After these things God tested Abraham…God said to him…take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you. Would you do that? Would you offer up your child or what ever it is that means everything to you - your riches, your hopes and dreams for the future - would you unquestioningly be ready to sacrifice that to God? And what kind of God would demand this?
For me, reading the Old Testament is an adventure - a little like deciding to research your family history and when you go back finding that there are strange people and bizarre stories and skeletons in the closet. You can close the picture album, destroy the genealogy and pretend this is not a part of your history, your genes, your DNA. And a lot of people do that with both families and the Bible - Or you can examine the past, acknowledge this family history is part of who you are now. Then the fascinating question becomes “How am I connected to this story? Knowing what I know now, where do I go from here? How do I respond?”
Going back to the story, something we learn about God is that God tests, and God provides. The testing is the hardest part. Students know that tests come after a time of preparation. Remember for these last few weeks, we have been hearing the stories of Abraham and Sarah and their growing relationship with God. “After these things” the writer mentions are the fact that God has called Abraham, in his old age, away ….away from his land, away from his birthplace, away from his father’s house to a new life.
There were many tests of Abraham’s faith and patience - many adventures for an old couple- intrigue, war and famine - an affair with Hagar the slave- a son, Ishmael, born out of wedlock - and finally the promised child Isaac is born to Sarah and Abraham. This child represented a lifetime of hopeful waiting. This child was the joy of their lives in the present and this child represented their hopes for the future - and God’s hope for the future. And now God asks for the ultimate sacrifice. God asks them to give back the gift that he has given Abraham and Sarah- this precious son, Isaac.
Imagining this drama we are caught between a rock and a hard place. - We are told it is a test but what is hard to understand is that at no time are we led to believe that God was just kidding. At no time are we led to believe that Abraham would not really plunge the knife into Isaac. This is a frightening and demanding God.
Is this the kind of God we want to worship? Can we not just close the OT picture album and put it away on a dusty shelf and concentrate on the Good News of the Gospels? But for us as Christians the theological problem does not go away when we turn from the OT to the New Testament. The testing goes on - another only Son is offered up in a shocking and brutal sacrifice on a cross. What kind of heartless God can ask for this? There is a clue in our story as Abraham raises the knife to kill Isaac. Just at the last moment when the knife is raised and Abraham is bound to be crying and sweating bullets – just when every reader is holding his or breath….God calls out…
“Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” God said, “Do not lay your hand upon the boy do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” The story doesn’t say that Abraham fell to the ground weeping with joy and relief - he simply takes the ram from the bushes and offers it up as a burnt offering - and Abraham turns and goes home with Isaac and his two young men.
It seems to be God who breathes the sigh of relief… God says …for now I know… I had to know how faithful you would be. God renews the promise… And by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves. The test of faith seems to have been as real for God as for Abraham. Perhaps the relief even more real for God. Abraham could have refused. Remember, God’s people have not had a good track record up to this point. Look what Adam and Eve did with the gift of free will. Adam’s disobedience was followed by even more alienation by his ancestors in the form of murder and violence and separation. So God had to know for sure that he could trust Abraham. So now it seems that this God who tests is more vulnerable than we had imagined.
The Hebrew understanding of the unbreakable covenant bond of love between God and God’s people is called hesed. It is a love relationship. We know from our own experiences in life that love and vulnerability go together. In a love relationship, we are most vulnerable to pain when faithfulness is tested. God is vulnerable in that he does not expect Abraham to do something that he would be unwilling to do. The faithfulness continues in Jesus, a son of Abraham and only son of God totally faithful - willing to die - trusting that God will provide. And we see God’s painful vulnerability in Jesus dead on a cross. And finally we see God’s faithfulness and provision for the continuation of the blessing in the resurrection of his son.
By that death and resurrection, Christians are bearers of the ancient blessing given to Abraham. What sacrifice is required of us? God does not require any less of us than what was required of Abraham. Trust and faithfulness and obedience. And it is not easy. Living a faithful Christian life of discipleship is a challenging, demanding arduous task. Our faith is continually tested by both adversity and prosperity. Pain and loss and suffering can seduce us into believing that God does not love us or has abandoned us. Prosperity can seduce us into idolizing the gifts; the material things, the power, and the pursuit of pleasure instead of adoring the Giver of the these gifts.
Father Abraham teaches us that faith and trust are built over time and with patience. A relationship with God is nurtured by listening to his word, talking with God in prayer, answering “Here I am,” being available when God calls. Where ever you are in your journey, what I want you to hear is that it is never too late to begin. A lifetime relationship starts the minute we say, “Yes, Lord, I want to know you.” Building this relationship now is critically important to sustain us in this hard life. One day we all will be required to give up all that we have and all that we are. Will we be able to trust that God will provide for us even in death and beyond?
Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to this altar today and yes, like Abraham, we are asked to bring with us a sacrifice of all that we are and have been - the best and the worst. We are asked to bring with us all that is most dear to us now, and come with all of our hopes and dreams for the future. The sacrifice that is required of us is praise and thanksgiving for all that has been given to us in Christ’s love and faithfulness. In that moment of decision at the altar open your hands and your hearts - trusting that God will provide what is needed so that we may continue the blessing. Amen