LIKE ABRAHAM, WE ARE ON THE MOVE

II SUNDAY OF LENT - Gn 12:1-4

The pre-history of salvation, described in Gn 1-11, comes to an end with the appearance of Abraham. With him, a new chapter in the history of the relationship between God and man is open. 

Abraham came from Ur, an important city in Mesopotamia, where the moon-god was worshiped. Accompanying his father, he left his homeland with the intention of going to the land of Canaan, but when they arrived in Haran, in the highway from the Persian gulf to the West (and to Palestine), they settled there. Haran, which means road, was also an important centre of the moon-god worship.

After his father's death, Abraham underwent a deep religious experience that change his life. Deep in his heart, he heard God's voice telling him: Leave! Go! "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house" (Gn 12:1). It was an order and not a simple suggestion or invitation. We speak of the call of Abraham, but it was much more than a call. He was ordered to set out for a foreign land, leaving behind his country, his home and his family. Where was he going? "To the land that I will show you". He was ordered to move into the unknown, guided only by God's hand.

To his call, God added a promise: the promise of his blessings and continuous protection, the promise of being the founding father of a great nation, and the promise of becoming the source of blessings for all nations. It was a nice promise to hear, but in concrete terms it sounded very little realistic, easily giving place to the suspicion that it would never be fulfilled. It was a promise for a still very far away time. It was like a dream.

But "Abram went, as the Lord had told him" (Gn 12:4). Abraham did not ignore God's command; instead, he decided to obey, doing what he was told to do.

The ancestor of all those who believe

Paul called Abraham "the ancestor of all who believe" (Ro 4:11), so that "those who believe are the descendants of Abraham" (Gal 3:7). Abraham is a man of faith and the prototype of all those who live by faith. His trust, his confidence and his readiness to surrender and to obey. He put himself in God's hands, even when he was surrounded by darkness and could not see what would become of him.

With Abraham, we have the emergence of faith as a new reality in the relationship with God. However, if we look attentively, we discover that in this move of Abraham in search of a new home, God is the main actor and the decisive factor. He is the one in command, guiding Abraham through all his steps, even when he seems not to be present.

Faith implies this awareness of God's presence and action, and implies the acceptance of his guidance and the obedience to his command. And faith implies the readiness to leave everything behind and to move into the unknown, being always a foreigner in search of a homeland that only God can show us.

Living by faith, we are that great nation of which Abraham is the founding father. Like him, we are on the move, looking forward to the fulfilment of the Promise.