"Abraham: Passing the Test"
Gen. 22:1-18 Heb. 11:13-19 July 28/02
Lining the Streets for the Homecoming Hero
We applaud those who succeed in a struggle or become the champion in a tough contest. A couple of weeks ago thousands of people (so the paper said) lined the streets of Seaforth to cheer as hometown hero Boyd Devereaux and the Stanley Cup paraded down main street atop a fire truck. This was a big event, as not every year does a community get to celebrate the victory of a home-grown sports star, or venerate the silver token of supreme hockey success. Hundreds of spectators waited in line for the opportunity to see the cup up close, or have their picture taken with Devereaux; when organizers shut the doors at 4 pm, many were left disappointed. Perhaps by having their picture taken with the hockey hero people felt they were associating in a small way, for a brief moment, with a notable event in history. They wanted to feel a part of the victory in passing the test of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Unless the Lord comes back first, there will be another end-of-season hockey contest next year, just as there has been one year after year for decades. Meanwhile, us ordinary Joes and Janes plod on with our daily challenges and own life crises. These will never make the newspaper but, as God sees it, may be far more significant in eternity than winning the Stanley Cup. Tests are the means by which God develops character in His children. Our struggles and challenges gauge both for Him and for us the depth of our commitment. Though nobody may be lining the street to cheer for us when we pass the test, God and the angels are celebrating our personal victories over sin and evil. Our fidelity and loyalty to the Lord are proven by our obedience when the trials come.
Testings of Faith
In his book Disappointment with God, Philip Yancey cites the challenge to faith faced by a young nurse he interviewed. He writes: "Reared in a Christian home, she seldom doubted God, even through her college years. On her wall hung a painting of Jesus with a child in his arms, illustrating the poem "Footprints". That plaque portrayed faith at its most childlike: simply trust God and you will not even feel the burden. As you look back on hard times, you'll see only one set of footprints in the sand, for Jesus has carried you through.
"At the age of 24, this nurse was assigned to work in a cancer ward. She told me, one by one, the case histories of people she had nursed there. Some of her patients had prayed with childlike faith, crying out to God for healing and comfort, for relief from pain. Yet they died cruel, ugly deaths. And each night this nurse would come home, weighed down by the scenes of unsolvable suffering, and face the footprints plaque with its bright, alluring promise."
Yancey concludes that deeper than child-like trust is what he calls "fidelity", which "sprouts at a point of contradiction, like a blade of grass between stones. Human beings grow by striving, working, stretching; and in a sense, human nature needs problems more than solutions." So, tests come that aren't dispensed with by a miraculous answer to prayer; these difficulties call for fidelity, "hang-on-at-any-cost" faith. In working them through, we grow; Christ's crown for us (instead of a shiny cup) will reward the sacrifices we're called on to make when there's no easy solution.
Tests are essential for proving we've mastered a subject. Kierkegaard said that Christians reminded him of schoolchildren who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than work them through. But if we're serious about developing as Christian men and women, there's no shortcut. Today we'll see how Abraham faced a mammoth test and was blessed with God's cheering because he passed with flying colours.
The Supreme Test
Genesis 22 opens with the words, "Some time later God tested Abraham." The last recorded interaction between God and the patriarch was a test, a crisis, a prying away of something very dear. Corrie Ten Boom talked about learning to not hold on to anything too tightly because it only hurt more when God had to pry her fingers away! This supreme test of Abraham was really the climax of a series of 4 major tests he faced in his lifetime. Scofield comments that Abraham's life was marked by 4 great crises, each of which involved a surrender of something most dear: country and kindred (Gen.12:1), his nephew Lot (Gen.13:1-18;15:1-3), his own plan about Ishmael (Gen.17:17f), and Isaac (Gen.22:1-19). In this test, God was asking him to sacrifice his son, the miracle-boy born to fulfill the promise of lasting lineage. The words, "your son, your only Son,...whom you love" emphasize how precious Isaac was to his father now that Ishmael had been sent away. There's also a familiar ring here, an echo in the New Testament: at Jesus' baptism He was pronounced to be God's own dear Son, whom He loved (Mt.3:17). "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son" (Jn.3:16). Scripture is prompting us to watch for parallels between Abraham and Isaac, and God's own sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us.
Would we be ready to trust God in handing over what's most dear to us? Our lives, or the lives of our families? Our jobs, our homes, our hobbies? What does "Isaac" represent for you - the last thing you would really want to part with? Is Jesus totally "Lord" of that, too? "If He's not Lord of all, He's not 'Lord' at all."
The test was not easy to carry out; a fair amount of physical energy was required (remember, Abraham is now well over 100 years old!). Chopping wood; gathering provisions; and heading out on a long journey - verse 4 says they didn't arrive until the third day. The destination was 75 km away, over hilly terrain, and Abe's donkey wasn't a high-octane model. [photo - Dome of the Rock] Recognize their destination? Abraham called it Mount Moriah (ie "chosen by Yahweh"); we call it "Jerusalem". 2Chronicles 3:1 says Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah. The Muslims built the Dome of the Rock mosque in 691 AD; inside the building, a large outcropping of rock is still pointed to as the traditional site of the intended sacrifice of Isaac. Again the parallel with the offering-up of Jesus is clear; Abraham was acting out a prophecy hundreds of years before it was fulfilled, right there in that location - Jesus' death at Jerusalem.
You can imagine this whole experience was a severe test for Isaac, too. He's old enough to carry the firewood; there's a burden laid on him. What doubts, wrestlings, questions, misgivings must have been somersaulting in his head as he and his father approached the place? Isaac showed remarkable trust through this test as well. The burden he carried reminds us of Isaiah 53:6, "the LORD has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all"; Mt.8:17, "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases". John's account of the crucifixion mentions Jesus carrying his own cross (Jn.19:17) - again, wood for the sacrifice. All around, it was going to be a supreme test for Abraham and his Son.
An Obedient Response
It's said, "Actions speak louder than words". By his prompt, obedient action, Abraham speaks volumes about his own servant attitude. He didn't spend time whining and complaining; he got on promptly with God's agenda, whether or not he could see any sense in it. Verse 3 states simply, "Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey." James 2(22) looks back on Abe's energetic response and notes, "His faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did." Doing must accompany believing - or the believing isn't really believing.
This story is all about obedience - doing what God says, plain and simple. Verse 16 declares God's blessing "because you have DONE this"; verse 18, "because you have OBEYED me". If by God's grace we belong to Jesus, we need to let His Spirit take control of what we do. Our actions reveal our true priorities, what's important to us, who we honour. Jer.7:23 says, "I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you."
Abraham's obedience stems from a submissive attitude. God's about to take away what Abe treasures most in life, but Abe figures that's OK, God's got a plan and He'll make things work out in the end. Abraham knows his role as God's servant is not to devise the plan but simply do his part. Often we question and protest because we don't see the sense in God's plan, but that's because we haven't taken God's supernatural purpose and power into account. Abraham's submissive attitude is most evident when Isaac asks that haunting question - a question Abraham must have been dreading for days - "The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (22:7) I can imagine Abraham swallowing hard before he replied, "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." Abraham had an "all things are possible with God" attitude like Jesus did (Mt.19:26), and assured Himself God was going to work out His purposes - even if Abraham couldn't begin to fathom just how. In the end, Abraham's name for the place "Yahweh Yireh" (God provides, literally God "sees to it" or "looks after" it) summarizes his conviction that God makes everything work out in the end. So we can in confidence submit to His perfect and wonderful will for our lives - even when sacrifices are called for. Over time the saying developed, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided" (22:14); Easton's Bible Dictionary puts this as equivalent to saying, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity". When we act on the best guidance God gives us and find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, that's when God will come through, one way or another. Treasury of Scripture Knowledge comments that this saying means, "God, in the greatest difficulties, when all human assistance is vain, will make a suitable provision for the deliverance of those who trust in Him." It's safe to submit, it's best to obey.
A Substitute and Blessing
Abraham's obedience paid off. God DID come through in the pinch. At the last possible second, having bound Isaac and laid him on the wood (as Jesus was bound for us), as Abraham took the dreaded knife and prepared to kill his only remaining progeny, the angel called out for him to stop and not harm the boy. Abraham's race was not to be like the surrounding nations who practiced child sacrifice. (2 Kings 3:27 tells of a king who, in an attempt to deliver his city from attack by spiritual means, "took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall...") God abhors such cold-blooded cruelty, it's unimaginable to him. Mercifully, Isaac's life was spared; what God wanted was demonstration of Abraham's living fidelity, not Isaac's death. Hebrews 11(19) notes, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."
Instead of Isaac, Abraham sacrificed a ram that "happened" to be caught in a thicket by its horns - at just the right time and place. As Isaac watched the animal die in his place, did he visualize there would one day be a Perfect Man who would really die in his stead for sin? In John the Baptist's words, Jesus Christ is the "Lamb of God" who "takes away the sin of the world" (Jn.1:29); as Peter put it, "a lamb without blemish or defect", whose blood (symbolizing his life) is precious. (1 Peter 1:18-19) We are Isaac, unbound, saved from destruction at the last moment: Jesus is the ram, dying in our place, bearing our sins so that we might enjoy eternal life with a holy, loving God. All that's required on our part is trust: "fidelity" to walk with the Lord, no matter what tests may come.
After the test is past, God pronounces a lasting reward. Abraham is commended for hangin' tough: the angel says, "Now I KNOW that you fear God." (22:12) The patriarch demonstrated that his faith was real, he was prepared to follow through on the sacrifice of what was most precious to him. Those who have been through times of testing can look back on them with a sense of assurance, confident that they did "have it in them" when the going was tough. The Lord has witnessed sure proof that Abraham's religion wasn't just talk, but true. The 1599 Geneva Bible paraphrases this in a comment: "by your true obedience you have declared your living faith." How wonderful it must have been for Abraham to hear God's approval!
The Lord also announces He will bless Abraham and multiply his descendants (22:17). Beyond that, God says, "Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (18) Wow! Abraham has become a channel, a funnel through which God's blessing will flow around the planet! Paul extols him in Romans 4 as "father of us all", father of all who believe (Rom.4:11,16-18). His example inspires us to trust God with all we have and are, to honour and revere and fear the Lord as Number One in our lives. Abraham's confidence in God's provision at our point of need suggests, as J Stephens put it, "Faith is the key that unlocks the cabinet of God's treasures...to bring all the supplies we need out of the fullness that there is in Christ."
Tests Today
The test you face this week likely won't involve firewood, altars, and rams. Our setting in the world has changed from Abraham's nomadic period. Yet as Canada diverges more and more from the Christian heritage of our pioneer founders, tests of our faith are likely to become more common.
Parading the Stanley Cup is related to the whole question of sports on Sunday. Are we "passing the test" in terms of honouring the Lord's Day? At what point do we draw the line in order to protect our assembling together in public worship? When we miss "church" for whatever reason, do we show reverence for God by making it up somehow? Are our family and personal devotions high enough in priority to help compensate for such misses? How much are we prepared to "sacrifice" in order for our budding NHLer to pursue sports? Would we spend at least that amount in bolstering their spiritual formation through good Christian magazines and audio-visuals, Christian camping and midweek groups, etc?
Then there's the test of promoting Biblical convictions in a secular culture. [Almeida cartoon] A cartoon in ChristianWeek newspaper shows someone with a mallet making adjustments to a house of cards. The caption reads, "Canada's social engineers work to ensure survival of the specious." ("specious" means false, wrong, not true) Several of the cards are labelled, "Charter of Rights", "Gay adoption", "Gay Marriage", "No Spanking". Testing is sure to come for Christians as we find more and more of our understandings about moral living being re-engineered by unbelievers (including marriage, how to raise a family, gambling etc). Are we going to stand fast with what God has revealed as best for humanity, or will we "go with the flow" and lower our standards with the rest of society? Currently the Anglican church world-wide is torn over the decision of one diocese in BC to bless same-sex relationships. July 12 the Ontario Divisional Court ruled that the definition of marriage as "the lawful and voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others" is constitutionally invalid and inoperative. Janet Epp Buckingham is general legal counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, which was an intervenor in the case. She says, "Evangelical Christians, and other religious adherents, believe marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman before God, and that it was ordained by God. If marriage is redefined in such a way that it no longer represents this covenant, our community may be forced to rethink its participation in state-recognized marriage. We are also concerned about increasing discrimination against our communities because of our moral views on homosexual behaviour. This will only increase if same-sex marriage is mandated."
Christian Teacher Guilty of "Conduct Unbecoming" - sacrifice licence?
As an example of this kind of testing, consider the case of Chris Kempling, a public school counsellor and teacher in BC. In May he was convicted by a panel of the BC College of Teachers of failing to display the "highest morality"; he was pronounced "guilty of conduct unbecoming a teacher". So what did he do? Immediately one's mind suspects him of some kind of abuse or perversion.
Not at all. Kempling is a practising Christian, member of the local Ministerial Association, an elder in his church, Sunday School superintendent, and president of the Child and Youth Support Society. He's been teaching 12 years and just received his 15th letter of commendation from his vice-principal. What got him into trouble was a fully documented research paper urging "policy-makers and educators [to] carefully reconsider whether education which presents homosexuality as normal, healthy and equivalent to heterosexuality is in the best interest of children." He's also written letters to newspapers or others objecting to classroom materials produced by the Gay and Lesbian Educators of BC (one of which allegedly portrays David and Jonathan as a gay couple). Kempling also complained about what he calls "obscene and vulgar classified ads" in a gay and lesbian newspaper recommended as a teaching resource. So here's an example of a Christian's moral views flying in the face of degraded civic standards; Kempling has never brought his personal views on homosexuality into the classroom, yet he's in danger of losing his teaching license. What a test! His vocation and livelihood are on the line. The case is being appealed to the BC Supreme Court.
Helping the Untouchable
Tests can also come just in encountering other people - especially those who aren't "like" us or whom we find repulsive. Are we like Jesus ready to care for the leper, the tax collector, the sick, the fallen? Cheryl Barnetson and husband Randy pastor the Street Church in the red light district of Vancouver. It's open 7 nights a week, offering hot dogs and a worship service for those who feel like staying. No one is turned away, however drunk or unruly they may be; on any given night there could be a fight or an overdose -- ambulance and police are frequent visitors. Cheryl recalls Sereena Abbotsway, a drug addict and prostitute who began attending several years ago. Sereena is one of the 54 women whose pictures are posted as having disappeared from the district; RW Pickton has been charged with her murder and 6 others. Sereena was baptized in 1998 and was making changes in her life. Cheryl remembers the way Sereena responded to a man who came into the church one night. He was high and obnoxious, smelled of faeces, had phlegm dripping from his face, and was coughing so uncontrollably (likely from tuberculosis) that the church had to call an ambulance. Cheryl thought she could tolerate almost anybody. She says, "I've gone past the stage of sitting by the drunk who smells like [urine] and has lice writhing in his hair. But this guy was such a mess that I hesitated."
Then Sereena jumped up, grabbed a shirt and wiped the man's face. She put his socks and shoes on his feet, and helped him out to the ambulance so paramedics - who wouldn't touch him - could take him to the hospital. Cheryl recalls, "When she came back upstairs I said 'that was really something what you just did.'" Sereena just put her hands on her hips, gave her a look as if to say 'whatever', and carried on. Sereena passed the test!
Jesus washed our feet as an example that we should extend the same favour to others, and in such obedience experience blessing (John 13). Sometimes this will involve a sacrifice - not our only son, but perhaps our pride, our high opinion of ourselves, our disdain of getting our hands dirty. It's hard. There's no shortcut that will let us escape the test. But when we respond obediently like Abraham, God offers a reward: blessing not only for us, but blessing that extends far beyond - into all nations and eternity. It's even better than winning the Stanley Cup! Let's pray.