The Beginning of Missions

Theme for 2022 is “Begin Again”

In this eight-part series we are looking at how God began everything and how God begins again.

We began with Creation - how God created a good world and wanted that goodness to spread and fill the earth.

And we learned that God’s plan even through the flood was to redeem the earth and to restore a new humanity.

Last week we talked about how God allowed humanity to be divided - He even encouraged it - so that they would scatter and fill the earth.

Genesis 1-11 has sometimes been considered the “prologue” of the Bible.

A prologue is a part of a book or a play that is separate from the main story, but which sets the stage for being able to understand and appreciate the plot, the characters or the context of the main story.

In other words, everything we have talked about so far is just the backdrop for what God is going to do next.

God is on a mission.

Missio Dei - The mission of God - literally “the sending of God”

God is on a mission to reach the world.

God is going to begin by sending one man - Abraham.

And from Abraham, God is going to choose a people who will be his representatives.

And from that people he is going to chose a family, a tribe, the line of David, through which he is going to send His son.

And then Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to the church.

The Holy Spirit empowers the church to go to the world.

This is God’s mission in a nutshell.

God enters into relationship with people so that He can send them to go to other people.

As the people who are in relationship with God enter into relationship with other people, they bring those people into relationship with God.

That is how God is reaching the world- through people.

God’s plan is to redeem and restore the world, but to do that we must reach the world by joining God on His mission.

To understand what God is doing against this background of beginnings, we need to look at one more beginning.

Let’s follow Abraham, whose story is going to take up the next fifteen chapters of Genesis. (Noah only had four chapters.)

He’s our first main character in the mission of God.

Abraham will show us what God is doing - what it means to follow God’s leading, to have a relationship with God and to live a life of worship.

This should help us to understand what we are sent to do.

Follow God’s leading

Genesis 11:27–32 ESV

27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Leave the past behind.

Abraham set out with his father Terah to leave Ur of the Chaldeans.

Ur was the port city of Babylon.

One of the names for the city is “mound of bitumen”

It would have been a center for making the bricks and mortar for the construction of the tower of Babel.

But we know that construction is no longer happening.

People are leaving town.

The economy is collapsing.

Abraham’s father Terah decides to leave town.

We don’t know much about Terah except that he had children comparatively late in life to most of his ancestors.

He was at least 70 before Abraham was born.

Maybe he was too busy to have children?

Also, Abraham had a brother who died back in Ur, that’s why we see Abraham looking after his nephew Lot.

We don’t know why Haran died, only that he died in Ur, leaving a son to be cared for by relatives.

I know this is entirely speculation - but there must have been some tragic accidents when God confused that languages.

What if Abraham’s brother was in such an accident?

We don’t know why Terah left Ur, but we can imagine.

Babel was a big failure.

People are talking different languages and there is confusion and arguing where people are not understanding one another.

He had experienced personal tragedy and loss.

Abram and Sarai are not having children.

Nothing is going right, its time for a fresh start.

Perhaps God spoke to Abram’s family already in Ur and told them to leave.

God would later say that he called Abraham already in Ur.

Genesis 15:7 ESV

7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Sometimes God uses circumstances to lead us.

Sometimes tragedy leads us down a path that we might not have otherwise discovered.

Sometimes experiencing loss can help us to let go of attachments that might have kept us stuck in one place.

Sometimes things not working out leads us to new possibilities that we never would have considered.

I don’t believe that God causes tragedy, failure or disappointment, but I know that he uses all of these things to lead us to a better future.

God is on a mission.

Joining that mission means letting go of the past.

Maybe you had high hopes for prosperity in Babylon.

Maybe you were making a killing off selling bricks and mortar.

Maybe you sacrificed family climbing the ladder of success.

It’s time to move on and join God on his mission.

Don’t settle for less than obedience.

If God was leading Abraham toward what would become the promised land, they only made it half-way.

They settled in a place called Haran.

Interesting that they place they settled has the same name as Abram’s dead brother.

I makes you wonder if it was called Haran before they got there or if that was the name that they gave to the place.

Maybe that’s why they they got stuck there - maybe it was grief.

“If only Haran were here!” - “Hey let’s call this place ‘Haran’!”

The scripture says that they “settled” there.

The text implies that they were only half-way obedient.

It says in the same sentence that God called them to go to the land of Canaan.

Yes, Canaan, the cursed uncle of Nimrod who build the tower that failed and destroyed their livelihood.

Maybe that’s another argument for staying in Haran.

They would stay in Haran until Abram’s father Terah died.

Abram’s brother Nahor would never leave Haran.

He would still be there years later when Abram’s son Isaac is looking for a wife.

They got out of Ur, but they didn’t get to the place that God wanted them to go.

They “settled” in Haran.

The place of mourning.

The place of “good enough.”

The place of “at least we are not in Ur.”

But it is not the place of obedience.

What has God spoken to you that you have never fully realized?

Did you reach a point where you were like “Eh, this is far enough”?

Did you get to a place where you no longer felt the urgency to move forward?

Have you settled for less than obedience?

Why do I ask? Because God is on a mission!

We’re not there yet.

There is further to go.

How do join God on his mission?

Develop a relationship with God.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

You won’t know until you go.

God reiterates his call to Abram.

Or if it was Terah, Abram receives it again.

The call is to leave everything that is familiar.

Leave your country.

Leave your family.

Leave your father’s house.

When we are in relationship with God, He often calls us to leave our comfort zone.

Why? Because it is so easy to trust what we already know instead of trusting God.

When we are comfortable, we don’t have to rely on God.

It’s not that God has anything against comfort; its just SO important that we learn to trust him!

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

So where are we going?

God says, “I will show you.”

Not, “Here, let me show you my Caanan brochure and check out the website.”

“Come with me and you will see.”

You won’t know until you go.

We want to know before we obey, but you won’t know where God is taking you until you obey.

That’s why it is called trust.

You have to know that God is good.

You have to know that God’s plans for you are good.

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

God is good.

You can trust Him.

He has great plans for you.

But you wont know until you go.

Greatness cannot be the goal.

Genesis 12:2 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

God will make Abraham’s name great - why does that sound familiar?

Genesis 11:4 ESV

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Making a name for themselves, achieving greatness, was the reason given for building the tower of Babel.

It wasn’t just about being famous.

One of the names for God is Ha’Shem - literally “the name.”

Shem is also the name of Noah’s first son - he named him “Name” or it could also be interpreted as “Son”

By building the tower, Nimrod and whoever is with him are deciding to create their own identity apart from God.

It’s a clever play on words, but making a name for yourself is not just another way of saying you want to become famous.

It is saying that you are going to make yourself the ‘son of God’.

Now God is telling Abraham that he will make a name for him.

God wants sons and daughters, but you don’t become a son or a daughter of God by defying God, but by submitting to God.

It’s not about greatness or becoming great - it’s about knowing who you already are.

When you have to prove that you are great, you are showing that you don’t think much of yourself and you don’t know who you really are.

This is what greatness looks like:

John 13:3–5 NLT

3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

Jesus didn’t have anything to prove; that is why he could serve.

Do you want to be great ? - then learn that it is not about being great.

You already are great; just be who God created you to be.

Thousands of people building the worlds greatest tower was a colossal failure.

But one man obeying God and just being who God created him to be can change the world.

Are you willing to join God on his mission?

You don;t need to become anyone special.

You already are special.

Just be who God made you to be.

You are blessed to be a blessing.

Genesis 12:3 ESV

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God made a covenant with Abraham

Abraham is blessed by God.

In a covenant, you are not just entering into a relationship with one party, but by extension with everyone related to that person.

“Your friends are my friends, and your enemies are my enemies”

A covenant is an alliance and an alliance with all your alliances.

Marriage is a covenant. They say when you marry a person you marry the family. That is true! Her relatives become your relatives. Including the awkward ones. It’s also true of friends, acquaintances and sometimes their friends and acquaintances.

Why is this important? Because God is on a mission.

God wants to reach the world through you.

Andy relationships that you have become a conduit through which God can reach people.

They can know God by knowing you.

They can see God at work in your life.

How they respond to God’s work in your life is either creating an opening for God to work in them or not.

But that should cause you to realize that if God has blessed you an made you great in some way, it is not just about you.

God has blessed you to be a blessing.

God wants to bless others through you.

If God has prospered you financially, it is because he wants to prosper others through you.

If God has blessed you with a position of influence, it is because he wants to use you to promote justice and the well-being of those under your influence.

If God has given you wisdom, talents or abilities, it’s not just so people can say, “wow, look at you!”

Its so people can see the beauty, the creativity and the ingenuity of God and enjoy better lives because of it.

God’s plan from the beginning was to multiply and to spread his goodness and fill the earth.

God’s goodness is seen in very practical ways when we live our lives to be a blessing to others.

When we give generously.

When we serve our church and our community.

When we raise our children to love God.

When we love our friends and neighbors.

When we care for the least and the lost.

We are spreading the blessing around.

God’s goodness is multiplying and filling the earth.

It’s all part of God’s mission.

Abraham obeyed God and went as God showed him where to go.

You might think that Abraham would have become a great preacher with a large following.

Or that he would start a religion - actually, three major religions all trace their ancestry to Abraham, but he didn’t start any of them.

All Abraham did was live his life following Yaweh - and that is all any of us can do.

Live a life of worship.

Genesis 12:7–9 ESV

7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

We could spend a hundred sermons talking about the life of Abraham.

He wasn’t a perfect man - he had his ups and downs.

He didn’t do everything right - he made some big mistakes.

Most of the fulfilment of God’s promises to Abraham didn’t even happen in his lifetime.

So what is Abraham known for? - Only that he has a relationship with God.

James 2:23 NLT

23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.

What can we learn from Abraham’s relationship with God that will help us in ours?

Expect God to show up.

Abraham journeys to the place that God will show him.

He won’t know where he is going until he gets there.

But he goes anyway, expecting God to show up.

That’s why Abraham is called the father of faith.

What did Abraham do that set him apart? - He believed God.

I wonder how many people heard God say, “Get out of Ur!”

I wonder how many people went part way like Terah.

I wonder how many people were aware of God speaking and thought about following God....someday…if I feel like it.

Abraham went and God met him there.

God showed up.

Abraham came to a place and God said, “this is the place. I’m giving you this land.”

Once again, that promise was not really fulfilled in Abraham’s lifetime.

Abraham lived as a sojourner in the land.

Five hundred years later, his descendants would become the primary inhabitants of the land.

A thousand years later they would rule that land and most of the surrounding lands as well.

Abraham build an altar.

he worshipped God, just as Noah did after the flood.

He shared a sacrificial meal with God.

He reaffirmed covenant with God.

He recommitted himself to God and his mission.

And then he pitched his tent.

Live in God’s presence.

From the description of the text, I imagine Abraham pitching his tent on a hill where he can see from Ai to Bethel.

He is sitting there with the promises of God in full view.

And he builds another altar where he can fellowship with God while looking out over the land that God has promised to give him.

The text says that from there he called on the name of the Lord.

A relationship with God is not an event, it’s a lifestyle.

Abraham is living the good life!

I’m not talking about prestige and prosperity, but i’m not ruling it out either.

I’m talking about living life in God’s presence, enjoying His goodness and being a demonstration of the goodness and faithfulness of God.

When it says that Abraham called on the name of the Lord, that means a little more than just, “Abraham prayed to God.”

Remember that the tower of Babel was to “make a name for ourselves.”

And God promised Abraham that he would, “make his name great.”

Well here is Abraham giving all of that back to God and saying in essence, “God, you are great!

You are the One who deserves all the glory and the praise!

You are the One who should be made famous!

You are the One who ought to be known in all the earth!

It would be nice to conclude by saying that Abraham lived “happily ever after,” but that’s not how it ends.

Abraham is on the move, because God is on the move.

God is on a mission, and Abraham is moving with him.

Move when God says.

Remember that all of this started with God telling mankind to multiply and fill the earth.

At Babel they gathered together against God.

And God had to scatter them.

As the people of God, we gather to scatter.

We love to come together on Sundays.

We enjoy Christian conferences, concerts and seminars.

But our gatherings are for the purpose of scattering.

If what we do “in here” should result in our going, “out there.”

Even after the day of Pentecost, people wanted to camp out in Jerusalem.

The persecution that followed resulted in the scattering of the church.

That was intentional, because it was always God’s plan for the gospel to spread to all the nations.

Genesis 1–11:26 2. Tower of Babel (11:1–9)

At Pentecost the outpouring of the Spirit upon the representative nations gathered in Jerusalem results in the spiritual union of the new church but does not create a homogeneous language, ethnicity, or statehood. John’s vision of the heavenly family includes diverse peoples from “every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb” (Rev 7:9).

God is on a mission.

God is sending us, as His people to reach his world.

God is moving; will you move with him?

Communion:

As we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we are reminded that this is our covenant meal as the people of God. This is our altar. This is where we renew fellowship with God.

All: God is on a mission.

As we think about the mission of God, this is a good time to remember our part in His mission. God sent His son to die for our sin. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us for service. Now God is sending us out in to the world as His representatives to spread His goodness.

All: God is sending us.

As we consider the bread, we remember Jesus’ body. He left his home in heaven an came to the place that God would show him. He demonstrated faith an obedience by leaving his comfort zone.

All: Jesus was sent from God. (partake of the bread)

As we consider the cup, we remember that Jesus came to die for our sin. His blood that was shed for us, brought us into God’s family. We became the people of God. We enter into covenant with God by participation in his death and resurrection.

All: We join God on his mission. (partake of the cup)

John 20:21–22 AMP

21 Then Jesus said to them again, Peace to you! [Just] as the Father has sent Me forth, so I am sending you. 22 And having said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit!