SEQUELS AND REMAKES

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 3^rd wife --- or his 2^nd 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).

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