A final reflection on Genesis 13

Sometimes church life seems to be subject to the same power struggles as any other organisations. We get caught up with our own progression, our own ministry, our own position, our own preferences and our own agenda. There is a fight to assert ourselves firmly in the driving seat and for the church to bear our mark. I wonder if we forget what the promise is really about? Do we lose sight of what the Kingdom is? What is it we are trying to control? How important are the battles we are trying to fight? Do they really impact on the coming of a Kingdom where God is recognised as God, the poor are clothed, the hungry fed, the broken hearted healed, the captive set free, the lonely befriended and the whole world blessed because of who we are? Do our preferences about music, hymn books, structure, dress and all the other things that we fight about really have anything at all to do with the promise? Is God not looking for a worshiping people who are working to see the world bear His mark again? A world where love triumphs over cultural differences.

Abram did not let the decision that he and Lot faced overshadow the promise. He didn't fight to assert his preference over which ways they would go. His concern was with the promise and his faith was in God to deliver it. He didn't need to fight this battle. He recognised that this decision was irrelevant in terms of the realisation of God’s promise. How often do we take the courage to follow Abram in letting go? Do we return to the promise and assess whether the battles we are fighting are really worth it? What is it we are hoping for; a social club that ticks our boxes or a Kingdom that blesses the world? Divest your emotions from the irrelevant.

Genesis 13: 4-18

Perhaps more than any other generations before us and more than most of the world around us, we struggle with the question of what to do with our lives. Opportunity abounds. Doctor? teacher? Engineer? Artist? Economist? Management consultant? Banker? Aid worker? Church worker? We are quite obsessed with the question of what to do with ourselves. As a result there are endless books on discovering God's will, guidance, how to hear the Spirit's leading. Many are very helpful and full of good advice. There is however something extremely refreshing about this passage. It starts with Abram calling on the name of the Lord, as he stumbles on the alter he had built earlier in his journey. This reminds us that Abram was and is a worshipper. His life is a response to God. He is training his eyes to look upward in his daily life. He walks with God and for God. This pattern of life prepares Abram's heart for the big decisions.

In chapter 13 we hit one of those decision points for Abram. He has so much wealth that it is starting to create trouble in the group. Lot was a brother and Abram didn't want his camp to be disturbed by such quarreling amongst family. You would think that Abram would have been preparing for some serious negotiations with Lot and strategising about how he could get the best deal for himself. The land was, after all, promised to him and not Lot. You can imagine the tension Abram must have been feeling - 'what if I get this decision wrong'. 'What if I miss out on God's will and choose the wrong part of the land for myself'. What if...what if... Sound familiar?

Surprisingly the text shows no tension in Abram. Instead it appears Abram's confidence is not in his ability to make the right decisions but rather in the promise of God. Abram's faith is in God and not in his own ability to apply the right guidance formula to his situation. He is so confident in the promise of God that he allows Lot to chose which part of the land he wants. "You choose Lot, you go left and I'll go right, you go right and I'll go left...whichever way I go God's promise will prevail"

So perhaps we need to stop worrying about whether we've heard right or whether we've correctly followed the steps from the latest book. Lets worship and move forward.

Interestingly in this passage, God spoke to Abram after he had moved on and not before. The reassurance of the promise came when Lot had sailed off into the distance.

The chapter ends with Abram building an alter. It is the third time in the passage that Abram has taken time to focus in on God and to place him firmly at the centre of his life. A rhythm is emerging, a rhythm that we should work at adopting.

A final thought - when we talk of promises in the Church today, it often relates to those individual words that are about our personal lives. The promise Abram held onto was a promise for a nation, a people that would bless all people. I'm keen as I read the scriptures to really discover what it is that God has promised to the New Testament church. What are promises that we should really be hanging our lives on. What are things that are about more than just me. What can I really be confident of.

Genesis 13: 1-3

The opening scene of chapter 13 paints a powerful portrait of repentance. Abraham returns to the place he had been earlier. He had taken a detour that nearly cost him everything. He had looked for provision for his needs outside of the promise of God. Abraham was now retracing his steps asking himself carefully where he had gone wrong. There must have been a great deal of wisdom in journeying to Egypt. On the face of it any sensible man would surely take his family away from the famine to the land of plenty. The case for the journey was compelling and Abraham submitted to its wisdom.

This pattern was one that would hinder the line of Abraham over and over again in the generations that would follow him. Israel repeatedly lost confidence in the promise and looked to the surrounding nations as allies. When testing times came the temptation was to lose sight of God. Where is God? He seems distant! He doesn't seem real in our present situation! Who else can help?

God's requirement of us is faith. To believe him. To believe that the Kingdom he promised to Abraham is the only Kingdom worth belonging to. To trust that he has, is and will build that Kingdom. However attractive the other Kingdoms look, their foundations are shallow and crumbling, and their high walls are deceptive. No doubt today we will face the same temptation as Abraham and his descendants. We will wonder where God's Kingdom is, we'll question the promise, we'll feel the draw of materialism, fame, power, pleasure. They will beckon to us to come and be satisfied now. We'll find ways to meet our needs with substitutes when we lose faith in the promise. We will run to Egypt.

All of this boils down to the breaking of the first command. We lose faith in God and look to something else for provision, rescue, reward. We stop believing that God is enough and our faith shifts onto other things. They become our god. We hope they will deliver us from our struggles, we hope they will satisfy our deepest needs, we think they have power to save. We all have gods. We all are hoping in something. Faith in Yahweh is always tested. Famine comes. Trouble comes. Disappointment comes. Life tests the promise. Every story in scripture is marked by this pattern. Faith holds onto the promise even when everything around you is screaming out to let go. Faith doesn’t run to Egypt when the famine comes.

So what does chapter 13 verses 1-3 offer? It offers grace. It recognises that along the journey we sometimes do run to Egypt. We sometimes do fall into idolatry. We sometimes fail. However Abraham retraced his steps. He walked back along way he came and he rediscovered the place in his journey where he had taken the detour. He repented.

I like the thought that he went back to where he had come from. Sometimes repentance is sold as emotional response to the bad things we’ve done. We say sorry, we cry, we get up, we carry on. Sometimes that’s ok but sometimes it probably means something more. What will it mean for us to journey back to the road we left. How can we find the path we were once walking but that we have since departed from. What steps must we take to get back there? Don’t mistake these questions as a call for penance. I’m not suggesting you can pay for your mistakes to appease God. Grace had already come to Abraham. Pharaoh had already released and blessed him. God had already intervened. The journey back is more about rediscovering the promise and revitalising your hope.