God’s call, promise and purpose

ON THIS second Sunday in Lent, we are reminded of the call of Abram, set in Genesis Chapter 12. Maybe this blessing affirmation could make a great difference to world peace if we were not so caught up with ‘the fall’.

Let us hear again the promise and blessing to Abram. Let us reimagine what that might mean to a world in which many of the most religious are among the most contentious. Let us also delve deeper into what we really mean when we sing such spirited songs as “Father Abraham, had many sons; and I am one of them….”

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 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” (Genesis 12:1-3).

The Hebrew patriarch, Abraham, is revered by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, these religions are often characterised by divisive approaches to each other, and sometimes even within. When was the last time we heard any reminder that the promise to Abram also stands through Ishmael? Who realises the blessing of oil that the Arabs were later to discover in the desert to which Hagar and her son were banished?

IMPORTANT TRUTHS

I am concerned, though, that many Christians who sing of Father Abraham’s many sons do not get some important truths arising from such a statement of faith. First, that the many sons are actually many children. The limitation in sexist language is not to be used to give primacy to the masculine gender. Second, that the many children of Abraham include many who are not Christians. Christianity does not have a monopoly on God, holiness, or truth!

God’s call to be a blessing to others is so profound. If only we understood this. Unfortunately, many of Abraham’s children appear to be a curse to peace and good human relations. Let us pause this Lent and explore some more what it really means to be ‘called by God’.

First, God calls us not because we are more special than anyone else. You may have observed how some Christians behave as if they are super special because of God’s perceived call. They often ‘other’ those they call ‘sinners’. This is in contrast to the biblical text in which God’s call is always on the basis of purpose. Individuals are called by God for a purpose; not due to how special they are.

The Hebrews were chosen to be a light to the nations; not because they are a light. The Church is, by extension, called to be that light in Jesus Christ, who Himself was descended through Hebrew lineage.

Lent is a time when many give up something in an effort to cultivate inner strength and resolve to accomplish a deeper walk of faith. Interestingly, Abram was called not to give up chocolate or meat, but to leave his country and his father’s household. It was not a migration informed by selfish goals. It was instead inspired by God’s call, promise and purpose.

While not for deeper consideration here, do not lose sight of the human trafficking that prevailed in the cultural norm. Abram and his family migrated to Canaan with the people that they had acquired in Haran. A euphemistic way of referring to slaves? Then what a something during the famine! In an effort to spare his life, Abram was willing to pawn Sarai by telling her to pretend to be his sister, while hiding the fact that she was his wife. Not to be outdone in patriarchal values, Pharaoh, in his quest for Sarai, appeased Abram with sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants (enslaved people), and camels. We will also not go into the implications of Pharoah having “took Sarai to be my wife”.

REINTERPRET THE CALLING

The story beautifully reminds us that God can use those who are up in age to accomplish great things. Imagine being called at age 75 years old to birth a great nation, and to be a channel of blessing to all the peoples of the earth. Any exploration of the prosperity blessing must, however, be grounded in God’s purpose through those who are so blessed. You cannot be a blessing to others if you are a source of oppression. You cannot be a blessing to others if you are a source of condemnation.

Just a little aside here, though. Abram was called and sent by God. How do we, given our history in Jamaica, the Caribbean and indeed the diaspora, process being called and sent? We know that we are here in the West on the basis of enslavement, poverty, war, persecution, and the exploits of capitalism. Abram did not just find himself in a foreign land. He set out to reach there!

I am proposing that we reinterpret this calling and sending as a journey to own where we are. We are in these various territories of the Caribbean, and other countries to which we have migrated from, where our enslaved, exploited, indentured ancestors were. How might we now own where we have found ourselves, while seeing ourselves to be a light and blessing to others? How might the colonial pharaohs be challenged to make reparatory justice for the centuries of the holocaust of slavery? How will we move towards becoming a republic in territories whose king is head, simply on the basis of the accidents of his birth?

In our various republican and independent territories, may we recall our status as strangers in foreign lands, even as we meet new migrants in search of freedom, survival, and justice. May we not become the new pharaohs, colonial masters, and enslavers. May we be a blessing to the peoples of the earth.

We already see so many examples of Caribbean folk who have served and are serving at high levels of leadership in international politics, various armies, religious bodies, medicine, science, and the arts. We are being a blessing to others, and we may also be a blessing to ourselves. In the words of the old spiritual, we will “leave Babylon and come.” Leaving Babylon is a journey of faith. The journey begins in God and ends in God. And so, another spiritual notes, “I am going home on the morning train.”

May we find inspiration even in the Collect for the second Sunday in Lent. “O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

- Fr Sean Major-Campbell is an Anglican priest and advocate for human rights.