Stepping Out In Faith

Orienteering

At Easter, I took one week where we spent time with some of our extended family.

Now my father-in-law is part of the Newcastle Orienteers club, and it just so happened that while we were away there was an orienteering meet only a relatively short drive from where we were staying.

One thing that I enjoy doing on holidays is a bit of exercise and so when my father-in-law invited our family to go along and the others agreed, I thought I’d give it a shot too.

In case you’re not familiar with orienteering, you go out into the bush, where there is nothing but trees and bushes. You’re given a map that has numbers on it. Each number on the map represents what’s called a control. At each control you’ll find an electronic device that will record that you’ve been there.

So the orienteers job is to follow the sequence on the map and find each control. The person with the quickest time wins.

Now, before this meet, I had never done any orienteering before. I think that was probably evident when I turned up in my regular running clothes which includes relatively short shorts, while everybody else had long pants. After countless scratches up and down my legs, I latter realised why they wore long pants.

That was my first mistake. My second mistake was not listening to my father-in-laws advice regarding which course I should run.

You see, they have different courses depending on your ability. The easiest course (which Josie did), was what they call a string course. Essentially you just follow some string around until you get to the end. They also have other easy courses which Sienna and Elise did.

You then get up to the moderate course. This is the course that was recommended to me. My father-in-law thought it would be a good entry level for someone who has never done this before.

But did I want to listen to my father-in-law?

Well, you see, as it happens, I tend to fancy myself as someone who is pretty good with directions.

I thought - why do the Moderate course when I can do the hard course. I’m mean how hard can it be? They give you a map and all you have to do is follow it. Can’t be that hard… can it?

Well, as I found - it can be!

I did the hard-short course, which was meant to only take me 3.2km, but according to my watch, I ran over 7km!

It turns out those little controls are really hard to find.

Each time you find a control - you stop, get your bearings with your little hand held compass, and then run in the direction of the next control.

Now I know it’s not a perfect illustration, but I want to use this to help think about my main point today.

You see, sometimes God sends us in certain directions. Unfortunately, though we’re given the direction, we’re not given very clear instruction, but God wants us to head out in faith.

This morning we’re going to start a series in Abraham, and that’s exactly what we see happen with Abraham.

Essentially God tells him to go - gives him the direction, but little else. Abraham then has a choice. He can decide - no, I don’t have enough information. Or he can take up the call, going in faith that he will be provided for.

Thankfully for us, it is the latter of these two - because in doing so, he provided a way for all of us. And we’ll explore just how true that is throughout this series.

Context

So first, let’s get some bearings within this account...

Now there are two levels on which we can look at this story. On what I might call a top level view, we can see how this account becomes a very significant part in the overall flow of the Bible. This is actually really important and I want to be careful not to lose sight of this. But the other level, is the individual level of looking at how Abram (or Abraham), responded to God’s call. It is more on this level that I will draw our application from.

Abram or Abraham

Before I continue, it’s worth making a clarification about his name. You’ll notice that I’ve been mostly referring to him as Abraham, but in fact in the reading we had earlier it refers to him as Abram. That’s because in a few chapters we’ll see God change his name from Abram to Abraham, but we’ll explore the significance of that when we get there. But until we get there (and it won’t be for a few weeks), I’ll now mostly refer to him as Abram.

Top level

So first, let’s briefly consider how this account fits into the bigger picture.

The Bible starts with creation, and it is good and it is beautiful.

But sin is allowed to enter. When that first sin entered, everything changed. And things just got worse after that.

Move along some generations and the sin is so ingrained in humanity that God wipes the world clean with a flood, only sparing Noah and his family.

But even then, that seed of sin remains, and fast forward some more generations, God looks at their sinful desire and scatters them and confuses their language.

I’m referring to the Tower of Babel in .

Things seem hopeless.

But then, in verse 1 of chapter 12, we hear God’s voice, and for what is essentially the first time since the creation account, we get a glimmer of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation.

And it is this glimmer of hope that sparks the rest of the Bible and God’s great plan to deal with the problem of sin.

Now, I’m not going to go over all the details of how it the plan transpires. Partly because I did that a few weeks ago.

But in the briefest of overviews, essentially through this promise, eventually comes Jesus who breaks the hold of sin, and sets up the final hold of sin when he comes again and brings a new heaven and a new earth.

There’s a lot in all of that which we could spend a long time exploring, but it all started way back in our account today when God gives a promise to Abram.

So while I’ll now be focussing more on Abrams response, I want us to keep sight of that much bigger picture.

The boy from Ur

So at that, let’s look at who Abram is.

Well, the first mention of his name comes in when we find out a bit of his family tree.

His father’s name is Terah and he had two brothers, Nahor and Haran.

They were all born in a place called Ur of the Chaldeans. (I always love that place because if you can’t remember it, in your hesitation… urrr.. you get it!)

It’s been shown that Chaldean is sometimes used as a synonym for the Babylonians, and so it is usually thought that his birth place was in what was later to become Babylon, which incidentally was the place that the Israelites were to be sent into exile.

We are told a few significant things while they still lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. All these facts we can get from the last few verses of Genesis 11.

His brother, Haran, had at least three children, namely Milcah, Iscah and Lot.

We read that Milcah marries her uncle Nahor, and given that Iscah doesn’t come back into the story, presumably she marries into another family.

But tragedy strikes and Haran dies, and so it would appear that Abram takes on some of the fathering role of Lot.

Maybe that’s because when Abram marries his wife Sarai, they are not able to conceive - something that will become important to our story later.

In verse 31, we’re told that Terah then took his son Abram, along with his wife Sarai and grandson Lot, and moved from Ur of the Chaldeans and towards the land of Canaan.

We’re not told why. Maybe it was the grief of losing his son Haran. Or was it God prompting him at this time.

Whatever it was, they settled in a town called Harran, and that is where Terah eventually died.

This takes us to the end of Chapter 11, and at this point, while we know some fact about Abram, we don’t know much about his character.

His brother Haran died, leaving his son Lot. That makes Lot Abrams nephew and based on later evidence, it would appear that Abram took on a lot of the fathering duties for Lot.

We also find out that Abram and his brother Nahor also marry, but Abrams wife, Sarai was unable to conceive.

But apart from this, we don’t know much about the boy who was born in Ur.

This is actually an interesting point, and throughout history, some people have tried to speculate on various positive attributes. Some even suggesting that he tried to disrupt various idol worshipping during this time.

So we know some of these facts about Abram, but not much about the content of his character.

Actually, what they are trying to do is show why God called Abram. They presupposed that for God to call Abram to the role he is about to take on, surely he must have been especially good.

That is interesting because at various times throughout history some people have tr

But here’s the thing - and it is actually really encouraging for us. You see, God did not call Abram because he was stronger or kinder or smarter or more religious or anything like that.

In fact we’re not given any reason that he chose Abram. I’d go as far to say that the reality is, this didn’t really have much to do with Abram, but rather with a God that equipped Abram for what was to happen.

But here is where the we see the interface between God’s sovereignty and our free will - because though God chose Abram and equipped him for the role, Abram still required the faith to take hold of it.

The blessing and land

So by the end of chapter 11, Abram is with his family in Harran. But in verse 1 of chapter 12, Abram hears directly from God to get up and move to the land he will show him.

And with that direction, he is given a very special promise with a number of parts to it.

First he is told he will be made into a great nation and that God will bless him.

And not only is he to be blessed, but he is also to be a blessing to others.

In verse 3, God elaborates on what it means for Abram to be a blessing concluding that all peoples on earth will be blessed through Abram.

Now in hindsight, we can see quite clearly how this will play out, but remember, for Abram, this would not have been so straight forward.

If I come back to my opening illustration of when I went orienteering, it’s a bit like heading out towards that control which is just some dot on the map.

Abram doesn’t know much - but he knows God has called him for a reason, a reason that is, (let’s face it) quite vague. But he has the direction and so he goes.

Now we’re told in verse 4 that by this time Abram is seventy-five, and he has actually acquired quite a bit of wealth. And so as they arrive in the land of Canaan, it is quite the set-up they have.

Three stops

Now as we look at verses 6 through to 9, you’ll notice Abram going to three different places, the first two in which he sets up an altar.

Firstly, it the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. It is at this point that God gives the first specific promise about land. And so Abram builds an altar here to the Lord.

At some stage he moves on to a place between Bethel and Ai. And again he builds an altar to the Lord.

Finally in verse 9 he sets out again and moves towards the Negev.

Now at this stage in the picture, these three places will just seem like names on a page. But these places are really at the heart of this land that is being promised to a nation that doesn’t even exist yet.

Shechem becomes an early focal point, almost serving as a quasi capital city during the early days of the Israelites moving into the land.

Now Bethel was an ancient sacred site for the Canaanites but if we go well ahead in time, it also marks that border between what will later become the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.

And finally, the Negev essentially marks the southern most boundary of the land promised to them.

And so these three places in many ways represents the heart of what will later be established as the land belonging to God’s people. At this early stage we are seeing these marks in the ground claiming the early promise of God.

Faith

But the point I want to come back to is this idea that Abram really was stepping out into the unknown. He heard from God, not a super detailed instruction of what to do, but just enough to know the direction he needed to go.

Now let me come back to my orienteering example, because in some ways Abram seems to be heading off on his own version of orienteering, only instead of a map, he gets the word of God.

You see, sometimes we over simplify what it is to follow God. It’s almost as if we somehow think we’ve just got to hear exactly what we have to do, and then do it. The problem that most people find is that they then can’t hear exactly what God wants them to do.

Now it’s possible that God will spell out detail for detail what you should do - but in my experience that rarely happens (or depending on how you understand detail for detail, I’m might go as far to say I’ve never experienced God spelling things out so clearly.)

If you look at the example of Abram, he was initially just told to go to the land that God will show. He is then told a promise which really wouldn’t have made a lot of sense. For Abram to follow, he needed faith.

In fact we get a great definition for faith in when it says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

A few verses after this definition in , the example of Abram is giving.

Hebrews 11:8 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

In this way Abram becomes a great example for us.

What was special about Abram was not that he was the smartest, kindest or most religious, but that he responded to God in faith.

And so the question for us is: are we prepared to step out in faith even when we don’t know exactly where it will take us.

Now it’s worth making an important clarification here. Sometimes people talk about blind faith as if you’re wandering around with your eyes closed.

But God does not call us to blind faith. Our faith is not blind because it is based on something real. God gives us enough to know our direction, and in faith we wait to see where God will lead us further.

Let’s just think about this with my orienteering example.

Let’s just think about this orienteering example. As you go along, you are constantly looking for guidance with your map. At times you go too far or off track. It’s not immediately obvious, but as you go you reassess, and then correct your course according to what is clear.

You’ve got a map. With your compass you figure out the direction, then away you go. But as you go, you very easily get off track. But this then is the task of the orienteer. You constantly need to discern your location. At times you need to make big adjustments, at other times, minor ones. You keep going until you eventually can see the control. At that point, it is very clear and you make your way there.

As you go along, you are constantly looking for guidance with your map. At times you go too far or off track. It’s not immediately obvious, but as you go you reassess, and then correct your course according to what is clear.

For the church

Now I want to think about this firstly from the perspective of us as a church, but then what this might mean for us as individuals.

From the church perspective, we are called to walk in faith. Now this is a journey that we have been taking for the last 38 years. Some of you will know that three men from Nelson Bay Baptist took a massive step of faith some 40 years ago when the purchased the block of land that we are on now. They didn’t know where it would lead, but in faith they took that step.

Today we are now talking about redevelopment of this land. I would like nothing less than for God to spell out detail for detail exactly where this will go. Unfortunately, that is not how God normally works.

Rather we need to take the example of Abram, hear God’s call for the direction. Start moving and then keep discerning how God will shape it.

It is a faith journey that involves saturation in prayer.

Individuals

But also as individuals we need to hear God’s direction.

This is not always easy, in fact it rarely is. Possibly that’s because we don’t like the direction, but I think the main reason it isn’t easy is because the direction is usually not specific and we don’t want to step out until we have the whole thin planned.

Maybe God is calling you to use a certain gift you have, but you just can’t see where it might be used.

Maybe God is calling you to take a huge risk, but you just can’t see where it is going to lead.

If only we could see exactly how it would play out, it wouldn’t be so hard. But God wants us to follow the example of Abram and walk in faith even though the final outcome is not known.

Conclusion

What we need to remember in all this, is as we discern God’s will for our lives and for us as a church, it is not about knowing every step and every detail along the way.

Rather we we hear the direction and move in faith, knowing that God will be walking with us.

The reality is, that direction is usually far more obvious then we realise. Often it is in just seeing what God has already provided and then using it. That may be gift and talents you have, or in resources you own. You do not need to wait for that voice from heaven to boom down and lay it all out for you.

God is doing an amazing work in this world. That started way back with Abram when he had to step out. But that work remains and he wants you to be a part of the ongoing process.

The task for us though is to take our place. But to do so, we need to step out in faith.

Are we prepared to step out, even when we don’t know precisely where it will lead?

Let me pray...