God will provide
RUMC 6/26/11
Gen 22:1-16
o I’ll bet Isaac will think twice about going to Abraham’s for a barbecue next time won’t he?
o Some scholars have discussed Isaac’s age when this happened. It is the consensus that he must have been under the age of thirteen or over 20. If he had been a teenager it would not really have been a sacrifice.
o Wait- I have one more- Abraham wants to upgrade his PC to Windows 7. Isaac is incredulous. 'Pop,' he says, 'you can't run Windows 7 on your old, slow 386. Everyone knows that you need a faster processor with a minimum of 1 gig of memory in order to run Windows 7. 'But Abraham, the man of faith, gazed calmly at his son and replied, 'My Son, God will provide the RAM'.
Actually this great old story from Genesis is no laughing matter. It starts out with Abraham believing that God commanded him to offer a human sacrifice. He believes that God has commanded him to offer his son Isaac. Now, considering the culture in which they lived, human sacrifice would not have been very alarming. The surrounding non-Israelite tribes often sacrificed a first-born or the first son to their pagan god.
Human sacrifice has never, however, been part of the religion of Israel. That is what makes me wonder- in spite of what the story says- it makes me wonder if Abraham understood correctly. You know I try to listen pretty carefully to God and, it is not as easy as it sounds. It is really pretty hard to identify the voice of God among all the voices speaking in my head. Since this is the only place in all of scripture where God seems to ask for a human sacrifice, I just have to wonder. Maybe it is just as the Bible reads, God told him in order to test him. But I think it is possible that given the culture and the difficulty of discerning God’s will, that Abraham was mistaken.
I think we can make that allowance that God might not have asked for a human sacrifice because in the long run it really doesn’t change the story. Originally, the story might have explained why the Israelites DON’T make human sacrifice like their neighbors, but as it is written today, the story is about faithfulness: both Abraham’s and God’s.
Let’s look back in the story. Remember Sari and Abraham had a terrible problem. They were 77 and 87years old respectively and had no children. That was a disaster of epic proportions to the nomadic people of their day. No children with meant no heir. No heir meant that nothing of them would live on after they died. At this point in her life, it seemed Sari had failed her husband miserably. At this point in Abraham’s life, it seemed that God had failed him miserably. Remember, God had promised Abraham back in Chapter 15 that he would make him a great nation. That his descendents would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
… But wait
Sari had an idea- she would let Abraham have a child by a servant named Haggar. He did, and the named him Ishmael. For a while the promise seemed secure, until Sari became very jealous of Haggar and Ishmael
At the age of 90 and 100. Another word came from God that there would be another heir. This time born to Sari. It seemed impossible! Let’s just say after Sari was done laughing she went out to get maternity clothes and 9 months later gave birth to Isaac. Finally Isaac was born to Abraham and Sari. God had done it. The promise seemed secure, but not for long.
Finally we come to the story we read today. After rejoicing that Isaac was finally born, and sending Haggar and Ishmael into the desert to die. Abraham gets it in his head that in order to be faithful to God he would have to kill the only person through whom the promise could pass. The next morning Abraham and Isaac and two servants load up the donkeys and go marching off to Isaac’s death. In the greater context, though, it is not just the death of the boy. It is the death of the promise. If Isaac is killed the it would appear once again that the promise had failed. More importantly, God had failed.
You see there is this tension between the promise fulfilled and the promise failed. Through this whole story fulfillment and failure take turns in the spotlight. There is always that tension between the promise fulfilled and the promise failed. And somewhere in between is faith. Somewhere in the midst of this tension---with part of him saying it is hopeless, and part of him saying God is faithful-- is poor old Abraham just trying to do the right thing.
Isn’t that where we live? One foot in the pain and despair around us, the other foot in the hope and glory of God’s promises-- and here we are just trying to do the right thing.
Abraham wasn’t perfect. For instance he doubted that he would have an near and he sent Haggar and Ishmael in to the desert to die. In spite of all of his imperfections, however, in spite of all his flaws. In spite of all his failures, Abraham was just trying to do the right thing for God.
Isn’t that what we are doing? Just trying to do the right thing. As imperfect as we might be, as imperfect as the church is, most of us are just trying to do the right thing for God.
Do you know what that is called? That is called being faithful.
o Doing our best for God.
o Being out best with God.
o offering our best to God.
o Trying to be who God wants us to be, in spite of our weakness, in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our mistakes, in spite of our failures.
Today’s story offers a perfect example of someone who might not have always made the right choices. But what is Abraham remembered for? Does anyone know what we remember Abraham for? In the 11th chapter of Hebrews?
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. What is he remembered for? FAITH. BY FAITH, IN FAITH, IN FAITHFULNESS. And how did I define faithfulness? Just trying to do the right thing for God. That’s all we are called to do or be. To be faithful to try to do the right thing for God.
And in the end- when Abraham has done everything he can. When he has done his best. When he has made his mistakes. When Abraham has been faithful, he learns that God will provide. Jehova Jireah. God will provide.
Does that mean that we sit back with a crossword puzzle and a Diet Pepsi and wait for God to do it? NO. But in the end God will provide
Does that mean that we relinquish responsibility for our daily bread, our monthly rent or the spreading of the gospel? NO. But in the end God will provide.
Does that mean that we don’t avail ourselves of the most modern medicine and best technology? NO, But in the end God will provide.
Does that mean that every need we have, every desire we have, every wish we have will be magically granted by God? NO. But in the end God will provide. Just as we are called to be faithful to God, we can trust God to be faithful to his promises and his plan.
To say God will provide is to say 2 things.
First, we as God’s people are in partnership with God. Admittedly an unequal partnership, but a partnership nonetheless. I Corinthians 3:9 says “we are laborers together with God.” Do we realize that we are His trustees, His representatives, His agents, His body, His hands, and feet, and voice, through whom He does his work?
Second, when we have done our best- when we have been as faithful as we can, stand back because God will not be thwarted. God will not be stopped. In the end God will always provide.
