Leave Everything

I imagine it was another hot afternoon. Probably a lot like any other summer afternoon. How long had it been? 40? 50? 60 years? Abram was 75 years old and he had been tending and watching over the family flocks his entire life. He had learned how to round up a flock of sheep before he could even tie his own sandals. Now in his old age, his sight wasn't what it used to be, but he could still spot a hungry wolf long before it was close enough to make dinner out of one of his sheep. Abram's weather worn skin had turned a deep bronze from his endless days in the fields. A hint of arthritis had begun to set into his calloused hands, but he still had the strength to grip his staff. As he leaned on his old friend he watched the setting sun once again paint its masterpiece across the evening sky. It was a beautiful sight, but it was one that he had seen more times then he could remember. His father had moved the family here decades ago and by now Abram knew every tree, every stone, every hill, and every little stream that wound its way through the endless pastures. As the last rays of the setting sun disappeared over horizon, Abram cupped his hands around his mouth and began to call the heard home for the night. "Abram," he spun around and looked in every direction, but there was nobody there. It was just him and the sheep for miles and miles around. Maybe it was just the wind playing tricks on him as it blew through the nearby trees. So he cupped his hands around his mouth and started to call home his sheep. "Abram", the voice called again. "Where was that coming from?" Abram thought to himself. Maybe the endless hours in the summer sun were finally getting to him and he was hearing voices. Once more he brought his weatherworn hands to his mouth."Abram," this time there was no mistaking it, someone was definitely calling his name, but who? He knew beyond any doubt that there was no one around for miles. Even if someone had tried to sneak up on him, the land was flat and there was nowhere to hide from watchful eyes, he would have spotted an intruder immediately. Where was the voice coming from? He decided to try one more time. "Abram." A chill ran up and down his spine as the answer finally dawned on him. It was God. Abram froze, and listened. "Abram, leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." Needless to say, like anyone else who hears the voice of God, Abram was left speechless. Then the questions started rolling through his mind. Why was God talking to him? Did He say go? Go where? When? For how long? How am I supposed to get there? Why should I even go? I'm sure Abram didn't know what to think, let alone what do say. He loved this place. It was home. He was comfortable here. His family was happy. They were prosperous. Why go anywhere else? Besides, he had lived in only one other place his entire life, and the only reason he had left there was because his father had decided to move the family. So, even if he did want to leave, he didn't have any idea where he would, or could go. I've got to think that Abram wasn't just anxious, he was probably scared out of his mind. I know I would be if I were standing out in the middle of nowhere and I suddenly heard the voice of God talking to me. I'd be even more scared if He told me, in no uncertain terms, to pack up and leave everything and everyone I had ever known. But that is exactly what God was calling Abram to do. And I think what probably made him even more scared was that he had to tell his wife.

Sarai had married Abram before the move and she had joined his family in their long trek across the desert to their new homeland. That had been years and years ago, and she was finally beginning to feel like this place was home. She was comfortable here, she felt safe. And besides, like Abram himself, she was getting up there in age. She was a loving and faithful wife, but Abram knew that she would have no interest in moving. If she didn't laugh in his face immediately, then he would certainly be spending a few nights outside sleeping with the camels just for suggesting such a ridiculous idea. But despite his fear, and his total lack of desire to spend a night bunking with the livestock, Abram gathered up all his courage and decided that he had to tell his wife.

The sheep finally came running faithfully to the familiar sound of their master's call. As Abram and the sheep made their long trek home, his mind must have been reeling trying to figure out exactly how he would break this news to his wife. What would he say? Should he just come out and say it: "So, honey I talked to God today." No, that was too weird. How about: "The craziest thing happened today while I was out with the sheep." No, she'd think he had lost it for sure. Maybe he would just slip it in while she was filling him in on the daily gossip: "Oh by the way, God says we've got to pick up and leave town." No, that wouldn't work either.

I'm sure he played out thousands of scenarios before he finally made it home, but of course none of them worked, at least not in his head. What would he say? How would he say it? As he put the sheep away in their pen and fretted over what he was going to say to Sarai, I wonder if he didn't look over at the camels tied up to their post and worry about whether or not he would be joining them for the night as he. Finally, the moment came for Abram to walk into the tent and face his wife. His heart was pounding like a teenage boy about to ask out the most beautiful girl in school, but who knew the odds of success weren't good. As he walked through the tent doors, there was Sarai waiting to greet him with the one question he had been dreading the whole way home: "How was your day, honey?" "Good," his voiced quivering in fear. "Anything interesting happen today?" She had to ask. "Yeah, you could say that." "Oh really, did you lose another sheep?" "Well, not exactly." "Well then, what happened?" "Well you see…" Abram fumbled through his words desperately trying to find the right thing to say, anything for that matter. "God talked to me today." "Who?!" "God." "Oh really, and did you tell Him that I said hello?" "No, but He said that we have to leave." "So we're going on vacation? Great! Where to?" "It's not vacation, and I don't exactly where we’re going." There was a long pause as Sarai contemplated her husband's words trying to decide whether or not to have him locked up. Finally, she said "So, God told you that we have to leave, but He didn't tell you where to go?" "No." "Hmm, are you sure it was God?" "Yes." Another long pause as Sarai looked long and hard at her husband, although he was sure that she was looking back and forth between him and the camels outside wondering whether or not she should send him out there to join them. "How long do we have to go for?" she finally asked. Abram hesitated: "I think its permanent."

As anxious as I'm sure that Abram was, I think that once Sarai heard the news, she was just as nervous. Remember she had already left everything and everyone she had ever known behind when she married Abram and followed him and his family to this place, and now God was supposedly calling them to pick up once again and, once again, leave everything and everyone they knew behind. Why couldn't they just stay where they were and serve Him there? They were at home, they were comfortable, they felt safe, they had everything they needed. Couldn't they just stay here and serve God here? Why did they have to leave everything behind?

Like their grandson Jacob would do years later, I image that Abram and Sarai wrestled long and hard with God's words to them. God was calling them to give up everything and put their trust completely in Him. But could they do it? Could they put their faith completely in this God they didn't know? They had everything they thought they needed in life right there at home, could they really trust this God to provide for their needs?

Finally, after much debate, anxious tears, and contemplative silence Sarai spoke: "When do we have to leave?" As you might imagine Abram's jaw hit the floor. Did she just say what he thought she said? Did she really believe him, was she serious, or was she just messing with him and he was still going to sleep with the camels? But he knew his wife well, and he could tell from the look in her eyes that she was sincere. So, on faith, Abram and Sarai packed up everything that they had, they said goodbye to everyone they knew, and together they went. They didn't know where their next meal would be come from, or exactly where they were going, but they did know Who went with them.

How would you feel if God spoke to you? What would you say? What would you do? Keep in mind that when God spoke to Abram it was the first time that he had ever heard from God. He was only Abram at this point, not the great Abraham, pillar of the faith, and father of many nations. He was just a guy, watching over the family herds and just trying to make it through life. So that momentous day when God first spoke to Abram, and told him to pack up and leave everything and everyone he had ever known I find it difficult to believe that he stood fearless before God and said "Speak Lord for your servant is listening and ready to obey." That would be a wonderful image, and although scripture doesn't specifically say it, I've got to imagine that he was probably pretty scared. I mean, this was the God of the universe, Creator of everything in existence; all Abram knew of Him were old stories passed down about a garden, a boat and a flood. Why had God chosen him? Any yet He had. But maybe what was so difficult for Abram and his wife, was not the fact that God had chosen him, but that the call was so difficult to answer. It was a call to trust in this God that neither of them had ever spoken to before, and to give him everything they had and leave everyone they knew and follow Him into the great unknown. But despite their fear and anxiety Abram and Sarai decided to trust in this God and they went.

Has God ever spoken to you before? What did He say to you? What did you say to Him? I remember when I first felt the call to ministry. It was at Extravaganza, a teen competition for the Tennessee District Church of the Nazarene and I was in middle school. That night I was with everybody else at the Bryan White and Justice concert. I can't remember a song they played, but I'll never forget that name: Bryan White and Justice. What great name for a 90’s Christian rock band. At the end of the show there was an altar call. For the past year of so I had felt this growing burden in my heart. From time to time I had wondered if God was calling me into full-time ministry, but I had always been scared to answer because I was terrified that He wanted me to be a missionary in Africa, or even worse a senior pastor. All I knew about Africa was that it was on the other side of the planet, and I was happy where I was. And I knew even less about being a senior pastor. But that night, the call was inescapable, and I found my way down to the altar with my youth pastor at my side. Even as I made my way down there I was still afraid. Although, I only had a passing understanding of what a call to ministry meant, I did know that it meant giving up my entire life to the service of God, and to be quite honest I found that to be profoundly intimidating. It meant giving him everything I had, everything I was, and everything that I would ever be, and following Him. That night at the altar I accepted the call to ministry. I didn't know then where it would lead me, but I knew it was God speaking to me, and even though I was scared, perhaps even terrified, I knew it was Him and I knew I had to answer.

What if God is speaking to you now? What will you say? What will you do? I want to suggest to you that He is; that He is speaking to all of us. Like Abram God is calling us to leave where we are now and join Him on a journey. But, the journey is an all or nothing endeavor. He is calling us to leave everything behind , hold nothing back and follow Him. I don’t know where you are in your walk with God. We've probably never met, and we don't really each other. Perhaps some of you've have grown up in the church your whole life, and your further down the path than the rest of us. Or maybe you haven’t even started the journey. In either case, I want to invite you to leave wherever you are and journey together with God for the rest of your life. The journey we take with God is not journey we take alone. It is never just “Jesus and me.” It is always Jesus, and me, and you, and the whole Christian body past and present. So, let’s journey together. I can't tell you where we will end up, and I can't tell you that it will always be easy. God didn't tell Abram exactly where he would end up, and He definitely didn't tell him that things would always be easy. But He did give Abram this promise "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 the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Once again, I don't know where you are at. Maybe you've have gotten lost on the journey. Maybe you're still waiting to get started. In any case, I want to invite you to go on a journey that will last the rest of your life, and require everything that you have and everything you are. Like Abram, I can't tell you exactly where you will end up, and I can't promise you that it will always be easy. What I can tell you, is if you go on this journey leaving everything behind to follow after God, then you will never be the same again.

Abram and Sarai trusted God and they went. They eventually became Abraham and Sarah, the founders of a great nation through which would come one day the greatest blessing to all creation, Jesus Christ. Abram and Sara obeyed and God did great things through them. What will God do through you? What will God do through us? Will you go?