Iliff and Saltillo United Methodist
May 29, 2005
Graduation Sunday
Memorial Day Sunday
“Abram: The Altar Builder”
Genesis 12:7-9
INTRODUCTION: Throughout the Old Testament people built altars to offer
sacrifices, a ritual through which the Hebrew people offered the blood or flesh of an
animal to God in payment for their sins. Sacrifices originated in the Garden of Eden. An
altar, usually made of stones or other rough materials, was built on which to offer the
sacrifices. Both Old and New Testaments confirm that sacrifices were symbolic.
Because of their sins, the Hebrews presented offerings by which they gave another life in
place of their own. These substitutes pointed forward to the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus
Christ (Hebrews 10:1-18) who laid down His life for the sins of all people.
Although we probably think of altars primarily as places of sacrifice in the Old
Testament there are SIX REASONS why Abram and others built altars. It actually
symbolized COMMUNION with God and commemorated notable encounters with Him.
You might wonder, “How is an altar relevant in any way to my life today in the
year 2005? What do I have in common with Abram of the Old Testament times? What
does it have to do with me as I sit here this morning?
In my research I found that we can apply all six of these things to our life today
because they are all relevant to the Christian life and to each of us today. Let’s see what
we can learn from this scripture.
Today most churches have an altar at the front of the church. It is used for
different things such as for weddings, baptisms, kneeling down for communion, for
prayer for salvation, healing or other types of things. Perhaps in past years the altar was a
more significant part of people’s worship experience than it seems to be today, but in this
church the altar is an open place where you can come and kneel to pray whenever you
want to. On Sunday mornings when I get here I usually kneel at this altar to ask God to
bless the service and to help me to do my best.
1. Purposes of the Altar: In verse 7 the Lord appeared to Abram and as a
result Abram built an altar. It was a significant time for this man. Some of the rituals of
the church serve as a special time to us to mark the place and to
(a) remember where we met God just as Abram did.
ILLUSTRATION: I remember when I was 7 years old I went to an altar at a
church and received Jesus as my Savior. You can receive the Lord many different places
and times, but for me this still stands out in my mind as the SPECIFIC place where I
knelt. Abram built an altar to signify that He had met God that day. It stood as A
REMINDER of God’s promises to him. Maybe when this day seemed to fade in his
memory, he could look back at the altar, the specific place and say, “I met God here.”
REMEMBERING your baptism, or your wedding vows or any number of things having
to do with the church altar is a significant milestone for you. Graduates, receiving Bibles
or gifts today marks a time you can look back on as you journey forward into your future.
STORY: Jack’s wife asked him how his golf game went that day.
He said, “Well, I was hitting pretty well, but my eyesight’s gotten so bad I
can’t see where the ball goes.
“But you’re 75 years old, Jack. Why don’t you take your brother Scott
along? “
“But he’s 87 and doesn’t even play golf anymore,” Jack protested.
“But he’s got perfect eyesight” his wife said. “He could watch for the ball,”
his wife pointed out.
The next day Jack teed off with Scott looking on. Jack swung and the ball
disappeared somewhere down the middle of the fairway. “Do you see it?” asked
Jack.
“Yup,” Scott answered.
“Well, Where is it?” yelled Jack looking off into the distance.
“I forgot”
Too often we forget important things and we need a REMEMBRANCE of the
place we first met God and a REMEMBRANCE of his promises to us just as Abeam did.
(b) prayer--Abram built another altar as he traveled toward Bethel and Ai.
The purpose of this altar was different in that verse 8 says that “he built an altar to the
Lord and CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD”--Abram built this altar for the
purpose of prayer. In Genesis 13:4 he again used the altar as a place of prayer.
Each of us needs this altar of prayer in our lives not just once in awhile at specific
times or certain events but DAILY. Do not attempt to start out after graduation or on to
college or your first real job and just do your “own thing.” Don’t try to just “Make it on
your own.” You need God in the CENTER of your life not just on the peripheral edge.
Abram built an altar to show that WHEREVER he traveled, WHEREVER he pitched his
tent--God was at the CENTER of his life. He always took his religion with him and
taught it to his family and others. He built an altar every time he pitched his tent.
People today often pick up and move to a new location and they will say, “Oh, I
haven’t started to church yet. Or I haven’t found a church yet.” Weeks, months, and even
years go by--there is no altar of prayer--GOD HAS FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE. The
Altar is in disrepair. God will not bless a person who leaves Him out of their life. Abram
knew this and wanted contact with God to be a 2 way street. Abram built an altar to call
upon the Lord. He didn’t want to let down on communication at his end of the line.
There is a song that says, “at an altar of prayer I met Jesus...”
Where is the altar of prayer today? It could be a tangible altar like you find at a
church which is set aside to kneel and talk to the Lord. It could be somewhere at your
home where you pray. It might even be a favorite chair where you sit and feel closer to
God--reading and praying.
ILLUSTRATION: Suzanne Wesley it is said prayed in her rocking chair
with her apron over her head.
ILLUSTRATION: One person went into her clothes closet and shut the
door. She said the problem was “I felt so guilty with all of those cashmere sweaters
hanging down over my head when I prayed.” I don’t think this is what was in mind
as an altar or prayer closet.
It could be an intangible altar--the ATTITUDE of OUR HEART as we desire to
draw closer to God and pray. To Abram the altar was more than the sacrificial or
ceremonial part. It was seeking God and calling on his name. It was a place of worship.
Are you building a tangible or intangible altar of prayer in your daily life where
you let God know, “I am putting you at the center of my life.” This was a priority to
Abram and God blessed him and made him a blessing as a result. When you come to
church and set aside time for the Lord--YOU ARE BUILDING AN ALTAR. Regular
worship helps us to remember what God desires and motivates us to obey. We can
choose, but if we choose to neglect God through allowing the altar to lie in ruins in our
life, we are not going to experience God’s blessing or His best for our lives.
(c) Sometimes when we have difficult decisions to make
or need direction for our lives we can come to the altar for
heart searching and self examination. We may be on the wrong pathway,
we may be getting out into a life of sin that is displeasing to God. Paul says in II
Corinthians, “Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith...” (II Cor. 13:5).
Are you taking time to do some soul searching? Are you on the right track today
or are you starting to drift completely away from the church and from God? It is time to
do some soul searching.
(d) Abram’s follow up visits to the altar were for the
purpose of dedication and rededication to God’s will. It was not a
one time thing where he said, “OK, I’ve got that taken care of.” It was a series of
obedient acts as God continually showed him what he wanted him to do.
(e) The altar was also a place of offering praise and
thanksgiving to God for what He had done in the past. David in Psalms speaks of
the SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING in Psalm 43:4 “then I will go to the altar of
God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.”
Psalm 116:17 says, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the
name of the Lord.”
Many times we take and take and take from the Lord and never say, “Thank You”
once. Thank you Lord for answering that prayer. Thank you for bringing healing and
health to me. Thank you for giving me a mind to learn and pass these tests. Thank you
Lord for...
Abram used time at the altar not only to offer prayer but to offer praise and
thanksgiving. Does that apply to us today? Hebrews 13:15 says, “...let us continually
offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of our lips.”
(f) A place of sacrifice--most of all this one applies to us today. Romans
12:1,2 says “...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable and pleasing
to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.” Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
These are the six purpose of the altar as seen by Abeam and I believe all of them
apply to us today.
2. REBUILDING OUR ALTARS: One Old Testament reference points
to the REBUILDING of altars that had been neglected. I Kings 18:30, “Then Elijah
said to all the people, ‘Come here to me.’ and they came to him, and he repaired the
altars of the Lord which was in ruins.”
There comes a time when we have to go beyond just knowing the purposes of the
altars. We must go a step further and REBUILD what has become neglected and in
disrepair. If we have left God out of the center of our life, we need to come back to him
in such a way that he becomes the center once again. If prayer and thanks has fallen by
the wayside, we need to take this into account.
How do we go about rebuilding the altars in our life? It just
doesn’t happen automatically. We have to get our “want to adjusted” at times.
1. INTENTIONAL: It has to be AN INTENTIONAL act just as it was
for Abram. Just as deliberately as he put down his tent stakes in a new location, he
deliberately “built there an altar unto the Lord.” (Genesis 13:18).
Many times we postpone doing spiritual things by saying, “When I get through
college, I will... When I get a better job, I will... When the kids are raised, I will...
When school is out, I will....
I will go to church today
I will TAKE my children to Sunday school and I will stay for
Sunday school
I will pray
I will praise the Lord...and give him thanks
I will INTENTIONALLY PUT GOD FIRST IN MY LIFE. I will make it a point to learn
about the Bible and Teach it to others.
I will intentionally search my heart to see if there is sin in my life.
2. CONSISTENT--Rebuilding the altars that lie in ruins has to be a
consistent thing--not haphazard and left to chance.
STORY: A large, well established, Canadian lumber camp advertised that
they were looking for a good lumberjack. The very next day a skinny little man
showed up at the camp with his axe and knocked on the head lumberjack’s door.
The head lumberjack took one look at the little man and told him to leave.
“Just give me a chance to show you what I can do,” said the skinny man.
“Okay, see that giant redwood over there?” said the lumberjack. “Take your
axe and go cut it down.”
The skinny man headed for the tree, and in five minutes he was back
knocking on the lumberjack’s door. “I cut the tree down,” said the man.
The lumberjack couldn’t believe his eyes and said, “Where did you get the
skill to chop down trees like that?”
“In the Sahara Forest,” replied the puny man.
“You mean the Sahara Desert,” said the lumberjack.
The little man laughed and answered back, “Oh sure, that’s what they call it
now!!!”
The consistency in our life is important as we go from persons weak in faith to
persons who become strong in the Lord and who are able to do “mighty things for God.”
We must not settle for “once in awhile Christianity, but consistency in our lifestyle and
walk with God. He can take the weakest person and make into a spiritual giant.
Scripture tells us to be “STRONG in the Lord and in the power of his might.” ( Ephesians
6:10 ). That takes intention and consistency as we set out to rebuild our altars.
3. REDEDICATING OUR LIVES TO GOD: Today is the day
to take a look at your altars. Where do you stand before God? Have you taken the first
step in your journey of faith. Have you received the Lord into your Life in the first place.
Some of you may need to begin at this point. Some of you may need to rededicate your
life to the Lord. To build an altar of consecration to put the Lord at the Center of your
life once again. Some may need to do some soul searching and self examination. Is your
Christian life productive and fruitful for the Lord or are you just drifting along from day
to day?? What about the altar of prayer and thanksgiving? Have you been less than
consistent in thanking the Lord for all that he has done for you? Have you failed to lift up
the prayer requests to God for yourself and your family, waiting for things to just “happen
automatically”?
LET US PRAY:
