Abraham's Sacrifice

What does it mean to make a sacrifice? Abraham, the father of our faith, the first man to conceive of and worship one God, made a sacrifice. He was willing to take his only son, his life's blood, and kill him upon an altar for God, to demonstrate that he loved God above all else, above even his offspring.

In Abraham's day, there was no notion of eternal life. One lived on through one's offspring. To not have children was to cease to exist when you died. And Abraham had waited his whole life to have a child. For decades, he had remained childless, wondering how God could possibly promise that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. How could God make such a promise when Abraham didn't even have one child?

Finally, Isaac was born. I cannot imagine the joy that Abraham felt watching his baby boy grow, his own child, his own flesh and blood. Watching him learn to crawl and walk, to make sounds and then to speak. We see our own best selves reflected in our children. Abraham must have seen his whole future in the face of this one small child.

Then God made a terrible request. God told Abraham to take his son and sacrifice him upon an altar, taking his life in obedience to God.

The Book of Genesis does not say what Abraham went through when God made this request. It does not describe his feelings, the anger, the horror. The Scripture just takes us to the next moment, at the base of Mt. Moriah, when Abraham is about to leave his servants behind and make his way to the site of the sacrifice.

Stay here. The boy and I will go over there and worship God and then we will return to you.

Did Abraham know that God would save his son? Did he somehow believe that God would not allow him to follow-through with the sacrifice? Or was he just lying to his servants, so that they were put at ease and did not follow him?

On the top of the mountain, Abraham takes his son and lays him upon the altar that he has constructed. He takes out his knife and prepares to slit his son's throat. And God intervenes. And God provides a ram for the sacrifice. And God blesses Abraham. Forever, God blesses him.

Today Abraham's descendants truly are as numerous as the stars in the sky. All Jews, Muslims, and Christians are descendants of Abraham. God fulfilled his promise.

What does it mean to sacrifice today? Does God still ask us to give up those things that we hold dear in order to prove our obedience? Are we ever asked to prove that God is our first priority?

There is a pastor who lives in China. His name is Pastor Xion. He is a devout Christian. He has been asked to renounce his faith in Christ many times. And each time the he refuses, he is imprisoned. He has been tortured, isolated, interrogated and threatened. And yet, he persists in his obedience to his belief, to his faith in Jesus. He wrote to some Christians in the United States and this is what he said.

I consider that these imprisonments have provided me with an opportunity to sacrifice for my faith. I pray for you Christians in America, who live in abundance and who are not given this opportunity. I pray that you will have the opportunity to one day make a sacrifice for Jesus.

Is it possible to make sacrifices in the USA in 2008? I believe that it is. In fact, I believe that we are given the opportunity to make God our first priority every day. When we are behind the steering wheel, when we face difficult decisions at work, we will find that we have a choice. If we are to be faithful, then we must give up our righteous anger, our popularity, our reputation. God gives us these decisions every day. And each time we put ourselves and our comfort above God's will, we fail to sacrifice. Each time we succeed, we are blessed.

Sometimes following God, making God the bottom line, is painful. But it is the only way to find true peace. Putting yourself or your children first will never bring you what you truly seek. It is only in God that we can find true fulfillment.

- The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead

Tuesday, June 10, 2008