Called, Born, Fed, Go: Lent Two

Lent Two (Year A): Genesis 12:1–9 | Psalm 33:12–21 | Romans 4:1–17 | John 3:1–17

Have you ever stood before a door with no idea what's on the other side? A while back I saw an image that has stuck with me. A tall wall—blank, plain, nothing to look at—and right in the middle of it, a single door. No explanations. No windows. No signs. Just a door in a wall. The question seems obvious: What's on the other side? But the harder question is this: Will I open it? Because opening it means you stop pretending you're in control. You step through. You leave the familiar behind.

This is exactly what Lent confronts us with—not as "a religious improvement plan," but as a summons from the living God to leave what we have trusted, to be born from above, and to stake everything on His promise.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Security

And here's the other thing: it feels a little like turbulence. Anyone who's experienced rough air knows the feeling. You start scanning for something visible that can reassure you—the sound of the engines, the flight attendant's calm face, the seatbelt sign—anything that feels like a guarantee. But turbulence teaches a humbling truth: you are not the one holding the plane in the air.

A door in a wall, and turbulence in the sky—both expose the same thing: We love visible security. We want something we can measure, control, and manage. This is precisely what today's Biblical passages challenge us to examine.

Abraham's Radical Departure: Called by Promise

The story begins in Genesis 12:1-9 with a stunning command to a man named Abram (later Abraham): "The LORD said to Abram: 'Go…'" This wasn't a gentle suggestion. Leave your country, kindred, and father's house. In other words, leave everything that defines you.

Abraham wasn't living in poverty or hardship. Ur was a thriving city. Structured. Religious. Prosperous. Yet God called him to abandon it all. What's remarkable is how the promise unfolds: Notice how five times we find: I will. God declares He will show Abraham the land, make him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and bless those who bless him.

The covenant begins with God's initiative. Abram's obedience — 'So Abram went' — is not the cause of God's promise, but the response to it; he moves because God has already spoken, already pledged, already initiated grace.

When Abraham arrives in the promised land, his first act is worship. He builds altars — before he owns land, before he has descendants, before anything is secured— because worship comes first, anchoring his life not in what he owns, but in the God who promised.

The False Security of War Horses

But how could Abraham actually leave everything behind? Psalm 33:12-21 provides the answer by exposing our misplaced trust: "A king is not saved by his great army." "A warrior is not delivered by his great strength." "The war horse is a false hope for salvation."

In the ancient world, armies and horses were not luxuries. They were survival. They were visible guarantees. War horses were military superiority. They were at the time tanks and air power. And the Psalm dares to say: They are also false hope.

This hits uncomfortably close to home. Every age has them. What are your war horses? Your retirement account? Your professional network? Your health? Your reputation? Your competence? Even ministry success? We sadly hitch our confidence to them.

The psalm redirects our gaze: "Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him… to deliver their soul from death." Not the market's eye or public opinion's eye, but "the eye of the LORD."

Righteousness as Gift, Not Achievement

Romans 4:1-17 takes us back to Abraham to explain how we become part of God's covenant family. The apostle Paul makes clear that if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. But not before God. Instead, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

Yes, the word means reckoned, credited. Righteousness is not earned. It is not spiritual achievement. It is sheer gift. Paul's point goes beyond individual salvation: Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision. Before law. Before boundary Markers. Which means this: God named Abraham as belonging to the covenant family on the basis of promise, not performance.

What did Abraham believe? He believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Sarah was barren, Abraham was aging, yet Abraham trusted anyway.

The Necessity of New Birth

The final piece comes from John 3:1-17, where a religious teacher named Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Nicodemus was a teacher and scholar of Israel. A devout man. Serious and faithful. Yet Jesus tells him something shocking: "Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

This wasn't about moral improvement or religious refinement, but NEW BIRTH. Born of water and the Spirit. Jesus connects this to an Old Testament story: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up."

In Numbers 21, the Israelites were dying from snake venom. The cure was not effort. It was looking at what God provided. The cross is the lifted serpent. Judgment borne. Healing given. This leads to the famous declaration: "For God so loved the world…" Not just the worthy, but the entire world.

From Promise to Practice

These passages weave together a single thread: God creates a new people by promise, not by performance. He calls them out. He sustains them in hope. He declares them His own. He gives them new birth. And He feeds them with His own life.

Lent loosens our grip so that dependence can deepen. It gently exposes our love of security and asks: What are we clinging to that feels necessary but is not ultimate? What loss would shake our confidence in God's goodness?

Putting It Into Practice

This week, consider these challenges:

·      Name Your Ur: Where is God saying 'Go' to us? Is it forgiveness you have delayed? A difficult conversation you have avoided? A generosity you have postponed? A ministry you feel reluctant to join?

·      Identify Your War Horses: What would most unsettle you if it were taken away this week? If the diagnosis changed. If the job shifted. If the savings dipped. If approval evaporated.

·      Rest in the Promise: Remember that the Christian life does not begin with our strength. It begins with God's promise.

·      Embrace New Birth: Ask the Spirit to deepen your new birth rather than settling for religious improvement.

The door stands before us. The turbulence exposes our need for true security. Like Abraham, we're called to leave your Ur. Loosen your grip. Be born from above. The God who called Abraham out of Ur now calls us out of our false securities into the adventure of divine promise. Will you open the door?