These Sandals Are Made for Walking
Genesis 12:1–4
March 12, 2017
Second Sunday of Lent
L OOKING IN OUR “LENT IN A BAG” this morning we find . . . sandals. Well, actually flip-flops. Flip-flops are very common footwear in our part of the world. Now I wouldn’t set out on a long trip wearing such flimsy footwear, perhaps a better symbol would be hiking boots, but they represent for us this week the image of walking, traveling, of being on the move.
Abram and Sarai (I can’t remember to call them that all sermon long so I’m going to use their more familiar names Abraham and Sarah.) Abraham hears the message to hit the road. Not like a prodigal leaving home. Not like Eve and Adam cast from the Garden. Not like the exiles force-marched to Babylon. Abraham hears the voice of God. “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”
God calls Abraham and Sarah to leave a settled place and become migrants. Many today hear the call to leave that same region — Syria — because of war, poverty, illness, famine. They make a similar journey from what they know to become strangers, aliens, not knowing where they will wind up — Lebanon, Europe, Canada.
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ABRAHAM AND SARAH’S JOURNEY from Haran is a long one. Like refugees and migrants today, their safe passage depends upon the hospitality of the people they meet along the way. It’s not a quick, safe or easy trip. Famine forces them to spend time in Egypt.
Abraham and Sarah are wealthy migrants. Even so, their wealth does not keep them from being vulnerable. Abraham passes off Sarah as his sister (there is some evidence they are half-siblings) and she is taken into the pharaoh’s harem. We may be quick to judge Abram for selling his wife to save his own skin, but these kinds of awful choices and very real choices migrants and refugees face to survive, even today. We who are “settled” must evaluate our own practices of hospitality to all who are vulnerable.
God unsettles Abraham and Sarah, both literally and figuratively. Living as people who are “called” can be “unsettling.” For them it required a physical change, but also a spiritual reorientation. God’s promises do not spare Abraham and his family from danger, desperation, jealousy, heartbreak or grief. In fact, the call itself even brings about loss of things and people held dear in the past. Yet our reading reminds us that Sarah and Abraham’s journey is not about what they are doing, but what God is doing.
So how does Abraham respond? We read in verse 4 that Abraham went. We would probably say that Abraham talked with Sarah, packed their bags, gathered the servants and livestock and went. The story says he went. God called. Abraham went. Oh, yes, and then we’re told he took his family and belongings with him. Denotes no hesitation. No deliberation. No debate. God called. Abraham went.
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THESE FEW VERSES SPEAK a powerful word today in those instances when we are called to leave all that is known behind; to give up all our comforts and securities; to depart on a journey without a map. Be aware this may not be a physical journey, but a spiritual one. This journey might be of the heart and mind even though you still live in the same house and work the same job. The journey may be long, sometimes much longer than we might think or want. It is a journey with many ups and downs, many joys and sorrows. But it is journey filled with many promises — the most important — the promise of God’s presence to show us the way.
But we confess that we are comfortable. God said, “Leave home. Say goodbye to all that is familiar. Wander without a map until I tell you otherwise.” Meanwhile, we idolize home ownership and patriotism.
“Leave behind those thoughts and ways and biases.” Meanwhile, we idolize our dogmas.
“Leave the way you’ve always done things.” But we’re fine with the way we do things in church, where we sit.
“Leave behind your prejudices,” even while we don’t trust of those who lack a history among us.
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ABRAHAM ACTED WHOLEHEARTEDLY but without absolute certainty. We demand certainty and act timidly. We confess that we are comfortable. God’s call upon Abraham’s life is a call that’s repeated to each one of us today. It’s a call to move beyond three very human, powerful and deep-seated fears:
● fear of the unknown that we can’t control
● fear of others who are different from us
● fear of powerlessness.
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LENT, THEN, IS NOT MERELY ABOUT giving up chocolate, or Facebook, or alcohol. Let us give up fear. Fear of change. Fear of new ideas. Fear of other people, strangers in our midst. Fear of going where God is calling.
Our ultimate journey is to move from a heart curved in on itself to an openness to the love of God, a love for others, and a love for all God’s world. That journey isn’t over quickly. A season of Lent will not bring you to your journey’s end. It lasts a lifetime.
— Keith Cardwell
