Genesis 12:1-7 (4/4) 1st Reading at Vespers on Friday of the 4th Week of the Great Fast
The Patriarch Abraham I ~ Call and Promise: Genesis 12:1-7, especially vss. 1, 2: “And the Lord said to Abram, Go forth out of thy land and out of thy kindred, and out of the house of thy father, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. And I will make thee a great nation.” With this present reading from Genesis, we begin a series of five weekday lessons concerning the Patriarch Abraham, the standard and shining example of faith. In these readings we may observe the faith of Abraham, a faith that obeys God although uncertain of the outcome, a faith that is open to whatever God wills, a faith that discovers God’s faithfulness, a faith willing to make change deep within one’s self, and a faith that trusts God without reservation.
Beloved, honor this man; for, having only the barest grasp of what was implied in the call he received, he obeyed God. He left a well-known life for a vaguely defined outcome, a result stated in generalities. And keep in mind: open-ended obedience to God’s call is the nature of genuine faith. First, one obeys, and only afterwards, may one grasp what God intended all along. Faith is stepping into the unknown in order to learn and experience directly the mind of God. True faith, of the sort that Abram reveals, continues to believe in God through the years filled with contradictions. Faith trusts God for the outcomes He promises.
God certainly makes impressive promises to those whom He calls to serve Him. In Abram’s case, the Lord said, “I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless those that bless thee, and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed” (vss. 2,3). These promises of God are magnificent, yet the content of the words is not specifically measurable, tangible, or defined. Faith means acting obediently, with open-ended trust in God, not knowing the outcome.
God’s call confronts every Orthodox Christian similarly. His call is majestically stated to all the Faithful in the inspiring promises of the Baptismal Mystery. Therein, God assures each one who presents himself for Holy Baptism that he shall “find life,” be inscribed in God’s “Book of Life,” be united to the “flock of [God’s] inheritance,” be regarded by God “with mercy,” be heard in “his supplication,” and enabled “to rejoice in the works of his hands and in all his generation.” Note that the words are suggestive, but not specific. A Christian obeys in faith and only later discovers the details of what God promises.
The life in Christ is a series of choices and actions undertaken after the manner of Abram. It is a “journey” away from the measurable and familiar toward new “life.” One learns this life through sustained obedience through the years. God establishes His priorities, and these detach the Faithful from elevating family, property, friends, career, or pleasure into absolutes for living.
The Baptismal Liturgy outlines both what to expect as outcomes as well as the route to this “inheritance.” We anticipate more illumination from the Holy Spirit. We expect to defeat “every snare of enemies...visible and invisible;” but we know that we have to prove ourselves as children of the Light, to “partake of the death and resurrection” of Christ through choices, to accept God’s direction at every turn along the way, always obeying His commandments.
From the call of God to the fulfillment of His promises, Abram’s experience teaches one to expect contradictions. Arriving in the Promised Land, “Abram traversed the land” (vs. 6), but only to discover that it was occupied. The “life” we are promised in Baptism is only partially realized in our present existence. “This life” is inhabited with cares and riches ready to snare us and to choke out God’s “life.” Expect contradictions, but keep trusting God - He is true life!
May we live the remainder of our life undefiled before Thy face, and worthily hymn Thee.
