The Old Testament reading for this week is the story of God calling Abram to move from the comfort of his home to an unknown place. When I say “unknown,” actually what God said to Abram was “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1b NIV) Without asking any questions at all Abram packs up all his “stuff” including his animals and started on a journey to an unknown destination. Now, today, how many of us would do that? Whether we Christians like it or not, Abram (who later become Abraham) is the father of three of the world’s major religions: Christians, Jews and Muslims. Something else we don’t like to admit is that Abraham’s God was the one thing all three of these religions had in common, at least in their earliest days! Believe it or not, when Muhammad founded the Muslim faith, he demanded protection for Jews and Christians alike. “This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them…No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).” (https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2009/12/30/prophet-muhammads-promise-to-christians/125) These are words from Muhammad dated around 628 ACE. However, it did not take too long after Muhammad died until all this changed! Today, Muslims and Christians make up about 50% of the world’s population. (same source as above). What would happen if these two religions could come together in a peaceful gathering? We would be half way toward world peace. While I know full well that this is a far-fetched dream, it is a possibility. As descendants of Abram, we are in a sense brothers and sisters all serving the same God! IF we could (both groups here) have the same deep and trusting faith that Abram had, we could change the world as we know it! Amen. Comments are closed.
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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