From the Sunday Note, with additional thoughts:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and maker is God.
…they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:8-10,16 from Sunday’s second reading
Abraham’s story is the story of every Christian.
Abraham comes to realize that he is “called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.” A Christian is a person who recognizes a call away from their origins and takes steps, perhaps a lot of steps, to receive his or her destiny. These “steps” may be physical or psychical, large or small, shaped this way or that way, but they always mean leaving some present “comfort zone” or situation considered “normal” or “usual” once the call is heard.
Abraham sets out, “not knowing where he was to go.” At the end of the journey, the inheritance waits—where that is, exactly, is not clear, at least at the beginning. What it will be like, exactly, perhaps cannot even be conceived of properly at the time of first response and first steps away from the familiar. Setting out is an act of faith or trust in the voice making the call to step out. It is both a trusting, faithful attitude and a life of actions that show the person’s commitment to what he or she has heard deep within his or her “heart”—their inmost being, where God’s Spirit speaks.
This “call” from God is not simply and without remainder a call to religion. It involves any and all kinds of talents and abilities we are entrusted with. A workman learns to handle his tools, be they hammers or computers or fire hoses, or one might have talents to develop in the arts, sciences, healthcare, business, etc. All these give some shape and color to the ultimate inward call these men and women are responding to. The artist will develop her artistic abilities as part of her total response to the call she hears from God, for instance. Our religious life goes the decisive step deeper, seeking encounter with God. This strengthens our ability to discern, to persevere, to suffer if needs be, in whatever life vocation suits the individual, from teacher, to farmer, to programmer, and so on. God is at the core of the call in any particular direction. To ignore that is to try to stop short of our ultimate destiny. He made us. He calls each one of us.
For both Abraham and today’s Christian, living out the gaining of the promise will be like living in a country that is new to them. It will take time to assimilate the ways of this new life, to understand how to navigate this new countryside, how to make use of and thrive with its special customs, foods, ways of dealing with things. Even as he grows in this, the Christian recognizes he is yet “living in tents” with his family and children. The ultimate goal is something more permanent than that: the “the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.” Having followed and trusted God in life, the Christian, like Abraham, may be gathered to his fathers and mothers in death, temporarily, before the complete revelation of the “better homeland” in the city God has prepared for them.
As with Abraham, a Christian’s life will involve many changes, surprises, and turns in the road. Challenges requiring great patience, courage, growth in morality, repentance for avarice, anger, pride, sins of the flesh, and so on, as well as for development of good sense in tough, complex situations. All these on a yearly, weekly, even daily basis.
In my own case, hearing the initial call and beginning to understand what direction I was invited to take involved missteps and false starts. Those things are well behind me now, but even in these latter days, re-direction is still a daily occurrence. I wake up and plan my day. God chuckles, and we go from there….
For further reflection:
Abraham heard the promises and set out. He had a lot more growing to do. We must expect to be called to grow throughout our lives on this earth.