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