When God appears to
you, what do you do?
When you see God, I mean, really see God, what do you do?
When you encounter God in a significant way in your life, what do you do?
The Old Testament Lesson this morning tells us what Abram did when he
saw God.
When God appeared to him do you know what he did?
ABRAM BUILT AN ALTAR—as a matter of fact, in the short span of this Old
Testament passage in the book of Genesis, Abram builds TWO ALTARS in the
land of Canaan:
One at Shechem and one between Bethel and Ai.
Abram, you see, had to have some way to mark the visit of the holy in his
life;
He needed a place to honor the moment he encountered God when everything
changed;
He needed a physical, down to earth, everyday space for a sure sign that
God really did
come to him.
When God appeared to Abram HE BUILT AN ALTAR.
When God appears to you, when you encounter God in a significant way in
your life
YOU BUILD AN ALTAR, TOO. Oh, you may not pick up stones from the riverbed
and
fashion a table for sacrifice, but you build an altar just the
same.
You need some way to mark the visit of the holy in your life
A place to honor the moment you encountered God
A physical, down to earth, everyday, practical space
for a sure sign that God really did come to you.
You have built many altars for yourself in your life.
You build an altar at every significant moment in your life—
The birth of a child at baptism;|
At graduation;
When you exchange marriage vows;
Or when you experience the death of a loved one.
These significant, important, pivotal moments in your life, when you
really need God, God comes to you, and YOU BUILD AN ALTAR.
But that’s not all the text says Abram did when God appeared to him. Yes,
twice it says Abram built an altar, but let’s look a bit closer—each time
Abram builds an altar he doesn’t stop there. At Shechem:
He built there an altar to the LORD who had appeared to him.
From there he
moved on…(Genesis 12:7b-8a)
Again, between Bethel and Ai:
There he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of
the LORD. And
Abram journeyed on. (Genesis 12:8b-9a)
Twice he built an altar, twice he moved on.
So what do you do when God appears to you?
Well, YOU BUILD AN ALTAR, and then MOVE ON.
Abram moved on. He
moved on because
He knew there was something greater out
there to which God was surely leading him.
There was a land flowing with milk and honey ahead of him
and he couldn’t wait to
see God there so he could build a magnificent altar.
He moved on, too, because the greater thing that was out there
promised to bless the
whole world. God told Abram “through you all the nations
of the world will be
blessed.” So he moved on because his was a mission of
mercy to the whole
world. That’s where he was going. That’s what God
promised.
When God appears to you, when you really see God, when you encounter God
in a significant way in your life, what do you do? YOU BUILD AN ALTAR AND
THEN MOVE ON.
One of the reasons
Jesus Christ came to earth was because people forgot that. Oh, people had
altars all right—all kinds of altars:
Altars that determined who was clean and who was unclean;
Altars that defined religious behavior so narrowly that it
excluded so many people;
Altars that became barriers to relationship to God rather than
signs of God’s presence in your life.
So we find Jesus in the Gospel Lesson this morning sitting among tax
collectors and sinners and even calling one of the tax collectors to be
one of his disciples. The religious leaders who know very well all about
proper worship at the altar ask Jesus why he has anything to do with these
unclean folks at all. Jesus replies:
Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not
sacrifice.” (Mt. 9:13 a)
Here Jesus quotes God from the prophet Hosea. The religious culture of
Jesus’ time had forgotten the lesson of these words from their own
scriptures. Oh, they worshiped at the altar, they were very religious,
but they forgot to MOVE ON, they forgot the mission of mercy. While Jesus
was speaking to them he lives out that mission and moves on from the
altar: a woman whose condition made her unclean touches the hem of Jesus’
garment seeking her healing. Her touch, as those who still stood at the
altar knew very well, her touch made Jesus unclean. But he responds to
her:
Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well!
(Mt. 9:22b)
Here was a woman who had suffered at the hands of physicians and priests
for 12 years, physically debilitated and spiritually denied and Jesus
comes to bring healing to her life and a holy breath of fresh air to that
faith that has forgotten to move on. They were very, very religious, you
see, but they forgot the mission of mercy.
When God appears to
you, when you really see God, when you encounter God in a significant way
in your life, you have to learn to be merciful, not just religious.
That’s what it means when God says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
The religious world for too long has practiced the forms of the faith
without every catching hold of its power.
If you learn more about the proper way to conduct yourself in
worship than you do
about the way to live the life of a disciple; Jesus has
something to say to you today.
If you learn more about how to come to
the altar for baptism, confirmation, Holy
Communion, marriage, or funeral than you do about how to
live the vows and receive
the grace of these holy moments in the church, Jesus has
something to say to you
today.
Jesus says to you, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not
sacrifice.’”
Today you return to
this altar as you receive the Sacrament of your Lord Jesus, the body and
blood of Christ. At Communion rail today come and see God. God is here
and is so anxious to appear to you.
This altar marks the visit of the holy in your life as you
gather here today.
This throne of grace is the place to honor the moment you
encounter God and everything changes in your life.
Today this is your physical, down to earth, everyday, practical
space for a sure sign that God really does come to you right now.
No, you didn’t have to pick up stones from the riverbed this morning, you
just had to come.
Jesus meets you right
here, today. So for his sake don’t just be religious as you meet him—be
merciful. When you are dismissed from here today, from this altar you
have built for yourself, then move on. Take up your mission of mercy your
Lord intends for you. Move on. Go ahead, your Lord goes with you leading
the way. Don’t get left here. Move on!
