A Lot Like Abraham

God Calls

Lately in prayer, I have heard the Lord calling me. The way He calls me reminds me a lot of the call of Abraham. We even heard about Abraham’s call in one of the readings during Holy Mass this Lent. It is God calling us to get up and go wherever He leads, even to the ends of the earth.

The Lord asks a lot out of Abraham. It would include an extraordinary move of “your country and your kindred and your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

In the spiritual life, does not God call us out of the comfortable land where we live? We may not be leaving our country and kindred (though many do), but we may be leaving the familiar, what is comfortable, and our “normal.” Maybe it is a warm bed, hot chocolate, or a nice TV show. Maybe it is praying at our convenience, and according to our ease.

But then, God calls us like Abraham to give up those things we are familiar with.

Oh, how hard it is to get out of that warm bed! You know that feeling especially when you have to get up for work. And losing hot chocolate! What of that nice chocolatey taste and the warmth that goes down your throat and to your tummy? And the TV show. How hard it is to tear your eyes from the screen, all so that you can focus on what God is telling you.

And we are left with a choice. To stay where we are comfortable; where we grew up; where life is easier. Or, we can get up and go to this strange new land. We do not know what will be in the strange new land. Only God is the one leading us there.

God’s Gift

Yet God does not just call us. He gives us a gift—a promise. In fact, He does more than promise Himself. He makes a covenant with us; A covenant is a total exchange of self to another. God invites Abraham into his covenant and Abraham responds.

God gives Abraham a three-fold promise. They include a “great nation, a great name, and worldwide blessing.” (The Great Adventure Bible, “Significance:” The Plan of Salvation, pg. 33).

The promise of a great nation is the promise of numerous descendants. So, acting like Abraham, we take on this promise and God makes us great with numerous fruit from our gifts and virtues. The promise of a great name is partially fulfilled with the rule of David (Great Adventure Bible “Significance:” The Plan of Salvation, pg. 34) but fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Abraham has a great name—we think of the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. David is definitely great as a king of Israel who is after God’s own heart. And of course, there is the Name of Jesus, to which all will bow down before Him (Philippians 2:10). So, the Lord will make our names great; for they “are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Then, there is the promise of worldwide blessing; a blessing that we get to have this very day.

After all that God has promised and all that God requires of Abraham, Abraham hardly gets to see any of the results. He sees no nation, has a name that is hardly known, and he sees no blessing to the whole world.

God is Humility

What, then, is so great about all of these blessings that really will not be fulfilled until Jesus Christ? This is where the season of Lent fits perfectly, for it is a time for humility.

Lent is indeed a time to be meek and humble. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). Abraham is giving us a perfect image of humility. That is, his whole life’s work; the promise that God gave, is never seen by Abraham on his deathbed. Can we live life and prepare for death with humility? A humility that does not seek recognition of this life. A humility in which you know that God is with you and has given you outstanding gifts to use, but you do not get to see all of the fruit of those gifts in this lifetime.

But wait! There is more to Abraham’s story!

Abraham is not totally without hope of God’s promise. He is given a son by his wife Sarah, Isaac. With Isaac, Abraham gets a glimpse of his numerous descendants, and Abraham understands that he is given a new name (as he was first called Abram). The whole world is blessed by Abraham, but the world does not know it yet.

Sometimes, God gives us “Isaac moments.” When we get to see the fruit of our work and prayer with the knowledge that this is something great and something that may grow past our lifetimes. But “Isaac moments” also mean that we are willing to give back what was given to us. We see this when Abraham is going to sacrifice Isaac at the Lord’s command. We must be willing to sacrifice all things. God may request us to give Him everything, but that does not mean He will take everything, as shown by the classic tale of Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac and God’s halting the sacrifice.

God Calls

But wait, again! There is still more to Abraham’s story.

If the covenant that God made with Abraham is true, then it is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. If I am a lot like Abraham, then I hope that I am a lot like Jesus. Human. Sealed with the waters of Baptism. I think of how Isaac carried the wood for his sacrifice up the hill with Abraham. I think of Jesus and how He saves me by the cross. Jesus has made a whole nation; the whole of Israel and the extension of Israel to the Gentiles. God gave Jesus a great Name; one that is so holy, we dare not use it in vain. Jesus receives worldwide blessing and He gives that blessing to the whole world when He commands us to go proclaim His Name to the ends of the earth.

Let us go forth from our comforts and familiarity and follow God the way Abraham did. We may not see the fruit of our labors. It is a state in which evil will “have no power over me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:1). We are given “an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves. So Abraham went, as the Lord had told him (Genesis 12:1-4).

Now the Lord says to you: Go forth from your comforts, your normal, and your ease to a place that I will show you. And I will make of you a royal by the King of Kings. And I will bless you, and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by your prayers, all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.

So you go, as the Lord has told you.