Loving God, sometimes we find the ancient stories hard to understand, and we start to wonder what you really ask of us.  Grant us assurance of your mercy and grace this day, as well as the trust that we belong to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

         For most people, today’s reading from Genesis raises at least a few eyebrows and brings a whole slew of questions to mind. We find it hard to even imagine God asking somebody to sacrifice their child.  We wonder if maybe Abraham was hearing voices or perhaps misunderstood what God wanted.  We picture Isaac afterwards, suffering from some form of PTSD, and viewing his father in an entirely different light than before.  We ask not only, How could Abraham do such a thing, but How could God do such a thing?  And then we wonder, Does God really test people like this?

         Yet, here it is, in the Spirit-breathed, God-inspired book that we know as the Bible.  What are we to do with this story and all of our questions?  Can we still find a message of some sort in there for us?

         In Martin Luther’s lecture about this passage in Genesis, he acknowledges that there is a contradiction there that he cannot resolve.  God has promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have many descendants through Isaac, and that through him and his descendants, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  So here is Isaac, this child of promise, and God commands Abraham to sacrifice him?  What gives?

         In the end, Luther chooses to focus on Abraham’s faith, and here is how he resolves the contradiction:

Accordingly, Abraham understood the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and through it alone he resolved this contradiction, which otherwise cannot be resolved; and his faith deserves the praise it receives from the prophets and apostles. These were his thoughts: “Today I have a son; tomorrow I shall have nothing but ashes. I do not know how long they will lie scattered; but they will be brought to life again, whether this happens while I am still alive or a thousand years after my death. For the Word declares that I shall have descendants through this Isaac, even though he has been reduced to ashes.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 4, Lectures on Genesis)

         Luther chooses to view Abraham in the best light possible, just as he asks us to do in his explanation of the eighth commandment.  Instead of bearing false witness, we are to defend those who are our neighbours, speak well of them, and explain their actions in the best possible way.

         Another possible approach is to view Abraham in the light of his background and culture.  We learn from the Scriptures that Abraham and his family came from a place called Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen. 11:31), where they had worshiped other gods (Josh. 24:2).  Abraham also lived in the midst of other nations and tribes who worshiped other gods.  Worship of some of these gods, who are later referred to as abominations, involved child sacrifice.  Thus, Abraham would have been entirely familiar with the idea, and may even have viewed it as the ultimate act of devotion.

         Because of this background, Abraham does not raise any questions or objections when he is sent to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son.  In his experience, gods did ask people to do things like this.  Now, as appalled as we might be at the idea, or at Abraham’s willingness to do it in the first place, ultimately the story ends with a resounding “NO!”  No, Abraham.  Don’t do it!  “I know that you fear God” (Gen. 22:12).  And the ram is taken and sacrificed instead.

         Throughout the rest of the Old Testament narrative, the question of child sacrifice continues to show up every so often (e.g. 2 Ki. 3:27; 16:3; 21:6).  In each instance it is roundly condemned, and in the Jewish understanding of things, your child is not yours to sacrifice anyways.  Children belong to God, and not to their parents.  It is all part of the question as to what our God actually requires of us.

         By the time the prophet Micah was around, the question of sacrifice was still being asked:

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”  He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8)

        The one true God – the maker of heaven and earth – seeks justice, kindness and humility.  These are the same things that Jesus pointed to when he spoke to the Pharisees who were tithing their mint and dill, but were neglecting justice and mercy and faith (Mt. 23:23).  After all, is it really a sacrifice when you are giving God things that already belong to God?  But justice and mercy – in at least some ways, these things are far more difficult, and there are many people in both the Old and New Testaments who never seem to learn them!

         As for faith, we can certainly talk about that today.  Whatever other things he may have done in his life, Abraham was certainly a man of great faith, which is why God called him in the first place.  To believe that there would be resurrection when it looked as if all was lost is no easy thing.  Neither do we understand how he could have approached the whole thing with such calmness and trust.  Surely, he believed that God would provide a way through this dilemma, and that is exactly what happened in the end.

         Certainly, God also asks us to have faith, even when it seems as though everything is going against us and the load is too heavy to bear.  God asks us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a sacrifice for sin, and for the life of the world.  God asks us to believe and trust that there is salvation through Jesus, and eternal life for all who believe in him.  Have faith, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God by the power of the Holy Spirit.  For in this is life – life in all its fullness.  Amen.

Pentecost 15 (NL 4)                                                                                    Genesis 21:1-3; 22:1-14

September 17, 2017

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2017 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved