God’s gifts and calling can’t be taken back. Romans 11:29 CEB
What a refreshing reminder for us who so often experience the fickle nature human relationships. People will use one another for personal gain, discarding those relationships when they are no longer beneficial to them.
This is not the case with God though. Paul argues that the living God has made a promise to be in relationship with Israel, God’s people. If they don’t embrace and live out that promise of relationship, they will not lose their relationship with God.
Our lives are lived in relationship to God who will not forget promises made to us, even if we neglect to live out those promises.
When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The LORD is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. Genesis 28:16 CEB
How often do we come to the sudden realization that God is just along side us? Jacob at this point in his life is running from his brother Esau. Esau is angry because Jacob stole his birthright (the older brother’s share) when he was hungry, then Jacob tricked their father Isaac into passing the blessing that was to go to the older brother, Esau, to him, Jacob.
At this point in the story, one can imagine that Jacob is exhausted. His trickery has caught up with him. He is now in unfamiliar territory where his wits don’t help him nearly as much as they did in his mother’s tent. God meets him in this moment. God confirms that the blessing Jacob received from Isaac holds with Jacob. Here, in the shade of the staircase that leads to heaven, this trickster Jacob inherits the promises given to his ancestors since the fall of the Staircase of Babel.
Jacob wasn’t trying to climb to God, but God comes to him all the same, giving comfort. This is who our God is. God comes to us in the midst of the pain of life, reminding us that there is so much more to life that what we often see. We are invited here, as Jacob is, to see that God is active in our lives daily, not forcing us to do something or another, but inviting us to participate in the promises given us, to respond faithfully to the faith God has in us.
Examine me, God! Look at my heart! Put me to the test! Know my anxious thoughts!
To open ourselves up to God, is to allow ourselves to be changed by God. God is always looking for openings in our lives to invite us to change. To know that God knows our heart, our anxious thoughts, is to know that God knows us wholly.
As believers, we often confess that God knows us, yet how often do we try to avoid knowing that God knows us. It can be discomforting to know that we are known. So often we want to keep thoughts to ourselves, keep parts of our lives hidden from others. For us to realize that God knows these things about us frees us from the tyranny these things have over us.
Yes, these thoughts and parts of our lives may be counter to the call that God has for us, yet God knows that we have them. God knows that often choose to turn from God, to work to not be in relationship with God.
God calls each of us, everyday to live into the God’s Reign here on Earth. So often we turn from this, what if we were to embrace what God has called us to, what if we were to allow for God to speak into our lives, to test us, to re-form us in God’s image, here and now, so that we may participate in God’s Reign this very day.
That is what it is to be open to God’s movement in our lives.
After these events, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “I’m here.”
This is the beginning of one of the most disturbing stories in all of scripture. God tests Abraham to see if this one who God trusts is trustworthy enough to be the one who God carries ou
t the promise. What I want to discuss today is how Abraham listens to God. So often we find ourselves caught up in what we are doing that we neglect to listen to God, much less those around us. How often have we been in situations where we have been sharing what is on our hearts and those who we are speaking with are not listening?
Or how often do we look to the news and see people talking past each other, knowing that they are right and the other person, if they could only see it their way, would understand that they are wrong. Politicians do this, we see this happen in our local community life as well. We have an endemic of lack of listening. The invitation here is to listen. To God, to others, to nature. To hear where hurts are and come along side caring for those who hurt. It is in those moments where we are able to see God.
Let us practice our listening skills so that we are able to hear where God is calling us through God’s creation. Amen