Readings for today: Genesis 22:1-14 Psalm 13 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42
I trust your love, and I feel like celebrating because you rescued me.
You have been good to me, LORD, and I will sing about you.
Psalm 13:5-6 Contemporary English Version
Prayer
At the beginning of this day, we come before God,
refreshed from the night-time rest,
eyes wide open to the beauty of creation,
ears in tune with the natural world and its delights.
At the beginning of this day, we celebrate
the goodness of God to us down through the years,
we rejoice in God’s love and mercy to us,
and we respond to God’s exquisite grace.
At the beginning of this day, we pause in silence
to reflect on all the freedoms we find in God’s love,
and in simplicity, acknowledge the sheer extravagance
of this gift to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Control freaks beware
No self-respecting control freak will enjoy reading Romans 6:12-23, because it seemingly involves handing over control of one’s life to another. And yet Paul concludes that such a choice brings freedom.
At the start of the Abraham and Sarah cycle of stories there was an assurance of many descendants (Genesis 12:7), but it is very late in the story when Sarah and Abraham – biologically well-beyond the child-producing years – welcome Isaac into their home. In between those two events, the account reads like a catalogue of mistrust: Twice Abraham passed Sarah off as his sister because he feared for their lives; then there was the time when they think that God is taking too long to fulfil the promise by supplying an offspring, so they took matters into their own hands and produced a child (Ishmael) through Sarah’s handmaid (Hagar). Abraham, like all other characters in the Bible, was a great man of faith. But he was also a deeply flawed character, believing himself to be in control of his own destiny.
We like to think that we too are people in control of our own destinies, but we discover that others have the power to alter our way of working, shopping and socialising; and even our habits of worship.
Dealing with difficulty and danger
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the young wizards are set a series of challenges which test their abilities to the limits. J.K. Rowling did not write her series of books for children with saccharine narrative but with a gritty realism. The challenge is full of danger and death. I think it enables children to look at their own experiences of life in a safe way, and to recognise that life is full of challenges and difficulties.
In a sense, the story of Abraham and Isaac, is one that also helps to explore difficult situations. Obviously, the subject matter seems quite alien in contemporary life, but then the writers lived in a very different milieu to own, and requires some careful reading. (But then, whilst we all have an experience of school life and some of its difficulties, none of us have the skill set imagined for her protagonists by JK Rowling either!)
Yet when it comes to Abraham and Isaac, the text is outside so far outside of contemporary life that you may find the difficulties unacceptable – even though human sacrifice is attested by archaeology as part of a pattern of ritual within the British Isles. And the writer of this story has shaped this text in such a way as to heighten the difficulties we find unacceptable – so we are going to have to deal with the story the best way we can. The reading from Genesis is a tale of a challenge which pushes Abraham excruciatingly to his limits.
What is Abraham thinking?
The story begins in a conventional enough way: the sovereign voice of God calls Abraham by name and Abraham responses in classic form: ‘here I am’.
So God speaks directly with Abraham, yet the demand place upon him is unthinkable:
‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love’ (verse 2). Take the gift , the one you have hoped for so long, the sign of your faith, the only source of your laughter, and surrender him.1
By this point in the account, Abraham obeyed promptly and readily, and with Isaac and a servant they set off to worship God.
It is extraordinarily difficult to put ourselves into Abraham’s shoes. But perhaps those who have lost children might empathise with the heavy loss of those who find the natural course of events inverted; no parent wants to survive their children. But what questions would you have for Abraham at this point in the story?
Child of the covenant
This story has another puzzling element: if the sacrifice had taken place, how would the covenant have been fulfilled? Isaac, the child of laughter, wasn’t just a long-for child, but the child of the covenant.
If we learn any lesson from this grim tale, surely it is a reminder of covenant and salvation. Several years ago, I had the privilege of travelling to Oberammergau to watch the village very movingly portray its Passion Play. At one point in the drama, there is a very beautiful tableau of Abraham and Isaac, with a sung reminder that here the sacrifice of Christ is prefigured: it is an idea that dates back to Clement of Alexandria. He saw Jesus as the new Isaac. This proto-type for Jesus reminds that salvation is costly, and that God himself will provide the sacrifice. Yet the theological focus is not on death, but on life (Isaac is spared, and Jesus is raised). And God called Abraham into a new understanding of responding to the divine call. God calls each of us to that same place of growth and renewal in our own lives; and it seems to me that the God who calls also provides with exquisite generosity.
The gift of exquisite generosity.
Back to the tale: the blade is raised high in the air, Abraham’s obedient sacrifice is about to be made, when the voice of God is heard again. Abraham has shown his trust beyond doubt. He has moved from the man who heard the promise but wanted to take matters into his own hands, to acknowledging that the Lord offers magnificent generosity in the provision of a sacrifice.
Such generosity uses another difficult concept for contemporary readers: who wants images of slavery pushed into church life, when we are trying to stand firmly against slavery and its lasting effects with the Black Lives Matter campaign?
Yet, as those who have wrestled with addictions will tell you, their drug of choice – be it legal or not, or a metaphorical ‘drug’ like gambling – actually enslaves those who become entrapped by the allure. There is no easy escape. All kinds of addictive behaviour can easily distract.
Yet there is a way out: in baptism, the people of God are offered freedom to live a very different lifestyle. It is a way of life in which all people can flourish, develop and grow.
a prayer for ourselves
Gracious God, When we, in our arrogance, have declared, ‘I did it my way’ forgive us and remind us of the true cost of your love to us. When our sense of self causes us to trample on the hopes and dreams of others forgive us, and call us to more Christ-centred ways of being. When we forget that we are baptised into unity with Christ, forgive us and cleanse our thoughts and intentions so that we may reflect your love in the world.
a prayer for others
Lord, this pandemic acts like a spotlight revealing huge disparity in our society. We have clapped and cheered those who work in hospitals and homes; those who have kept our streets clean, and the rubbish cleared; those who have delivered goods and services; and those who have kept our food shops well stocked and served us. Do not allow us to be complacent about the true value of this work. Enable us to challenge systems that keep these heroes in poverty, whilst some in our society seem to sit in luxury and oblivion to the needs of those around them. We pray for all who have acted thoughtlessly and recklessly as the restrictions are eased. Speak to the hearts of those who litter our land, and those who think it is OK to attack those who are tasked with keeping law and order in our streets. Protect all who are becoming weary with doing good, or who are tired of following guidance given to protect others. Help us to share your love and grace In all aspects of our daily lives, We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
1James Newsome in Texts for Preaching – Year A (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press 1995), 381
Worship at home 