This is the Reflection I wrote for Sunday 28th June 2020 on Genesis 22: 1 - 14
“They
mess you up your mum and dad, they may not mean to, but they do” so wrote the poet Philip Larkin in
his poem “This be the verse”. (Actually, it’s a bit ruder than that but
this has the same meaning.) And I think it fair to say that had Philip Larkin
been writing at the time of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, Isaac would have related
to those words.
Imagine
for a moment you are Isaac. Probably, you are in your teens, as we would say.
(The Hebrew word translated as “son” can be translated as “lad”
which suggests an older boy.) You have these two elderly parents. You have a
vague memory from childhood of playing with a boy called Ismael (did someone
say he was your half-brother?) But one day Ishmael and his mother Hagar had
gone. Apparently, your father had sent them away. Why?
So,
you have that concern about your father. “Could he do that to me?”
One
day your father tells you “We are going on a journey to make a sacrifice to
God.” “Why do we have to go on a journey Dad? Why can’t we sacrifice
here?” But you are a good lad and you go along with your father and the two
servants. Even though your father Abraham seems a bit subdued and can’t look
you in the eye.
You
reach the spot and you help your father build an altar. “But Dad. You forgot
the sheep. What are we going to sacrifice?” And your Dad goes all mystical
“God will provide the lamb for sacrifice”. But next thing you know your father
is making you lie down on the altar. You’re bound, you can’t move. Then your
Dad produces a knife and looks as if he’s about to kill you, even though he’s got
tears in his eyes and says he’s sorry and asks you to understand it’s God’s
will.
But
then there is a voice that tells your Dad to stop and points your Dad to a ram
that can be used to make the sacrifice.
Your
Dad does this and the same voice, an Angel of the Lord, says that because your
Dad had been prepared to sacrifice you, God will bless your Dad and his descendants.
And all subsequent people will be blessed too including you Isaac.
Of
course, the writer of Genesis doesn’t tell us how Isaac feels after this
incident. But surely his relationship with his father must have been marred by
it? For the rest of Isaac’s life, he must have always been wary of his father
or resentful.
If
you remember, last week we looked at the story of Hagar and Ishmael and I
commented that I didn’t think the story cast Abraham in a good light when he
throws Hagar and his son Ishmael out in to the desert. And we could feel the
same about Abraham in this week’s story too. But setting aside our empathy with
Isaac, I think we should not be so hard on Abraham.
Although
I have started this reflection thinking about the relationship between Abraham
and Isaac, the story isn’t really about that. The story is about God and
Abraham. The story is about Abraham trusting God and more so God trusting
Abraham.
Reading
the story, we know that God is testing Abraham. We know that God does not intend
to kill Isaac, but that God is testing Abraham’s faithfulness. And for God,
this is important. The story of Abraham in Genesis is about God seeking to
create a people, followers, who will be descended from Abraham. If Abraham
cannot be trusted wholeheartedly by God, then God will need to find someone
else to help God deliver His plan. Is Abraham the faithful one who can carry
God’s purpose along? Or does God need to take some other course of action?
This
is why God tests Abraham. The Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says “this
test by God is not a game; God genuinely does not know how Abraham will react.
God did not know. Now He knows.”
As
for Abraham, he shows his faithfulness and he shows his complete trust in God.
And for me the story shows that for Abraham, God will always come first. God comes
before Sarah and even Abraham’s beloved son Isaac.
Coming
back to Isaac for a moment. Perhaps as Isaac grew older, Abraham explained to
him what was really happening on that strange day. Perhaps Abraham said that he
felt obliged to do God’s will first and foremost because Abraham trusted in
God. And maybe, Isaac grew to understand something of this as he too became one
of the Patriarchs of Israel.
This
passage raises the question though of our own obedience to God and our own priorities.
A
couple of days before we moved from Cirencester to Swindon, for my first
appointment, a gentleman called John came to see me. John had been
instrumental in nudging me into ministry. John gave me a small carrier bag
containing a small wooden cross about 6 or 7 inches high. “This used to sit
on my father’s desk and it’s only right that it goes to another minister.”
(I hadn’t realised John’s father had been a minister.) Then with tears in his
eyes John said something I’ve never forgotten “Promise me you’ll still make
time to take your son to watch rugby. My Dad was always too busy to take me to watch
football.”
John’s
words reminded me of something one of my lecturers at college said. “God has
called you to be a husband, a father and a minister. In that order. Don’t forget”.
I
have tried to follow John’s advice; I’ve tried to follow my lecturer’s advice.
But it is not always easy to do. I want to remain faithful to God and that
sometimes dictates priorities. Abraham did not want to sacrifice his son, but
for Abraham ultimately faithfulness to God came first.
John’s
words made me realise the cost all of us face from time to time in being
faithful followers of God. Sometimes we all have to put God before the needs of
our families and friends and our own interests.
I
do not feel God tests us to check out our faithfulness. I do not believe God
sets traps for us or deliberately puts things in our way to see if we remain
faithful to him. Though I am sure God is pleased when we remain faithful to Him
during the trying times, we all encounter from time to time.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way
out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Cor 10:13 NRSV
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