Sermon Tone Analysis

Walking

In my life, I’ve only done a handful of overnight bush walks where you have to carry everything with you, including tent and food.

The first time I ever did one, I was about 12 years old, and I headed out for a one night walk with a group from Boys Brigade.

Now when I first found out about the walk, I had almost nothing I needed.

I didn’t have the sort of back pack, I didn’t own any hiking boots.

I didn’t have the right sort of mat to sleep on, or any cooking equipment or bowls or cutlery.

Basically, I had to start from scratch.

So over a period of time, my parents and I went through the list.

Buying a bunch of new stuff and on occasion borrowing a few things as well.

It was quite a long process of going from shop to shop to buy all the parts I needed.

By the day of the big walk, I was decked out with mostly new gear.

But you know what?

While I looked the part on one level - after all, I had all the things I needed, but at the same time, you could tell I had never been on a bush walk like this.

I think the signs were obvious.

My bag was spotless without a mark on it, and had not faded at all.

My sleeping mat had not a mark on it.

My new hiking boots looked like they came straight out of the box.

The reality was, having the gear was only half of it.

You’re not a bush walker until you actually go bush walking.

An analogy

Now I want to develop this idea just a little further before I use it as an analogy of walking with God.

You see, there are three basic phases in which we can think about bush walking.

The first phase are those who love the idea of going bush walking.

They’ve had friends go on bush walks and tell them how great it is.

Maybe they’ve even looked up some tracks and even talked about the idea of going.

But like me before I had any of the gear, they haven’t bothered to get any of the things you need.

While bush walking sounds like a good idea, if you can’t be bothered to get any of the gear, then it will just remain a dream.

The second phase, are those who get the gear.

They buy a tent, they get some good shoes.

They get everything you need.

But then, the gear just sits on the shelf.

Possibly the gear might get one or two runs, but that’s about it.

While they might be able to look the part to a degree, you can’t really call them bush walkers.

But then there are those who not only buy the gear, but also use it.

They know the good tracks.

They know what good equipment is.

And they make the most of it.

Walking with God

We’re now about half way through our series on Abraham.

Throughout the series, we’ve met this man originally called Abram, who has stepped out in faith.

As he’s stepped out in faith he has seen the most amazing things happen.

And as we’ve watched Abram move in this way, we’ve asked the question of ourselves, what does it look like for us to step out in faith and see the amazing happen.

Well this morning as we continue this journey, I want to use this analogy of bush walking and see that walking in faith like Abraham is more than just thinking it sounds like a good idea.

But it’s about moving.

As I explore today’s passage, I want to consider what Abraham did to essentially mark himself as for God, and how this journey went for him.

Abraham’s journey

So let’s jump into this journey.

Context

It tells us in Genesis 17:1 that Abram is now ninety-nine years old.

To put that into context, if you were here last week when I looked at Abram’s doubts and how that led him to having a child with a slave woman named Hagar.

Well in the very last verse of the previous chapter, we learn that Abram was 86 years old at that point.

When he was 86, we can easily deduce that he had been waiting some eleven years for the promise of an heir as we know he was 75 when God first told him to leave his own people and go to the land that God would show him.

But that eleven years was not even half the time he had to wait.

Because it has now been 24 years since God first gave him the initial promise.

El Shaddai

Now in this first verse of chapter 17, we see God appearing to Abram.

As God appears he declares: “I am God Almighty” or this might be one that you have heard the Hebrew - I am El Shaddai.

One of the great titles of God which gives us a small insight into who he is.

Call to Walk

But then, after reminding Abram of who he is, God almighty then gives a simple, yet extraordinary command: walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

I call it simple yet extraordinary, because essentially this is what it is all about.

God just wants Abram to walk faithfully.

Where going to see some specific things that God wants Abram to do, and that will come up shortly in the passage, but there is something more basic than all the complexity of all that - to just walk before the Lord faithfully.

This is a message we need to hear as well.

There will be specific things we need to do.

We’ll need to wrestle with certain doctrines and practices.

What I mean, is, we can put a lot of energy into thinking and worrying about certain things.

For some, that might be thinking about the return of Christ.

For others, you might be wrestling with various teaching on things like homosexuality.

There are a whole spectrum of matters in which there is value in exploring, but we have to be so careful that these pursuits do not stop us from just walking with the Lord faithfully and blamelessly.

If I bring it back to the analogy of bush walking - there is value in thinking about the gear you take bush walking, but if you want to go bush walking - then just go to the bush and walk.

You’ll see what you need.

If you don’t go, then you will never experience the beauty of what it is.

It’s the same with God.

Talk all you like about it, study it like crazy, but if you don’t actually just walk with God, then you won’t experience the beauty of what it is.

More specific

Now what you’ll notice when you just walk with God - things will start to become clearer.

In part, this is why it is so important to just walk with God.

All those issues I briefly mentioned before - they will become clearer as you walk.

With the bush walking analogy, you can spend lots of time researching which shoes to buy, what tracks to walk, and how far you should push yourself, but it is as you start walking that you realise what works.

With out walk with God, we usually will not know everything when we start.

But God will make it clearer to us as we go.

This is certainly what we’ve seen with Abram’s journey so far.

Let’s take for example just the promise of land that Abram received.

When Abram first received the promise way back in Genesis 12:1, the promise was for the “land that I will show you”.

Move ahead in time, when Abram has been there for a little while, God then specifies the promise is for “the land which you see”.

Abram continues to walk with God, and in chapter 15 the promise is confirmed in a covenant, and now we see even greater specificity stating that the promise is for the land between the “river of Egypt to the Euphrates”.

Change of name

As we get into chapter 17 which we are looking at today, we again see things getting more specific.

Back in Genesis 12:2, the promise was that he would be made into a great nation.

As we get to Genesis 17:3, it is not just being a father of a great nation, it is now clearly told to him that he will be the father of many nations.

And with this, comes his change of name.

You see his name had already foreshadowed what he was to become - an exalted father.

But God told him that he will no longer be called Abram but rather will take the name Abraham.

This name means “father or many nations”.

In many ways, Abraham’s new name is a reminder that God’s plan is becoming more specific.

As Abraham continues to walk with the Lord, he is seeing clearer what it is that will happen.

Something that he could only have seen by walking.

With this change of name, we also see some more details - like the fact that kings will come from him.

Circumcision