My great uncle Lavonne was a Methodist who took his pastor to lunch on Sundays. He mowed his yard until he was in his 90’s. I called him one time to ask him about our family on my mom’s side. He said, “Are you working on our family tree?” I offered an enthusiastic “yes.” He said, “I’ve always thought some of the branches of our tree should have been broken off and forgotten.” Not the answer I was expecting!
What do you know about your family? In a college History of Religion course, Dr. Rufus Spain gave me a reason to explore my family tree with an emphasis on spiritual connections. The point of the exercise was to find out how I became a Baptist. Why did religious intermarriages in my line lead my mom and me to become Baptists? This set me on a journey to understand what the Israelites called a “toledot.” That is the Hebrew word for family tree, genealogy, or generations. My journey led me to a eureka moment at the Waco public library when I discovered a preacher in my ancestral line. Levi Brooks planted churches in East Tennessee before and after the Civil War. When he died, unexpectedly, his son moved to Missouri where three generations later, my dad was born.
Terah had a toledot, too. Like Noah, his ancestor, Terah had three sons. But he lost one named Haran who died in Ur of the Chaldees. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child, though I have watched our people walk through that dark valley. Terah’s other sons Nahor and Abram married. But Abram’s wife Sarai was childless. The future of their toledot looked unlikely, at best. The scriptures tell us about the pain of wanting children but not having them. Truth told, almost every toledot has its share of trouble.
Terah took his toledot and went home, to a new home. I know Ur sounds like a rather indecisive place. But in fact, it was a great city that had running water in apartments. So the late, great Bill Tolar, archaeology professor told our church in a sermon at Tallowood, one night. When Terah and his family left Ur, they were leaving civilization to go to an unknown place. This one act of faith would define a generation and a whole nation, and affect the future of the world. The good news for Terah and all of us is that our God travels. We cannot go with him and stay where we are. The sending God who sent his only Son, and then the Holy Spirit, also sends us today. We have been sent, everywhere we go today. If God calls you to do something, by all means, go. His presence will attend you. Joy engulfs us as we obey.
