Genesis 17:1-8 October 19, 2008
The Names of God, Part 5
“More Than Enough”
Rev. Meagan Boozer
Elohim, the first name for God that we come to in the Scripture in Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, Elohim created. No matter what anyone has told you, you are not a mistake or an accident. You were created by Elohim for a purpose. What is that purpose? To become a farmer, a turnpike worker, a teacher, a banker, a computer technologist, a nurse, a receptionist, a stay-at-home mom? Yes, and no. God created us to be workers, to be responsible with our time, to be productive members of society, working in some way, for the good of our community – but where we work and the work we do is not nearly as important as how we do our work. Elohim created us to bring glory to him wherever we are, whatever we’re doing. How would we live differently if we were to choose today to allow every part of our lives to bring glory to God? What marvelous worship might rise in this place if we would come on Sunday mornings for the single purpose of giving glory to Elohim? Some leave a church service of worship saying things like this, “I didn’t get anything out of that,” “I didn’t like the music.” If we come to give instead of get, our lives would be very different: we would begin to live into the very purpose for which Elohim created us.
El Elyon is in charge. We discover this name for God in Genesis 14. Some of us don’t like El Elyon to be in charge. We don’t like the things God allows to happen to us, or to the people around us. But here’s what I know: I know that when I try to be in charge of my life, and consequently say and do things that go against God’s instructions in the Scriptures, pieces of my life begin to fall apart pretty quickly. Stress increases, which brings irritability, which pushes the people in our lives away from us, which invites anger, depression, and a sense of abandonment, and a tendency to try relieving our stress with drugs – drugs like TV, time on the computer, alcohol, pornography, illegal and prescription drugs. Maybe we don’t like what God allows to come into our lives from time to time, but by determined faith, I still want the One who knows all things, who can see the whole picture, whose power is above all, who can bring good out of the bad decisions I’ve made in my life – I still choose El Elyon, the God Most High, to be the One guiding my life.
Hagar was a woman in trouble. She was pregnant with Abram’s baby, and was kicked out of her house by Sarai. But the God who sees our deepest needs, came to her and revealed himself to her as El Roi. El Roi spoke to Hagar and guided her back home with strength and tenderness. I love knowing that God sees me, and knows what I’m up against every minute of every day. I love knowing that God sees all of you, and ministers to you in ways that I, as your pastor, never could. Knowing God as El Roi is such a comfort to me.
Today, we learn about El Shaddai – the One who is more than enough. Let’s read the story in which we find this new name for God. Genesis 17:1-8, “1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; walk before me, and be blameless. 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of
Back in 1999, John and I had the opportunity to travel to the
There it was. I can still see it in my memory now. It was a beautiful, shimmering sea, surrounded by mountains as we are here – but these were the mountains we read about in the pages of the Bible where Jesus went up to pray, where he looked down across the sea to see his disciples in the midst of a storm. There, along the shore, were the towns and villages we know Jesus visited, places we know he preached and ministered to people - no doubt about it. All of a sudden I just wanted to be still. I didn’t want to say a thing. It seemed everything thus far in our pilgrimage came together in this one place. All I wanted to do was get on my knees and thank God for showing it to me. You know how we say, when we would like things to be a bit clearer, “Could you draw me a picture?” That’s what God did for me when I saw the
God said to Abraham, “I am El Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless.” The Living Bible translates it, “I am the Almighty; obey me and live as you should.” The Jewish Bible, The Tanakh, writes, “I am El Shaddai. Walk in my ways and be blameless.” The one that really got me was a new translation of the first 5 books of the Bible by Everett Fox called The Five Books of Moses. “I am God Shaddai. Walk in my presence! And be wholehearted!”
God, in a nutshell is saying, “Do not just give me a little here – a little there. I want to do the impossible things through you for my glory, but when you only give me part of your heart, you block the flow of my Spirit. Be wholly devoted to me and watch what I will do!”
The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6:17 declares to the church, “Come out from the idol worshippers and be separate . . . I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty [El Shaddai]” What is meant by being separate? Is Paul’s passion for the Lord so great that he is telling us we should all go off and join a convent or monastery so that we can worship the Lord without distractions? No! Paul’s teaching is just what God said to Abraham, “Rise above the ways of the world and be wholeheartedly devoted to God. Don’t answer the call of the world. Answer’s God’s call.”
Now, for some of us that may mean separating from a particular pattern of living that does not bring glory to God (which is Elohim’s purpose for us). It may mean changing what we do with our time, with our money; it may mean changing what we say with our mouths (not falling into judgmental thought patterns or talk about others, including gossip, complaining, using foul language); it may mean giving up going to particular places that tempt us beyond what we are able to handle; it may mean spending more time doing this rather than that – I don’t know what ways of this world entice you to forego God’s best for you. But I do know from personal experience that when we make the choice to eliminate or add some things to our lives that bring us more in line with God’s will, our ears are opened by the Holy Spirit to hear his voice. We will be amazed by what He says, and we will be amazed by what He does. We will be amazed, as Abraham was, how the voice and the presence of El Shaddai in our lives (and in the church) brings all that has come before and all that lies ahead together in such a way that we are rendered absolutely still and speechless – except maybe to say, “Wow. That has to be God.”
If you want to experience a God with whom nothing is impossible, even bearing a child at the age of 100 (not that I’m very interested in that possibility!), we must live lives that are wholeheartedly devoted to him. That’s what God finally saw in Abraham and Sarah who exclaimed, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
He saw it in David, who was described in 1 Sam. 13:14 as a man after God’s own heart. David wasn’t after God’s hand, only wanting God when he wanted God to do something for him. David wanted the very heart of God.
A life fully committed to him is what he saw in Mary, who dared to believe that nothing is impossible with God and who whispered, “Let it happen to me as you have said.”
He is looking for this in you and me, too. Not because he needs us to do things for him. God doesn’t need anything or anyone. He is El Shaddai. God is looking for hearts fully committed to him because he knows that only when we stop frantically searching for the illusive something, and allow ourselves to be found by him, that’s when we begin to experience the fullness of his presence.
I don’t know about you, but there is something absolutely captivating to me when I read how Abraham was undone in the presence of El Shaddai. I want to be undone, too (I want any control I have to be released)! I want to be on my face before him, soaking in his almightiness, completely trusting his promises – even though I know being overwhelmed by his holiness will stir up all sorts of things within me, maybe things I’d rather leave unstirred under the surface. I know being in the fullness of the presence of El Shaddai will mess with my usual way of doing things, and my predictable ways of thinking. I know this is what will happen, but I still want to be undone in his presence.
I read an interview in Sports Illustrated this past week with Cardinal’s quarterback Kurt Warner. After seeing wide receiver Anquan Boldin knocked out by a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Jets back on September 28th, Warner reportedly talked about retiring. Here’s part of the interview:
Q: Did you want to retire?
Warner: It was more saying, I don’t know how much longer I want to do this, not meaning this was the last game I ever played, but this may be my last season. I’d never seen anything like that up close. It shook me.
Q: Was the role you played in throwing that pass a factor?
Warner: Definitely. I’ve always prided myself on letting my receivers know, I’m going to protect you.
Q: What did you say to him when he was lying there?
Warner: I just told him that I loved him and was going to be praying for him. (Boldin fractured his sinus membrane.)
Q: In your next game, Buffalo Bill’s quarterback Trent Edwards got knocked out. What goes through your mind?
Warner: I think how many times in the last couple years my wife has told me, “Sometimes I don’t care if you guys win or lose. All I want is for you to get up every time you get hit.” When you have kids at home like I do, that kind of stuff sinks in when you see someone motionless on the field. You always think, It’s never going to happen to me. I grew up in
In one of the most popular fiction books in bookstores right now, The Shack, a man named Mack, had a horrible tragedy come to his family. In his time of healing and recovery, Mack has an “El Shaddai” encounter with God. Afterwards, his friend Willie says this about Mack, “Mack? Well, he’s a human being that continues through a process of change, like the rest of us. Only he welcomes it while I tend to resist it. I have noticed that he loves larger than most, is quick to forgive, and even quicker to ask for forgiveness. The transformations in him have caused quite a ripple through his community of relationships – and not all of them easy. But I have to tell you that I’ve never been around another adult who lives life with such simplicity and joy. Somehow he has become a child again. Or maybe more accurately, he’s become the child he never was allowed to be; abiding in simple trust and wonder. He embraces even the darker shades of life as part of some incredibly rich and profound tapestry; crafted masterfully by invisible hands of love.”
What will it take for us to begin to look at things differently? What will it take for us to make different decisions that honor God’s choice to give us life? What will it take for us to realize we don’t know how to get out of the mess we’re in. What will it take for us to walk away from a way of living, a way of being, a way of talking, a way of managing and controlling that we know isn’t best for us and for the people around us, and fall, undone, on our faces before El Shaddai – trusting him to lead us to still waters and green pastures?
Alluding to the encounter Moses had with God at the burning bush (when God said to Moses, “take off your shoes, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”), Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the following:
Earth is crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God.
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries.
Let’s not be a congregation full of blackberry pickers. Let’s be a congregation full of undone God glorifiers! May we have the eyes to see El Shaddai, for quite frankly, that’ll be all it takes to get us on our faces before him. And then, hold on
Amen.
