Abraham: A Man of Great Perspective
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· 1 viewAbraham was a man of great perspective. We can learn a lot about what our perspective will be and how that can help us grow in faithfulness.
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Introduction:
1. Lewis & Clark traveling across America. They were seeking the new land most recently purchased by Thomas Jefferson in 1803. They needed to explore different routes, see how the land was shaped, make trade with the Native’s, and when possible make findings for science. Ultimately their goal was to travel to uncharted lands.
2. This could not have been an easy trip. I’m sure along the way they lost perspective of their journey and began to wonder about home and what they left behind. This is when the journey became the most challenging, in my opinion. But they regained the proper perspective and finished the journey. What began in May of 1804 came to a close in September of 1806. This journey took Great Perspective.
3. But we aren’t here to discuss Lewis & Clark and their perilous journey which required Great Perspective to complete. Our thoughts for this morning need to center around a man who is famous for having a Great Perspective on life, Abraham.
TRANSITION: Abraham could have served as an example for Lewis & Clark. He was a man who packed up everything left it all behind because God told him to do so. So we may ask ourselves the question, “How did he have the courage to pack up everything and go?” In short, Abraham was a man of “Great Perspective.” Let’s take a few minutes and see the perspective he kept and then watch and see how it directly relates to our lives. First off…
Abraham had the Perspective of a Stranger on the earth.
Abraham had the Perspective of a Stranger on the earth.
Hebrews 11:13
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
1. Scripture: I believe that Abraham was different from those around him; He was a stranger.
a. He wasn’t obsessed with land and city (Genesis 12:4; 13:9-12).
b. He trusted God in life & death situations (Genesis 22:1-14;
Hebrews 11:17-19).
c. He dealt honestly with people (Genesis 23:4-6, 8-9, 10-16).
2. Illustration: We were on a mission trip in Jamaica and had a girl in our youth group who had bleach blonde hair. The Jamaican children were amazed by this because they had never seen such blonde hair. They kept touching it, twirling it, and staring at it. Blonde hair was so strange, so foreign, so different.
3. Have you ever met that person who was just different? Something was just a bit off. It’s not that that person had any problems, you just knew they weren’t from around here? How about meeting a New Yorker while living in Alabama! What about a southerner touring in the Northeast. Those accents don’t belong in other places, ha.
4. Application:
a. Abraham consistently had a perspective of being a Stranger on Earth. He faced problems that are common to most people—fear, anxiousness, uncertainty, danger, and hard financial times—but his life preached a different message than those he encountered.
b. He believed firmly that the life that was to come is better than the life that currently is. The place he was traveling is faaaar better than the place he was at. Why? Because God called him to it and promised to bless him in it.
c. Do our lives preach that same message? Even though we face some of the same issues others deal with, we handle them differently. We know the life to come is far better than the life we are currently living. The place that we are going is far better than the place we currently live. Why? Because God has prepared it for us and has promised to bless us with it. In light of Him, we must keep the perspective that we are strangers on this earth.
Abraham had the Perspective of a Seeker of a heavenly homeland.
Abraham had the Perspective of a Seeker of a heavenly homeland.
Hebrews 11:14-16
“For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
1. Illustration: Harry Potter as the Seeker.
a. I don’t know if you like the Harry Potter movies, but I have always enjoyed the movies. If you know anything about Harry Potter you know that Harry was a seeker in the game of Quidditch. Let me explain Quidditch really quickly…
b. As this game carries on in the arena, Harry and the other “Seeker” are trying to catch the Snitch. The game is happening below in a confined space while Harry as the Seeker is focusing entirely on catching the Snitch. If a Seeker is able to catch the Snitch the game is over below no matter what the score.
c. It’s a wonderful parallel. Abraham was a seeker of a “better homeland”. That homeland was the main focus of his journey and life. While others were doing things down in the arena of life, Abraham was focused on the ultimate goal of seeking the home God had promised him (I’m making an obvious parallel between the Promised Land and Heaven).
2. Scripture:
a. Abraham, as a seeker, was not always certain (Genesis 15:7-8, 12-15, 17-21).
b. In the NT, Paul described Abraham as a man who did not know exactly where he was going, but he did know exactly who he was trusting in; the God of heaven and earth
(Hebrews 11:8-10).
3. Application:
a. Yes Abraham had moments of doubts where I’m sure he almost lost his perspective. But look how he handled them; he gave them to God and kept his focus on seeking that homeland.
b. There is no doubt that we are going to have moments in this arena of life where we doubt something. You may be fighting the court system, facing surgeries and illnesses, or have a home-life that isn’t settled and unhappy. That may cause you to lose your perspective and wonder if God is even listening to your prayers. When Abraham had doubts in his perspective, he took his doubts to God, and God acted.
c. In today’s world God is not going to respond directly to your prayers and thoughts in a conversation like he had with Abraham. But I am fully convinced that God will help you keep the proper perspective of being a Seeker in this life. He will help you remember that we don’t live for the here and now, but we are to seek the eternal home, a home with a great foundation “whose designer and builder is God.”
(Hebrews 11:10)
We Need to Find the Perspective Abraham had in Life.
We Need to Find the Perspective Abraham had in Life.
Application – Hebrews 11:39-12:2; Romans 4:22-24
1. How is this possible though? Abraham left it all behind and just started journeying to the Promised Land. I cannot leave everything behind. I have responsibilities today. I have a job today. I have a family that needs me today. How can I do both? Be like Abraham, but also carry out my responsibilities of this life?
2. Illustration: A Balancing Act
I remember playing a game as a child in which we would bend one knee and grab our foot behind us and then try to race—limping, stumbling and falling over as we struggled across the grass toward a finish line. That’s what happens when we have only one leg to stand on, or assume that somehow two left feet suffice for one of each.
This balancing act is repeated throughout most of nature. Two eyes to give perspective. Two arms and two hands to provide dexterity. Two sides of our brain that tandem. All these things come in pairs because there are many things in the physical world that work best when they have balance and complementarity.
3. Living a life upon this earth is so challenging, in part, because we have come to know God and want so badly to be in His presence for all eternity! (Philippians 1:18b–26)
4. Heaven is so wonderful, in part, because we have tasted what this world has to offer. (1 John 2:15–17)
5. But maybe that is how it is supposed to be? Those two, in tandem, make all the sense in and out of this world. This understanding might help us with a “Stranger on Earth” and a “Seeker of a Heavenly Home” perspective. And having met Abraham, I pray we are more capable of living lives with great perspective to the glory of God our Father!