“Stuck in Haran”

“Stuck in Haran” a sermon by Gregory A. W. Green First Presbyterian Church Charlotte, North Carolina March 5, 2006 Genesis 11:26-12:5 Twelve years ago I moved from the sun of California to the snow of Washington State. Now keep in mind that I had never lived in the snow, much less driven in it. Which is my way of saying that I think I spent more time in the ditch that winter than I did on the road. One day, shortly after I arrived, I was driving on Division St. in Spokane (which is a major thoroughfare), when the light ahead of me suddenly changed color. Trying not to panic I began to gently tap my brakes about a hundred yards before the intersection – only to find myself still sliding a hundred and twenty yards later, with cars zooming past me and honking on both sides. Less than two hours later, I was on my way home, when all of a sudden, my pickup for no apparent reason at all, went into a spin and ended up in an embankment. I was stuck. In fact, I had to get towed out. Coming from California, and having never driven in the snow, I simply didn’t have the skill – nor was my pickup properly equipped to maneuver in that terrain. I found myself in new territory and it quickly became abundantly clear that I had to learn a new way to drive. Contrast that winter against last winter. About this time last year, we had just launched this worship service, and it had taken a great deal of energy to get it off the ground. I was tired and needed a break, so a friend of mine offered me their mountain cabin for a week. So on a Monday afternoon, I packed up everything I thought I would need in my new jeep and headed off for the mountains. I was about half way there when it began to snow, and I still had about an hour to go, when all of a sudden I began to feel my tires start to slip and spin. I was going up a hill and the car began to slide sideways towards the ditch - but this time something was different, because as I began to slide towards the ditch, almost as if it was second nature, I turned slightly into the skid and reached down and shifted gears into four-wheel drive. Mid-skid I felt the tires grab hold and I began to climb back up the mountain. It was one of the more exhilarating, masculine, testosterone-filled moments of my life! That week I was able to do things and go places I never had before, because now not only did I possess the skill needed to drive in such conditions, I also possessed the proper equipment. Sometimes you get stuck in the snow, and I certainly had before, but not this time. Because this time, I was driving a four wheel drive and was able to shift gears. Sometimes we get stuck on the side of the road, we slam into embankments, and we crash in ways that we didn’t expect. Sometimes things happen that we don’t plan or envision. There are times where we had a better dream, a different blueprint, a clearer map, of where we would like to go in life, of where we would like to be, but suddenly because of the conditions around us – whether it be ice, or rain, or snow – we find ourselves suddenly planted in the ditch. There are times in our lives where we simply get stuck in the snow. We all face slick surfaces that send us into tailspins and lead to us plowing headfirst into embankments. We all get stuck in ruts, and face sticky spots, and if we are going to get from where we have been – to where we would like to go – we have to learn to shift gears and drive in adverse conditions. All of us face potholes in our lives, and in our work, and in our marriages, where we stand the risk of getting stuck and if we are going to get from one place to another, than we need to learn how to shift the gears. Our text for tonight is a genealogy. It is a part of Scripture that most of us skip past because it seems to have no obvious significance for our lives – “so and so was the father of so and so, who married so and so, and so on.” But in the midst of that, we find the life of a little known man named Terah. And what we learn about Terah, beyond the fact that he was the father of Abraham, is that he originally set out with his family from the land of Ur, heading for the land of Canaan – but he never quite made it there. He set his sights on Canaan, but something happened along the way that prevented him from making it. Instead, he ended up settling in the land of Haran – and we are told that there he lived – and there he died. What it was about Haran that made him and his family stay there? Was it the water, the climate? Truth be told, we don’t know why he stayed there. We don’t know why he stopped along the way. We are never told why he settled in a land other than the one he set his sights upon. We simply know he never made it to Canaan. The bottom line is: he set out to go one place, but instead ended up settling for another place. He set out for a specific destination, but for one reason or another, he ended up settling for something short of it. And I can’t help but wonder - to what degree does the story of Terah reflect our own stories. How many of us have set out to go one place, and yet now looking upon our lives realize that we have settled, or are in the midst of settling, for something else? How many of us have settled for something short of Canaan? Some of us set out upon our work as a calling, but have since settled for merely having a career. Some of us set out to have a marriage, but have settled for one reason or another for mere cohabitation or divorce. Others of us set out to be parents and have settled into being police. Some of us have set out for a land of intimacy, yet have settled instead for a land of isolation. Many of us set out for a land of healing and wholeness but find it much easier to live in a land of sickness, depression, and blame shifting. How many of us have started journeying towards a land of plenty, but have instead settled for a land of scarcity. Terah set out for Canaan, the land of promise, but instead he settled for Haran and he died there. And I can’t help but wonder if anyone here tonight is stuck in Haran. I can’t help but wonder if there is anyone here tonight who started off thinking they were going one place, but instead have ended up somewhere else entirely. Maybe you are stuck there by your own choosing or maybe you are there because life has seemingly forced you there. But the point is - has what originally began as a transitionary place along the roadmap of your life, somehow become your destination and is your tent now pitched? It is so easy to become distracted, stopped, and stuck, and before you know it you begin to realize that you have not made it to the place where you intended or God intended. And with that realization often comes grief, and guilt, and shame, and bitterness, and despair. It is easy to turn your tent into your residence and your highway into your place of habitation. Terah somehow got stopped in Haran, and he settled for Haran, and the text tells us he died in Haran. But you do not have to die in Haran tonight. You may be stuck, but you can get back on the road and move on. You can get out of the rut. You can get out of the ditch and continue on your journey. You don’t have to settle for being married without having a marriage. You don’t have to settle for church activity and programs without discipleship. You don’t have to settle for isolation when God would have you to live in community. You don’t have to settle for a job without a sense of calling. You don’t have to die in Haran tonight. God has called you to a greater destination. God has called you to Canaan. Let me note that there is a big difference between being stopped and being stuck. We all get stopped from time to time in life, in fact we all get stuck from time to time, but just because we get stopped or stuck doesn’t mean we need to spend the rest of our lives there. Being stopped is an inconvenience. And being stuck from time to time is a fact of life, but if we allow ourselves to remain stopped and then stuck for too long, then we run the risk of dying in a land other than the land of promise. Whatever area you find yourself stuck in, whether it be the area of relationships, or finances, or health, or job, or family background; don’t be like Terah and end up dying in your Haran - especially when you have set out for Canaan.

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