Migration Stories (again)

 Migration Stories (again) 

 

We continue exploring Migration Stories in Genesis for the month of July. This weekend we will fast-forward a few chapters, so before we move ahead, let’s circle back and remember where we have been. In our first story (Genesis 12:1-9), God called Abram to “Go,” but it was more of a “Go from …” than “Go to …” since the destination is vaguely, “to the place where I will show you.” In other words, Abram was commanded to leave behind everything that gave him identity and security – his country, his kindred, and his father’s house. It is important to remember that not every migration story begins with a catastrophe or crisis. This one began with a call. The second story (Genesis 12:10-20) was initiated by a famine. This is one of the most common causes of migration, especially mass migration, throughout human history (and a recurring cause in the Scriptures). This part of the story puts Abram and Sarai in solidarity with so many people in the world today and – I suspect – even more people tomorrow who will be driven by changing climates. 

 

The third story (Genesis 13), which we heard last week, was not driven by deprivation, such as a famine, but by surplus. Abram was very rich; Lot was also wealthy. Their herders began to compete for watering or grazing resources. This, too, was a migration story that was not driven by despair or tragedy, but by wealth with a threatening tone of violence. The story has a moment of tension that is quite common: When Abram’s and Lot’s herders began jostling over water and grazing, the moment was fraught with the potential for violence. 

 

I think one of the best analyses of a moment like this, when communities begin to compete over resources, is a book from 1986 by Andrew Bard Schmookler entitled, The Parable of the Tribes. It is a long and detailed book, but it begins with a profound “parable” of some tribes, living in close proximity and how when one of those tribes decides to respond to the anxieties of limited resources by pursuing the path of violence, the other tribes have no choice but to submit, flee, or imitate the aggressive tribe. Schmookler then analyses much of human history through this lens of the parable, along with theories about war, economics, nationhood, colonialization, and other ways of interpreting history. The story of Abram and Lot threatens to reach that point: Their herders are on the verge of aggression and violence. And that is where Abram’s story takes a dramatic turn from much of history and from much of human tendency. Abram – who is the wealthier, the elder, and therefore in the position of greater power – reaches out with generosity. Abram believed in God’s promises to take care of him, and therefore he was able to respond to the common human anxiety about limited resources with generosity. 

 

I think this connection between faith in God’s provision and generosity can help us stipulate a difference between ‘wealth’ and ‘abundance.’ Wealth – as I am using it here – becomes concerned about protecting itself, increasing itself, and establishing itself as security. The parable in Luke 12:16-21 is a moment when Jesus addresses this kind of wealth-dependency thinking. What it leaves out of the equation is the God who gives life. Abundance – as I am using it here – looks like wealth in many ways. Abram had cattle, herds, servants, gold, and silver after all. But Abram’s trust was in God’s provision and therefore he was able to be generous, offering Lot his first choice of where to settle and make his way. In many ways, wealth has a way of taking hold of us, where abundance is a gift that we can share. 

 

I am trying to hear these stories as a way of structuring my own life – my anxieties, my investments, my giving, my spending, my dreams, and so forth. For now, despite all his flaws elsewhere, that ability of Abram to be generous when the human tendency is to be anxious is something that I am carrying around in my heart. Is my trust in God enabling me to be non-anxious and generous? Is yours? How can we lean in together with one another, recognizing that we often have legitimate worries, but always have a compassionate and abundant God who cares for us? That’s what I am finding profound about this third story in the Abram saga. 

 

This weekend we are moving ahead in our Migration stories. I hope to see you in worship! And please keep our youth in your prayers as they leave for Montreat today. 

 

Mark of St. Mark