It's an intriguing title for this week's theme, which concerns Abram - the Iraqi refugee! With the human race so bent on destructive behaviours, all the time God is quietly 'plotting goodness' by calling faithful ones to obedience for the good of all. In the case of Abram, it was to leave the comfort and affluence of Ur to go to a place which God would show him. Abram goes. Admittedly, not travelling light, but at least he goes. In so doing he becomes a kind of prototype for the man or woman of faith who walks by faith and not by sight.
However, this is not a pointless exercise, just to test faith. Not only will Abram, Sarai and their descendants be blessed as a result of his obedience, but all peoples on earth will be blessed through [him] (Genesis 12.3). God's intention is to do away with any 'us and them' mentality: Abram's God is to be God for others too. It is not 'God on our side' but 'God for All' as we are saying in Cumbria these days. We cannot recruit God to our own cause, whether personal or national; rather be his means of serving a common good. For Abram, true faith was simply trusting a promise of being blessed to be a blessing (McLaren p31).
As many will know, being a blessing has been a constant theme for me for some years now. I am wondering whether 'Called to Bless' might make a suitable slogan or strapline for both our Team and our Mission Community. I wonder what others think?
This morning, I had another meeting of our Mission Community Steering Group. As well as planning for the future growth of this movement, we were sharing how little still the whole MC concept is understood. Before our special 'landmark' service at Advent (27 November) we will be addressing this with a series of communications, both written and verbal.
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