Scripture reading: Romans 4:1-17.
Sermon text: Genesis 12:1-3.
Cowards never cross into Canaan.
I grew up to the strains of Sacred Harp music. I clearly remember my great-grandfather and mother singing one of my favorite Sacred Harp pieces, “It’s a Mighty Rocky Road.” The song describes the road of life as the “rocky road,” the road that will take believers to eternal life. Those who choose to travel the rocky road must obey God every step of the way, even when it seems the path makes no sense.
God can take us to new places of blessing when we obey His call in our lives. God called Abram from the comforts of Ur and commanded him to go to an unknown land. When Abram obeyed the command, God blessed him beyond his expectations. God also blessed all humanity by keeping His promises to Abram. Jesus, the divine Son of God, came to earth as a direct descendant of Abram.
We know Abram better by another name he received later in his life. You probably know him better as “Abraham,” the name God gave him after he demonstrated his faith in God in Genesis 15. (God renamed Abram (which means “exalted prince”) to “Abraham” (“father of many nations”) in Genesis 17:5). I’ll refer to him as “Abram” in this sermon to maintain scriptural accuracy.
We know the dates of Abram’s life (2166-1991 B.C.) and the cultural context in which he lived. Abram lived in Ur during the last golden age of the Sumerian civilization, which lasted from roughly 2100 to 1900 B.C. During this time, the Sumerians achieved a level of sophistication unknown to most humans in history. Ur boasted indoor plumbing, paved roads, and other amenities we consider “modern.” We need to remember these facts because the memory eliminates a common excuse I hear today: “God wouldn’t take me away from all this and put me somewhere more primitive.” If you hear this line from someone, you can reply, “Just ask Abram.”
In 2091 B.C., God spoke to Abram and told him, “Go 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 dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God commanded Abram to leave more than just the lifestyle he enjoyed in Ur. God also commanded Abram to leave “your kindred and your father’s house.” God called Abram to leave everything and travel to “the land that I will show you.” Abram received no clear destination, giving him no choice but to rely on God for directions to his destination.
God then made Abram a series of promises if he obeyed the call. “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.” At this time, Abram and his wife Sarai (better known as “Sarah”) had no children of their own. In fact, Sarai had already turned 65 when Abram received his call. Yet, God promised to make a “great nation” of Abram. This implied that Abram and Sarai would one day have children of their own.
God also promised Abram that He would “make your name great.” Abram could already claim a great pedigree. His family descended directly from Shem, Noah’s godliest son. Abram could look into his ancestry and see many men who had made a name for themselves. God now promised He would insure Abram’s inclusion in that list.
Next, God promised Abram, “you will be a blessing.” Actually, in the Hebrew text, this reads more like a command itself. God commanded Abram to bless all those he would meet on the journey. The book of Genesis records how God used Abram to bless many people in the land of Canaan.
After promising these blessings, God then made a promise of protection to Abram. “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse.” When you look at Abram’s life, you can see how God fulfilled this promise. Many Canaanites befriended Abram because he enjoyed the protection of God. The people who aided Abram received great blessings.
On the other hand, those who tried to oppose Abram found themselves removed from God’s blessings. Genesis tell the stories of kings who opposed Abram or who tried to take Sarai from Abram. Without exception, God cursed every one of those kings forced them to turn to Abram for relief.
God made one last promise to Abram in His call: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Abram may have wondered how God could use him, a Semite leaving civilization and going who knew where, to bless all the families of the earth. God gave no details, only a promise that obedience would lead to blessings for all humanity. As Adam’s disobedience had cost humanity a relationship with God, Abram’s obedience would play a role in restoring that relationship.
Abram traveled the rocky road to Canaan, wondering where God would take him. He arrived in a land filled with pagans whose religion required child sacrifice and who fought each other on a regular basis. The people there quickly discouraged the cowards. At times, Abram wondered if God knew the rocky road. At times, Abram wondered if God understood the dangers of the rocky road. At times, Abram wondered where the road would lead him. The song reminds us: “His soul shall ascend where Jesus is, to be there forever blest.”
This brings us to the greatest road ever traveled. Jesus, the Christ, descended from Abram through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. Jesus traveled the rocky roads from Galilee to Jerusalem, knowing a crucifixion — a lynching — awaited Him at the end of the road. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of the world. On Easter Sunday, Jesus rose again from the dead, defeating sin and death. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God fulfilled His promise to bless all nations through Abram.
Jesus’ death and resurrection empowers God’s work in the world today. Following Jesus’ ascension into heaven, God sent the Holy Spirit into the world on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit calls people to believe in Jesus’ sacrifice and victory. The Holy Spirit also set the Church on the road to evangelize the world.
We receive our first call from God when we sense the Holy Spirit’s convicting power in our lives. At that moment, we realize our separation from our Creator and that we cannot remove the separation on our own. Jesus, the divine Son of God and Abraham’s Descendant, said to His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Like Abram, we must obey God’s call when we sense the Holy Spirit leading us to believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord of our lives.
Once we believe in Jesus and confess Him as Lord, He then sends the Holy Spirit into our lives to lead us and guide us on the rocky road of life. The Holy Spirit guides us through Bible study, through prayer, and through corporate worship.
Many people say, “I don’t want God to call me away from what I know.” These people really mean, “I don’t want to give up anything for Jesus. I want to go to heaven without leaving anything here.” It doesn’t work that way. When we confess our allegiance to Jesus as Lord of our lives, we relinquish to Him full control over all we have and all we do. As our Lord, Jesus may exercise His right to command us whenever and however He chooses.
Those who obey the call of God find that the promises of Abram still stand. God still protects His people, but He also uses our sufferings to bear witness to Jesus, to strengthen us, and to prepare us for the glorious eternity He has prepared for us. God still uses His people to bless the nations of the world. St. John the Evangelist wrote that he saw people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” engaging in eternal worship (Revelation 7:9).
As I’ve worked on this sermon, it has occurred to me that people sometimes want to backtrack on the road. Some people look back wistfully to a “golden age” in which everything worked perfectly. For those people, I have news: Ur doesn’t exist. The Church still lives! We have outlasted civilizations, nations, and philosophies. We have journeyed longer on the rocky road than kingdoms and empires. We, the people of God, have no right to go back; we must press forward, in spite of the perils and danger. Again, cowards will never cross into Canaan!
As we travel this life, we’ll travel rocky roads. Those roads will take us to a unfathomable depths and exciting heights. We’ll often find ourselves realizing that we’ll never see the results of the stops on the journey. At the end of the road, we’ll experience the fullest completion of the promises God made to Abram centuries ago. In that eternity, we’ll enjoy the blessings of the journey with God as we experience true joy and peace in the presence of our Jesus, our King and Guide on the journey of life.
Sacred Harp: Rocky Road
I’m enlisted on this road,
I’m almost done traveling,
Enlisted on this road,
I’m almost done traveling,
Enlisted on this road,
I’m almost done traveling,
I’m bound to go where Jesus is.
My soul shall ascend where Jesus is,
To enjoy the peaceful home of rest.
I’m bound to go where Jesus is,
And be there forever blest.
It’s a mighty rocky road,
I’m almost done traveling,
A mighty rocky road,
I’m almost done traveling,
A mighty rocky road,
I’m almost done traveling,
I’m bound to go where Jesus is,
And be there forever blest.