Our Surreal God; Genesis 12:1-9

 

Rev. George Miller

Sept 25, 2022

Genesis 12:1-9

 

It has been a surreal week.

 

Testing positive for COVID 30 months into the pandemic was not part of the plan.  Having 7 other people test positive wasn’t supposed to happen.

 

Closing our doors last week and not having worship at all was definitely not part of the plan.  And yet that’s what happened, and yet here we are.

 

It feels surreal.  Calling in sick for the first Sunday in 17 years of ministry is surreal.  Composing this message while still in a COVID fog is surreal.

 

Yet, in many ways, it seems appropriate, for it can be said we worship a surreal God. 

 

Our God is so surreal they say that God created light and life through the abstractness of breath and words.

 

So surreal that first are last and last are first.  So surreal that little becomes much and mustard seeds can contain all of the heavens.

 

To witness the surreal, all we have to do is step into this story of our great great ancestors, Abram and Sarai.

 

Abram and Sarai are what you’d call a mature couple.  They’ve been married for years.  They have settled into their forever home where cattle graze and rain falls.

 

If there is one issue is that they never had a child.  They have nephews and an extend family that surrounds them, but no son or daughter to call their own.

 

Culturally speaking they are almost invisible people.  Legacy speaking, their family tree is as good as dead. 

 

Then the most surreal, unexpected thing happens- God speaks to Abram and says “Lech lekha,” which means “Get up and Go!” in Hebrew.

 

Like COVID, this call from God literally comes out of nowhere.  There’s no forewarning, there is no indication it is about to happen.

 

Abram and Sarai are getting ready to enjoy a round of golf or Early Bird at the Caddy Shack and God says “Lech lekha”- Get Up and Go!

 

How surreal.  How odd.

 

I wonder if Abram thought he was hearing things.  Did her wonder if he was experiencing some form of brain fog?  Maybe some of the Sahara dust had lodged in his ears.

 

“Get up and Go!” is the command this surreal God gives to this man.

 

To make it even more surreal, God says “I will show you land.  I will make you a great nation.  I will bless you.  I will make everyone know your name, and because of you all the families of the world will be blessed.”

 

If I heard those things last week I would have assumed it was all the Robatussin and ramen soup talking.

 

And yet, Abram listens to that voice.  Abram listen s to God.  Abram uproots his wife, uproots, his household, uproots his nephew and away they go.

 

To make things even more surreal, God appears to Abram and says “To your children, I will give them this land.” 

 

From there, Abram journeys on in stages, surreal stages, not knowing exactly what is going to happen next.

 

Surreal stages.

 

That’s what this week has felt like.  Unexpected.  Out of nowhere.  Nonlinear. 

 

Surreal is this story of Abram. 

 

Surreal is this whole COVID experience, from back in November 2019 when we first heard about it to today.

 

It has been an odd path, with twists and turns, and thinking you know but discovering you don’t know.

 

This whole COVID thing has also been a study in patience.  The not knowing.  The uncomfortableness waiting.  Acting.  Resting.  Moving ahead.  Stopping.  Brain fog.  Stages.  Steps.

 

Today’s narrative is a story about the unexpectedness of life.  Of how we never know. 

 

And isn’t that how we have been living?  Not fully knowing.  Hoping. 

 

Like Abram and Sarai we have been journeying in stages through this whole COVID inflation Monkey Pox January 6 time of tribulation not really sure where we are going.

 

It's surreal.  It’s been odd.  But here we are.  The question is- what do we do, how do we respond?

 

Do we give in, do we give up?  Do we pretend that its not real? 

 

Do we turn on one another or do we turn to one another. 

 

Do we say “How are you?”  “How are you doing?”  Do we admit when it is too surreal?  Do we acknowledge the fog and mystery and the unknown?

 

Today’s message is not one that is to give you an answer or tell you what to do.

 

Today’s message is more an acknowledgement that we have been through a lot this past week, and there is perhaps more to be faced. 

 

Today’s message is more like a hand, a hand to say “I know just as little as you do, and I’m not sure where I am going.  But I know that with God I am not going alone, and perhaps we can face this surrealness together.”

 

The stages we face next are unsure and bound to be non-linear.  How can we face them together; how do we face them with God?                   Amen.