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?
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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