Making the Journey

Scripture: Genesis 24, Selected Verses

 

Preached 07/13/2014

She spent the first two days hiding out in the nurse’s station, but you can only feign headaches for so long. The first bits of the light began to filter through the trees on that third morning, and she wondered how she had even ended up there in the first place.  She blamed her parents.  It was their idea.  They filled out the form, attached the check, and sent the envelope in.  And now she was the one stuck at this camp.  For some reason unknown to her, her parents had checked the box for the cycling camp.  And she wasn’t a cycler.  And this camp used the 20 mile rides as warm-ups and trainings for the longer rides the group was supposed to complete together by the end of camp. 

Since she had basically missed the first two days of camp, she didn’t really know any of the other girls in her cabin, and she was shy.  As she lay there silently fuming about her parents’ decision, the counselor’s alarm went off, and the group of girls made the journey to the bathrooms to get ready for the day.  Kayla, we’ll call her, took her time getting ready, in hopes that the group would just assume she wasn’t coming, and would leave without her.  But as she made her leisurely way back to the cabins, she realized that her hopes were not coming to fruition.  The group was indeed ready without her, but they were standing there, waiting for her, and she was stuck having to face them.  They had one simple question for her- will you come with us today? Please?

Kayla didn’t know what to do.  Part of her wanted to run and hide.  And another part of her wanted to jump on a bike and see what happened.  So she stood there, silently for a moment, as she contemplated her answer.  It was a big moment for Kayla.  It was the moment when she decided if she was open to the exertion, the challenge, the adventure, and all the unknown this bike journey offered her.

I wonder if Abraham’s servant felt much the same way.  Our reading picks up after Abraham asks the servant to set out and find a wife for Isaac, but I’ll fill you all in a little more than the introduction to the scripture reading does.  The servant doesn’t actually get a name in our text, but his traditional name is Eleazor, so I’m going to call him that.  Abraham is talking to Eleazor, who is not just any servant, but the servant in charge of Abraham’s house, and all the other servants.  And Abraham asks Eleazor to swear an oath to him that he- Eleazor- will go back to Abraham’s ancestral homeland, and there convince a woman to come back with him to be Isaac’s wife.  It’s no easy task Abraham asks Eleazor to swear he will complete.

And much like Kayla contemplating her long bike trip, Eleazor is naturally a little hesitant.  First, it’s important to know that not only is Eleazor Abraham’s most trusted servant, he is also the oldest servant.  And this is no easy journey Abraham is asking him to make.  It’s not 100% clear exactly where Abraham is at this point in the story, but the journey back to Nahor could easily be hundreds of miles.  This would be a desert journey, with the hot and cold of the desert weather, the lack of water, the lack of shade, and the lack of shelter and safety that went along with it.  Eleazor would be walking and on camels, and anyone who has ever ridden a camel knows that even that isn’t very easy.

And then there’s the actual getting a wife for Isaac part of the oath Abraham asks Eleazor to swear.  He’s supposed to go into this land, and convince some woman he doesn’t know, and who doesn’t know him, to come back with him across this same journey and marry some man she’s never met.  Eleazor is hesitant, and understandably so.  But, whether out of love of Abraham, trust in God, a sense of obligation or a sense of adventure, he swears the oath and sets out on the journey.

As we have already heard him relate in our scripture reading, his journey was successful.  He makes it back to Nahor, prays to God for help in knowing which woman is the right one, and right away his prayers are answered in Rebekah.  Again, as we heard she is made known to him through her act of extravagant kindness and generosity- offering water for his camels.  It might not sound like much, but a thirsty camel can drink up to 30 gallons of water, and remember, there were 10 camels with Eleazor.  It was no easy task to draw each bucket, and the hundreds of gallons of water drawn for this stranger and his camels had to have been exhausting.  But Rebekah draws for them anyway.  Then Eleazor gives Rebekah a nose ring and bracelets and prays aloud thanking God for making his journey successful.  Rebekah had to think he was kind of nuts at this point, as she runs away, back to her mother’s house.  Her brother Laban, hearing the story and seeing the jewelry, then heads out to meet this strange man his sister is talking about.

And so our scripture reading picks up and Eleazor tells the story and Laban listens and then the real invitation to a journey to the unknown is given.  Rebekah, who has only just met this man, is asked whether she wants to leave everything she has behind and travel with him, to be the wife of a man she has never met.  The scripture gives us no clues about her feeling.  She may have been excited, or she may have been terrified.  She may have been ready to leave her homeland at the first opportunity, or she may have wanted to cling there to her family for as long as possible.  The pause before her answer must have been a very pregnant one, as she decided whether or not she would risk the exertion, the danger, the excitement, and the possibility that this journey offered her.You know what happened next.  Rebekah responds to the invitation to go with this man with a simple two word answer.  “I will.”

Like Eleazor and Rebekah, Kayla decided to go on the journey her fellow campers and counselors invited her on as well.  It wasn’t easy.  In fact it was really, really hard.  Her legs ached, she had to walk her bike up some hills, and at one point she ran out of water and thought she was going to pass out.  But the journey was also wonderful.  She saw beautiful things.  She had great conversations when the group stopped to rest and talk.  And when she made it to the destination at the end of the day she was both exhilarated and exhausted.  But, she was glad she had gone, and she joined with the group every day after that, upping her miles, her adventure, and her personal growth.

We don’t hear much about Rebekah’s actual journey.  We just know she made it to Negeb, the destination, and that her adventure didn’t stop there.  She meets Isaac, marries him, and as we’re told, is loved by him.  It’s really just the start of another big adventure, another journey into the unknown, for Rebekah and for Isaac.

There is a purpose to all these stories of journeys into the unknown.  Because we, too, have been asked to take a journey into the unknown.  God has been asking us all this from the very beginning of our lives, but we can feel it acutely here this morning.  Jim shared with us about the New Beginnings report and decision to move in a new direction as a congregation.  Our leaders have discerned that God is asking us to leave the comfort and familiarity of our homeland- in this case, our regular seat in our regular pew- and to go somewhere and do something new.

We don’t necessarily have as far to go as Eleazor, Rebekah, or even Kayla, as what our leaders have discerned from your input and from the Spirit’s whispers and nudges is that we are called to begin our journey into the unknown right here, in this neighborhood.  All those people- biblical or not- found and gained incredible blessings on their journey.  Eleazor’s prayers were answered, and he was thrilled by the kindness and strength of an unknown and faithful woman.  Rebekah gained an adventure, and a loving husband.  And even Kayla was able to experience a newfound strength, as well as friendship and beauty, on her journey. 

So as God asks us to go on a journey of our own, it’s important to remember it’s not just about the hard stuff- the effort, the risk, and the unknown.  It’s about the possibility.  And the journey into this place around us, seeking to fill some of the needs we encounter, is full of possibility.  It’s full of the possibility of new relationships, of encountering people of incredible strength with powerful stories and great faith.  It’s full of the possibility of spiritual growth, of answered prayers.  It’s full of the possibility of beauty that we’ve never experienced.  And most importantly, it’s ripe with the possibility that we as a community will live into Christ’s calling to love and serve our neighbor, to join with him on the Way, the adventure as we seek to journey together towards God’s intentions being born again all around us.  Amen.

The Nightmare Test

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Preached 07/06/2014

It happened every semester.  Right around finals time, the same old nightmare would rear its ugly head.  Here’s how it went.  I would be looking through my stuff from the semester, studying for the finals I had.  And then suddenly, I would notice it.  The syllabus for a class that I had completely forgotten about, and never attended, read for, or turned in a single assignment.  And now, right now, was the time the final exam was scheduled- the final exam I had to ace in order to pass the class.  So I would run flustered from my apartment to the classroom, barely make it into the classroom before the door was shut, Tommy Boy style for those of you who have seen the movie, and would be given the exam.  And I would look down at it, and realize that all hope was lost, and I was completely unprepared for this awful test that had just be given to me.

Of course, my nightmare testing experience never actually happened to me.  But this morning, we read of a nightmarish test that is much worse than anything that I’ve dreamed up for myself.  Let me be clear at the outset here.  I deeply dislike this story we’ve just heard.  I am deeply troubled by it, and I thoroughly distrust and will not be preaching the traditional interpretation that this is a story of a test of faith that Abraham passed brilliantly.  This story is awful.  It is terrifying. And you, too, likely have some of the same reactions to this text.  So let me say- good.  We are supposed to be horrified by this story.  We are supposed to be terrified, outraged, and sick to our stomachs at the thought that God would ask for and Abraham would carry out child sacrifice.  Why? Let’s look at some historical context to begin to understand.

This story comes from a very, very different time from our own.  Abraham is removed from us by thousands of miles, and about 4,000 years. At that time, Christianity of course did not exist, and neither did Judaism as we know it today.  Abraham came before the Mosaic laws and codes that are foundational to Judaism.  So Abraham is basically trying to figure out what it means to worship Yahweh while surrounded by people and cultures whose devotions are foundationally different.  And, in those ancient cultures that surrounded Abraham child sacrifice was a commonly accepted practice.  So, while the suggestion of child sacrifice sounds outlandish to us today, to Abraham’s ears, it would have sounded familiar.  Remember, Abraham is trying to figure out how to worship Yahweh, and following the patterns of the religions and cultures around him would have been an easy thing to do.

So God asks Abraham to take Isaac to mount Moriah and do what those other religions have people to- sacrifice a child to the gods, or in this case, God.  Well, at least that’s what our English translation leads us to think.  But the actual Hebrew itself is much less clear.  First, there is a “please,” making this a request that Abraham can refuse.  Second, without a whole Hebrew lesson here, what God asks Abraham to do is “leh-ohleh,” which could indeed be translated to mean sacrificing a child, but could also be applied equally well to many kinds of worshipping acts that aim to connect humans and God.  Of course, at the time, those other acts of worship hadn’t really been laid out at all for Yahweh worship.  So it’s ambiguous language to Abraham’s ears that he likely doesn’t fully understand.  If this is a test, it might be a pretty good time for him to ask a clarifying question, huh? 

But my guess is that you remember what Abraham does.  Without any kind of clarifying question, Abraham does exactly what he thinks God wants him to do.  Gets Isaac ready to go and heads up the mountain to slay him.  He thinks he’s about to pass this nightmare test with flying colors.  Not one question. Not a bit of protest. Abraham doesn’t try to bargain or change God’s mind.  And Abraham is not shy about bargaining or questioning in general.  In past chapters we’ve seen him bargain and argue with his family, a Pharoah, and even God, directly.  Yet when it comes to his son, the only son he has left, the son he loves, Abraham falls silent and doesn’t offer one word of question or objection.  Not exactly loving Abraham right now?  You’re not alone.  And you’re on the right track.

Abraham heard God, and yet he didn’t fully understand, though he thought he did. Abraham couldn’t fully understand.  And yet he plunges forward with what he thought God wanted, not based on what he heard from God, but what he thought God meant based on what he saw happening all around him.  He saw child sacrifice, he figured that was what God wanted.  And here, we have Abraham failing God’s test.  I know, we have all probably heard the traditional interpretation that this was a test of faith and Abraham passed.  But I beg to differ.

Abraham failed the test, and he failed it because he didn’t understand what it was about.  This is why we’re supposed to be sick and outraged at the way Abraham acts- he’s failing the test here.  We know this, in our gut reaction.  Child sacrifice is no way to get an A in our faith.  

This test isn’t what Abraham, and many interpreters through the years, thought it was.  Yes, this is a test of faithfulness.  But it is not a test of faithfulness to God through willingness to sacrifice a child.  It’s a test of faithfulness to God through understanding God’s true character.  And God is not a child abuser or murderer, but rather One who loves, though and through.  And Abraham should know this.  After all, God promised and delivered Isaac, Abraham’s beloved son.  God guided Abraham through a famine safely.  God provided for Abraham’s other wife and son when Abraham threw them out.  God was good, faithful, and loving through it all.  And while God may ask us to lay down our own lives, God does not call us to place anyone else on the sacrificial altar, no matter how much persecution, hatred, violence, and fear we see going on in the world around us.

Abraham failed the test, and he failed it because he didn’t understand.  He didn’t question, he didn’t clarify, he just went with what he saw going on in the world around him- putting the vulnerable on the sacrificial altar.  Abraham failed, and yet God did what God always does.  God loved unconditionally, God forgave, and God redeemed even a man who so fundamentally misunderstood God’s character that he thought child sacrifice would be acceptable to God.  God redeemed him, blessed him, and still fulfilled the promise to make a great nation of him. 

So what about us?  How are we doing on our own faithfulness?  Whether or not God is actively testing us right now- are we ready to bind up vulnerable others and place them on the sacrificial altar- perhaps children who have entered this country illegally, women who want access to birth control, same-sex couples who want to get married, the homeless person who wants to join us in worship, or the working mother who wants to make a livable wage?  How does our God guide us to react to these vulnerable people we see all around us?  My suggestion is that any time we feel the urge to put someone on the sacrificial altar, we too, are failing in our faith. 

Unlike my semester ending nightmares, we don’t have a one-time final exam of our faith.  Our whole lives test our faith, and my guess is no one here wants our faith to fail.  So we need to keep listening to God, to keep questioning, keep returning to scripture again and again.  We can’t just show up unprepared, not having done any of the reading or completed any of the assignments.  We can’t just have forgotten about God and that we were supposed to be living out God’s love the whole time.

Though God will forgive us, redeem us, and love us just like Abraham even if our lived-out faith is lacking or even failing, we can do better.  God is still speaking, still asking much of us, still bidding us to respond. So let us learn from our father in faith and the test that he failed.  And let’s do better, learning, questioning, remembering, protecting the vulnerable, and above all knowing and living out the love of God in all we do.  Amen. 

After the sermon, this song was played:In My Name (You Shall Love) by Leela and Ellie Grace