Maybe you have already seen it, but I am eager to see the new Indiana Jones movie, but for some reason Jennie and I just don’t seem to be able to catch movies in the theater the way we did about 13 or 14 months ago. I am anxious to see the movie because the others are much beloved favorites of mine and I want to see if the new one can live up to the greatness of the others.  I remember the thrill of the “Last Crusade” as Indiana Jones was in search of the Holy Grail a quest that took him half way around the world, put his life in peril on a number of occasions, following the quest for the greatest archeological piece ever, the cup that Jesus used at the last supper.  All of this leads him to the resting place of the grail but before he could get to it he had to pass the tests that lay ahead.  First he had to kneel at the right time lest he loose his head.  Then he had to walk across the path marked on the letters that spell the name of Jesus in Latin.  He had to take a leap of faith, stepping off a ledge to walk across an unseen bridge.  Finally he had to select the correct grail from among the others, for while the real grail would grant eternal life, the many false grails would only hasten one’s death. 

            As I was thinking about today’s passage it occurred to me how important Indiana’s steps were in that last movie, how at the end of the movie he had to know when to kneel, he had to put his feet in the right places marked by certain letters, and he had to take that all important leap of faith.  It was not easy going for Indy and those final steps were important, one wrong move, one misstep, and not only would he have not received the reward he and his father had longed for their entire lives, but he could have wound up dead.  Thinking back on the movie it occurred to me that none of this would have ever happened if he had never taken the first step.  The final steps were perhaps, the most courageous, the most fraught with danger, but the fist step, that step out of the house, that first step knowing that every other subsequent step would be headed in the same direction, in search of the grail, that first step was perhaps the most important.  That was the step of decision, it was that step that set the framework for al the steps that came later because it was that step that got him moving in that direction in the first place.  

            I share this because it occurs to me that Abram whose story we read a few moments ago has some similarities to the fictional Indiana Jones.  Both were in search of greatness, both had a long journey to get there, and both of their journeys began as do all journeys with the first step.   The bible doesn’t tell us this but it would not be hard to imagine that Abram thought God was crazy when God issued the direction to Abram saying “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  Presumably things were pretty good in Haran and besides Abram was already seventy-five years old, I am sure he was pretty accustomed to life where he was; surrounded by his family and his friends.  There was no other reason to leave the safety and security of the familiar and set out on the long 500 mile journey to Canaan other than it is what God called him to do. There were a lot of good reasons to stay put and only a few reasons to pick up and go but that is what Abram did because it is what God wanted him to do.  Surely it was not an easy journey.  Surely there were times when Abram wondered what he had gotten himself into.  We will suspend for a moment that were we left of reading this morning Abram had come to the land of Canaan but surprise it was occupied with people and not exactly free for him to inhabit.  The story does have a happy ending, not all of it did Abram ever see to completion but it does end well.  None of it would have happened if Abram had not taken the first step. 

             If Abram had refused to take that first step from Haran in the direction of the Promised Land who knows where we would be.  I suppose it is possible that if the father of our faith had not taken this important first step we might not even be worshiping here this morning.   But he did take that first step, and the next, and the next, and the next, and with every step he took away from home he was one step closer to where God was calling him to be and it all began with the first step.  It is for this reason that the apostle Paul says in a passage we didn’t read this morning that God reckoned this to Abram as righteousness, that God reckoned what Abram did was good, and right, and faithful and that God reckoned Abram was all of those things for taking that first step and following in God’s way. 

             You know I recon it was mighty faithful of old Abram to leave Haran also because you need some mighty big faith to embark on such a journey.  It takes a lot of faith to leave a home, a family, a bunch of friends, and who knows what all else behind when you can’t even see the finish line God is calling you to cross, you can’t even see the blessing God has promised awaits you at the end.  Abram couldn’t see the land of

           Friends I think that is the story of our faith as well.  Each of us is called by God to be on a journey of faith.  None of us knows for sure where that journey of faith will take us.  Most of us suspect it will take us places we couldn’t imagine ever going on our own, but we don’t know where we will end up.  All we know is like Abram we are called to go, and we need to put our trust in God, the God who already has loved us, saved us, and redeemed us with the grace extended to us through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.  We have countless examples of folks like Abram who did these things, like the woman in the first passage we read who couldn’t have known for sure what would happen, but had the faith to reach out and touch Jesus’ garment and was healed.  Scripture is filled with these stories of stepping out in faith because that is what the faithful people of God do, they step out not knowing what the future holds but trusting the one who holds the future.  Eventually or maybe even frequently we are faced with the same alternative; we are called by God to go some where, to do some thing and we are faced with a decision, stick with the familiar or step out.  When that time comes it doesn’t do us any good to argue with God and try to make the case that we are not the right person, that we are not equipped with the right gifts and skills for the journey ahead.  Scripture is very clear on this point also; clearly from the witness of scripture God delights in calling out unlikely candidates for the work of God in the world.  Our job is not to argue, our job is to muster the faith to go, and it all begins with the first step. 

          Taking the first step is not easy, that is why it requires faith.  Countless are the times when I have rued ever taking that first step.  I might for instance be working on a project at home and I would stew and stew about beginning the project because I knew it was going to be difficult but eventually I take a deep breath and I begin.  At times I have found myself half way through stuck, wondering what ever possessed me to begin in the first place, not knowing how I was ever going to get out of the jam I was in, and certainly not able to envision the completion of the project.  But some how I manage, and some how I have found the courage since to continue taking first steps knowing that often frustration is the first step toward improvement.  Without some frustration or discontent on my part I have no incentive to improve.  If I am completely content with where I am and what I have, if I think I have it made, then it is increasingly difficult for me to hear God’s call to move toward something better.  As Arthur Godfrey said: “Even if you are on the right track…you will get run over if you just sit there.”  I believe that is why God calls us to keep moving in our faith.  God doesn’t ever seem to be content to just let us stay in one place but calls us all to step out in new directions, to take leaps of faith trusting that God is there with us to see us through.

              Each of us is called to faith by God.  While our call is in some ways different it is also in some ways the same as God’s call to Abram.  Our calling like his is to run into an unknown future, believing that God is with us, just as God was with Abram. The promise of faith is that God will guide us, if we are faithful in the long run. We’ll make it to the goal God has for us, one step at a time, but each of us has to take the first step. We never make it to the Promised Land, the Holy Grail, or whatever it is to which God is calling us if we don’t step out in faith and take that first step.   May each of us in our own way find the faith and courage to continue on the journey of faith prepared to take whatever step God calls us to take next.  Amen.