Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 13
Matthew 10:40-42
“How Shall I Sing to God?”
There’s a part of me that really doesn’t like this morning’s story from the Book of Genesis. Can you imagine Abraham… having waited and struggled and waited some more to have a child with Sarah to continue his line and grow the community of the People of God… being told by God that he should sacrifice his son, Isaac?
The very idea of human sacrifice is abhorrent, and the notion that our loving God would ask for such a thing is confusing and baffling to me. But rather than skipping the text for this 5th Sunday after Pentecost, or trying to pretend that it’s not in the Scriptures, this week I pondered what God could be saying to us today through such a strange and unsettling story.
And all I feel like I can conclude is that it’s all about TRUST. I don’t know if God really did tell Abraham to sacrifice his son in order to test how much he trusted God. Or perhaps Abraham misunderstood God’s intention, but still demonstrated that unflinching trust in God’s promises to him.
God had promised to Abraham and Sarah that they would have many descendants, that they would have a land to call their own, and that they would be blessed by God so that they could be a blessing to all the families of the earth. And now, with Isaac’s life at risk, all of these promises could go unfulfilled.
I think that the average person would have balked at God’s instruction and refused to entertain the idea of giving up their son, because how could any of the other good things happen if Isaac was dead?
But Abraham, amazingly, trusts God. My favourite line in the passage comes just after Isaac asks about the lamb. He says, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham replies, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
Even in the context of Abraham being told by God that he needs to sacrifice his son, I hear this glimmer of hope and trust in the God of Love that somehow, God will provide an alternative, even as he stands ready to give up the most precious gift of his life.
I wonder if you can remember a time in your own life when you experienced something similar. I mean, not that God was asking you to sacrifice your child, but maybe you were in a situation where you felt that you had a choice to make and it was going to require you to give up a great deal.
Maybe it was the choice to become a caregiver for a family member or friend. Maybe it was to move away from your family or community to pursue a calling that you felt was God’s will for you. Maybe it was to provide assistance to someone in trouble, even though you felt ill-equipped and wondered what you were getting yourself into. Maybe it was a leap-of-faith you had to take to go back to school, or start a business, or change careers, or end a bad relationship, or commit your life to following Jesus.
And I wonder if you can look back on those difficult decisions – the ones that seemed to require you to give up so much – and can you recognize the ways in which God provided you with what you truly needed?
I imagine that Abraham would have one day looked back on the time that he almost sacrificed his son, and gave thanks for the way that God provided the lamb. But he also might have remembered the feelings of fear, confusion, or despair that must have been swirling inside him as he walked along that day carrying the fire and the wood, but no lamb.
The author of Psalm 13 was in that kind of place in his life when he wrote his Psalm of Lament:
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?”
The Psalmist can’t yet see how God will provide for his needs. His troubles are overwhelming, and he’s calling out for God to hear him and help him.
And yet, like Abraham, the Psalmist trusts God even in the midst of the questions, the troubles, and the fears of his present circumstances. He declares:
“I trust in your steadfast love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord
because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
He says all this BEFORE God deals bountifully with him, before there is a solution to his problems. Like Abraham telling his son with calm confidence, “The Lord will provide what we need,” while, perhaps, his heart was still racing with fear and trepidation.
So, that is the kind of trust that I’m asking God to give to us as a congregation in these days. If you were at the congregational meeting last Sunday, or if you watched the livestream of the meeting, or if you read the feasibility report prepared for us by the team at 1080 Architecture, then you know that we have a difficult decision to make.
Because of the state of our buildings, and the challenges associated with this site, and the fact that we don’t have millions of dollars to spend on renovating and repairing these structures, whatever decisions we make going forward will involve us giving up a lot. There’s no miracle solution to our building issues that we can simply choose to solve our problems and let our ministry and mission thrive without struggle.
But like Abraham believed in his heart that God’s promises would be fulfilled, I believe that God has plans for our ministry and mission at First Church to continue, to grow, and to be blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. I don’t know HOW God is going to provide what we need, but I want to invite you to TRUST with me that God WILL provide what we need.
After all, that’s what God does when he sends out disciples to engage in his mission in the world. Our Gospel passage today from Matthew 10 was some words of encouragement from Jesus to the apostles that he was sending out to proclaim the good news, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.
He has already told them how difficult and risky this mission will be, and it goes without saying that the apostles are giving up a lot to take on this mission. But here, Jesus assures them that God will provide them with what they need. Yes, there will be people who will reject and threaten them, but there will be others who will welcome them. There will be people who will provide them with food, lodging, and friendship along the way. And those who offer the apostles even a cup of cold water will be blessed.
I told the children this morning that I met a man from Ethiopia this weekend. In fact, Nick and I met a whole community of Christians from Ethiopia when we attended a ground-breaking ceremony for Regina’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This community was established about nine years ago, and during that time they have been worshipping within St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church on 15th Avenue.
I’m sure that in the early years, they could not have imagined that one day they would be building their own church, but they are taking the leap-of-faith required to do so now. They have purchased land just a little south of the Ring Road, and they have architectural plans for the church building ready to go. In the future, they hope to add a community centre and playground, but they are starting with the worship space first.
As we spent time with the Ethiopian Christians in their field on Friday evening, I could sense both their joy and anticipation, as well as the trust in God that they were holding on to. It was when one of them said to me, “We’re not a big community, really,” that I could hear that this was not an easy thing that they had decided to do. I expect it will require a lot of sacrificial giving, a lot of dedication, and a lot of TRUST that God will provide what they need.
And like the Psalmist, the Ethiopian community sang together to the God that they were trusting to provide for them. They sang, and they danced, and they beat drums, and they praised the God who had given them a mission and a purpose and who would provide what they needed to accomplish it.
They turned the sod, and laid a foundation stone in the field, and erected a small wooden cross in the place where the church will be built. As part of the ceremony, they read a verse from Isaiah 28:16: “Thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying a foundation stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: ‘One who trusts God will not panic.’”
Isn’t that great? Isn’t that a good verse for us to hold on to, even though our building’s foundation may be less secure. Because our true foundation is Christ, and if we can place our trust in God, we will not panic!
Although we can’t see the way forward for our ministry clearly yet, we are invited to place our trust in God, to hope for the future, and to sing to the Lord because God has dealt bountifully with us, and we have to believe that God will provide what we need.