Genesis and Matthew XXII

But when they had come as far as Harran, they settled there.


Then he says to his students, "An ample harvest, and few workers. So ask the harvestmaster to send workers out into his fields."

It is hard to resist commenting on the meaning of the town name: "Harran."

Terah, with his son Abram, daughter-in-law Sarah, and grandson Lot, traveled from their native land, towards Canaan. As we saw earlier, Canaan became a great power in those times. It is where the commerce was happening. There were "jobs" there. Perhaps they set out to find a better way of life. Terah is an old man, and one of his sons preceded him in death. Abram, who himself was in his middle years, had no children and was free to move around. This extended family group was like families still are today: hanging together, taking care of one another. But Terah is the one in charge. Abram is just a poor unfortunate man with no son to carry on the name. I can imagine that his identity was meager. He was just one of the family members of Terah, the son with no sons, and no regular job.

They come across a village called "Harran," which means, "Crossroad." It is here that Terah was to die, and where Abram became free to step up to the plate. It is where he first heard God's call on his life. The Gospel is a story for every generation. Starting in Adam, successive generations have the seed of the Gospel planted in some important historical figure. A seed is planted right there in Harran; a very important seed. At the Crossroad of Abram's life, a new root is about to take hold, one that will play a central part in God's unfolding plan.

God once again uses a family. Families are designed to stay together. If we can only get the families to stay together, to help each other, to support one another . . . then what need would there be of governments, indeed, of churches?

A pastor friend put it to me once: "I am a minister because families do not do their jobs. If they did, then I would not be needed." Hmmm . . . .

Imagine the seed being planted right there at Harran, thousands of years ago. By the time of Christ, the fields are fully grown. In fact, the harvest is ample. So many people out there, adrift, lost, lonely, missing in action! They are groping along. Now please think about this, reader: they are lost because they do not belong to the most important thing . . . a family!

Our call is to our brethren here on earth. How can we advance the Gospel - build God's Kingdom - while conveniently leaving our own flesh and blood to fend for themselves? I know people that have shared the Gospel with others, but have never offered a hint of it to their own brothers and sisters!!

And once we have figured out that the harvest is really our own immediate families (like that of Terah), then it is no small step to extend it out further, to our cousins, our second cousins, our third cousins . . . until ultimately we can see that we touch every other person on earth!

We are workers in the fields. Start with family.