The Altar of Remembrance
Calling all Altars
When I say the word “altar” what’s the first thing you that comes to your mind? If you grew up in church like me, the word refers to the benches or the steps that were at the very front of a church sanctuary. The altar was a specific place where people who needed to “do business with God” would go at the end of the service and kneel to pray. Oftentimes, some well-intended saint would come to their aid, place their arm around them, and pray with them.
I grew up in a Pastor’s home so all I’ve spent my fair share of time waiting quietly and patiently during the invitation as some person knelt at an altar and prayed for forgiveness, for cleansing, for direction, for healing, or for salvation. In fact, if every altar call I have ever been in averaged ten minutes then that means I’ve spent about 13 DAYS of my life at altar calls. I’d say the math is close because fortunately I have been spared many of the unending altar calls that were famous in the denomination in which I grew up. My Father wouldn’t wait long, in fact He is famous for saying, “we’re only going to sing one verse because I serve a King and not a beggar.” I’m thankful for my Dad’s foresight in this area, because I’ve also been in meetings where the altar calls have lasted longer than the music and the preaching…like well over an hour. When the poor guitar players fingers are bleeding from playing the same three chords for what seemed like an eternity, and the singers have sung every verse of “Just as I am” and have sung every alternate melody and timing they could think up on the spot just to vary the monotony.
Some of the funniest things that have ever happened to me have happened in those moments of supposed solemnity as we waited quietly for the Spirit to move. From making up the words, to singing the song in a ridiculously wrong key, to hunting for AWOL harmonies, I don’t have the time in this blog to recount all of the bizarre things I’ve experienced in those moments. That’s another blog for another day.
According to an article in Christianity today, the concept of the altar call actually can be traced back to the dawn of the 1800’s, when Methodist itinerant preachers like Peter Cartwright would extend a time of decision at the close of their message to give people a chance to respond. By the 1830’s, a second great awakening had begun to foment under the preaching of a man named Charles Finney and the altar call really began to take the shape that it is remembered for today. I’m not hear to debate whether the altar call or the revival for which it is remembered was sincere or not, I would like to point us back to an earlier use of the word altar.
When life hands you the wrong LOT
This morning, my family and I gathered around the table and began to read Genesis 13. We’ve been reading the story of Abraham together as a family during this time of transition for us. It is a familiar story that is packed with meaning for us as we pursue obedience to God’s direction for our lives in a more direct way. The story we read today is the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot and their parting of ways. Lot and his family had followed His uncle Abe when God called Abe out of the land of Ur. He had promised to make ole Abe and his wife Sarai a great nation despite their being close to 70 years old.
In my mind’s eye I can see the whole gaggle of people leaving early one morning from the city of Ur. It had to have been quite a processional as Abraham and all of his flocks and herds and Lot and all of his flocks and herds and family left Haran in Genesis 12. Like any long journey, the travel brings out the best and the worst in anyone and eventually there are be moments of intense fellowship. Words were said, volleys exchanged, tempers flared, and eventually Lot’s hired help and Abe’s hired help begin to argue so much that eventually Lot and Abraham decided to part ways. Lot chose the well-watered plains of Sodom which left Abraham with the leftovers. It wasn’t the best land, it wasn’t the most desirable land to farm, and we’re left to believe there wasn’t sufficient water supply. Now the Biblical narrative tells us Lot’s choice was the wrong one, but what if we’d never had that significant part of the story? You certainly can’t blame Lot for making an educated decision, but for Abraham this wouldn’t have made any sense at all. He was the one who had been given the promise, He was the chosen one!
Many times in our lives, God’s plans for us make no sense at all. If the story of the Bible was unfolding for us like a movie on Netflix and we paused the saga immediately after Lots fatal choice to select the well watered plains of Sodom, we might be tempted to wonder if God’s promise to Abraham was in jeopardy. After all what was left for Abraham was nothing but dust and sand and difficult farming land.
Your present circumstances do not dictate the future fulfillment of God’s promises
Sometimes in our lives God’s promises seem like they are in jeopardy when relationships fail, when job situations change, when medical bills pile up. It can seem as if the sunshine of God’s promises are being blocked by the gloomy clouds of circumstance. Abraham had to have felt like the promises of God were a distant memory by now, but then God does something special for Abraham. This man whom God had called at 70 who had left his homeland to pursue God and His promises gets some reassurance just as the clouds of difficulty begin to assemble. God comes to Him and reinstates His promise to Abraham, almost as if to say, “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you!” Genesis 13:14-17 recounts for us God’s promise, “14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.””
What encouragement the old man must have felt in that moment as God whispered to Him, “I got you, wink wink” In response to God’s reassurance, Abraham does what else?…he builds an altar. See in the Old Testament, the altar was built as a place to sacrifice burnt offerings. It had far more significance the wooden benches or stairs at the front of our modern sanctuaries. Oftentimes it was built as a place to remember God’s covenant provision and promises. Noah built an offering after they emerged from the ark after a worldwide flood. Jacob built an ark after he wrestled with the angel of God. The stones erected were stones of remembrance as much as they were stones of sacrifice.
Lately in my life, the Lord has been teaching me many things, not the least of which is that my plans are far inferior to His plans; that the well watered plains of my life may not necessarily be what God has for me. God has been teaching our family that His ways are best and His promises can be trusted, even when we are seemingly left, as Abraham was, with nothing but dust and stony ground. He’s gently reminding us through this story that we can trust His promises, and that He will finish what He started in us.
Wont He Do It?
One of my favorite verses right now is 1 Thessalonians 5:24 which reads, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” God has called us to ministry, and He who calls us is faithful and HE WILL SURELY DO IT! I have a good friend who sees life through a different lens, He often looks at the goodness of God says, “Won’t He do it?” As if to say, it is in God’s nature to care for His children, it is in God’s nature to accomplish works not made with hands, it is in God’s nature to show up at the last minute and provide, it is in God’s nature to finish what He started.
So yesterday, as my family and I sat around our breakfast table remembering what God has done for us, reminding ourselves of what God has called us to, and relinquishing our wills, plans and dreams to His wills, plans and dreams, we did what Abraham did. We gathered some sticks and rocks from our yard and we build ourselves an altar. We staked our flag deep in the rocks so that it would be secure amidst the wind and rains yesterday. As silly as it may be to some, it’s our family’s altar of remembrance.
We placed it next to our driveway and every day when we pass it, we see the ragged red washcloth sticking up from the metal and we are reminded. We are reminded that it is ,first, an altar of sacrifice. It reminds us that for us to access God’s dreams for us, we have to be willing to sacrifice our own. It reminds us that as we stack the stones and rubble of our lives, God makes it into something new. It reminds us that we have anchored the flag and crest of our family deep into the Rock of Ages, and it reminds us that God will provide for us just like He did for Abraham even in the midst of storm clouds gathering around us. We formed a circle around it, and as I held the little hands of my 10 years old and my 6 year old, I prayed that God would protect them and remind them of His faithfulness, that God would show Himself as a God that could be trusted with our lives and our futures, that God’s promises will be fulfilled, that God who always finish what He started, and if He called us, HE WILL DO IT!
