The Call of God (Genesis 11:27-12:9)

Theme: God calls his people to claim all nations as his kingdom (as Abraham did).

Goal: Soften and sensitize our hearts to the call of God.

Application: The call of God makes all the difference in the world in any man's life. Have you heard the call of God?

What made Abraham great was the call of God. What makes one's life great is the call of God. What makes one a Christian is the call of God. The call of God is what truly shapes a Christian life.

Some challenges in teaching/preaching this biblical narrative:

1. Avoid superficial "character-imitation" preaching.
2. Turning this text into a moral tale: God's call to Abram becomes God's call to everyone, and they, like Abram, must respond with unquestioning obedience. They apply God's unique call of Abram directly to everyone in the congregation, thus committing the error of generalizing and universalizing.
3. Spiritualizing the text: People must leave their "country," their old way of life, and go to the new life God will show them. This is not unbiblical, but it is not the message of this particular text. It fails to ask first what was the message the narrator intended to convey to Israel.

We learn 3 (+1) things about the call of God:

1. How powerful it is (It is absolutely necessary, and absolutely gracious)
   
2. How radical it is (personally, volitionally, missiologically, culturally)
   
3. How foundation-shifting it is (Gen 13:1-17) (Heb 11:10)
4. How you can receive it (see the One who responded to His call at great cost)

I. The Power of the Call of God (necessary & gracious)

Gen 11:27-32 tells us that this last family of Seth (Terah) is the last family that knows anything about God. But they were on the verge of losing it, for they worshiped other Gods (Josh 24:2). "Terah" means "moon." But then came the call of God, which changed everything.

We learn 2 things about the power of the call of God:

1. It is absolutely necessary. (Without it we're dead.)
   
2. It is absolutely gracious. (It's never ever because we're qualified.)
   

1) The Call of God is Absolutely Necessary. Abraham was in the "best" family in the world. But without the call of God he was spiritually dead. This is true of everyone. We love our kids. They may grow up to be very nice, good, moral and even religious men and women, because their parents are nice, good and moral. But without the call of God upon their lives, they would just be nice little idolaters, like Abraham's family. They would worship their romantic impulses, their careers, their families. We can't make our children Christians. We may pray for them, be good Christian influences to them, teach the Bible to them. But only God can make them Christians (1 Cor 3:6-7). They need to each hear the call of God personally. The call of God needs to confront them, convict them, disturb them, disrupt them, shape them personally. No one ever makes any real spiritual progress without the call of God.

In Genesis 1-11, the descendants of Cain were ungodly, while the descendants of Seth called on the name of the Lord (Gen 4:26). But in the course of time, they too worshiped sex (Gen 6:2) and idols (Josh 24:2). Without the call of God, all of our lives degenerate into idolatry. Thus, the call of God is absolutely necessary.

2) The Call of God is Absolutely Gracious. Abram is unqualified. He was not a good man (Rom 3:10-12). The call of God is the active grace of God, even though Abram was unqualified. But the call of God qualified him. Without the call of God, our lives are a dead end; our lives are barren; it is going nowhere. But the call of God is so powerful that it will transform us, no matter how bad a person we are.

II. The Radical Nature of the Call of God

What exactly is the call of God? Read Gen 12:1-3. Just how radical is the call of God?

1. It is personally radical
2. It is volitionally radical
3. It is missiologically radical
4. It is culturally radical
   

1) The Call of God is Personally Radical. Gen 12:1 is basically "Get out. Get yourself out." His family stopped half-way (Gen 11:31). It's not good enough to just be in a good Christian home, or in a good church. It's not just good enough to be part of the Christian ethos. But have you met God yourself personally? No one can be a Christian based on their good Christian surroundings. It has to be your own faith. It has to be personally radical.

2) The Call of God is Volitionally Radical. This is what many do not like. God wasn't telling Abram exactly where he would go. God just said, "I will show you" (Gen 12:1). People often wonder or ask if they can still do certain things or not do certain things, if they answer the call of God. Why do they ask this? They still want to be in control of their lives and their future. A definition of God is that God (or "god") is the non-negotiable of every man, which they do not understand nor like. Surely, Abraham wanted to know where God wanted him to go. But God said, "I will show you later." When God promised him a son, Abraham wondered how, since his wife was barren. God said, "I will show you later." When God asked him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, surely Abram wanted to know why. God said, "I will show you later." This is Christianity.

Christianity is not so much an adventure, as it is a quest. In an adventure, you go somewhere and then you return. But a quest is not something you choose. It comes to you, and you never return from a quest. You either die, or if you return you are so radically changed that you can never go back to the way you were before. Christianity is not about how it will fit into your agenda. It's a whole new agenda altogether. Christianity is not about how to enrich your life. It is a whole new life. It is to get out, not knowing where you are going (Heb 11:8). Saying, "I will obey if..." is not Christianity. It is not one who has heard the call of God.

3) The Call of God is Missiologically Radical. It is personally radical (meet God yourself). It is volitionally radical (surrender your will; take your hands off yourself/your life). It is missiologically radical. It is to "be a blessing" (Gen 12:2). To become a Christian is to be so radically changed and transformed that we no longer make our decisions based on what is of most benefit to me, or to my family, or even to my church. Instead, we seek to find how we may most be a blessing, regardless of the cost. God wants to bless us so that we may be a blessing. How? We must get out--get out of our security zone, comfort zone, safety zone, get out of the familiar. But the problem is we don't want to be uncomfortable, and we don't want to be criticized. So, we might live a "selfish Christian life." We don't tell the truth to others in love. We keep our faith to ourselves, rather than sharing it with others. Why do you do what you do? To get what you want? Or to be a blessing?

4) The Call of God is Culturally Radical. People think the gospel gives pat answers. Abram lived in a huge gap between promise and reality. He is asked to leave everything. He is promised everything. But he sees none of it. The call of God makes one a cultural pilgrim. It's easy to leave one's culture when one becomes a Christian. It's also easy to keep one's culture, with Christianity as an add-on. But it's hardest to be a Christian first, while remaining in one's culture, and respecting all other cultures. Like Abraham, one who hears the call of God leaves, but does not arrive. Like Abraham, have one foot in your culture, but be primarily a transformed Christian, living in that culture. It's easier to get out of it completely, or stay in it completely. Though God says, "Get out," we don't arrive somewhere else.

III. How do we receive/respond to the call of God?

Abraham needed to have a son first. All God's promises required that he have a son first. But having a son was the one thing that Abraham could not do. Abram can't qualify himself for it. He could only live with trust that God will do it. His eventual son, Isaac, points us to the real Son. Look at Jesus.

Jesus got out. He got a call: Leave your Father's house (hymn). Jesus left the ultimate Father's house, left the ultimate security. Jesus went to the ultimate abyss. Jesus lost his Father so we could get the Father.

Let the call of God come into your life. Hear it. Surrender to it. It will make us like God. It will qualify us.

This outline and illustrations is based on a sermon by Tim Keller (Real Security and the Call of God). (An illustrations from the sermon is the movie Becket (1964). Henry II [Peter O'Toole] and Thomas Becket [Richard Burton] were drinking buddies. When the bishop of Canterbury died, Henry made Thomas, his drinking buddy, the bishop in 1170 A.D., which transformed his life, because he sensed the call.) (The Hobbit is an adventure. The Lord of the Rings in a quest. A quest is not something you choose, but it comes to you. You never return from a quest. You either die, or if you come back, you are so radically changed, you can never go back, you will never be the way you were before. Christianity is not an adventure [technically], but a quest.)

Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis, 139-157; 494-501