Last week (Nov 7th) I had the opportunity to preach during a revival service at my church. The heart of my sermon was a story told in Genesis 15, which I find to be one of the most moving stories in the Bible.
This is the outline I used while
preaching
Intro
Ø
I
LOVE TO FLY
v
SCRIPTURE
ONE
v
God Initiates
v
God calls, we believe
TWO
v
God Commands, we jump
Ø
The
difference between point one and two
Ø
James,
clean your room
Ø
Walking
through the pieces
THREE
v
SHORT
POINT
Ø
My
third point is easy for us…
Ø
GOD does all the work…we are blessed
CONCLUSION
Ø
God initiates the Call…all we have to do
is believe
Ø
God initiates the Command…we have to jump
Ø
God does all the work…We are blessed
v
A
Couple Bible stories
Ø
John
21:4-10
Ø
Mark
10:46-52
Ø
Luke
5:21-26
Ø
Genesis
22:1-12
This is basically the sermon (although I ad-libbed "a bunch")…
Intro
Ø
I
Love to fly
When
I was a kid I loved to fly. I would get
one of Mom’s good towels. Tie it around
my neck and drag it around in the dirt behind me. Three were three trees in our yard that were
perfect for a take off, and I would climb these trees and jump. I flew around the yard, around the city, and around
the world. I loved to fly.
But…one
day. I don’t know why it happened, but with
out reason I never wore a cape again, and eventually I forgot how to fly.
Somewhere
I lost my ability to see, and I forgot how to fly.
I
realized…there is no Superman. Flying is
a childhood fantasy. I was just being
silly
But
back when I flew… I felt alive. When I
was flying, I heard a voice deep inside.
It was warm and inviting. It was
wild and dangerous. It pushed me to
risk, and it spurned curiosity. The
playful voice I heard was God. And when
I put down my cape, if was the first time that I hinderers my ability to hear
God
Ø
MY
CHILDREN
Now I am a
father and let me share with you what my children bring to the table…
Danger, risk,
playfulness, curiosity, wild, irresponsibility, terror, naivety, and childlike
faith.
Ø
SCRIPTURE
Genesis
15:7-21
4 Now
the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one
who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
5 He
took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are
able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that
numerous.”
6 Abram
believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am
Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to
possess.”
8 But he said, “Lord God, how
can I know that I will possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring Me a
three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a
turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 So he brought all these to
Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but
he did not cut up the birds.
11 Birds of prey came down on
the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, a
deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on
him.
13 Then the Lord said to
Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that
does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed[a]
400 years.
14 However, I will judge the
nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. 15 But you will go to your
fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
16 In the fourth generation
they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its
full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and it
was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between
the divided animals. 18 On
that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your
offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River:[c]
19 the land of the Kenites,
Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites,
Perizzites, Rephaim, 21 Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
ONE
v
God Inititates
In verse 4 it says the word
of the Lord came to Abraham. We need to
recognize that God calls and seeks out Abraham.
He initiates. This is the way God
works. He initiates relationship with His people. He initiates relationship with you.
- This is the same caring God who sweeps the house looking for His lost coin,
- the same loving Father who runs and embraces His prodigal son
- the same compassionate shepherd who leaves behind the 99 to find His 1
- this is the same God who is always actively and passionately pursuing relationship with His people. pursuing relationship with you!
We do not jump ahead
It does not say God calls and we make a
plan, create a list, and get to work. At
this point we just believe. There is no
action in God call. God simple tells us
that he is going to do something, and we need to believe it.
If you know the story, later
on Abraham does sin, jump ahead of God, and get to work trying to fulfill God’s
promise. He begins to doubt God’s
promise. The son God promised had not
come and his wife is barren, so he sleeps with his wife’s slave in order to
fulfill God’s promise. He has a son
named Ishmael. This sin of taking
matters in his own hands causes strife in his marriage, and his son Ishmael
lives in hostility with everyone.
Genesis 16:12
says about Ishmael: He
will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and
everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
The whole process was pointless because
God, of course, does what He said and Abraham has another son, (the one He
planed on giving Abraham) Isaac, who the promise is fulfilled through. So later on Abraham is sinful, but here in
Genesis 15 he correctly believes and waits on the Lord.
So... God
calls…We believe
TWO
God Commands, we jump
v
THE DIFFERENCE BEWTEEN POINT ONE AND TWO
The second part of the sermon is “God
Commands, we jump”. Let me give the difference between the first point “God
calls” and the second “God Commands”.
“God Calls”
is without direction
“I will bless
you”
“I will put you
in ministry”
“I am going to
move in you”
“I will make a
nation of you”
“God
Commands” is with direction”
“Pursue Youth
ministry”
“I’m calling you
to help the poor”
“You will be
going to seminary”
“You will sing
at church”
This is where we
get stuck.
God calls us “without action”, and
we believe and wait on the Lord.
Then God commands us “With
action”, and we believe and wait on the Lord some more.
Ø
Story
about James cleaning his room
If God is calling you to
youth ministry…then jump
If God is calling you to help
the poor. Then jump…go do it!
If God says you will be going
to seminary. Don’t wait. Jump!
Go get some applications.
If God says you will sing a song at
church, then don’t wait on Him to tell you which song. Just jump-pick your song-practice your song-
and go sing. (maybe he will pick your
song along the way, maybe not)
Ø
Imagine
that I tell my son to go and clean his room.
He says “yes sir” and walks out of the room. A couple hours later I check on him and the
room is still a mess.
“Did you hear what I asked
you to do?”
“Yes, sir. You said “James, go clean your room”, and I
sat down and worked to memorize you words” Next I took some time to ponder the
words, and what your words meant not just when you told me, but also now, here,
in my room, an hour later. Then I got my
two brothers and my sister and we sat in a circle talked about your words. And we studied you words and what they mean. And then we thought what a great clean room
it all of us would live out the words you spoke.”
Ø
Do
you think I would let my son get away with that? Then what makes us think God will?
When God commands us, we jump. When He gives us a small piece. We do not contemplate the piece. We don’t beg for the rest of it. We act on the piece. Even if it is…
Dangerous, Risky, Even if we don’t have
the money to do it, Even if it makes no sense
v
WALKING THROUGH THE PIECES
God gives Abraham a command to begin a
ceremony which is in Hebrew is called the “diatheke”, but we will call it
“walking through the pieces”.
Abraham recognized the ceremony God was
asking his to do. It was a known
practice of that area and region. You
will notice in the passage that God did not give Abraham instruction. Abraham seemed to know what he was supposed
to do
The purpose of this ceremony was to seal
a covenant between to parties. It was
often done to seal the terms of a treaty between countries. It was used to agree on the resetting of
borderlines after a war.
But the most common use of the ceremony
was between the fathers of two families whose children were marrying. The Fathers would make a very serious vow
between them, and the breaking of the vow had equally serious
consequences. Lesser of the two parties
(the brides father) would place a cow, a goat, a ram on the ground. The Lesser of the two would cut the cow was
cut in half. Half of the carcass was
placed on one side, and the other half was placed on the other. The same was done with the goat and the
ram. As blood would drain from the
animals a large puddle would form between the pieces. The greater of the two men (the grooms
father) would walk barefooted stomping between the pieces. With this act he promised that his son would
be an honorable husband-not abusive, lazy, or dishonest. Then the lesser of the two (the brides
father) would stomp barefooted through the pieces. His action promised that his daughter was a
virgin and she would make would a proper wife.
This blood ritual sealed that if either the groom or the bride was not
blameless; the Father would pay with his life.
“If my child is not a proper spouse may I become like these animals”.
So God made a promise to Abraham
Abraham believed but asked
for proof
God told Abraham to set up
the “walking through the pieces” ceremony
It is no shock why in verse Genesis 15:12
“a great terror and darkness” came over him.
God was asking Him to make a vow.
God would give him a son. God
would make a nation through him, But…if he could not walk before God
blameless…if his children could not live lives of obedience then he (Abraham)
would be torn apart like these animals.
So the lesser (Abraham) cuts apart the
animals, and lays them on opposite side.
The blood drains and puddles in the middle. As then the greater of the two (God) in an
image of a smoking pot walks through the pieces, walked through the blood. “If I do not keep my side of the covenant
then may I (God) be torn to pieces like these animals”.
And then it was Abraham’s turn.
He was to walk between the pieces sealing
the covenant, vowing that he would be obedient and blameless before God, and if
he did not then he would be ripped apart like these animals. Then…
God stepped in. and he took the position of the lesser of the
two. and a second time, this time in the image of a torch, He walked through
the pieces. He walked through the blood,
“If Abraham or any of his descendants I will give him ever disobey me. May I be torn to pieces like the animals”.
And it is at that moment God sentences
His son to death.
THREE
v
SHORT
POINT
Ø
My
third point is easy for us…
GOD does all the work…we are blessed
CONCLUSION
Ø
God
initiates the Call…all we have to do is believe
Ø
God
initiates the Command…we have to jump
Ø
God
does all the work…We are blessed
When God give us a command with any bit
of direction we JUMP
Remember at the beginning when I
mentioned what attributes my kids bring to the table.
v
A Couple Bible stories
I’m
going to close with a couple Bible stories of people reacting to God’s
command. I want to you listen, but also
look at the screen and see when people appropriately handle God’s call do they
use column A or B.
Column A
v
Danger
v
Risk
v
Playfulness
v
Curiosity
v
Wild
v
Irresponsibility
v
Terror.
Column B
v
A
pros and cons list
v
Check
your budget
v
Did
God really say that?
v
Maybe
I should thank about it
v
This
doesn’t make sense
v
John
21:4-10
v
The
disciples are out fishing after the crucifixion. Jesus is at shore and calls to them. Peter immediately throws himself into the
water and swims to Christ
v
Mark
10:46-52
v
Jesus
calls a Blind man. The Blind man stops
acting like a blind man. He leaps,
throws his coat, and runs to Christ.
v
Luke
5:21-26
v
Jesus
tells a paralyzed man you are healed.
The man “without hesitation, jumps up and obeys Christ”
v
Genesis
22:1-12
v
Abraham
is told to take his only son up on the mountain and sacrifice him. Abraham does what he is told without
hesitation. An angel stops him at the
last second.
