257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105
(262) 763-3021
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We have purchased land on Highways A & W and are planning to build soon! Drive by and take a look at our future home!
“How does one keep from ‘growing old inside’? Surely only in community. The only way to make friends with time is to stay friends with people. Taking community seriously not only gives us the companionship we need, it also relieves us of the notion that we are indispensable."
-Robert McAfee Brown
January 31st, 2010
Muppim, Huppim or Ard...aren’t those great names? Many couples name their children after Bible characters, so those are options, right out of chapter 46 in Genesis. Just kidding!
It’s not very often that a preacher tells you what he’s not going to preach, but that’s what I’m going to do today. Today we’re studying Genesis 45:16–47:12. Right in the middle of this section we’re working through (vss. 8-25) is this long list of names that God saw fit to include in Scripture.
I’m jumping over it this morning in my sermon, but it’s not because they’re not important. As many of you are reading through the Bible this year, you might be tempted to do the same thing when you come to a long list of names or a genealogy. The reason we’re jumping past them is that an explanation of their significance is better done in writing, than verbally as in a sermon.
For most of you, the names Cora and Walt mean little or nothing. But for me, they mean everything. They were my grandparents. We need to remember that to the first readers of this book, these names meant something. These were their great, great grandparents. This is a list of every tribe (and every major family group within that tribe) that later formed the nation Israel. Every Hebrew knew his family ancestry. The division of labor, organization of the army, and the parceling of the land all were based on the tribes. Even the coming of the Messiah was through the particular tribe of Judah. These names are part of a family.
One of our major blind spots as American Christians is our individualistic approach to the Christian life. I’m not suggesting that we don’t need an individual relationship with God. Of course we do! But we’ve made Christianity so personal that we’ve lost the sense of belonging to a local church as God’s covenant people, His extended family, just as Israel was His people. And because we don’t know church history, we don’t have a sense of continuity with those who have gone before us. We join and leave a church according to our personal likes and dislikes. We fail to see the church as a family, instead seeing it more as a “spiritual retail outlet” where we go to shop each week to get our felt needs met. Too many attend the same church for years, yet hardly know the others who attend.
This is spiritually dangerous. A lack of belonging makes us vulnerable to the Enemy. These lists of “boring” names meant something to Moses’ readers because this was family. Their identity was tied up in being of a certain family, of a certain tribe, of the nation descended from Israel. They saw themselves as a distinct people, set apart unto God. That’s also why verse 10 singles out a son of Simeon whose mother was a Canaanite woman. That was both unusual and wrong. God’s people were not to intermarry with the pagans. They were to be holy, separate and distinct.
Because we do not see ourselves as a vital part of a spiritual community, most of us do not give a second thought to moving to another part of the country. While we take into consideration our immediate family, we often give little thought to our spiritual one. Yet, we ought to never consider making a move without first considering our relationships with the family of God. If our identity is really bound up with this family of God in this locale, then to sever that connection by moving somewhere else ought to be done only after the most careful, prayerful consideration. Why does God want me to move from this expression of His family to another? Is there a solid Christian church in the new community where my family and I can grow and serve? If not, is God calling me to help establish such? If not, why am I going there? If it’s just for a better job or lifestyle, am I really seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness? God’s purpose through His church ought to be at the heart of any decision to move.
This list of names would have reminded Moses’ readers of their identity as God’s people in fulfilling His purposes. Also, it would have reminded them that the outworking of God’s purposes takes time, but it is absolutely certain. It took five hundred years from Abraham to a nation of two million that left Egypt. What God promises and purposes to do, He does, even though from our perspective it takes a long time. Our lifetimes are too short to measure God’s purpose. Our task is to understand God’s missionary purpose for the world (to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed) and to devote our lives to seeing that purpose brought about, even if it seems as if God is slow about His promises (2 Pet. 3:3-13).
David Livingstone, the great pioneer missionary to central Africa, was criticized in his day for being more of an explorer than a missionary. But Livingstone understood what many of his contemporaries did not, that Africa could only be opened to the Gospel as trade routes were opened to the interior and as the slave trade was stamped out. He said that he would never live to see the fruit of his labors for Christ, but that in 100 years, the difference would be seen. He was right. Africa today has a strong Christian witness, thanks in large part to his foresight. He saw God’s purpose for Africa and he obeyed God’s leading for his life.
While not many of us are Livingstones, we do need to consider God’s purpose for the nations when we think about a move. Our families are missionary units to reach people in the place that He has called us. Which people does He want you to reach? So many Christians want to move to get away from people. Why do that when God’s purpose is to use us to reach them with the Gospel? Seeking the Lord and His perspective above all else is the key to God’s Will concerning any move. God has called us to be a family that honors Him. Let’s seek to be that at Grace Church!