You Did What?
Genesis 22:1–14 • Psalm 13 • Romans 6:12–23 • Matthew 10:40–42
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
The Sermon
You did what?
You have got to be kidding?
I can’t believe you would do such a thing.
Are you insane? Have you completely lost your mind?
Why would you even think of doing such a thing?
Because God told you to?
Are you kidding me?
You are insane!
This is how I imagine Sarah to have responded when Abraham
and Isaac returned home from their little camping trip, and Isaac just happened
to let slip that Dad nearly sacrificed him as a whole burnt offering. Because
you know that Sarah had absolutely no idea, not even the faintest hint of an
idea, as to what her husband and God were up to. Had she known, there would
have been no camping trip, no father-and-son weekend on Mt. Moriah, or anywhere
else for that matter. And Abraham would have spent a night or two on the couch
for even contemplating such a stupid idea. As it is, I think Abraham probably
spent many a night on the couch after the Moriah incident. He may have even
spent the rest of their married lives on the couch. That would explain why they
never had any other children.
Genesis 22 in Jewish and Christian Traditions
But all kidding aside. Today’s reading from Genesis is one
of the most remarkable and powerful stories in all of Scripture.
The ‘Akedah in Jewish Tradition
Known in Jewish tradition as “the ‘Akedah,” or “the
Binding of Isaac,” this story played a central role in the theology and
writings of the early Jewish rabbis, especially in the traditions surrounding
Jewish martyrs.
The Binding of Isaac in Christian Tradition
Jesus is, of course, a Jewish martyr, and the early Church
saw many parallels between his death and the near-sacrifice of Isaac. Just as
Abraham offered up his only-begotten son as a sacrifice to God, so God offered
up his only-begotten son for the sake of the world. • Isaac carried the wood
for the sacrifice; Jesus carried his own cross. • In the ot, the land of Moriah is connected with
Jerusalem (2 Chr 3:1). So, the binding of
Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus were thought to have taken place on the same
mountain. • Isaac is saved because a lamb took his place; the world is saved
because Jesus takes its place.[1]
The Binding of Isaac in the New Testament
However, in the New Testament, Abraham’s offering of Isaac
is not linked with Jesus’ death. Rather, it is used to illustrate the nature of
faith,[2]
and to present
Abraham as a model of faith.[3]
But is this faith, or just some sort of extremism?
After all, he tried to kill his own son. If someone attempted that today, we
would be calling Child Protective Services. Is God really calling us to emulate
Abraham’s faith? If so, then maybe we’re not too sure we want that brand of
faith. After all, isn’t that why some of us became Episcopalians, so that we
wouldn’t be expected to do crazy things in the name of faith?
The Story of Abraham
But let me suggest that Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac
is, in fact, a masterpiece of faith; it is a perfect portrait of faith. Not a
portrait of a naïve and simplistic faith, but of a vintage faith, a faith that
has matured with age and experience, a faith that has known success and failure; a faith that can move mountains, but also
a faith that does not shatter when those mountains fail to move; a faith
that is ultimately rooted, not in who we are, but in who God is
and how God has revealed himself to us. I would suggest that deep down,
Abraham’s brand of faith is the faith that we all long for. So let’s look at
it.
Abraham’s Faithful Silence
Sometimes faith speaks,
sometimes faith questions, but sometimes, as in today’s story, faith remains
silent. God calls to Abraham, and he answers very simply, “Here I am.” Then,
when God commands him to, “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,” Abraham
remains silent. He asks no questions; he makes no objections; he utters not a
single syllable. Remarkable! Not only
because the circumstances are what they are, but because it seems so out of
character for Abraham.
If we had the chance to read the ten chapters of
Abraham’s story leading up to today’s, we would discover that Abraham is not
one to shy away from questioning God’s plans. For example, when God discloses
his plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham questions the justness of it,
Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked.... Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? (18:23–25).
The Lord
concedes, saying that he will not destroy Sodom for the sake of fifty righteous
persons yet, Abraham continues to press the issue. “What if there were just 45
righteous persons, would you destroy it then? What about 40, or 30, or 20? Or,
what if there were just 10?” So Abraham is far from quiet when it comes to
defending the innocent of Sodom and Gomorrah, whom he doesn’t know. Why, then,
does he remain silent in the face of God’s command to sacrifice his own son,
Isaac, who is himself innocent and also undeserving of such a fate?
Abraham’s Faithful Obedience
Not
only is Abraham’s silence remarkable, but so is his obedience. He does exactly
what the Lord commands, without
hesitation, without delay. He doesn’t wait a month, a week, or even a few days.
Instead, he and Isaac make an early start the very next morning. How very
different this is from the Abraham who, prior to this incident, often took
matters into his own hands.
When the Lord
first called Abraham and Sarah, he promised to make them into a great nation,
by blessing them with land and offspring. Yet no sooner are they in the
Promised Land, when situations arise that threaten the fulfillment of both
promises. When the promise of land is threatened by a severe famine, Abraham
and Sarah head south. They sojourn in Egypt for a time. Abraham is afraid
though. He thinks the Egyptians are likely to kill him and take Sarah because
she’s so beautiful. Instead of trusting in God’s provision and protection,
Abraham convinces Sarah to pretend she’s his sister. The plan backfires,
however, as Sarah is taken into Pharaoh’s
harem. Yet, despite their lack of faith, the Lord rescues Sarah, and they return safely to the Promised
Land.
I should mention, that despite all the problems
this stunt causes, Abraham actually tries it on one other occasion. It doesn’t
work then either.
Later on, there is a perceived threat to the Lord’s promise of offspring. When
Abraham and Sarah were first called, they were seventy-five and sixty-five
years old respectively. Ten years later, they still have not produced any
children. Convinced that the Lord
has prevented her from conceiving any children, Sarah offers her Egyptian
slave-girl to Abraham as a surrogate. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, whom
Abraham and Sarah treat as the promised heir. Once again, they have taken
matters into their own hands. Nevertheless, fourteen years later, when Abraham
is a hundred and Sarah is ninety years old, she gives birth to Isaac. So, again
despite their lack of trust, the Lord
fulfills his promises in his own way and in his own time.
The Secret of Abraham’s Faith — God Provides
So as we have seen, Abraham is not known for his silence.
Rather, he is known for taking matters into his own hands. Instead of trusting
and waiting patiently for God to act, Abraham often runs on ahead in a
desperate attempt to secure his own future. So, given Abraham’s spotty track
record of faith, his unquestioning obedience in today’s reading strikes me as
all the more remarkable. But add to this the fact that God commands him to
sacrifice Isaac—his only son; his beloved son; his Isaac. The promised child.
The one that Abraham waited twenty-five years for. Twenty-five years! If
there was ever a threat to the fulfillment of God’s promises, this is it. Yet,
he says nothing! And he does exactly what God commands him to do! How do we
explain this? What has happened to Abraham? Is he insane? Is he having a senior
moment? He is, after all, over a hundred years old.
No, it is faith. But where has it come from? And
what is it made of? The clue to the secret of Abraham’s faith can be found in
his response to Isaac’s question. As they are traveling up the mountain, just
the two of them, Isaac turns to his father and says, “We have the fire and the
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (cf. Gen 22:7).
Abraham replies, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my
son” (22:8a). “God
will provide,” says Abraham, “God himself will provide.” Or more
literally in the Hebrew, “God will see to it; God will see to it himself.” And
God does. God does see to it. God does provide. And that is the
secret to Abraham’s faith. God’s provision; God’s faithfulness.
In other words, the secret to Abraham’s faith is
not Abraham, but God,... God who made himself known to Abraham and Sarah, by
choosing them, by blessing them and providing for them, and by continuing to
provide for them, even when—in fear and desperation— they attempted to bypass
God and provide for themselves by taking matters into their own hands. That’s
what we mean by God’s faithfulness. God never abandoned them. God remained
faithful, even when they didn’t.
Abraham is a model of faith because his faith
finds its origin in God. More to the point, Abraham is a hero of faith because
his faith is only his, because it has been given to him by God.
Abraham’s faith is not of his own making; it is of God’s making. God gave him
faith, and God formed faith in him. Abraham’s faith grew and matured because it
was planted and tended by God.
Of course, Abraham played a vital role in the
development of his faith, as do we. When faith comes to us by the grace of God,
it does not come fully formed. Though faith comes as a gift, we can’t just
stick it on a shelf. We must stretch it and exercise it; we must take it out
and put into practice. Otherwise, it will remain immature and ineffectual. But
where do we begin?
One place to begin is by developing and living out
of the awareness that God provides. This, I think, this explains Abraham’s
quiet confidence in today’s story. He had finally come to that place where he
knew in his gut that God provides. But this awareness does not come easy, as
the stories of Abraham and Sarah illustrate. It’s hard to see that God
provides, especially when we are so busy trying to provide for ourselves, when
we are so focused on securing our own futures, or the futures of our
children.
Our lives can easily become driven by securing
college funds or retirement plans. It is easy to become anxious about changes
in our jobs, changes in our health, or changes in our world. We want so much
more than our daily bread because, we don’t live in the awareness that God
provides and will keep on providing. So we need to cultivate this awareness.
But again, how do we go about doing this? As you
might imagine, I have a suggestion. Actually, I have an assignment. Each day
this week, I want you to take a few moments and recall one time in your life
when God provided for you, be it miraculous or ordinary. I want you to write it
down. And then, I want you to tell someone, anyone—a friend, a neighbor, a
stranger, your children, your grandchildren.
Why? Because we need these stories. We all have
stories of how God has provided for us, but we don’t tend to live out of this
awareness, not in our frantic and chaotic world where everything competes for
our attention. So we need reminders. We need reminders of who God has been, to
hold onto these stories of our faith through which God revealed himself to our
ancestors, and to hold onto our own stories of God’s faithfulness.
You see, what we water with our attention grows.
What we water with our attention grows. So when we focus our attention on God’s
faithfulness, in our lives and in the lives of others, our faith grows, even in
the midst of suffering and hardship. And as faith matures, by the grace of God,
it begins to bear the fruit of quiet confidence, which knows how to trust God
in every situation.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] In
the end, the covenant that God makes with Abraham is so that all the nations of
the world might experience God’s blessing. Likewise, the New Covenant that
Jesus establishes through his blood is intended to encompass (or, incorporate,
embrace) all peoples everywhere.
[2] Esp.
James 2:14–24.
[3] Esp.
Hebrews 11:8–19.
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