June 29, 2008 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Series: Standing on God’s Promises
Sermon Title: “On the
Text: Genesis 22:1-14
Dr.
Delivered on June 29, 2008
“After these
things god tested Abraham.” Genesis 22:1
On the
Today we’re wrapping up our series of messages called “Standing on God’s Promises.” Looking back I feel like we’ve learned a lot about the nature and course God’s promises sometimes takes in our lives. In the story of Noah we were reminded that floods are going to come in our lives – stuff happens – but God will not forget us, even when all seems lost. We have a faithful friend in God whose promises are secure. The last couple of weeks we’ve talked about the remarkable story of Abraham and Sarah. Through all their ups and downs we’ve been reminded that waiting on God’s promises to come to fruition can be hard. We learned from them that when it comes to God’s promises, what really matters is not how trusting we are as much as it is how trustworthy God is. Last week in particular we learned what a mess we make of things when we try to run ahead of God to “help him” make those promises come to pass in our lives.
The story we
read this morning has something to teach us about God’s promises as well. It’s one
of the most familiar ones in the entire Old Testament; God commanding Abraham
to go to
The picture that came to my mind was one of those long-distance bikers biking up a mountain. For miles and miles they struggle to pedal up the hill. Their thighs and calves and lungs are burning. They don’t think they’ll make the top. Finally they arrive at the summit and the valley spreads out beautifully below. Apparently all that’s left now is to coast downhill. The only thing they may have to do is tap their brakes a little so they don’t go too fast – and then suddenly they realize it is all about to be taken away and they’ve got to start all over again. Have you ever felt like that?
The movie “Chariots of Fire” was about Scottish
athlete Eric Liddell. Liddell was a committed Christian who later became a
missionary to
Here was a man of deep faith who saw his promise
slip away – in fact he gave it away when he honored God by not going against
what he believed. But God honored his obedience and the story had a happy
ending, much like Abraham’s did.
But not all stories like this have a happy ending
– at least they don’t seem to so far. Many of us have watched and prayed as the
story of little Caiden Wuest, Linda Blanchard’s great-nephew, unfolded on the
NewSong prayer list the last few months. Caiden was born prematurely with a
multitude of physical problems, mainly his heart, and for months now we’ve
watched his family experience a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Caiden’s mom
Bree wrote in a daily blog which Linda shared with the church. It seems like
every week brought something new: “Caiden is doing better” – “Caiden is out of
ICU” – “Caiden had a set-back today” – “Caiden is facing another surgery.” But
then just a few weeks ago the news seemed to get better. Caiden was allowed to
come home. His parents were elated. It seemed as though the corner was turned.
But then his little body began to weaken again. Finally, early this past
Wednesday morning Caiden died. What do we do when the promise that seemed to be
within our grasp is suddenly ripped away?
Perhaps we can learn something from this story
that will help us deal with situations like these that may come our way.
The story of Abraham’s testing is one of the most
analyzed passages of Scripture in the entire Bible. Personally, the more I read
it, the more questions I have. My questions are the same ones people have asked
for centuries: Why would God ask such a horrible thing of Abraham? Does God
really ask it, or is Abraham hearing the wrong voices? And why doesn't
Abraham argue with God about it like he did when God told Abraham he was going
to destroy
The very first verse tells us that God put Abraham
to the test. If the test was the binding, and potential sacrifice, of Isaac,
did Abraham pass? Was he supposed to go through with it? Was he supposed to
resist? What was he supposed to do...and what are we supposed to learn from it?
Historically, the dominant interpretation has been
that Abraham passed God’s test by being willing to sacrifice what he loved
most. That’s the New Testament take on the story anyway. Hebrews 11:17-19 says,
“By faith, Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had
received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been
told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendents shall be named for you.’ He
considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead – and
figuratively speaking – he did receive him back.”
Soren Kierkegaard wrote a book called “Fear and
Trembling” which is an extended discussion of that premise. In the end Kierkegaard
decided that the absurdity of the world (as evidenced by God commanding Abraham
to murder his son) requires a leap of faith. For him, the story is about
submission to God's will, and binding Isaac for sacrifice was a sign of
Abraham's faith – a great “leap of faith” that all true believers must take.
But that’s not the only interpretation. Another interpretation
reads between the lines. This one says Abraham stalled for time. God
gives him a one-line instruction, and Abraham takes days to get to the critical
moment. He cuts his wood slowly. He loads his animals slowly. He plods as
slowly as he can toward the mountains. In this reading, Abraham takes as long
as he can because he knows, or hopes, that God will intercede. He never meant
to kill Isaac; that's why he told his servants, “the boy and I...will
worship and return to you.” In this reading Abraham holds the knife over
the boy forever waiting on God to stay his hand. If God hadn’t, Abraham would
have stopped himself and then walked down the mountain having lost faith in a
God Who would even ask such a thing. In this reading, Abraham is also testing
God.
But if that’s the case, what do we do with the apparent
eagerness of Abraham? Why did he rise “early the next morning” to go sacrifice
Isaac? And what about his complete lack of emotion? And what about the angel's
statement that seems to sum up the purpose of the story: “For now I know
that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son from me?” To deal
with that issue some scholars argue that the end of the story, which is written
in a different style from the rest of it, was a later addition. After all, without
the angel's tidy little speech, the story is much more ambiguous. What if that
last sentence is actually a commentary on the story; one so old that it's become
a part of the story itself?
Still another reading argues that binding Isaac
was another instance of Abraham's failure; that he blew it, he should
have argued with God about it. Right after this story, the Torah tells us that
Sarah died; Jewish tradition holds that Sarah died as soon as she heard what
Abraham had been willing to do, because her horror was so great. Perhaps God gave
the command to kill the child to see if Abraham understood God would never act
this way. Some have even pointed out that God was so unhappy with Abraham for
his eagerness to obey the command to slaughter Isaac, that God is never recorded
as speaking to him again after that.
Finally, there’s the thought that maybe we're focusing on the wrong person in the story. What if the story isn’t about Abraham, but instead is about Isaac? In this reading the story isn’t so much about the testing of Abraham as it is the binding of Isaac. In this reading we are to emulate Isaac and accept what binds us with the moral of the story being that we, too, are bound in our humanity and finiteness and that the only way out is through a way that God alone can provide for us.
The interesting thing about this story is that it
supports all of these interpretations to a lesser or greater degree ranging all
the way from that we should always submit to the will of God to the fact that people
sometimes do horrible things to their children in the name of religion. So
where do we go with it?
I’ve read this story dozens of times, and preached
on it three or four times. But this week as I was studying it what came to me
is that this story isn’t so much about Abraham or even Isaac, for that matter. I
believe the story is about God, it’s about his presence in our lives,
it’s about his provision for our lives and it’s about his purpose for our
lives.
Presence
When I say this story is about God’s presence
in our lives, I take that from a phrase that is found upon Abraham’s lips three
times in this story, “Here I am” (v. 1, 7,11). I had never noticed it
before, but three times Abraham is called upon, by God, by his son Isaac, and
by the angel of the Lord, and three times he replies, “Here I am.”
“I am,” you may recall, is the name of God. We
learn this when Moses encountered God at the burning bush. Moses asked God for his
name so he could tell the people when they asked who sent him and God said to
Moses, say to the Israelites, “I am” has sent me to you” …this is my name
forever, and this is my title for all generations” (Ex. 3:15).
Over in the New Testament Jesus identifies himself
as the great “I am” in several passages, “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the
Good Shepherd,” “I am He,” etc… The Jews rightly understood Jesus’ claim, “Before
Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58) as him claiming to be God himself, and they
took up rocks to stone him.
But what’s important about the divine name, which
Abraham echoes here several times and which is hard to miss, is what it says
about God. The name “I am” says is that God is personal (“I”), and that he exists
(“Am”), and that he is present in our lives. The Bible itself is the story of
God journeying with his people – through the desert in a pillar of flame and a
cloud – in the tabernacle upon the Ark of the Covenant, in the temple in the
holy of holies. And finally, of course, in Christ and his Spirit where he
dwells with his people forever.
As I looked back at our teaching and preaching
over the past year or so this concept, that God is with us, seems to be a
predominant one. I remember Justin’s sermon a few weeks ago where he talked
about how Jesus didn’t keep the disciples out of the storm when they were in
the boat, but he was in the boat with them. I recall a sermon series we had a
few months ago about the Great Commission with that wonderful ending it has, “And
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
This week as I thought and prayed about little
Caiden and his bereaved family, I couldn’t help but think about what scoffers may
say about all the prayers that were offered up for his life, and all the pain
his family will be going through seeing their promise shattered. Some may ask, “Where
was God in all that?” The answer is, He’s was right there with them, and he
is even now; sustaining them every step of the way. One of the meanings of the
testing of Abraham story is that God was with Abraham, every step of the way –
he was with him from start to finish.
Provision
This story is also about the provision of
God in our lives. It’s pretty obvious what I’m talking about. When Isaac
notices they have the wood and the fire for the burnt offering, but not the
sacrifice itself, Abraham says, “God himself will provide the lamb for a
burnt offering, my son” (v. 8). And then, when God does provide the ram
caught in the thicket Abraham names the place, “The Lord will provide”
(v. 13).
Of course we believe that God did provide the lamb
for the sacrifice in Christ. Fact is, this story is full of messianic imagery.
There’s the two of them saddling the donkey riding towards Moriah, which is
traditionally held to be the
What this teaches us is that God’s promises always
lead to his provision. I believe it is a faulty interpretation to think that
it’s “God’s provision” plus our faith, or our obedience, or our works that some
how results in our salvation. You can never get behind God’s provision – it’s
impossible. That’s why they call it grace.
The late African American author Alex Haley (Roots) used to have a picture in his office above his writing desk showing a turtle sitting atop a fence. When asked about the quirky photo Haley said it was there to remind him of a lesson he learned long ago: “If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had some help.” Haley said, “Any time I start thinking, wow, isn’t this marvelous what I’ve done! I look at that picture and remember how this turtle—me—got up on that post.” How’s that? With a lot of help from someone.
The entire narrative of Abraham’s life is about God’s provision. God provides the promise, God provides the son, and God provides the sacrifice. All Abraham has to do is receive. Like Vicki mentioned a couple of weeks ago, our confidence in God’s promise should depend more on the trustworthiness of God than it does our ability to trust.
Purpose
Finally, God’s purpose for our lives is
revealed in this story which, as I said, is really about God more than it is Abraham
or Isaac, or you, or me. God’s purpose for our lives is to worship him
and this story is all about an act of worship. Did you notice? That’s why God
sent Abraham to
God wants us to love him more than anything else.
I think the reason this story packs such a punch is because it strikes at the
heart of what we struggle with. We love God, but we also love our family. After
all, one of God’s greatest gifts to us is the gift of family – of loved ones.
In many ways they make our lives worth living.
But what happens when we love our family so much
they take precedence over our love for God? After all, the enemy of the “good”
in our lives isn’t usually the “bad.” The things that draw us away from God are
often the good things in our lives – things like our family.
Jesus taught about this more than once. Remember?
Once when Jesus was teaching he was told his mother and his brothers were
standing outside wanting to speak to him and Jesus pointed to his disciples and
said “Here are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my Father
in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:46-50). Another time Jesus
said “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and
whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt.
10:37). Still another time Jesus called a man to follow him and he agreed, but
then asked to be allowed to go and bury his father and Jesus refused saying, “Leave
the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of
God” (Luke 9:59-62). Clearly for Jesus, absolutely nothing must take precedence
over our relationship with God, not even our families.
But in an amazing paradox, when we give up
everything for God – when we put God at the very top of our list – even when it
appears as if doing so is the wrong thing to do as it appeared in the story of
Abraham, then God comes through and we are blessed beyond belief.
The story of Abraham and God’s promises is about God
more than it is about you or me. It’s about God’s eternal presence in our
lives, it’s about his amazing provision for our lives and it’s about his
single-minded purpose for our lives which is to worship him.
I can’t conclude this series without acknowledging
that Abraham definitely had amazing faith. But that’s really not the message I
want you to take away from this series. If I exhort you to have the “faith of
Abraham” I’m setting you up for failure because his faith was so great and most
of us have plenty of weaknesses that would hold us back from receiving God’s
promises. Fact is, Abraham had a few weaknesses himself.
Instead what I want you to take away from this
series is not how great any man is; I want you to take away from this
series how amazing our God is. He alone is worthy. He alone is eternal. He
alone has the answers. Trust him today – like Abraham did – and enjoy his
presence, his provision and his purpose for your life. Amen.