Thursday – Easter Week Five – May 15

Abram (Abraham) Call to Leave Birthplace Ur of the Chaldees

“FBC – Sanctuary Windows” by First Baptist Nashville; flickr

Meditation

Thursday, Easter Week Five lessons dealt with trust in the call.

The Psalmist called out to God, whom he believes will deliver him. The New Testament lesson dealt with the prosecution of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church—the one Saul (later changed to St. Paul) watched being stoned, while he stood with the cloaks. Stephen, debated by leaders from Cyrene, Alexandria and Cilia, spoke with such wisdom that they could not match his arguments and so he was brought before the Sanhedrin (a judicial and ecclesiastical council of over 70 Jews) with false testimony, claiming that he spoke against Moses.

Witnesses declared that Stephen’s face before the judges appeared like an angel—transcendent and ethereal. Perhaps radiant and glowing. Not the appearance one expected of someone under indictment. But having received the call from God, Stephen, “a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.”

The Old Testament lesson in Genesis 12 recounted the call of Abram (later changed to Abraham), where God established a choice of Abram to be the patriarch of a people chosen to be blessed and protected in a unique way. The great words, known universally, “I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.” (ERV)

Out of the millions of people in the world. Out of the trillions of people over time, Go chose a man, Abram, who lived in Ur of the Chaldees (used to be a port on the Persian Gulf but now 150 miles/241 kilometers from the Sea and six miles/ten kilometers from the Euphrates River), and told him to go 800 miles/1300 kilometers in the Fertile Crescent arc from the Persian Gulf through Syria around to Canaan/Palestine.

In the military members moved rather often. Across the country. Across the world. Some dread the packing up of their household, knowing that things get broken in the shuffle. Lost during the transition. To say nothing of the uncertainty.

My mother traveled in 1921 from Texas to California, fording rivers without bridges, and celebrating the paved roads starting at the border of the Sunshine State.