. Um, congratulations.”

How was Abram feeling when Pharaoh took her? He must have been sick to his stomach. And Sarai? She must have been going out of her mind.

But fortunately, though Abram was now totally in over his head, God intervened. Verse 17.

But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife (not sister), Sarai. So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had. (17-20)

I wonder how Pharaoh suddenly realized Sarai was Abram’s wife. I’m guessing that when all the plagues started falling on his household, Pharaoh started connecting the dots. “You know, things were great until I took Sarai into my harem.”

And so he probably called her in and said, “What’s going on? Ever since you came in, terrible things have been happening to me and my household.”

At which point, she probably said, “Well, the thing is, I’m really Abram’s wife.”

Pharaoh then calls for Abram and says, “What have you done to me? Why did you lie? I’m getting punished because of your lie. Here, take your wife. Now get out of here.”

And he literally escorted Abram out of the country.

We saw earlier that God had commanded Abram to be a blessing to the nations. But in this story, we see that not only was Abram not a blessing to Pharaoh, he became a curse to him. And not only a curse to Pharaoh, but to his own wife. How traumatized do you think she must have been by the whole incident? Why did this happen? Because Abram was living like a spiritual pack rat.

The amazing thing about all this, was God’s faithfulness to Abram. First he restored Sarai to Abram. Then look what happened in chapter 13.

Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there. (13:1-4)

Why read these words? What makes them so significant? They are a perfect bookend to where we started. Abram ended up right back where he started in chapter 12. Despite all his horrific failures, God gave him a new start in the land he had given him. Abram started proclaiming the name of the Lord again, and being the blessing God called him to be.

So what do we get from all of this? First, God has called us to be a blessing. When a lot of Christians think about their lives, they tend to focus on what they receive from God. And we do have many blessings from God. Forgiveness of our sins. A restored relationship with God. Healed brokenness in our lives. Restored marriages and relationships with others. All of that’s great. God wants to bless you. But he wants something more than to just bless you. As with Abram, God wants you to bless others.

The most important way he wants us to bless others is to introduce Jesus to them. God told Abram that all the nations of the world would be blessed through him. That ultimately was fulfilled through one of Abram’s descendants, Jesus. Even today, Jesus is touching and changing lives. He’s touched many of yours. But if he has touched yours, don’t be satisfied with the blessing you have received. Be a blessing to those around you by sharing Jesus with them.

Again, you don’t have to wait until you “know more” to tell people you love about Jesus. Just tell them what you do know. Of course you can share what you’ve learned in church and in your Bible reading. But just as importantly, tell them what Jesus has done in your own life. Why? Two reasons.

First, you may not know much about God, but you do know what he’s done in your life. You have first-hand experience with that.

But second, people need to know that God is not some fictional character from a book written thousands of years ago. He’s someone who’s alive and well and working in people’s lives today. Including yours. People need to know that he can work in their lives too.

Second, being a spiritual pack rat can hinder us in our faith walk. We saw Abram’s fear doing that to him. Fear’s still a big problem for many Christians today. I know many Christians who really hesitated to get baptized because they were afraid of what their parents would think or what their husband would think. Fear of family, fear of what they think can be a big issue. So can fear of what your friends think of you. Or what your bosses or coworkers think of you.

A lot of us also have fears of what might be. We imagine all these different scenarios of terrible things that might happen in the future. But the thing is, many times, the things we fear never happen. For Abram, he always feared someone would steal his wife. But it never happened. The ironic thing is that it was his fear of losing her that nearly caused it to happen.

But think about your own life. How much time have you wasted fearing things that never happened. I know I’ve wasted a lot of time fearing things that never happened. Have you? What fears do you carry around with you on your faith journey? They can really be a hindrance to you as you follow God.

Another thing Abram was holding on to was his old way of thinking. His old patterns of life. One reason God told Abram to leave his homeland was to get away from his old way of thinking. But while Abram left his homeland, he still took a lot of his old way of thinking with him. And that got him into trouble in today’s story, and in others we’ll see later in this series.

What old ways of thinking, what old patterns of life are holding you back? It might be porn. It might be a love for money. It might be selfishness. It might be anger. It might be bitterness and unforgiveness.

For me, one thing I constantly have to battle is the idea of “my time.” I treasure my time. I love my time. But I have seen so many times when God wanted to use me touch someone but I missed it because of my “my time” attitude. I need to throw that out.

How about you? What’s holding you back in your faith journey? What’s God put in your mind right now? Not only can these things damage our ability to be a blessing to others, they can actually cause us to become a curse to them.

Some of you may be looking at me, and you’re pretty depressed right now. You’re feeling really guilty. But there is good news. The God who was faithful to Abram is alive and well today. And just as he was faithful to Abram even when Abram was faithless, God is faithful to us. His mercies toward us are new every morning. And when we fall off the path he has for us, just like with Abram, he takes us back to where we fell off and says, “You have a new start. Keep walking.”

That’s the faith journey of the Christian life. We never “arrive” this side of heaven. Sometimes we fall of the path and go in the wrong direction. But with God, there’s always a new start. All we have to do is repent and turn away from our fears, turn away from our old way of thinking. And learn moment to moment, day to day, to trust him.

If we do, not only will we know God’s blessing in our lives, we will be a blessing to those around us. Is that what you want?