Life Matters

Genesis 22:1-14

 

Week after week I do my best to offer an authentic interpretation of the text.  There can be no dispute that my understanding of scripture is influenced by cultural background, educational training, and experience in life.  While my desire is to be true to the Word, each places a filter upon my eyes and heart.

There is nothing easy about Abraham going to the mountain to sacrifice his son.  If we don’t pay attention, Genesis 22 is a great example of one man’s faith to follow the instructions of God.  But if we pay attention to the details, we find ourselves wrestling with the mindset of Abraham, the complexities of God, and the demands this text places on our beliefs.

The story unfolds on many different levels.  I first heard it when I was a child.  It was presented as the ultimate demand of faith.  The question was simple.  Do you love God more than anything else?  When I was first told this story, I was incapable of understanding its full meaning.  I was nine years old. It was Sunday morning. Yahweh was my guy.  I was constantly reminded that God was King, God was in charge, and God knew things I would never understand. My job was to love God and love my neighbor.  For a nine year old this was not terrible complicated. Of course I loved God.  I went to church every Sunday.    As for my neighbor, he was my best friend.  We played together, went to school together, and spent weekends together.  I loved my neighbor.  If God tested me, I knew I would always be up to the task. 

But children grow up and the demands of being faithful become increasingly complex.  Let me conduct a little test.  If I should inform you God demands the sacrifice of your grandchild as proof of your allegiance, what would you do? 

Begin plans for the sacrifice………….or

Request a membership change.

Now we have officially entered into the complexities of this text.  From my vantage point, as a father and a grandfather, I don’t know how Abraham placed his son on that alter, lifted up a knife, and planned to plunge his weapon into Isaac’s heart.  That may be faith, but it is in contrast to everything I claim God to be.  I understand Christians hold  obedience as sacred, but Abraham did not even offer to take the place of the child.  Do we really worship a God who would ask us to sacrifice our youth as a test of loyalty?  Why would Abraham agree to do this? Let me give you a couple explanations you may or may not find helpful.

The most attractive but I believe the least helpful is to remember that we are talking about a very primitive culture where the death of a child was common.  Half the children born died in their first year of life. Children were not considered human until they reached their 12^th birthday. But this was no ordinary boy.  Isaac was a child of promise, the heir of a great nation.  The entire story of Abraham revolved around the birth of Isaac and what the parents went through in order that this birth might occur.   Furthermore the sacrifice of a child was not a Hebrew ritual.  Each Hebrew child was considered precious because each child was understood to be the bearer of destiny.  From the bulrushes of Egypt to the insanity of Herod, every precaution was taken to spare children from death.

A second explanation might be Abraham believed God would save the child.   The couple was called on to prove themselves once again.  Deep down they knew God would not take this promised child, so they dared to call Yahweh’s bluff. Abraham told the mother not to worry.  They would go along with the game convinced at the last moment God, rejoicing over Abraham’s faith, would stop the slaughter.  Certain everything would work out, the father and son go off into the mountains leaving Sarah at home.  God does provide.  Isaac and his faithful father returned home to the loving arms of the anxious but relieved mother.  That sounds plausible except for one very important detail.  Abraham and Isaac returned to an empty home.  While they were in the mountains, Sarah died.  The Midrash tells us she was overcome by a broken heart.

  So we return to the story as told. A heavy hearted Abraham went to the mountains feeling certain he would return without Isaac. It would be hard to come up with any other explanation for his actions. Why did he ever believe killing Isaac would fulfill the wishes of God?  What does this say about Abraham?  More importantly, what does this say about God?

In this story the command and the promise of God are in contradiction with each other.  The promise was Isaac would be the beginning of a great nation.  But the command would end the birth of Israel before it began.  Certainly the argument could be made that Yahweh, as a jealous God demanded complete loyalty.  Certainly one could suggest to Abraham and Sarah the child had become more important than God, hence the test.  But I refuse to believe this argument.  I believe the command of God and the promise of God are never in contradiction.  The supreme directive of the Bible confirms each life is sacred. The message of Jesus was to love one another. If we believe this, even the consideration of taking the life of another is wrong.      

Abraham was not exhibiting faith. He was having a senior moment.  You know what I am talking about.  When you are over 60, you had better start putting your car keys in the same spot or you may find yourself walking. When you are over 60, church directories with pictures are really important because it is amazing how quickly names vacate our mind.  When you are over 60, all of our security codes become the same four numbers. I even write them down and insert them in my wallet. 

Abraham had a senior moment.  Abraham forgot that above everything else God celebrates life.  When God suggested the life of an innocent child was to be used for a sacrifice, the great father of the Hebrew people had a brain freeze.  No questions were asked, no dialogue took place. Abraham just loaded up the donkey, fetched Isaac, and headed for the hills.  This was not faith. This was reaching for the Kool-Aid.   God gave us free will.  We are expected to use that gift with our eyes wide open.  Abraham didn’t pass a test of faith. He miserably failed theology 101 by refusing to question God’s ungodly command.

Remember God informing Abraham that the city of Sodom would be destroyed because of its wickedness?  Abraham went to great lengths to argue with God over the destruction of a city of sinners.  Remember the discussion?  If 100 righteous folks can be found will you spare the city? What about 50? 25?   Finally God agreed if Abrahams could locate 10 righteous folks the fire storm would be called off.  So why did this man who argued for the lives of some pretty unsavory characters fail to offer any resistance when his innocent son was about to be sacrificed?  Why did he give in so easily? Why did Abraham fail to observe the Torah?  Why did he not say to God, “If I kill my son, I mutilate the very image of God?  If I kill my son, I break your sacred commandments.  If I kill my son, I renounce all that is sacred. If I kill my son, I renounce life.” 

Why did Abraham lose his voice?  Why would he not fight for his son?   How could Abraham have forgotten the basic principal of God is always, “Choose life over death!”

Maybe Abraham panicked. Maybe the choice was so ridiculous he was confused. Then again, maybe we are just making excuses for Abraham. So let me ask this. If a parent kills a child, when is our immediate instinct to excuse the parent?

                                                                                     

So what if society kills a child? What happens when children are sacrificed because fixing the education system…….. or making the water pure………. or changing financial and housing restrictions…………. or admitting our history has played favorites………. SEEMS TOO HARD? What happens when Christians claim any discussion concerning saving the life of a child……… or an immigrant………… or a person of color…………… is mixing politics with religion? What happens when we forget God always chooses life?   Another child dies.

Let history record that it was this generation that put an end to such madness.

To God be the glory.  Amen.

                                

 

God Hears

Genesis 21:8-21

 

        I have two children. Which one do I love the most?

        Why would any parent answer that question? Furthermore, why would any parent consider there might be a correct response?

        Abraham had two children, Ishmael and Isaac. Which one did he love the most? Such is the complexity of this morning’s scripture. Such is the complexity of our world.

        The easy answer is Abraham loved Isaac more than anyone in the world. Isaac was the promised one. Isaac’s mother was Abraham’s beloved Sarah. Isaac was the legitimate child sent from God. Go to any artist rendition of Isaac and I guarantee the child has blue eyes and blond hair.

        The second child was Ishmael. Only Ishmael was not the second child. Ishmael was the first born in a culture where this was supposed to mean everything. It didn’t matter who the mother might be. Isaac might be the Chosen One but Ishmael controlled the birthright. But in the end, that hardly mattered. Look at the artist rendition of Ishmael. No wonder we all love Isaac.

        The Holy Book of Genesis is famous for telling unholy stories. Adam and Eve were terribly flawed. Look at their children, or should I say child, for only one survived human rage. We lift up Noah as a man of God who spent a good part of his life swimming in the midst of human degradation.  In the end Noah succumbed to alcohol, perhaps trying to forget all he had witnessed.

        Above these miscarriages of human potential stands the mercy and grace of God. Each story represents a failure of the human soul over against the redemption of a forgiving Deity.  Adam and Eve were removed from paradise but allowed to begin again. Cain was banished but lived. Noah began a new creation. And then there was Abraham.

        You know the story. You remember the promise. Sometimes we forget Abraham represents the best and worst of humanity. He was faithful, sometimes. He was loyal, most of the time. He was human, all of the time. Abraham loved Sarah but he was not always faithful to her.  Sarah followed him a thousand miles. She obeyed his occasional horrific schemes. When unable to give Abraham an heir, she stepped aside, at least for a moment, but not for a lifetime. Ishmael, then miraculously, Isaac were born. Abraham loved them but Sarah did not. Forced to choose between her husband and her son, Sarah chose both. How on earth did she pull it off? Look at the family portrait. Folks like Ishmael and Hagar never seem to fit into our picture perfect world. Thank goodness God uses a different camera.

        Who was Hagar? She was the handmaiden of Sarah. That’s polite language for slave. As long as Hagar was needed she was a beloved member of the family. As soon as her talents were no longer desired, she was discarded.

        Where did she come from? She was Egyptian. In the Biblical text, nothing good comes from this land of darkness. Why didn’t Hagar and Ishmael just quietly disappear? It is because Biblical stories are intentionally quite messy.

        This story presents a tension in that goes beyond the obvious. It is easy to see the strain between Hagar and Sarah. Two women have laid a claim on the same man. There is anxiety over the role of Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the heir. Isaac was the beloved.  But the greatest tension is created by the text itself. In Genesis 16 Hagar encounters God and is told to return to Abraham and give him a son. In Chapter 22 Isaac is born and the first born declared illegitimate. Was chapter 16 another testing of Abraham? If so, why should Hagar’s backstory even matter? She was just another pawn swept away by the Queen. But Hagar does matter. She is a voice crying out in the wilderness. She symbolizes any woman abused by the whims of power. She embodies anyone taken from a home and forced to exist in a foreign land. She represents everyone left out of the picture.

        Hagar only existed to please Sarah and Abraham. When the husband placed her above before the bride, Hagar became a challenge to the one who was barren. When Sarah bloomed, the slave lost her usefulness. The royal line would now proceed. Hagar and Ishmael can be dismissed, or can they? Ishmael, which means “God hears”, was not given this name by his mother or father but by the God who is the protector of outcasts when they cry out.

        The story appears to end when Abraham choses Isaac. Sarah wanted Ishmael gone and Abraham had no say in the matter.  It was easier to give in than continue the drama. With a loaf of bread and a skin of water the son and mother were banished to the wilderness. Abraham knew they would die.  He would quietly grieve and then forget them. What choice did he have? Isaac was the Promised One.

        When the water and bread were gone Hagar placed her son in the bushes. She removed herself far enough away so no one, not Abraham, not Sarah, not even Hagar could hear the cries of the child. But the cries did not escape the God who hears. Water was provided.  The mother and child lived. Historically people claim to be the Chosen, the Righteous, the Predestined. Those are human labels ignored by The God who always hears the cries of the forgotten, the marginalized, the vanquished.    Thanks be to God.  Amen.  

Sarah Laughed

Genesis 18:1-15;

 

        Our scripture from Genesis has got be one of my favorites stories in the entire biblical text.  Imagine this improbable scenario.  Sarah is about to have a baby in the geriatric ward and Medicare is going to pick up the bill.  Of course before Sarah painted the back room in the tent baby blue there were stressful moments, or to be more exact years. The faithful parents   wondered if God’s promise would ever come true.

        At a time when they should have been considering retirement, Sarah and Abraham put everything they could squeeze into a U-Haul and headed west.  In a dream they had been promised not only a large plot of land but a family. So they wouldn’t be completely alone Abraham took his nephew Lot.  That was their first mistake.  When it came time to divvy up The Promised Land, Lot chose Paradise, leaving Abraham with Dry Gultch. The second mistake happened when Sarah insisted on bring her maid Hager.   Abraham got it in his mind that perhaps God’s intentions for him to have a son might not have included Sarah.  The maid becomes pregnant and Ishmael was born.  Once the child was delivered, Hager insisted that she become the legitimate wife of Abraham, leaving Sarah both barren and out of the picture.  But Abraham came to his senses, rose to the occasion and refused to leave Sarah. You can’t make this stuff up which is exactly what the writer of Genesis did.

        In this morning’s text, the couple was getting ready to celebrate their 70^th wedding anniversary.  The husband and wife sat on the front porch drinking lemonade, wondering why folks their age need a porch if there are no greatgrandchildren.  Three strangers appeared at the front gate.  Abraham invited them to join him and his wife on the front porch for refreshments.   They accepted the invitation.  Sarah excused herself to prepare drink and cookies for the visitors.

The four men sat on the porch, and had a get acquainted conversation.  They talked a little sports, a little weather, a little politics and then one of the visitors asked where Sarah was.  Abraham reminded the men that at 90 folks don’t get around quite as fast as they once did but she would be out with their refreshments soon.  The man leaned over to Abraham and said, “The reason we are here is we thought the two of you would like to know  Sarah is about to become pregnant.”

        Now the reason Sarah was slow with the lemonade had less to do with her age than her curiosity.  Ever since Abraham had pawned her off to that Egyptian king, she was a little nervous about the decisions her husband made around strangers.  And now that Abraham had a son, she felt particularly vulnerable.   So when she hears the word that she is about to be pregnant, Sarah laughed out loud.  She laughed for joy at the thought of her life time dream being fulfilled.  She laughed at the absurdity of a woman in her 90’s getting pregnant.  And she laughed out of spite as she thought of what this would do to her husband’s relationship with Hagger.  She laughed long and she laughed so hard that the strangers on the porch heard her.

        When she brought out the refreshments, Abraham remarked, “So you heard the good news?”

        “What news?” Sarah modestly responded.

        “Come on, I know you heard it.  We heard you laughing.”

        Sarah became afraid.  Obviously these strangers were messengers from God.  If they heard her laughing they might assume she was mocking them.  What if they changed their mind?  What if, after all these years she was so close to her dream and she blew it with a giggle.  But the truth is Sarah had every right to laugh.  Suppose you are standing in the grocery line and you see the headlines, “A 90 year old woman discovers she is pregnant.” You expect the next line to read, “The father is an alien from Mars.”  Of course we laugh.  Some things are just not “conceivable”.  But let’s not get so caught up in the absurdity of the story that we miss the final punch line.  The strangers turn to Abraham and ask, “Is anything too hard for God?”

When one thinks about the absurd disproportion between God’s divine promise and that which we humans consider possible, one must either laugh or cry.   Is anything too hard for God?  Before you answer let me warn you this is a loaded question.  We are the ones who have determined that everything is measurable, reliable and I might add, in the end hopeless.  If on the other hand if we state that nothing is impossible for God, this implies we trust God beyond what our minds might consider logical.  To quote Alexander Pope, “Hope springs eternal.”

I believe this question to be basic to our understanding of faith in action.  Do we actually believe that nothing is impossible for God?    I hear folks say all the time say, “I believe God wants such and such to happen”.  Then they sit on their hands and watch, never lifting a finger.  After a few days of not so intense observation they remark, “I guess it wasn’t part of God’s plan.”

From Abraham to Jesus the question that is put before God’s people is, “Do you believe God is able?”  Some folks, like Sarah and Abraham said yes.  And then they went to work living their faith. In contrast most folks are content to just pray for a miracle.  They claim to believe God can change the world.  But they aren’t much interested in being God’s agents of change.

Remember the story that we first learned as children about David slaying Goliath?  The people of Israel under the leadership of Saul faced a major crisis.  The champion of the Philistines challenged Israel to send a soldier brave enough to face him.  This was a common occurrence.   Rather than fight a battle and lose thousands of men, the bragging rights for a piece of land would be resolved through the mortal conflict between two warriors.  Saul puts the word out asking if one man would step forward.  What Saul got was a boy.  Do you think that anyone believed that David would slay Goliath?  The soldiers of Israel were happy to let the boy be sacrificed.  Better him than me.  Saul reluctantly sent the boy to avoid a battle.  The only person who had hopes of a good outcome was the kid holding the rocks.  Of course his faith was not in himself but in God. 

All through the Biblical account we read stories of very ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things.  When it comes to faith, when it comes to hoping for the will of God to manifest itself, someone has to step forward.  Someone has to suffer. Someone has to be barren for 90 years. Someone has to face the ridicule of friends and neighbors. Someone has to move beyond their comfort zone or give up something of value. Someone has to be brave enough to say, “God I know you can work this out if anyone is willing to stand by your side.” Someone has to sing ‘Amazing Grace.”

This winter our world was invaded by a disease that has spawned death and discomfort. This spring it helped expose an ugliness for which there seems to be no vaccine. Good Christians that we are, we have gotten down on our knees and prayed for a cure. We have witnessed the chaos in our cities and have called on God to deliver us from such unrest. Have you ever considered that this might be our pregnant moment?

Don’t Laugh!

Soon, very soon, when a vaccine is discovered, we will be asked to heal not only America but the rest of the world.

Soon, very soon, when we discover how broken our future is, we will be asked to save not just ourselves but the stranger.

Soon, very soon, we will be asked to birth a new America. That is going to take more than our prayers.

I know what you are thinking. I am too old to be thinking about someone else’s future. I am too old to worry about the unrest in our cities. I am too old to think about anything other than retirement. Here is a news flash. None of us is older than Sarah. Sure she laughed. Sure she doubted. But nine months later she named her son Isaac. I imagine her labor was quite difficult but then I remember someone saying, suffering produces endurance, and endurance character, and character…..Hope.

In our next nine months what will we wish for? In the next nine months, with the help of God, what will we accomplish?    Soon and very soon we will be asked to put our faith into action.

To God be the glory. Amen.

And God said, "That's Good!"

Genesis 1-2:4a

 

Substitute scripture by reading or listening to James Weldon Johnson’s sermon The Creation. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+creation+by+james+weldon+johnson&&view=detail&mid=9B999EB5DF67364BC8C99B999EB5DF67364BC8C9&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bcreation%2Bby%2Bjames%2Bweldon%2Bjohnson%26%26FORM%3DVDVVXX

 

Late in the 19^th century the word “myth” was demonized by the general public.  Much of this was due to Christian leaders fearing folks like Darwin and others were trying to dismantle the notion of a creating God. If a story was labeled a myth, the story was declared fiction and could not possibly be understood as a vessel holding sacred truths. This debate thrust a wedge between the religious and scientific community, a separation that in many circles continues to exist today. 40 years ago, teaching a study on the Book of Genesis I began the class by declaring the creation story to be a myth. A number of folks left the class and informed the session that I was teaching heresies. We have come a long way since 1981. Thanks to Joseph Campbell, the theological world has rediscovered the power and truth that can be found in a mythical story.

“God stepped out on space. He looked around and said, “I’m lonely, I will make me a world.” Place that statement over against, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Which statement is factual? I would suggest neither. Yet both contain a deep and abiding truth. The phrase, “In the beginning”, suggests a moment in time when the formation of the universe began. “In the beginning” has been stolen from the lips of a storyteller and been asked to compete against such scientific ideas as the Big Bang Theory. The truth is, “In the beginning”, is not even a good translation of the Hebrew text. Jon Levenson, a premier Jewish scholar of the Old Testament writes the phrase should be translated, “Out of chaos, God created.” Now look at the beginning of each story. “I’m lonely, I’ll make me a world”. “Out of chaos, God created.” James Weldon Johnson, a black poet living in Harlem in the 1920’s looked out his window, looked at a city divided, looked at a society fragmented, and felt alone. A Hebrew poet, sitting in Babylon in 580 BC looked out his window, saw his people enslaved, witnessed his people broken, and saw chaos. Neither poet was writing from a position of power, or wealth, or fame, or advantage. Yet both poets, through the amazing power of a story, declared in the midst of loneliness, in the midst of slavery, in the midst of chaos, God is not only capable of creating, God created something good.

Look at the Genesis poem. It is not about how the world was created but rather why.  Light, water, ground, birds, fish, animals and finally humans were formed by a word from God. After each creation God sang a doxology, “It is good.” What is the antithesis of chaos? Goodness, righteousness, wholeness, mercy, forgiveness, community.

Look at Johnson’s poem. “God smiled, and the light broke. God stepped, and the mountains bulged. God spoke and man became a living soul.” What is the antithesis of loneliness? Smiles, togetherness, sitting around a table, having your story  heard.

When we try to make a myth factual it eventually becomes inconsequential at best and laughable at worst. Who among us believes the creation of the universe took place in six days? Who among us believes the earth is only 6,000 years old? The creation story cannot compete with science. It was never meant to.

But how many of us have felt loneliness? How many of us have felt our world is about to explode into anarchy? Look out your window. To be more specific, gaze through the looking glass that sits in every home.  Do you see the chaos? Do you feel the loneliness? I am not naïve. I know there are some people on the streets of America who crave mayhem and are looking for a fight. I suspect there are a few law enforcement officers who have had enough and are willing to take them on. But do either represent who God created us to be?

In both creation poems God steps out. God observes what isn’t and what could be. God does not destroy and start over. God created out of what was already there.

 As white folk, our first step in recreating America needs to be acknowledging racism is our nation’s greatest tragedy. I didn’t own slaves but my life has always been easier because of the color of my skin. I have never worn a hood or burned a cross but I have thought if black folks would try just a little harder we might all get along. How naive is that? I have dedicated my whole life to preaching social justice but the honest truth is before I can even begin to change America I need to change me. This insight led to an epiphany. I went back and read the creation myth in Genesis. I searched for some great truth I had missed. Then  there it was. “The void and darkness covered the face of the deep and a breath from God swept over the chaos.”

Could it be that the first step toward any hopes of racial equality in America is to let creation …….. Breathe?

To God be the Glory. Amen.