This year in our cycle of Lenten readings we hear often about beginnings. We heard first about the beginning of Jesus’s ministry. We heard of the beginning of human existence in a world as we know it, with its separation from God. We hear this week about another of the beginnings central to the story of the people of Israel – the story of Abram (Genesis 12:1-4a). God tells Abram to launch into a new future, a future that he has to take entirely on trust: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you”.
Faced with such an option, however attractive the upside, many of us would be inclined to say “thanks, but actually I’m fine where I am, I’ll just stay here if that’s ok with you”.
But that’s not ok with God. He wants to create something new. His command to “go forth” cannot be denied. In our Gospel reading we hear how the disciples were turned inside out (Matthew 17:1-9). They weren’t ready to understand how Jesus was so intimately connected to God that he stood alongside the greatest figures of the history of Israel.
The disciples weren’t going to be able to say “actually we’re ok here, we don’t need to move elsewhere, to face new and different challenges”. After the resurrection they would find themselves doing exactly that.
We also are faced with the challenge given to Abram: “Go forth”. What that means will be different for each of us. We are called to follow different paths. But the one thing we cannot do is say “I’m fine here, thank you. I’ll just stay where I am.”
Lent is our regular reminder that if we are to follow Christ we don’t have the option to stay where we are. We are called to change. And not just change internally, but to change in a way that is visible, that impacts the world around us. Like Abram we are called to “go forth” and be willing to enter a new land, a new place, a new life.