SETTING THE CONTEXT

For the last three weeks we have been following the story of Abraham. There are a number of stories in the Bible that are too long to be considered in just one service. We started with God calling Abraham into covenant into a solemn promise of relationship. This relationship followed Abraham wherever he went. I pointed out that Sarah’s barrenness meant that this family had no future, their family line would die with them.  Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and had Abraham take Sarah’s slave as a concubine. She gave birth to a son named Ishmael, but that caused problems between the two women. Last week you heard about God promising Abraham and his wife, Sarah a baby. This gift of a baby fulfilled their deepest desire and Isaac was born. After Isaac’s birth, Sarah had Abraham cast out his first son with her slave. So he was now down to this son of his beloved wife. You should note that the place where our story today transpires, Mount Moriah, became the site of the Temple and continues to be the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem one of the holiest places for 2 religions, Judiasm and Islam.

Read Genesis 22:1-14

THE SERMON

Tests make me very nervous. I enjoyed my continuing education classes last week so much and I was especially thankful I didn’t have to take a final exam or write a final paper. I just got to learn for the joy of learning. The thing about tests is that usually we’re never sure of the outcome. The test taker is not sure and neither is the test-giver. The purpose of a test, I suppose, is to evaluate what the person has learned, where he is in his understanding of the subject at that moment and what she still needs to learn or have clarified. When you think about that purpose tests really shouldn’t be that scary, but they are, especially pop quizzes. I always hated pop quizzes because you never had the warning to prepare.

Abraham in our story today got quite a pop quiz. He was going along with his life. The messy business between Sarah and her slave was finally resolved even if it was done hurtfully. He and Sarah had their beautiful son and he was growing up just fine. Abraham had just made a pact with the Philistine ruler so it looked like things were going to be peaceful, then boom God decides to give him a pop quiz. The Scripture says, “After these things God tested Abraham.” What could God be testing?” The test makes no sense. Why would God who gave Abraham the gift of Isaac all of a sudden tell him to destroy the gift? The whole episode seems incongruent with the nature of God as we understand God. Maybe that’s why so many people have such a hard time with this text. It’s even been called a text of terror. The story doesn’t include many details but it’s not hard to imagine them. What did Abraham say to his wife who longed for this baby for years and years? How could he look her in the eye and tell her he might kill their son? Maybe he didn’t tell her. Can we begin to imagine his fear and agony over that trip to Mt. Moriah? We are told it took them over three days of travel to get there. Three days to consider the possibility of having to kill your beloved son, your future. Every time he looked over at Isaac’s face did he visualize the act or did he visualize a different path? When Isaac asked him, “where is the lamb?” did it cut him to the heart or did he have no doubts?^[i] We’ll never know but this is truly a story of anguished faith.^[ii]

After my first year and a half of seminary, I had to start commuting to California to go to school. I flew over and stayed two days and one night every week. Rachel and Sarah were still very young at the time about 4 & 5 years old. I felt tremendous guilt about leaving them even though they were with their dad. And they often cried when I left which just added to the guilt. I had always told myself that I would never sacrifice my family to be in ministry. It seemed inconsistent with the values of the church and a dishonoring of my marriage covenant. Here I was though leaving my babies behind. Shortly after the semester started, my Old Testament professor was talking about this passage. He pointed out that the child was a gift from God from the very beginning and the question was would Abraham trust God with this gift that came from God in the first place. Would Abraham trust God with that which was most precious to him? Boy, did that hit me like a ton of bricks. My professor must have thought I was crazy because I did my best to hide my tears but as you all know I don’t do that very well. I was confronted with the same questions. Would I trust God with what was most precious to me, my family?

Abraham passed the test. Verse 8 is the key to the entire passage.^[iii] Abraham answers Isaac’s question about the sacrifice by saying “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Abraham had faith that God would provide that God would make a way when it looked like there was no way. It sounds kind of like another story, the resurrection story. God made a way where it looked like there was no way. As Psalm 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” The test though begs the question, “Why is trust so important to God? Why would Abraham’s trust need to be evaluated?” Faith is to trust in someone or something. We all place our faith in something whether we choose it consciously or simply fall into it. If we are going to place our lives in someone’s hands we must trust them, especially when they call us to do something that goes against the grain of the culture, our upbringing or even the future we have laid out for ourselves. How will we follow the aim or direction of God if we don’t trust God? This passage shows us that God calls us to a radical faith, a radical trust. Sometimes we have to be reminded of the source of the gifts in our lives and the source of that which we hold precious. At the beginning of the passage God is the tester but by the end of the passage God is the provider. The passage begins with questions about Abraham’s faithfulness and ends with the statement that God is faithful. God will provide. God will give us possibilities.

After that class period, I decided that I did trust God with my beloved family for God was the one who gifted me with each of them. God loved them more than I did and knew what was best for all of us. I released my guilt to God as I placed my trust in God. God was faithful. It was a hard stressful time, but also one of the best times of my life. To devote myself to in-depth study learning more about God, about Jesus, about the Holy Spirit, to learn about sharing ministry with others was sheer joy. I love to discover new things, it feeds my soul. As you can see the girls grew through that period just fine and have special memories of those times with their dad. God did provide. God is faithful.

Where is God calling you to step out in faith? Is there something you are afraid to entrust to God? Do you trust God with what is most precious to you? There will be times of trial and testing in each of our lives. Today’s lesson tells us “the Lord will provide.” You can trust it. Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on June 22, 2008.