GENESIS SERMON SERIES

The Lord Will Provide

                                   Genesis 22: 1-14

 

 Pastor Robyn Hogue                    July 20, 2014            Skyline Presbyterian Church

The biblical account we step into today is the life and death test of one man’s faith and obedience. Father Abraham feels directed by God to sacrifice his only son as an act of worship on Mt. Moriah. Suddenly, this boy who has brought laughter to a couple in their elder years, is surrounded by a trail of tears. It is a hard story, a bizarre story, a story for mature audiences only. Yet, it stands as a shining example of one man’s faith and God’s power to provide.

Let us first of all consider this story through the eyes of Isaac. This dream child of Abraham and Sara is raised with love and unusual devotion. His name literally means laughter and he brings great joy to his parents. His mother even manages to excommunicate Isaac’s half-brother, Ishmael, into the wilderness so that there would be no sibling rivalry. Isaac had it all. When his dad drags him out of bed before daylight to make this mysterious trip into the unknown, I can only imagine the kinds of questions that had to be on the young adolescent’s mind.

The first question I would have asked is, “Where are we going? Is this a camping trip, Dad? Why isn’t Mom coming? How long will we be gone? When we get there, where will we be?”

In 2012 Richard Rodriquez rode a roller coaster for 13,440 laps over a period of 112 days to break his own world record. The trip left Richard with badly bruised knees, a face reddened from centrifugal force and total exhaustion. But what I think about is the fact that he wound up, after all those hours, right back where he started. When you get to where you are going, will you be where God has directed you to be?

Isaac asks a question. It’s in the text, verse 7: “Will there be a sacrifice when we get there, Dad? We’ve got the wood, we’ve got the fire but where is the lamb?” Isaac knew to worship God meant to give up something, to delay something, to surrender something, to forego something. It meant a lamb without blemish, the best of the flock. Why would they be heading to worship without the essentials for worship?

Worship and sacrifice? What an odd phrase for Americans. We come to worship hoping to get something out of it, to assess it, and comment on it on our way home. But bring something to it? That is strange to us. But Isaac asked the question.

The Apostle Paul concludes his treatise on the righteousness of Abraham in Romans 12:1 by saying “I appeal to you brothers and sisters to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God which is your spiritual act of worship.”

“Where is the sacrifice, Dad?” We are supposed to give something in worship, primarily ourselves.

I think there was very likely another question on Isaac’s mind. I can’t prove he asked his dad this question, but I know the children of the world are still asking it today. “Will you be there?” In the moment of great trial, “Will you be there?”

For a period of time my mother was a substitute school teacher. I remember that one year she was a long term sub in a third grade classroom. One day a little boy came up to her and said out of the blue, “Mrs. Ramer, why didn’t you come?” And she, not knowing what on earth he was talking about, knelt down to him and said, “What do you mean, why didn’t I come?” He said, “Why didn’t you come when my mama died?” She said, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know your mother had died. How did it happen?” He looked at her and said, “Well, everybody knew it, it was on the television. My daddy choked my mama to death. Why didn’t you come?” My mom never quite forgot the echo of that child’s question. And she didn’t teach again after that year. “Why didn’t you come in my hour of need?”

My Methodist pastor friend just got back from a trip to Kamina, Africa, where the children eat, at best, only twice a week. Somebody has got to be asking, “Why didn’t you come?” When we recognize that 22% of American children today live in poverty, somebody ought to be asking, “Why didn’t you come?” When we know that 20% of our nation’s children under the age of twelve experience child abuse, someone ought to be asking, “Why didn’t you come?” Whatever you do with this story from Genesis, it is no invitation to mistreat children. You see, Isaac trusted his father completely. And we want the same for our children.

I think God wants His people to be the provision for these kids when their parents fail them. I think God wants us to be the ram.

Abraham takes all the questions of his young son and answers them with a profound ritual that is repeated throughout this narrative. With every question there is this answer: The Lord will provide. Have you enough faith to proclaim that to your children? The Lord will provide.

God will provide faith for the journey. And as impossible as it all seems, Abraham gets up early one morning and sets out for Mt. Moriah. Somebody once said that when things get difficult, don’t pray for smaller mountains—just ask for increased climbing ability, because the Lord will go with you when it is difficult. Abraham travels on when he does not have a clue where God is leading and when he cannot understand for the life of him, what God is saying. He walks by faith through the journey. Do you trust God that way? The Lord will provide.

Isaac trusted his dad, but his dad trusted God. In verse 5 we read: “We will worship and then we will be back.” What kind of faith empowered Abraham to believe that the Lord will provide faith for the journey?

The Lord will provide insight for the moment. The drama is almost too much for civilized people. We shutter when Abraham arranges the wood. We gasp in disbelief when the boy is tied down and, in that micro-second between the raising of the knife and the release of the wrist that would have ended his own son’s life, the angel of the Lord cries out, “Abraham! Abraham!”

In that dramatic moment of decision, when Abraham almost sacrificed his son, God provided. Would you think about that word for a moment, the word almost? I do not know what your life has been like, but I have plenty almosts, nearlies, and close calls. I have lived in those squeaky moments when it could have gone either way. When I think about the choices I almost made, paths I almost followed, and the temptations I almost surrendered to, I thank God for not deserting me in the almosts of my life. In the critical moment where life hangs in the balance, God speaks. “Wait a minute, Abraham, you don’t understand. This is not the way it is. You’ve misunderstood all along. It might be an act of worship for Canaanites to sacrifice their children, but there is nothing right about you doing it!”

The Lord will provide. He will provide faith for the journey. He will provide insights in the critical moments of life.

And He will provide blessings for all time. Verses 17-18 say, “I will surely bless you and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.”

Isn’t this an interesting postscript to an old story? Most of the time we don’t read it. Abraham is considered the father of three great world religions. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all call Abraham, father. Could Father Abraham still be a blessing in the world that we have inherited together? Jesus said in John 8:56 “Your father, Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day, he saw it and was glad.”

In the hymn we’re going to sing, we will hear these words:

And when I think that God His Son not sparing, 
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. 
That on a cross, my burden gladly bearing 
He bled and died to take away my sin
.

In the obedience of Abraham, we glimpse the faithfulness of God who was willing to sacrifice His only Son for our salvation. The obedience, the right path of one person continues to be a blessing for all.

On Mt. Moriah Abraham passed the test. Perfect score. But, you know something else? God passed the test, too. Abraham obeyed, God provided and by faith you and I can discover the nature of our God whose hand has provided all that we need. The Lord will provide. Thanks be to God.