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Sunday June 27, 1999
~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: Genesis 22: 1-14
Matthew 10:40-42 * Romans
6:12-23 * Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
I can not remember the name of the television movie. I saw only a brief portion of it, but a picture of one scene is fastened to my heart as though by iron rivets. It chills my soul.
A woman is speaking across the valley of death to her young daughter who had died and now wants her mother to cross over and be in heaven with her. The loss of her daughter had been a horrible grief for the mother to bear. She had prayed and begged God for the life of her daughter, but the prayer was not to be answered. Now it is time for the mother to cross over.
But, there is one condition. In order to cross to where her daughter is, the woman has to affirm that she loves God. She can't. Her grief was so strong. She had prayed endlessly that God would save her daughter. She didn't love God at all. The girl was pleading, "Please mommy, say that you love God. You can't be with me if you don't love God." Then the little girl was crying, but the woman could not say from her heart that she loved God. The scene ends with both the mother and the girl crying as they are separated across this valley.
Of course, that's just a scene from a television movie. It is not even good theology. But, it made me think of my own little girl and how I would feel if she were taken from me. The pain would be so great that I must confess I would be sorely tested if I were in the mother's shoes.
***
Our scripture reading from Genesis today is mind boggling for we moderns. It dials back a few thousand years to a culture and a world we can hardly imagine. After an amazing journey through trial and difficulty and trusting in the promises of God which seemed impossible, Abraham and Sarah finally receive the gift of a child! It has been twenty five long years of waiting, wondering and praying. And whether thousands of years ago or today -- the joy of a long awaited child is one of life's high points.
Doubly so with Abraham. Listen to this one line. "Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him." Imagine! Who has waited longer? Now the child is here. What a joy (and astonishment) this had to be.
Then the roof caves in! What happens is beyond belief.
* God "tests" Abraham's faith by asking him to give up the son he loves
* By allowing the boy to be killed
* By Abraham's own hand
* In a brutal ritual of child sacrifice
You are not alone when you recoil from this text. When seen from the perspective of a time when human rights are high on the list of priorities for civilized countries, this story is an example of horrific child abuse. Imagine this story as a newspaper account:
Associated Press: N.Y. June 27, 1999
A man was arrested today after police received an anonymous tip about a bizarre religious practice that was to take place. The man's son was freed by police as the father was in the act of taking the boy's life with a butcher knife. Police said the man told them he had heard the voice of God command him to sacrifice the boy.
Names have been withheld to protect the juvenile boy's identity and the father is in custody pending examination by state psychiatrists.
That's the way it would look today. But, when you dial back a few thousand years, things were different. Even the relatively modern Ozzie and Harriet show -- or Father Knows Best, for instance -- would come off as quite sexist and repressive of women, if you knew nothing of the 50's culture in America. With this story from Genesis we travel back through at least four thousand years of human history.
In fact, our text from Genesis today leads Abraham away from the practice of child sacrifice. In the culture of Abraham's time, child sacrifice was normative. It was not, however, to be a part of Israel's life. Later in Israel's history, King Josiah destroys an altar which was used to sacrifice children because this was an abomination to God. [II Kings 23:10] When we examine the story, and translate it into terms that make sense for us today, it turns out to have an amazing relevance to our daily lives!
Abraham's experience points us to a spiritual process which can be applied to our own experience. There are two spiritual steps we need to take which result in an remarkable spiritual gift. Our part is: [1] We need to Listen, and [2] We need to "Trust and Obey". God's part is: [3] God will meet our needs.
[1] We need to Listen
When God calls, Abraham hears. "After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." [Gen. 22:1]
The voice of God doesn't come to us by accident. We need to be listening. Abraham lived his life in light of his relationship with God. God wasn't a Sunday thing or on the fringes of his life. Abraham's relationship with God was a normal everyday part of his life. Since the day he left his homeland to follow the voice of God the "the land that I will show you", Abraham's spirit was sensitive to the voice of God.
Has anyone ever told you that you don't listen! (I see looks shooting all around the sanctuary right now!)
When someone feels as though we aren't listening to them -- are not attentive to what they are trying to tell us -- we need to pay attention. The statement proves the point in this case! (Notice that volume does not help. When you have been told you don't listen, you might become angry and shout, "I do too listen!" -- you have already demonstrated that the criticism is true. Volume does not increase your listening quotient -- it is designed to penetrate the hearing of the "other". And the hearing ability of the "other" was not the point! Get it?
So how do we listen to God? Is there a way we can do that? God speaks to us in scripture, in our times of prayer and meditation, in the counsel of trusted Christian friends and in times of worship. Our culture is filled with good "talkers", but not with good listeners. Talking does not build good relationships. Listening does. It is the same with God as it is with any other relationship -- you don't hear if you don't listen!
And so it is with God. If you are not "intending" to listen -- the chances are really Good that you are not hearing anything. There are no magic formulas here -- there is just this simple prayer that will open up the "lines of communication" between you and God. "Lord, help me to hear your voice in the living of my life."
That short prayer -- prayed in earnest, could change your life!
[2] We need to "Trust and Obey"
There is an old gospel hymn entitled, "Trust and Obey." I wish this hymn were in all the hymnals in our churches. The twin themes of trusting God and obeying God are absolutely central to a vital life of faith.
Abraham hears the voice of God asking him to do something unthinkable. Give up his son? And God has it right -- this is "...your only son Isaac, whom you love..." Abraham obeys. Now, this isn't a "blind obedience", it is an obedience based on trust. If you were there, you might have said, "Abraham, are you sure? (I can only imagine reading between the lines to try and hear what Sarah might have been saying at this point!) However, Abraham would have responded something like this:
"The Lord has been with me from the very beginning of my journey of faith until now. God is the one who made things happen that no one else could even imagine. For everything I have seen over these thirty some years, I will trust God for everything I do not see."
This isn't blind faith, it is informed, tested faith. Abraham has learned over a long period of time that listening for and obeying the voice of God results in the work of God in our lives. And the work of God in our lives, though sometimes difficult, always results in the the best for our lives. You and I might call this -- "When all else fails -- follow the __________ ! [directions]
In flight instruction, the time comes when you have to learn to "trust the instruments." You can become disoriented if you depend solely on your sense of balance. During the "check ride" (the actual flight test), you put on a hood that prevents you from seeing anything but the instrument panel. Then the examiner takes control of the plane while you close your eyes. He will do some maneuvers that will "mess with your ear". You might sense the plane is climbing while it is actually descending, or you could swear the thing is in a right bank while it is going left. Then the examiner gives the controls back to you and your task is to put the plane on a straight and level course.
Since you can not see out the windshield, the only way to do that is to trust the instruments. If you trust your own feelings (sense of balance) you might put a descending plane into the ground! If there is a conflict between the instruments and your feelings, you learn in flight school, always trust the instruments! While flying "by the seat of your pants" may work for a while for some people, it is not good advice for pilots in general and it is not good advice for our spiritual lives. There is a saying most pilots have heard. "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots -- but there are no old, bold pilots!"
Abraham's part in the life of faith is to bring a commitment to listen for God's voice and an informed trust and obedience to what God asks of him. God's part is to provide.
[3] God will meet our needs
The first thing that strikes me about this whole episode is that child sacrifice will never be a part of Israel's religious life. Child sacrifice is one of the reasons pagan religion and Caananite religious practices were an abomination to God.
There is a sense deep within the human heart of a separation between ourselves and God and that separation must somehow be closed. Primitive religions, almost without exception, have a sense that there is an "angry god" out there somewhere that has to be appeased. A child or a young virgin are "innocent" and perhaps will assuage the divine anger.
In Israel a lamb represented innocence. Isaac knows that he and his father Abraham are going to worship God and offer a sacrifice -- "...but where is the lamb?" Isaac asks.
Abraham's response is the response of faith based on everything God has done up until this point. "God himself will provide the lamb..." Abraham responds. Did Abraham really think God would step in and halt the sacrifice of Isaac and provide a lamb? Or is he simply trying to calm the lad?
Probably neither. Abraham knows this one thing. The God who called him to become the father of a "Great Nation" is the God of the impossible. This is the God who brought about an impossible birth. How is this God going to make Isaac the one from whom the nation will come and at the same time take back his life? Abraham might say to you, "I haven't a clue! But then, I didn't have a clue how Sarah and I were ever going to have a child. I've never had a clue why God chose an an old man like me for this "nation-fathering" business. "But this one thing I know. When I listen to God's voice, trust what I hear and follow through with obedience, things work out. When I don't listen and make up my own way, things don't work out." [No kidding Abraham! The offspring of Hagar and Sarah are still struggling!]
God is the one who provides for our needs.When the ram caught in the bushes had been offered to God, Abraham called the place "Jehovah-Jireh" which literally means, "The Lord will see to it" or the more popular, "The Lord will provide."
Once again, here's the plan when that test of a lifetime comes:
* God speaks
* We listen
* We trust
* We obey
*God provides
Discussion and Reflection on the Texts
Connections in the Texts
Each text speaks in its own way to the issue of obedience in the life of faith. In Matthew, Jesus is instructing his disciples as he sends them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. They go out with the message because they are sent. Paul tells the Christians at Rome that they are to give themselves fully to God who has freed them from death and given them the gift of new life. Free from sin, we are "free" for "obedience" to God. The Genesis account puts the whole issue of obedience into the most amazing story of all. Love for God and obedience to what God asks is tested to the extreme. Your folk will need a bit of help getting from the Genesis story to contemporary application. On the surface, the account of Abraham's testing is morally offensive to our culture. Yet, if we can "get here from there" the lessons are central to a life of faith.
Matthew 10:40-42
This short passage needs to be seen in light of the complete discourse in Matthew 10 on the sending out of the disciples. Verse 40 is worthy of exposition. What an amazing calling we have! The one who goes out on behalf of Christ to bring the word and the work of the kingdom has the highest calling of all. When people receive the messenger of God's kingdom, they are receiving the Lord!
"He who receives you receives me..." Perhaps this speaks first of all to those of us who share the Word of the Lord with people week in and week out. As a bearer of the message and ministry of Christ, I am in a position to have people receive or not receive the Lord! This is not simply a speech I am giving or a lecture I am delivering. This is life and health and wholeness. "Lord, make me a worthy servant..." comes to mind.
Romans 6:12-23
One of the clues to this passage is Paul's words in verse 19, "I am speaking to you in human terms because of your spiritual limitations. He is also speaking in religious legalese. If the argument was hard for the mixed Roman church to understand -- it is doubly hard for people to understand today.
The whole issue is an answer to Paul's critics who contended that Paul was destroying Jewish law and preaching a libertarianism. "If you don't have to keep the law to be saved," they reasoned, "Then people can do anything they want and still be saved by grace."
One way I try to get at this is one of my favorite lines to use from the pulpit. Most of my parishioners could finish the line, "Nothing you can do can make God NOT ____________." ["love you"] As soon as I say it, I can see peoples wheels turning as though they were trying to think up things they might do to cause God to not love them. For an instant, you can also see the conclusion, "Well then... that means I can..." So you follow up with, "You can break God's heart. You can disappoint God... but, you can not make God top loving you!" That's the grace of God. "Unmerited favor." This kind of love can bring about changes the law (rules and regulations) could never accomplish.
In this passage, Paul says that there was a time when these Roman Christians were in bondage to a lifestyle that was contrary to the life and love of God. A lifestyle that led to spiritual death. Now by God's grace they have been freed from that life and they can now choose a different master. They can make the choice to give themselves to the Lord and live lives that will make God glad. It is instructive and imperative to recognize that a relationship of love is not possible without the ability to choose. God desires a relationship of love with us -- that is why the basis of our faith is grace, the reason is love and the result is a chosen obedience.
The greatest motivating factor in giving ourselves to the Lord is the very familiar -- much preached on -- words, "...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." In context, this verse is not an injunction to be saved -- but a motivation for Christian people to live for God in light of the wonderful gift we have been given!
Genesis 22:1-14
When teaching on this story, it is essential to understand that we are dealing with a culture where child sacrifice was the norm in pagan cultures. II Kings 23:10 specifically addresses the issue of giving children as a burnt offering. (To Molech - the god of the Ammonites) Seen properly, not only is this story NOT advocating child sacrifice, but is leading Abraham away from a practice common in the ancient world.
The "testing" of Abraham leads him up to the practice of the pagan world -- child sacrifice -- and takes his obedience to a new height. Child sacrifice is never practiced in Israel's life. It may be that God leads Abraham to the highest expression of pagan sacrifice (sacrificing one's child) and then brings him beyond that to the offering of the heart and all the heart holds dear. "Now I know," God says, "...that you will not withhold even your son whom you love from me."
The principles which emerge from this story provide enriching clues for the development of our faith today. It demonstrates the biblical principle of the Christ who is "Yesterday, today, and forever." Here are contemporary truths from an ancient story!
The themes of faith, obedience, God's trustworthiness and the deepening of the relationship between God and the child of God permeate the story. This story is not about "blind faith" or "unquestioning obedience." Abraham has asked all kinds of questions of God along the way. In this text he has arrived at a point of maturity in his faith where he trusts God absolutely. How will God keep the promise that Abraham will be the father of a "Great nation" if Isaac is sacrificed? The answer would escape human reasoning -- but then this is the God who gave a son where there should have been no child at all.
Many see a prototype of Christ in Isaac who obediently carries the wood for the fire as he ascends the sacrificial mountain. The image is certainly there, but the greatest point may be a demonstration of what would be called the "Great Commandment" in the gospels. You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. In this story there is the love of Abraham for God and for Isaac, the love of Isaac for his father and the love of God for the nation that will spring from these two who are willing to "lay it all on the line!" The themes of the wood, the sacrifice, the son, the love and the provision of a lamb all offer rich themes for exposition.
The working out of these themes throughout biblical history will lead finally to the gift God will give that is like Abraham's gift. Faith comes alive when we come to know this about God... "...you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." This will connect with Paul's, "...the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul says we are to present ourselves to God "as those who have been brought from death to life..." [Rom. 6:13] This Genesis passage points to the reason why. God gave the best to us -- our heart response is to return the best we have.
Psalm 13:1-6
There is a sense in which the Psalm speaks to the journey Abraham or any of us have to take through trial and difficulty. Finally, with God there is salvation. "God has dealt bountifully with me." the Psalmist discovers in the end. The Psalm perhaps reflects the "human side" of what it would mean to have to give up that which was the joy of life. It is okay to pray our discouragement and our distress. It is not wrong to pour out our questions and struggles. Indeed, honest relationships include things like this and it is our relationship with God that must be the most honest of all!
It helps to know -- indeed, God will be seen to "deal bountifully" with us when all is said and done. Paul takes this "all the way home" when he calls us, "...those who have been brought from death to life."
Overall theme for the readings might well be, "Life out of Death."
A Call To Worship (Based on Psalm 13)
Leader: We come to you today, O Lord
of life,
People: Bringing our hopes and dreams,
Leader: Our burdens and our fears,
People: Because we trust in your steadfast love.
Leader: We rejoice and sing your praises O God,
People: For you are our hope and our provider! Amen!
A Prayer Of Dedication
No gift we could ever bring to you, O Lord,
would compare with the
gift Abraham was willing to give to you. He presented the life of the
child he loved more than anything in the world. A gift like that you
have given to us in your Son Jesus. May the gifts we bring be the
outward symbol of our desire to love you above all things. Bless us
and bless these gifts to the glory of your Holy Name. Amen.
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
O Lord of all, we give thanks today for the
gift of faith that transforms
our days and keeps us hopeful through the night. We rejoice in the
gift of your voice which speaks to us in holy scripture and guides us
along the sometimes treacherous roads of our living. We praise you
for all the ways you have touched our lives and picked us up along the
way.
O loving God, we earnestly pray that our
hearts might be so shaped by
your love and grace that we shall know the joy of an obedient heart. May
the hopeless burdens and impossible barriers that cross our paths crumble
under the provision of your Holy Spirit.
Give us grateful and joyous hearts that we
might truly be a manifestation of
who you are for the world around us.
Amen.