Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb 11.1-2, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
There once were two scientists who took a trip up a mountain. When they were there they discovered a baby eagle who had either lost its parents or been abandoned by them. They wanted to help the chick, but the only problem was that the eagle was on a ledge below the top of a very dangerous cliff. They asked the son of their guide if they could let him down by their rope to save it, he refused even when they offered him a large sum and quickly doubled the reward. But it was useless to argue he just wouldn’t do it. “Well, what do you propose we do to save the chick?” one of the men finally asked. “I’d be glad to rescue the bird for nothing if you let my dad hold the rope.” He said. Now no one would say that the boy lacked faith. The truth was he had great faith in his father, but he had no reason to trust the scientist. They had not built a basis for faith in the short time he had known them.
Our texts today are all about faith. And the common thread that seems to run through them is Abraham. Whenever the topic of faith comes up Abraham’s name is sure to be mentioned. But when we look at the Old Testament lesson closely we see that even this man of great faith had his doubts. That’s one of the great things about the bible. Even the heroes are real people like you and me. We can realize that if great men of faith had doubts, it should be well understood that we will have doubts too. Really what kind of faith did Abraham have? What was it about his faith that was so strong? I think we see it most clearly in an event that happened just after our OT Text and is talked about a few verses after the end of the Epistle lesson.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
The story it self is given to us in Genesis 22.
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”(Genesis 22:1-18, ESV)
Here is Abraham, the traveling man. He has no real place to call his own. He has no real place that he calls home. He has no connection to his past, his ancestors. God has already effectively taken that away. "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.” (Gen 12:1 NIV) that’s what God said to him and Abraham obeyed. God promised him he would be the father of a great nation, as many as the stars in the sky. But the stars didn’t even begin to come until Abraham was over 100 years old. And all along the way God had to continually remind him that his promises were still true. Abraham waited patiently. Finally, Isaac was born. His name means “laughter” maybe that has something to do with a new born baby in the care of an old man and old woman.
Now though, just after God seems to be making good on his promise He says to Abraham, “take this son… this only son, this one you’ve waited for so long, and go far away, a three-day walk, about forty miles. Kill him and offer him as a burnt offering. As you can imagine this is a real dilemma for Abraham. All of God’s promises are wrapped up in Isaac. God promised that his family would be as many as the stars in the sky. He promised that Isaac was the beginning of that promise. But the promise can only be true if Isaac is actually alive to have children. It would seem that God intends to bring Abraham to nothing at all. He will be a hopeless man with no past and no future. Still, in spite of what it seems, faithful Abraham takes no time to decide; in fact, his actions seem very deliberate. The account written for us here in the bible is very detailed. The scene is set in at daybreak. The donkey is saddled, the servants are gathered, wood for the sacrifice is cut, the ‘sacrifice’ is retrieved from bed, and off they go together on their three-day trek.
Finally, the destination is in view, the mountain of the sacrifice, the place where God has directed them. Here is where we see Abraham’s faith. He says something amazing to the servants. “You servants stay here,” he begins, “we will go to worship, and we will return to you.” In this statement we see what Abraham is thinking. He sees God’s test, he understands what God is saying, he believes in God’s promises. God promised that his descendents would come through Isaac he believed that that is how it will happen. No matter what happened on that mountain, Isaac would be returning with him. Here is the point that we really see what this test is all about, here already see the test and we see that Abraham has passed it. We see that Abraham has faith in God because God has already shown himself to be faithful. Abraham’s faith allows him to risk everything. That is what’s at stake here for him. Isaac’s life is the key to the promises God has made to Abraham. What God is asking through this test is this “do you believe in the promises or not.” Abraham believes… he has pushed aside hopelessness. The test is really already over. God could have sent them home, but something more needed to be done. God is about to show just how faithful he can be. Abraham goes through the motions. Isaac carries the wood; he carries the fire and the knife. He builds the altar; one eye on heaven, waiting for the sign to stop. He carefully arranges the wood, waiting for God to call it off. He turns to Isaac, binds him… places him on the alter… he takes the knife… raises it in the air… his muscles tense… pausing one more moment… then… at that frozen moment…
“Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I stand.” He says. “I am right here, exactly where You’ve asked me to be, standing in faith knowing that it is not hopeless, knowing that you have not forgotten me, knowing that even if this knife takes my his son’s life Your promises are still true.“
“Do not harm the boy.” The angel replies. “The test is over.”
Here at the point of death, at the very knife-edge of the sacrifice, Abraham’s faith stands firmly in God’s faithfulness. Here Abraham stands firmly on the promises of God. That is what it means to have faith, to trust in God’s promises no matter how hopeless it seems. Abraham knew God would save Isaac; when he looked around he found that God had provided a replacement. Isaac’s replacement was more than just the ram caught in the brush. It was the seal in blood of the promises of God. It was the sure sign of God’s faithfulness.
I know what you are thinking… I know what you are saying to yourself… I just don’t have the kind of faith that can stand up in those situations. I just don’t have the faith moves mountains; the faith that survives the testing of God; Others have it, but not me… I don’t have what it takes to act in faith like Abraham did. I have character flaws. I have issues; a past that I can’t forget. I have sins that just won’t leave me.
Dear Christians, I’m here today to tell you that you do have that kind of faith. You have the same faith as Abraham had. Who was Abraham before God called him? He was no one special, he was an ordinary man who had his own share of doubts. When God called him he simply did what God asked. Not because Abraham was someone special, but because God is faithful. His faith grew because God tested him. He is an example to us not because of who he was or what he did, but because of what God did in him and who God is. Abraham had faith because God was faithful.
Whenever we worship we declare our faith in the one who is faithful. We take the time to recite the creed where we say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty… I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son… I believe in the Holy Spirit…” We confess the faith of our fathers; we confess the faith of Abraham. Just like Isaac’s replacement ram was God seal of his promises to Abraham. We have the blood of Jesus, which is the seal of God’s promise in his own blood. It is the seal of sins forgiven. Our Lord carried our sins to the top of a mountain, the knife of death was raised over him, but no angel came to stop it. He died and took the punishment for our sins as our replacement. He is faithful to do just as he promised. Here we are standing firmly in that promise.
Just like Abraham our faith is tested. Our lives are filled with knife-edge events. Death creeps in unexpectedly and we are left lonely, afraid and hurting. The loss of a job brings a loss of independence, and doubt. The old way of doing things just doesn’t seem to work anymore and we can’t seem to get a hold on the new way. At work, at home, in the shop, the hospital and the funeral home, right where we are brought face to face with hopelessness, God asks “Do you believe in My promises, or not?”
It is at those knife-edge where we stand with no hope of our own that faith grows the most. Where human effort and reason fails… where there is no holding on to the past and nothing to look for in the future… where there is nowhere else to stand, we stand in faith, depending on the one who is faithful. Just like Abraham we say, “Here I stand, right where you want me to be. Trusting in your promises.” Faith like that doesn’t come to us because of who we are or what we have done; just like Abraham, it comes to us because of what God has done and who he is. We have faith in Him because He is faithful.
When the testing is over, on the drive home from the funeral, walking away from the hospital bed, remembering the words of comfort and healing, when there is no threatening knife, we realize that our faith has grown. We see that we have come even closer to God than we thought possible. He has shown himself to be faithful once again, and more than ever before we believe in his promises.
Amen. The Peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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