Sunday, July 2, 2023

Trust

 Genesis 22:1-14; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42



In response to a couple questions in recent weeks, I want to start by drawing your attention to this timeline of the people of Genesis, from Abraham and Sarah, to Isaac and his wives, to Jacob and Esau and their families, and on to Joseph and his time in Egypt. We will read our way through Genesis all summer. By September, we will begin to read about Moses, ending with Joshua and Deborah the judge in November. (There are clearer and more expansive images if you search for Timeline of the Patriarchs.)

We need to remember that there was no court stenographer present to record what was happening. Many of the stories were written down in this form during the Babylonian exile, about 2,500 years ago, hundreds of years after they were supposed to have happened. They collect the oral traditions of the people, and express the hopes and dreams and failures of God’s people as they learned over and over to trust in God. 

We continue today with another story about Abraham and Isaac. Some folks believe this story about Abraham and his son from Genesis is so awful it should be removed from the Bible, or at least not included in the Lectionary. Yet, to the contrary, Jewish people believe it is one of the most important stories of their faith. It is an important story for Muslims who say the beloved son in the story is Ishmael. And early Christians saw parallels between this story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. So, all three Abrahamic faiths hold this story dear to the heart of their beliefs.


Let’s begin by looking at it as a Jewish story. The Jews have a name for this story, the Akedah (uh-KAY-duh or ah-kay-DAH). The story is set at a time when child sacrifice was practiced. It is not clear if Jews practiced it, but it certainly was practiced in the surrounding cultures. It was believed that the offering of a human got the god’s attention better in times of crisis. So, one thought about the Akedah is that it is a moral tale against human sacrifice.

The passage tells us that God intends to test Abraham. So, another thought about this story is that God doesn’t trust Abraham and his descendants to pass on the blessings to all peoples as God envisions.

After all, Abraham has several times looked for ways around the promises God made, since they weren’t happening on Abraham’s schedule. He told a king that Sarah was his sister, and the king took her into his harem, only to discover they were husband and wife. When Sarah continued to be childless, Abraham took Hagar to his bed and had a child with her. These actions don’t demonstrate complete trust in God, so God isn’t sure God can trust Abraham.

Some folks focus on Abraham’s obedience, while Paul stresses Abraham’s faith. In this understanding of the Akedah, Abraham starts out with trust, and maintains it up to the moment when an angel stops him from killing the child. Abraham trusted from the moment he left home that God would provide the burnt offering. He would not actually have to sacrifice his son, but he had to prove to God that he had faith enough to do so. There was the trust. Abraham trusted God, and demonstrated that God could trust Abraham.

Over the centuries, this story has had numerous interpretations. By the time of Jesus, Isaac is seen by Jews as the willing martyr, bravely going to his death. This interpretation of the Akedah says that God remembers this moment and provides for the people. The shofar, the ram’s horn, is blown at Rosh Hashanah (new year), to remind God of the promise God made to Abraham and Isaac, and to all God’s people.

… Christian interpretation has always understood Isaac as a prefiguring of Christ, the beloved son offered as a sacrifice. There are several parallels between the stories: both had miraculous births; both were beloved sons; both carried wood (for the fire and for the cross). Isaac and Abraham traveled three days from home to Moriah, and Jesus was in the tomb for three days. Plus, Isaac was, in the end, not sacrificed, but Jesus was – and he was resurrected!

We talked about Abraham trusting God with his son. In the same way, Jesus trusted God with his whole being. He may have doubted, been scared, but he carried through with allowing God to do what needed to happen. He went obediently, trustingly, to the cross, so God’s purposes could be fulfilled. Through Abraham, and Jesus, all people can be blessed.

… The next step in the trust process is: can God trust us? We trust God to be there for us, to hear and respond to our prayers. But are our actions, our lives, trustworthy?

Jesus charges the disciples with continuing his mission to bless all people on earth. In today’s reading, Jesus describes the reception they will have. Some will welcome them, some won’t. It doesn’t take much to make someone feel welcome; just a cup of cold water will do.  

So, what’s in a cup of cold water? I admit that the water we hand out in the bags of food to those who are hungry may not be cold. But water tastes really good if you are hungry and thirsty, no matter what temperature it is.

When immigrants are held in detention centers for months and years, any sign that someone cares about them is like a cup of cold water. The Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice team hands out a lot of cold water to people thirsty for a little kindness and justice!

This is the kind of stuff God trusts us to do, to notice the big and little things around us, and do something kind for others. This week, I hope you will look for people who need a cup of cold water, literally or figuratively, and give them something to drink. Amen

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