I preached this sermon on Sunday, June 7, 2026, at Christ Presbyterian Church in Milford, Ohio.
The lectionary text is Genesis 12:1-9
“Are we there yet?” Every parent remembers that cry from the backseat on a long journey. The books have all been read, drinks are empty, bladders full. It’s Jeff driving to Florida, and Bonnie asking where the next Buc-ee’s is. Perhaps it’s a long flight, and the seat in front of you has reclined into your space. You still check the flight information on the screen to see, “How much farther.”
Somebody is bored, or tired of their situation. They know something better is ahead, but they need to or want to how much longer. They aren’t in control of their circumstance, though they want to be. They are at the mercy of the driver, the pilot, the navigator, the decision-maker.
I’ve felt this in my own life, and not from the back seat of Dad’s station wagon. After graduating from college, I picked up all my possessions and moved to Dayton, Ohio, to start my career as a software engineer. It wasn’t a long move, I didn’t know anybody in Dayton, but at least I had a job waiting for me.
I think of those who pack their belongings into a U-Haul truck and travel to a new state, a new city, a new start, hopefully a new job. They might be moving their family too, so everybody is expecting a new life, new experiences. There is little certainty, only faith that things are going to work out, new friendships will be made, a new home will be built.
Have you dealt with something as uncertain as moving far away? Did somebody in your backseat ask, “Are we there yet?” Did you know the answer? Or were you the one asking the question? There’s that uncertainty, that unknown.
Abram loaded his U-Haul camel and left, placing his faith in God, even though his family had worshiped pagan deities, other gods, even though he was already 75 years old, even though he was comfortable in his own lifestyle. He didn’t know that the journey would be longer than the Eagles’ farewell tour. How did he come to be called by God?
Here’s where we need some background, and a lot of it, for this sermon series presented to us by the lectionary. I didn’t have a deep knowledge of Abraham – and I will insist that I still don’t – so writing a sermon series fit right into piquing my interest in this patriarch of three religions, Judaism, Islam, and the new one on the block, Christianity. I’m highlighting what intrigues me and what’s necessary for understanding the scriptures listed in the lectionary.
I’ve heard people describe certain sermons they’ve heard sound more like a college lecture than they do a message. A “college lecture” has *never* been used to describe one of my sermons. Including today’s.
But one of the main purposes of the lectionary is to provide the church a well-rounded understanding of the Bible, its characters, and its message. Therefore, it would behoove all of us to take this opportunity to study and understand one of the greatest characters in our Bible, Abraham. Here come four weeks of study – don’t stop me if you’ve heard it already. I’ve enjoyed studying it myself, and I’m sharing the most interesting parts with you, of which there are plenty.
I want to review today where we’ve been in Genesis in the first 11 chapters, then give some genealogy, a better understanding of Abram’s family, then the start of Abram’s journey.
Primeval Prologue
At a high level, the first eleven chapters of Genesis are called by scholars the Primeval Prologue of the Old Testament, primeval being the very definition of “the beginning of the world.” It’s very similar in style to the first 18 verses of the Gospel of John, which is known as the Cosmic Prologue. The highlights of the Primeval Prologue of Genesis are: [SLIDE]
· The Creation (Genesis 1-2) – of the universe and humanity.
· The Fall and Spread of Sin (Genesis 3-5) – From Adam and Eve, to Cain and Able. From “mere” disobedience to violent crime.
· The Great Flood (Genesis 6-9) – God purges the earth of violence and sin, but saves the righteous Noah and his family.
· Tower of Babel (Genesis 10-11) – Despite resetting His creation, humans are going to human. Pride endures.
By the end of the Primeval Prologue, humanity is broken, scattered, ignoring God, creating their own gods. This background of sin is necessary for Chapter 12 to have its full impact. God is shifting his focus from all of humanity to only one single man, Abram. The entire rest of the Bible pivots to this new focus.
Let’s give some genealogy. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japeth. Shem is the 7g-grandfather of Abram. Ham, Noah’s second son, had a son named Canaan, whom Noah cursed, saying Canaan would be the slave to Shem. That comes into play later during Abram’s journey: “Canaan would be the slave to Shem.”
Next we move ahead eight generations to Abram’s father, Terah. When he was 70 years old, he fathered Haran, Nahor and Abram, in that order, I will argue, despite how Genesis 11:26-27 orders them. [SLIDE] Here’s a chart on Terah’s family; they are the principal characters in our story.
· Haran (first son) became the father of Lot, Iscah and Mileah. Haran died in Ur.
· Nahor (second son) married his niece, Mileah (Haran’s daughter).
· Abram married Sarai, who was allegedly barren. Sarai was *not* his sister, as the graphic might indicate – that was only a ruse Abram used to save his life while in Egypt just a couple verses after today’s scripture reading (page 10). Stay tuned next week for how Abram has descendants – it’s interesting.
Now Terah and his family worshiped pagan gods, very important in how God chose Abram. Joshua 24:2 – “2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.” According to the Midrash or Jewish teaching, Terah made and sold clay idols in his shop, which Abram was very opposed to. When Abram was watching the shop, he used two distinct tactics to expose the absolute absurdity of idolatry, and this captured God’s eye, according to the Midrash:
1. The Strategy of Public Embarrassment
Whenever a customer walked in to purchase a god, Abram would ask them:
· Abram: “How old are you?”
· Customer: “Sixty years old.”
· Abram: “Woe to a sixty-year-old man who wants to bow down to a statue that was manufactured just yesterday!”
The customer would feel completely ashamed of their own logic and walk out of the shop empty-handed.
2. The Final Smashing of the Idols
In a single incident, Abram took a hammer, smashed every idol in the store to pieces except one, and placed the hammer into the hands of the largest, remaining statue.
When Terah returned and saw the devastation, he screamed, “Who did this?!”
Abram calmly lied and explained that the biggest idol grabbed a hammer and smashed all the others to pieces.
Terah yelled in frustration, “These idols don’t have minds, they can’t move, and they can’t do anything!” Abram delivered his trap in the Midrash: “Do your ears hear what your mouth is saying? If they have no power at all, why do you worship them?”
The Midrash goes on to explain that Abram’s exhibits of monotheism are how God took favor on him and why God told him to travel to a to-be-determined land.
Let’s wrap up this background study by reviewing the journey, which leads us into Chapter 12, our scripture reading today. In the prior chapter, Terah had already packed up most of his family and headed from Ur to Canaan, stopping in Haran for a bit, where Terah died. BTW, Terah’s first son, Haran, has the same translation spelling as this city where they stayed, but they are different words. It’s just a coincidence.
I just took over half the sermon time for the necessary background, but it is needed for the next three weeks too.
[SLIDE] On to our scripture reading today. “1Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
“Are we there yet?” Abram had every reason to ask God this question. He packed his family and all his possessions, not knowing how long they would journey. Hebrews 11:8 in the New Testament describes this so well. 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. He went by faith.
I’m reminded of that wonderful old hymn, “Trust and Obey,” written by a Presbyterian minister. The refrain goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Abram did this, though he didn’t know yet about Jesus.
“Are we there yet?” We like to plug the destination into Waze or Google Maps. We let our car’s GPS show us the way. We see the route. We know how long it’s going to take. We see when we’ll arrive. We can pick different routes, avoid toll roads, even know where police are sitting. We are in control. We can find the next Buc-ee’s.
But Abram has none of that. It’s like he’s in Jack’s Sunbeam Tiger – no navigation system, not even a cup holder. Instead, Abram is given four increasingly difficult tasks. 1. Abram is to leave his country with its culture, its customs, its language, its money. 2. He’s to leave his kindred, all of his relatives. 3. He’s to leave his father’s house, severing roots with the immediate family and sibling. 4. Lastly, he’s to “go to a land I will show you.” It’s a big ask.
When God spoke to Abram, He didn’t give him a map; He gave him a promise. He didn’t show him the final destination; He simply said, ‘Go to the land I will show you’. Abram packed up his family, stepped out into the unknown, and pitched his tent in a strange land. But notice what he did at every single stop along the way: he built an altar to the Lord. He didn’t wait until he arrived at the final destination to worship; he worshipped right there in the middle of the uncertainty.
Many of us today are waiting for God to show us the whole blueprint before we take the first step. We want the coordinates, the timeline, and the guarantees. But God is whispering to you today the very same thing He whispered to Abram: Trust Me. I am showing you the way, step by single step. Pack up your doubts, leave behind your need to control, and step out in faith. Let’s stop asking for a map, and start trusting God, our Guide. “Are we there yet?” God will let us know. Just trust and obey.
In Jesus’ name.
