Men began to call upon the name of the Lord

Read Genesis 4:26

You have to love Genesis.  It is the only book of the Torah where the Greek and Hebrew titles agree.  Bresheet means beginning as does Genesis.  The rest differ as the Greeks wanted a title and an author and based their title on a general understanding of content: however, the Hebrew people knew their books by the first few words. 

For instance, Exodus was called Shemot, meaning names.  Exodus begins with These are the names…

Viyikra, meaning and he called becomes Leviticus. Midbar, meaning in the wilderness shows up as Numbers.  Devarim which means words becomes Deuteronomy.  None  of these match the titles assigned in the Greek translation, but Genesis does.

In the beginning begins the first creation account.  At the end of which God declared all things very good.  A good start to creation, don’t you think?

This is followed by the second account of creation told with a greater focus on humankind.  So far, so good.  The creation is off to a good start.

You know what’s next.  We can’t even get three chapters into the story until it seems to go south.  The serpent makes his pitch, Eve makes her evaluation, and then she breaks the one and only commandment given to her husband, which he has surely passed on to her.  They knew his directive and Eve broke it anyway.

Afterwards Adam take a bite as well.  He was an easy sell.  So much for male leadership in the first family. 

Have you seen the pictures and meme of something totally messed up and the caption, “You had one job to do?”  I like the one where the Minnesota midfield logo is centered on the 45 yard line. “ You had one job!”

Adam and Eve had only one thing not to do.  We can look back on them and blame the fall of humanity on them, which is normally what we do.  We mitigate the blame a little bit by asking ourselves if we would have done any better.  Maybe we would have held out longer.  Maybe not.

The next thing you know, 25% of the people noted in the Bible commit murder at the same time.  The murder rate was also 25%.   Okay, Cain killed his brother, Abel.

We sometimes look at and classify Genesis as history.  Sometimes we note it as a faith statement. It is in many ways, but it is also prophetic.  We often ignore that.  The one command which brought disobedience was followed by over 600 that brought disobedience.  Disobedience continued through Noah and the flood and Moses and Joshua to the Messiah.

All were bound over to disobedience.  No one, not even the patriarchs, managed to bear the burden of obedience. 

We see that as the law increased, sin increased even more.  Disobedience increased.  Doesn’t that just mess up the whole story?

Not if the only way to be right with God was through the work of God himself. Only the Messiah could fulfill the law, live by the complete law, and only through the blood of the Messiah could we be made right with God.  Only through him could we receive the Spirit of God.

We are creatures of the flesh and if we jump forward to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus noted that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Even these words spoke short term prophecy.  As Jesus struggled to see his mission through to completion—which he did—his closest followers succumbed to their flesh.  They fell asleep once again.

He told them to continue in prayer so they would not give into temptation but the flesh was too strong for them.

Jesus lived in the flesh though his flesh did not conquer him, but he was the only person ever who could claim this victory.

So the story of the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament is one in which God stayed with us through our disobedience to his word, his directives, his loving guidance.  Some found favor with God but none could fulfill all of his commands, even when there was just the one.

This whole story could have ended shortly after it began.  This judgment that we believe is to come could have come and gone quickly and this whole humanity thing could have been put in the books.

But God stayed with us through it all because he is God.  He is love.  He loves us.  He has something incredible in store for us now and through eternity.  He has given us his Spirit as a deposit on our inheritance as his sons and daughters.

And all had not gone astray.  Keeping God’s directives was one thing, but seeking him even in this weak human flesh was another.

In what seems totally out of context considering the way this whole creation story was going, we find these words.

At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Some translations might say people began to proclaim the name of the Lord.

In this screwball story where the flesh is racking up wins, the people began to call on the name of the Lord.  But there is no revival.  There is no obedience.  There does not seem to be widespread worship of the one true God.  This, like other parts of this book and the rest of the Torah, point to future.

But people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Where does their help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We see the prophet Joel talking about the Spirit of God being poured out.  Peter talks of Joel’s words in his first big sermon.  His message leads up to these words.  Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!  Now that’s something to be excited about.

Okay, that makes for a nice sermon but consider today’s world.  Disobedience to and even contempt for God are commonplace.  I don’t know that I see much future for our nation other than some fire and brimstone.

The creation story was on that same track but somehow men began to call upon the name of the Lord.  This did not abate the problems of humanity but some called upon the name of the Lord.

Some began to call upon the name of the Lord.  My prayer is that we will see this again in our country and in our time.  People will begin to call upon the name of the Lord .

The big catalyst here is that one day soon the Spirit of God will be poured out and those who are not anchored in rebellion will call upon the name of the Lord.

Those who are struggling in the flesh will call upon the name of the Lord.

But we have salvation.  Must we continue to call upon the name of the Lord?

Let’s consider this.  Do we obey all of God’s commands?  No, but if I live a life of love, I have fulfilled them.

Are we consistent in living our lives in love?  Not exactly.  I have good moments and bad.

Even with salvation, we wrestle with the flesh.  We get angry.  We have to be right.  We make our desires the center of our world and seeking God gets bumped down a notch or two.  Love gets some time in our hearts then gets evicted and invited back and then stuck in a corner.

We still wrestle with the flesh.  Paul would call it the old man, the old creature.  Even as redeemed men and women we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  Where does my help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We likely won’t be able to fully obey God until we live continually in God’s presence.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  One day we won’t contend with sinful flesh. The Spirit wins.  God wins.  We win.

But in this day, we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  This is more than prayer.  This is a lifestyle.  This is in all your ways acknowledge him.  Let’s call upon the name of the Lord.

One way that we often forget to call upon the name of the Lord is in Thanksgiving.  Our requests are lined up and ready to go but sometimes we get so wrapped up in our needs that our thankfulness is consumed by our flesh.

We are a thankful and grateful people even if the world is not.  Even as we struggle with the flesh and even as we struggle with disobedience and even as we struggle getting ourselves out of the judgment seat and into the arena, out of the bleachers and on the playing field, out of philosophy and into practice—even as we struggle with our modern-day trials of the flesh—we are to be thankful.

Thank you, Lord, that you are God.

Thank you that you are love.

Thank you that you love us.

Thank you for your directions given for our own good.

Thank you for the Spirit that lives within us and who is a deposit on things to come.

Thank you for your command to love one another and that we may fully live.

Thank you that you hear us when we call out to you.

Thank you that the spirit that you placed inside us when you made us a living being can converse with the Spirit you placed inside of us when we received Jesus.

Thank you that they can talk directly and I don’t have to compose a prayer.

Thank you that you will finish the good work that you began in us.

Thank you that you did not abandon us in our disobedience.

Thank you that you have things in store for us that are beyond our imagination.

Thank you that you have called me friend.

Thank you that our present suffering is nothing compared to what you have in store for us.

Thank you that you trusted me enough to commission me to take your gospel to the world.

Thank you for the trials I experience that I might grow in your grace.

Thank you that sometimes your answer to my prayer is no.

Thank you that I may understand that your grace is sufficient for me.

Thank you for the things of this world that make me rich as compared to the rest of the world.

Thank you that those things have not become my god.

Thank you for the body of Christ so I need not navigate this life alone.

Thank you for your holy word that was preserved as it was passed down orally generation to generation, written and translated with great fidelity and available to anyone who wants it, and that sometime soon will be written on my heart.

Thank you that I proclaim Jesus is Lord and know this to be true without any doubt.

Thank you that your grace goes beyond my sin.

Thank you that you have called me to live in such a way that I will be known by my love.

Thank you that your mercy and grace have not expired even in this twisted and perverse generation.

Thank you that we know you best through your Son who died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thank you that by knowing him we know you.

Thank you that we know you by the Spirit who lives within us.

Thank you that we may call upon your name.

Amen.