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We have several interesting connections in our first and second and Gospel lessons for this Sunday. The single theme that holds all three as conversation partners is the notion of "call." Enjoy reflection from these great and gracious invitations to "Come and follow Me."

Genesis 12:1-9-Call and Response

Our passage opens with an audacious imperative from God to Abraham: "Go from . . . to the land that I will show you." Immediately on the heels of such a command God makes a personal promise: "I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you . . ." What does one do when faced with such a divine word? We are not privy to all of the inner psychological turmoil that we might imagine Abraham to have struggled with. The Scripture simply reports the decision: "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him . . ." What was it that enabled Abram to obey? The promise? The possibility of . . . adventure? . . . failure? . . . leaving home? . . . the awareness that he had heard an authentic word from God? Whatever it was, his decision has impacted millions of people over thousands of years. "And Abram journeyed on . . ."

Psalm 50:7-15  Prophet vs. Priest

We have a prophetic-like psalm this week that is styled in the shape of a covenant lawsuit and brought on by none less than God. Taken in its entirety, the psalm encourages pursuit of the right way (v. 23) especially concerning sacrifice and worship. We can clearly sense the tension between priest and prophet in this psalm. On one hand worship should be practiced with thoughtfulness and beauty for God is worthy of our most excellent praise. On the other hand, the prophet says "bag the sacrifice. What? You think God is hungry? Is that why you butcher so many animals? No! What God wants is for you to practice justice!" Verse 23 hints that both are needed if we want to truly honor God.
 

Romans 4:13-25-Father Abraham has many kids . . .

This passage illuminates the Genesis 12 passage and also builds upon the reading we had last Sunday. Paul’s teaching in chapter three could be summarized in 3:28: "we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." This Sunday Paul proclaims Abraham as the father of us all, or to turn the focus around to Abraham’s progeny, we might sing with our children: "Father Abraham has many kids, many kids has father Abraham, and I am one of them and so are you, so let’s all praise the Lord, left foot right foot . . ." Paul paints a vivid picture of Abraham’s faith that in the end seems to confront reason and the laws of nature. Faith is trust that God has done the work.

Matthew 9:9-13; 18-26-Jesus and the Tax Guy

"Follow me." Sounds like an abbreviated version of the first lesson, though this time without promises of grandeur or having many kids like father Abraham. A guy is sitting in a tax booth (think of a toll booth on the turnpike!). Worse than any toll booth is the stigma attached to tax guys-they stink. The tax collector is everyone’s enemy and as such everyone has that "pharisaic" reaction to Matthew as the people in this story do. We also have the meal part of the story; significant things always happen when Jesus shows up at a formal affair. This will be no different. His presence there seems to attract conflict and draws from him wisdom of the ages.