Blogging Genesis 11:10-12:6
31 And
Terah took his son Abram and his
grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s
wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt
there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years,
and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis
11:31-32 )
. . . 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot
his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the
people whom they had acquired in Haran, and
they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. (Genesis 12: 5)
You are not an
original.
Yeah, I know what we say, but it’s not true. You and I and all of us are UNIQUE. But none of our
stories is truly
ORIGINAL. We are all living remakes and sequels.
For example: you know
the story of Abraham, right? Abraham is
THE patriarch. The common ancestor of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
But Abraham wasn’t a Muslim, a Christian, or a Jew; at least
not at first. At first, his name wasn’t
even Abraham.
Abram (that’s what his daddy named him) was a native of what
we know as Syria. The irony of the Israeli
patriarch being an ethnic Syrian wasn’t lost on God, and God didn’t want the
Jews to forget it either. That’s why the
Old Testament liturgies include a responsive reading with these directions: And you shall answer and say before the
Lord your God: ‘My father was a Syrian, about
to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there
he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. (Deuteronomy 26:5)
The story of the great patriarch Abraham begins when God
spoke to Abraham/Abram and said, “Get out
of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that
I will show you. I will make you a great
nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will
curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
But originally ------ God didn’t call Abraham out of Syria
and into the Promised Land. Originally, God called Abraham’s dad.
And Terah took his son
Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai,
his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to
go to the land of Canaan . . . (Genesis 11:31a)
Terah had an idea, a goal which he may or may not have
recognized for what it was: a call to his family’s Divine purpose. Still, Father Terah pursued his calling.
But he didn’t make it.
A lay-over in Haran (Turkey) turned into a long-term stay,
and Terah died there (Genesis 11:31-32).
Years later, when God
called Abraham to the Promised Land, the son would have known he was finishing
the journey that his father had begun.
The plan God is working out didn’t begin with us. Each of our stories is a continuation of the stories that have
already been told in the lives of our parents and predecessors. The episode before ours may be a story of
triumph. Your parents may have been
great, godly, loving people who taught you everything you needed to succeed and
blessed you with an honorable legacy. Or, maybe your parents lived a tragic comedy.
Maybe your childhood was so sad that it was funny. Even when the parents knows what they're supposed to do, sometimes they don't make it.
Whether your ancestors led you in the right direction or
left you stranded in a bad place, listen to what God says. The journey is yours now.
Listen. God is speaking
to you now.
Listen. God wants you
to complete or to correct your family’s course.
Listen. God knows
where you’re coming from, but He has a plan to direct your part of the story
into legacy of greatness.
Listen to God’s Word and God’s Spirit. And remember that your story isn’t the whole
story.
Abraham had 8 children: Ishmael, Isaac, and 6 sons by his 3rd
wife --- or his 2nd concubine, depending on how you count (Genesis 16:15; 21:3; 25:1). Eight kids is a nice-sized family, but it isn’t
a great nation. It took 2 generations after Abraham to even get the
name Israel. The promises of Abraham began BEFORE Abraham
and were most fully achieved AFTER Abraham.
Jesus hasn’t come back yet, and the world hasn’t ended,
which means that the story, the series of stories that is God’s plan isn’t
finished. Live your story right. Live your story well. Make sure that the next generation can pick
up from a better place than you did.
And may the Lord give you grace to watch your children and
successors take the story on to greater promises.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T.
Graves II is pastor of
Miles Chapel CME Church in
Fairfield, Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth
Networking Organization
(SAYNO); and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
You can help support
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Support by check or
money order may be mailed to
Miles Chapel CME
Church
P O Box 132
Fairfield, Al 35064
