Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

1. Summer is nearly here.

The weather will soon – hopefully!

– get warmer and sunnier.

Some have no doubt already started using their barbecues.

For many people the approaching season of summer means one thing: vacation!

It is the time of year when people travel and go on trips to see family, friends, and to take time away from work.

People go to cottages, camps, other parts of the country, and perhaps, for some, other parts of the world.

Either way, lots of people leave their homes and towns and cities this time of year to go someplace else and experience something different.

2. Now, whenever you’ve gone on vacation you’ve likely done a lot of planning, right?

At the very least you’ve determined your route and your destination.

You know where you’re staying.

You’ve booked the hotels.

You have a map.

You have all your supplies.

Imagine, however, that someone else has planned your trip, and not only have they planned it for you, but they haven’t really told you where you’re going to end up.

They say to you: “Ok, This is where I want you to go.

Just trust me.

We’ll take it one step at a time.

Now let’s go here to start.

Don’t worry, I’ll show you where to go next.

And don’t worry about your final destination.

I’m taking care of the details.

What I want you to do is trust that I am guiding your steps along the way, even when you don’t know where you’re going.

Trust me.”

What kind of vacation would this make you expect?

Would you be looking forward to it?

Would you be comfortable with someone else making plans for you like this? Would you be able to trust them?

Would it fill you with peace or would it fill you with anxiety?

3.

But maybe you’re not a vacation person and prefer to stay close to home.

Let me ask you this then: have you ever had to move?

Have you ever had the occasion to pack your all your belongings and leave once familiar surroundings for new territory?

Have you ever had to leave close family and friends behind while you travel to what feels like “the great unknown”?

Maybe you’re moving because of a new job.

It could be that you’re moving to attend a college or university.

Or perhaps a life change has meant that you have to move.

How does such a move make you feel?

Do you feel nervous at all? Would you rather stay close to what is familiar and known?

This morning we’re going to look at the call of Abram – better known to us as Abraham – and what that tells us about how we ought to respond to the call of God in our own lives.

!

The Where of the Call

1.

What do we know about Abram at this point?

Let’s take a look at [[Bible:Genesis 11: 31]]: “Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.”

So at the outset we see that Abram and his family lived in a place called “Ur of the Chaldeans.”

This is ancient Mesopotamia which today is modern-day Iraq.

More specifically, Ur is quite possibly located 70 miles south of modern Baghdad.

We also learn this in Acts 7: 2ff where it says: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me.

The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’

Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.

After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living.”

2. Now, knowing something about where Abram lived and what that place was like tells us something significant about the call of God on his life and what he had to leave behind to obey the call.

“Scholars believe that in ancient times Ur was a port city.

It was a city that flourished with prosperity because there was a great deal of trade taking place along the coastal waterways.

Two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, made their home in Ur.

The rich soil produced corn, date-palm crops, apples, grapes, pomegranates, and tamarisks growing wild.

Canaan did not compare to the luxurious comforts of Ur, yet the Lord was asking him to relinquish his country for the sake of Canaan.”

This is not the sort of place you would leave if you had the choice!

You would not trade life in Ur for life in Canaan!

Have you ever lived somewhere that you would never want to leave, not for anything?

Is it possible that the Lord is calling you to move from where you are?

Where are you at in your life right now?

The call of Abram raises the question for each of us: Where is God calling you from?

!

The Who of the Call

1. Sometimes the Lord calls us to leave people.

What I mean is that the Lord may call us to leave the comforting surroundings of family.

I know that when Alisha felt called to study at Houghton College in New York that leaving her family was incredibly difficult because she is so close to her family – yet she knew in her heart that going to Houghton College was God’s will.

She listened to the call and she obeyed.

2. The same is true of Abram.

Abram belonged to a strong family unit, a clan.

They had what we call a nomadic existence.

When they travelled and moved they did so together.

They stuck together.

And more than that, Abram’s very identity came from these family ties.

Being part of this family, this clan, defined who he was.

Isn’t that so true of us at times?

There are those who are very much defined by our family relationships.

Not only were the family ties strong, but Abram would have depended on these family ties for his future security.

He would have been entitled to family property and an inheritance.

Chances are he forfeited these things and the security they would have given.

Yet despite all of this, Abram obeyed the Lord when he said “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

3.

There are times when following the call of God in our lives puts us in an even more difficult position.

I know people that became Christians even when their immediate families were not believers.

That can make being a follower of Christ very difficult.

But when it comes to following Christ or being loyal to family, Jesus himself is pretty clear on who we put first in our lives.

In Matthew 10: 37, 38 Jesus says: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

4. Are there people around you that are a negative influence on your walk with Christ?

Are you letting non-Christians shape your attitudes more than the word of God?

Or are you so attached to family and friends that you’re afraid to step out in faith and follow the Lord to where he wants you to go?

The call of Abram raises the question for each of us: Who is the Lord calling you from?

!

The What of the Call

1.

We have the names of two of the cities where Abram and his family lived: Ur and Haran.

At the time that Abram and his family were in the land of the Chaldeans, the cities of Ur and Haran were known for their pagan worship.

The chief deity was a moon god, and the culture was polytheistic, meaning they worshipped many gods.

Abram and his family were a part of this culture and society.

They did not believe in only one God.

Scripture also tells us this.

In Joshua 24: 2, 3 it says: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors – Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor – lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.

Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many.”

So Abram and his family were not monotheists, but polytheists.

They worshipped numerous gods and the people of this culture would try to entice the gods to do what they wanted.

They would try and earn their favour.