Come Out of Your Tent and Take Up Your Cross
Abridge Worship Provided By: Rev. Jacob Shaw (Please note that this is not a verbatim account of our Sunday morning worship, but rather a condensed version for those at home to study and enjoy, Blessing)
Opening Prayer: Lord, bring to us a great hope for the future. A future where Your Love is more known in the world because we have responded to your call to come out of the safety and security of easement for the adventure of proclaiming the Gospel and loving as Christ loves. Amen.
Scripture Readings: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Romans 4:13-25
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus Predicts His Death
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
The Way of the Cross
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
We give thanks to God for the Scriptures and ask God to have these words inspire our hearts and minds.
Reflection:
The father of many nations, Abraham, was an old man living in his father tent. Before God called out Abraham, Abraham had reached an age of ninety-nine, living in the land of his ancestors. In their old age, Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children. These two were old, comfortable, and without children. When God calls Abraham to follow him out of the safety of his father’s tent, it way likely a surprise to many people who may have known Abraham. Why would anyone give up security in old age, the comfort of home, and a lack of responsibility?
You might say, well, he did it because God called him, and how do you say “no” to God? But we say “no” to God all the time don’t we. Like, when we see the homeless man on the street with their hand out, but our pocket change is for our second coffee for the day. Or when we hold a grudge against a brother or sister but walk into worship like we have settled our conflicts. I could go on.
So, there is something else going on, because Abraham could have turn back into his tent and pretended God had never called him out. Everyday people turn their back on God’s invitation, including the dutiful Christian.
We might go to the big kahuna of Christianity and say it was Abraham’s faith which allowed him to follow God out of his tent. And yes, that is true, but this faith is connected to something, because faith is trusting in someone’s trustworthiness, being convinced of their reliability.
So, what was Abraham trusting in God to be reliable about?
It can’t be that Abraham was trusting God to keep him safe, comfortable, and free of responsibility, Abraham already had those things.
See God, offered Abraham something that comfort, safety and lack-responsibility could not acquire, meaning and purpose. God offered Abraham to be made into the Father of Many Nations, and that is something that can only be gained by leaving the tent, and allowing our faith in God to calls us into something greater than we know, into possibilities which are for God’s glory and the greater good.
When we look at the Gospel’s we see Jesus calling us to follow him, as God called Abraham to follow him out of his tent. And likewise, Jesus does not call us to comfort, easement, safety, but rather to be willing to take up our cross, to deny ourselves for the sake of following the will of God. But the promise that comes with Jesus is not for all of us to become fathers and mothers of many nations, but to become brother and sisters in THE KINGDOM of God. To dwell with God in a new creation; where there is no more darkness, no more hatred, no more suffering.
We have a promise from God, and we trust in God’s faithfulness to his promise, so we are call to come out of our tents, to pick up our crosses, to begin letting go of what we once were, for who God knows we can become, face the challenges, face the burdens, and proclaim the Gospel, the invitation for the people of this world to join the family of the sisters and brothers in God’s calling.
Homework: Think about how God is calling you out of comfort to better serve the Kingdom? What easements might you need to leave behind for God’s glory?
Closing Prayer: God, we understand that life comes with challenge, pain and even suffering, and we are trying to find the strength to take up our cross as Christ commanded. But our hearts can be wicked, and our will weak, so we ask for Your strength, we ask for Your heart, and we rest into Your will, so the cross we bare is support by Your Son. Amen.
Meme of the Week:
Thank you for joining us this week. If you have any thoughts, feelings, or prayers, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Please be respectful of others’ posts and make room for all those joining us.
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