"Here I Am" by Deborah Conner
Myers Park Presbyterian Church
June 26, 2011
Dr. Deborah Conner
Here I Am
Genesis 22: 1-14
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If someone were to come to my office and tell me that they could literally hear God’s voice and that God had told them to offer their child as a sacrifice and that this sacrifice involved an altar, some fire and a knife – I would excuse myself and call 911. This is not a description of faithfulness, but psychosis.
Our story this morning is a familiar one. It is so familiar we can condense it down to a couple of sentences: God tested Abraham and Abraham passed the test. The moral of the story: Obey God and God will provide. The End.
If this story is merely a morality tale, then, I believe we miss finding out something important about God. Abraham’s agonizing trip up the mountain is part of the story of a growing relationship. Abraham is learning about God and God is learning about Abraham. This may sound strange, but that is what is being described here. A relationship. This story is not predetermined just because God is involved. God hasn’t crafted the ending. God doesn’t force Abraham to act in a certain way. If we go back and read, beginning at Chapter 12 in Genesis, we discover a series of encounters between them. A picture forms about a God who interacts with people with hopeful expectation. God’s interaction with Abraham is, at times, shocking. Abraham is asked to do something unthinkable – kill his son. This request makes no sense. There is no nobility here. Isaac is not being sacrificed for the greater good. He is not a hero saving his people. His death would be senseless.
Theologians over the centuries have weighed in on this passage. John Calvin and Martin Luther argued that God was “contradicting himself”. Karl Barth notes this text helped his “understanding of providence”. Soren Kirkegaard writes that Abraham suspended what he knew was right, and doing so was an act of faith. Plato, Aristotle, and Hegel debated the ethics of Abraham’s actions. There is a dilemma in this text. They all point it out. Psychologists have called this story an example of the objectification of a human being that robs Isaac of his humanity, allowing Abraham to kill him. God appears cruel because of this command and Abraham deluded.
In the end, God provides, but there is tension between “the testing and the providing”. This is the tension we experience in life and in our discipleship when we are challenged beyond our endurance.
In our first scripture reading this morning, Jesus says: “if you wish to come after Me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow me.” This has been interpreted to mean “self-denial, complete dedication and willing obedience.” However we choose to describe it – taking up a cross (a Roman symbol of execution) tells us that following God in Jesus Christ will cost us something. Discipleship is more that believing certain things to be true. It is a response to grace. It invites us to realize our lives are not our own. We believe in God, we believe in God’s love and joy and peace, but it is something else entirely to work for justice, defend the rights of marginalized people or participate in non-violent protest. Our beliefs don’t put us at risk. Acting on our beliefs does.
History offers us stories about people who acted on their faith and suffered for it. They are our mentors in a long line of disciples beginning with Abraham. They teach us that when we are in a relationship with God, and we answer God’s call, when we say: here I am - we will be tested. These tests deepen our faith and strengthen our relationship with God - something we may long for, but are hesitant to pursue.
When I was a child in Sunday School, I had a zealous teacher who loved to tell stories about the martyrs of the faith – those men and women who gave their lives in defense of God’s gospel. Being a sensitive child, I really took her stories to heart. So, when she asked my 4th grade class if we would be willing to die for Jesus, we all nodded our heads yes. My parents would have been appalled if they knew she had asked us this! But, she did and I thought about it for a long time. I decided at that young age that I couldn’t do it. I loved Jesus, but I wanted to live and I was sure God would understand.
This is an appropriate response for a child.
But, when I grew up and matured in faith I faced this question once again. Would I be able to stand up for the gospel? Would I be able to follow Jesus even if there was risk? Would I be able to respond to God and say with confidence “here I am” the way that Abraham did?
Our faith is tested everyday. It is tested by the challenges of life.
So, when I read through this passage in preparation for this sermon, I continued to come back to verse 14: The Lord will provide. I love these four words! The Lord will provide.
They are a promise that God is present. But, it is so easy to take these 4 words and want the provision without a commitment to the relationship. We think God’s provision is something we can benefit from without any commitment on our part. In Abraham’s story and our story, God’s provision comes at a great cost.
Walter Brueggeman, a theologian I studied under wrote:
“There are deep problems with affirming God both tests and provides. The problems are especially acute for those who seek a “reasonableness” in their God. God is not a logical premise who must perform in a rational consistency. God is a free lord who comes as he will. God tests to identify his people, to discern who is serious about faith. And to know in whose lives he will be fully God.” (p. Interpretation commentary)
There have been times in our lives when we have not let God be fully God. We have neglected the relationship, forgotten God’s call and claim on our lives. But, if we are serious about following God, God will get our attention. Each of us will face tests in life, and through the struggle, we will see how God provides.
Our text this morning is a story about a test of faith. How do we equip ourselves to meet the test?
We are already doing it!
When we gather here to worship, we remind ourselves of God’s provision. We pray the Lord’s Prayer and say the words “lead us not into temptation”. We know we face choices, some of them are temptations that lead to pain for ourselves or someone else.
Every week we baptize babies, another test of faith, as we make promises to them that only God can help us keep.
We commission women, men, and youth to join hands with our partners in mission, to participate in what God is doing in the world that is larger than our imaginations can comprehend.
We gather week after week to remind ourselves that we are not “the masters of our fate or the captains of our ship”, but participants with God in a relationship built on trust and under-girded by faith.
The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote: ‘Faith is the highest passion in a human being.” (p. 146 Fear and Trembling) And, our story this morning reminds us how passionate faith should be. How faith can lead us beyond reason to something higher and more profound.
Let me share a description of faith I found this week:
“Faith is not a belief to be taught or a mystical state of grace. It is something we do. From the earliest usage in many cultures, faith was considered an action. We act on faith when we deliberately envision good results in the face of uncertainty. . . . Faith keeps us from being paralyzed with fear of failure or rejection. A common misconception is that faith eliminates fear. It doesn’t. Faith allows us to act despite fear. . . if we practice faith, we will develop confidence in our ability to move forward into the uncertain future.” (Cynthia Wall The Courage to Trust, p. 16)
There is something about being a disciple that is uncertain. To some our actions, look fool-hardy. We make sacrifices that are difficult to understand in order to draw closer to God. We step out in faith, hoping God will provide. So, as much as I would like to ignore the story of Abraham and Isaac or categorize it as an old story with no relevance for today, I can’t.
Our faith is tested according to our own willingness to have it tested. We take a risk; God takes a risk. We move into unknown territory with the hope of becoming all God has created us to be. Not in a foolish way or in an attempt to force God’s hand, but to watch and wait with hopeful expectation that God will act. This kind of risk takes courage combined with the hope that we will learn something about God and about ourselves.
This is what happened to Abraham.
He wasn’t the same when he came down the mountain with Isaac. Some would say he was traumatized – even victimized by God.
But, I believe Abraham’s faith in God was so great – the relationship was so strong – that he could offer his son and know that God would not abandon him.
This kind of faith is a gift. We stand in awe of it.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Download 2011 06-26 Celebrate Bulletin
Dr. Deborah Conner
Myers Park Presbyterian Church
June 26, 1011
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