“You Want Me To What?”
Genesis 22:1-14
I can’t remember the name of the movie, it was on television and I just saw a little bit of it, but one scene is stuck to my heart as though it was riveted. Every time I think of it, 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 to be in Heaven with her. The loss of her daughter had been a terrible time of 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 the way she wanted. Now it’s 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 and 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 ended with both the mother and the girl being separated forever across the valley.
Of course, that’s just a scene from a movie. It’s not even good theology. But it makes me think of my own boys and how I would feel if one of them 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.
(Read Genesis 22:1-14)
Our scripture today is mind-boggling for us today. I mean we’re a “Civilized” people! (Yeah Right!) We dial back a few thousand years to a culture and a world we can hardly imagine. After a amazing journey through trial and difficulty and trusting in the promises of God which seemed impossible, one after the other, Abraham and Sarah finally receive the gift of a child! It has been twenty-five years, 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.
(Tell about Keenan as our “Miracle” baby)
Well this goes double for Abraham. Listen to this one line. “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.” Think about that! Men doesn’t that make you proud to be a man? A hundred years old! Who has waited longer? Now the child is here. Can you imagine the joy; the astonishment, they had to be flipping out!
Then the world caves in! What happens is beyond belief.
* God “tests” Abraham’s faith by asking him to give up Isaac, the son he loves and waited twenty-five years for.
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 wince at a story like this. When seen from the perspective of a time where human rights are high on the list of priorities for civilized countries, this story is an example of terrible child abuse. Imagine if you read this in the paper before you came to church.
“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 examinations by state psychiatrists.”
That’s the way it would look today, right? But when you dial back a few thousand years, things were different. Who remembers “Ozzie and Harriot” or “Father knows best” or “All in the family”? These shows would come off today as sexist, bigoted and repressive of women if you had no knowledge of the culture of the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s in America. With this story today we are traveling back at least four thousand years of human history. And we must keep in mind that even that far back, our story from Genesis is turning Abraham AWAY from the practice of child sacrifice. In the culture of his time, child sacrifice was normal. It was not, however, to be a part of Israel’s life. Later in Israel’s history, King Josiah (In II Kings 23:10) destroys the alter that was used to sacrifice children. Why? Because this was an “Abomination before God”. When we look closely at the story in Genesis, and translate it in terms that make sense for us today, it turns out to have an amazing relevance for our daily lives!
Abraham’s experience points us to a spiritual process, which should be applied to our own lives. There are two spiritual steps we should take which result in one remarkable gift.
US
We need to listen.
We need to trust and obey
The Gift
God will meet our needs!
First we need to listen. When God calls, Abraham hears.
“After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him “Abraham!” And Abraham said, “Here I am.” 22:1
The voice of God doesn’t come to us by accident. We need to be listening. In Matthew 10:40-42, 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.
(Read 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. But look again at verse 40. 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. And that’s all of us in one way or another. 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, in word or music, 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. I am sharing the word that God has shared with me, this is life and health and wholeness. “Lord, make me a worthy servant…” comes to mind.
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 part of his everyday life. Since the day he left his homeland to follow the voice of God to, “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 well? (I see looks shooting all over the place) well some people listen better than we’d like.
I was reading an article by a pastor who told this story of how he and his wife decided to have the church deacons and their wives over to dinner. It was quite an undertaking, but this pastor and his wife wanted to be “Salt and Light” for the leaders of their church. When it came time for dinner, everyone was seated and the pastor’s wife asked her little four year old daughter if she would say grace. (As a note to new parents…don’t do this!) The girl said she didn’t know what to say so her mom told her, “Just say what I say honey.” Everyone bowed their head and the little girl said, “O dear Lord, why am I having all these people for dinner! Amen.”
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. And 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 proved the criticism true. Volume does not increase your listening quotient; volume is designed to penetrate the hearing of the “Other”. And the hearing of the “Other” was not the point. And just for your own edification, volume, even if you put on an accent, doesn’t work with people who speak a different language. “Oh you don’t speak English, WELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?”
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 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’s the same with God as it is with any other relationship...you don'’ hear if you don'’ 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 from the heart, could change your life!
Now that we have heard because we were listening, we need to “Trust and Obey”. The old gospel hymn “Trust and Obey” is one of those songs that maybe we should sing every Sunday. The twin themes of trusting God and obeying God are absolutely critical to a vital life of faith. And we seem to so easily lose sight of that.
Abraham hears the voice of God asking him to do something unthinkable. Give up his son? And God has it right, this is “…your one and only son Isaac, whom you love.” Abraham obeys. Now, this isn’t a “Blind Obedience” this is obedience based on trust. If you were there, you might have said, “Abraham, are you sure?” (Let’s read between the lines, can you imagine what Sarah is saying right about now?) But Abraham would have responded something like this;
“The Lord has been with me from the 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 years, I will trust God for everything I do not see now!”
This isn’t blind faith, it is informed, tested faith. And when you think about it, isn’t ours too? Don’t we base a measure of our faith on what God has done for us? 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 best for our lives.
The themes of faith, obedience, God’s trustworthiness and the deepening of the relationship between God and his children permeate the story. This is not about “Blind Faith” or even “Unquestioning obedience”. Abraham has asked all kinds of questions along the way. But by this time 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 all human reasoning…but then this is the God who gave a son where there should have been no child at all. You might call this the, “When all else fails…read the directions” principle.
I remember my first time flying a “Cobra” helicopter, I was in the front seat, the “Gunner’s” seat when Mr. Hatchetel said, “let me have the controls…I want to show you something.” He told me to pick a target with the “TSU” telescopic sight unit, and keep it in track. (Elaborate: Gimbals, inner ear, not a pretty picture.) Anyway the “Apache” helicopter transition has what’s called “The Bag” and it is one of the last things that is done by prospective pilots of this aircraft. (Elaborate: don’t trust feelings, don’t trust sight, Always Trust the instruments.) While flying by the “Seat of your pants” may work for some, it is not good advice for combat pilots. “There are OLD pilots and there are BOLD pilots, but there are no OLD BOLD pilots.
Paul tells the Christians in 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.
(Read Romans 6:12, 14, 17-19, 21-23)
One of the clues to this passage is Paul’s words in verse 19. He is basically saying, “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 has got to be hard for us to understand today!
The whole issue here, is an answer to Paul’s critics who said that Paul was destroying Jewish law and preaching “Libertarianism”. “If you don’t have to keep the Law to be saved,” they asked, “then people can do anything they want and still be saved by Grace.” That was the argument then…and I see people living it still today.
First we need to understand something, “Nothing you can do can make God not love you!” I love to say that, because as soon as it comes out I can see the wheels turning, some turn better than others, but they are turning. For an instant you can also see the conclusion, “Well then…that means I can…” That is why I always follow that statement with, “You can break God’s heart. You can disappoint Him…but you can not make Him stop 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. 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. 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.
To get back to Abraham, his 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. Now comes God’s part.
God will meet our needs! The first thing that strikes me about this whole thing is that “Child Sacrifice” will NEVER be a part of Israel’s religious life. Child sacrifice is one of the reasons pagan religions and Caananite religious practices were an abomination to God. There is a sense deep within the human heart, of a separation between God and ourselves and that separation must somehow be closed. Primitive religions, almost without exception, have a sense that there is an angry god out there that must be appeased. A child or a young virgin are “innocent” and maybe they will assuage the divine anger.
In Israel a lamb represented innocence. Isaac knows that he and his father are going to worship God and offer a sacrifice…”But where is the lamb?” Abraham’s response is the response of faith based on everything God has done up until this point. “God Himself will provide the lamb.” Did he really think God would step in and halt the sacrifice of Isaac and provide a lamb? Or was he simpl trying to keep the boy calm?
Probably neither, we may never know. 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 God going to make Isaac the one from whom a “Great Nation” will come and at the same time take back his life? I think Abraham would say, “I don’t have 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 old man like me for this “Nation Fathering” business anyway…But this I do know, when I listen to God, trust what I hear and follow through with obedience, things just work out. When I don’t listen and make up my own way, things don’t work out!”
God is the one who provides for our needs. When the ram, caught in the bushes, was 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.”
Anyone having a test of a lifetime experience? Asking God “You want me to what?” Once again, here’s the plan when that “Test of a Lifetime” comes: God speaks…We listen…We trust…We obey…God provides.
God Bless.
