Tawa Baptist

The Whole of the Moon

Scripture: John 17:20-26

Title: The Whole of the Moon

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Jesus prays for us to be one
  • Made one by Jesus’ glory (love & suffering)
  • Made one for a purpose (that others would know & believe)
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

[Play the first 2 mins and 5 secs of the song: ‘The Whole of the Moon’]

 

I pictured a rainbow, you held it in your hands.

I had flashes but you saw the plan.

I wandered out in the world for years, while you just stayed in your room.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon, the whole of the moon.

You were there at the turn stiles with the wind at your heels

You stretched for the stars and you know how it feels to reach too high, too far, too soon, you saw the whole of the moon. 

I was grounded, while you filled the skies.

I was dumbfounded by truth, you cut through lies.

I saw the rain dirty valley, you saw Brigadoon.

I saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon.

Can anyone tell me the name of the band who wrote this song? [Wait]

–         That’s right – The Waterboys

–         It’s a song about someone who has the vision to see the bigger picture, beyond the immediate, beyond the here & now

 

Over the past couple of weeks we have been working our way through Jesus’ prayer in John 17

–         Jesus prayed this prayer the night before his trial, crucifixion and death

–         He knew very well what was coming

–         If it was any of us I imagine our focus would be quite narrow – we would be thinking about the pain of the next day – the here & now

–         We would struggle to see beyond Good Friday

–         But Jesus has a bigger perspective

–         Yes, he prays for himself, but his vision stretches higher & further than that

–         Jesus sees the whole of the moon – not just the crescent of his crucifixion

–         He looks out across the centuries and sees the millions who will believe in him and come to know God’s love

–         From verse 20 of John 17 Jesus prays for us…

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading

 

Jesus prays for us to be one:

Jesus’ prayer in these verses is that we, who believe in him, may be one

–         What then does it mean to be one?

Well, to be one can mean a number of things

–         Last week we heard how Jesus prayed for his disciples to be one and I connected this oneness with integrity, because in the context Jesus was talking about holiness and integrity is an aspect of holiness

From a mathematical perspective, to be one is to be whole or to be 100%, as opposed to something less than one, like a half or some other fraction

–         So when Jesus asks God the Father to make those who believe in him one he could mean he wants us to be whole – both whole in an individual sense but also whole in a collective sense

 

To be whole in an individual sense means to be undivided, completely committed to God and without split loyalties

–         Being one is akin to being pure in heart, not having mixed motives and not serving two masters

–         In Matthew 5 Jesus promised that the pure in heart will see God

–         There is a certain peace & joy which comes with being one thing and not a whole lot of different things

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could mean he wants our personal undivided loyalty – he wants the whole of us not just some part

 

To be one (or whole) in a collective sense means having no one missing from the group

–         Last week I used the analogy of a football team being one (or having integrity) when all 11 players are on the field and in the right position

–         If a player gets sent off or out of position then the team loses something of its integrity or its oneness

–         In Luke 15 Jesus tells three parables: about a lost sheep, a lost coin and two lost sons

–         In each of those stories Jesus is making the point that God’s purpose is to restore, to make things whole again – make them one

–         The shepherd’s flock of a 100 sheep is not whole if one is missing

–         Just as the woman’s set of 10 silver coins is not whole if one is missing

–         And the family is not whole (it doesn’t have integrity) if either one of the sons becomes estranged from the father or each other

–         So, in praying for us to be one, Jesus could also mean he wants no one to be lost

 

Looking more closely at the context of John 17, Jesus says in verses 21-23…

–         I pray… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

This tells us the oneness Jesus has in mind is relational – we are one with each other in the same way that God the Father and God the Son are one

–         Jesus seems to be talking about an ontological oneness here – a oneness of being, something intrinsically shared

–         God the Father and Jesus the Son are not the same person but they share the same essence, the same Spirit, the same DNA so to speak

–         Likewise, we who believe that Jesus is from God share a oneness of being

–         We share the same Spirit, or the same spiritual DNA

–         This oneness of being is given and inherent – it is not something we create ourselves through some sophisticated organisational structure

–         For example, we Baptists, here in New Zealand, are one with Coptic Christians in Egypt, even though we are different in other ways

Unity, as you know, does not mean uniformity – it doesn’t mean everyone being the same

–         Unity allows for diversity while at the same time holding some things in common. So what is it we hold in common?

–         Well Jesus says, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…

–         This tells us we are made one by the glory of Jesus

 

Made one by Jesus’ glory:

Once again the glory God gave Jesus can mean a number of things – two things in particular from the context:

–         God gave Jesus the glory of being loved and the glory of suffering

The glory of love

–         First the glory of love. Jesus says in verse 24…

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

  • – And then in verse 26 he says…

“Righteous Father… I…will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them….”

God loved Jesus and Jesus passes that love on to us, therefore the love of God makes us one – we are all loved by God, we share this in common

–         What did the one lost sheep share with the other 99 who didn’t go astray?

–         The lost sheep was loved just as much as the other 99

–         What did the younger (prodigal) son share in common with the older (resentful) son?

–         They were both loved equally by the Father

–         To see the glory of Jesus is to know that we are loved by God

 

I don’t know if you have ever been in love, or if you can remember, but when you love someone they populate your every thought

–         You find it hard to be without them, hard not to talk about them

–         And you become quite jealous where they are concerned – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense of wanting the best for them

–         When you love someone it hurts not to be able to express your love – you want to tell them of your love and show them love in any way you can

 

Jesus is saying in his prayer that he wants us to know the glory of his love, which is essentially the love that God the Father has for him

–         And this is remarkable really when we consider that Jesus was about to be crucified – At a time when most of us would be focused on ourselves, because of the ordeal that lay ahead, Jesus’ thoughts are populated by us

–         Although he is about to depart this world, while we remain here, Jesus ultimately wants us to be with him where he is

–         Jesus is jealous for us – not jealous in a bad way but jealous in the sense that he wants the best for us

–         He wants us to know how much we are loved by God

There are times in this life when it is difficult to believe that we are loved by God – times when circumstances are against us and darkness closes in

–         We see the crescent – we see only in part – we don’t yet realise the full extent of God’s love for us

–         But Jesus sees the whole of the moon and he wants us to see the full glory of God’s love too

 

We are talking about the glory that Jesus has given us – the glory that makes us one: first there is the glory of love, but there is also the glory of suffering

 

The glory of suffering

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually helps us to see love in all its glory

 

I’d like to play you part of Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’ …

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

The dizzy dancing way that you feel

As every fairy tale comes real

I’ve looked at love that way.

But now it’s just another show

And you leave them laughing when you go

And if you can don’t let them know

Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now

From give and take and still somehow

Its love’s illusions that I recall

I really don’t know love

I really don’t know love at all

 

There are two sides to love aren’t there

–         There’s the wonderful high we get from love – the dizzy dancing way you feel – and then the fairy tale comes real

–         There is the joy of being with the one you love and then the pain & grief we feel when we lose our lover

“Love’s illusions” are normally felt by us in the early stages of a relationship, when we are blind

–         Love’s illusions makes us think the good feeling will last forever

–         Love’s illusions lead us to make grand promises we can never keep – to imagine we are invincible and the rules don’t apply to us

–         Love’s illusions is what we recall because the pain of love:

o   The giving of ourselves when there is nothing in it for us,

o   The long haul commitment,

o   The things that irritate us and make us mad,

o   The way our lover shows us a mirror for a faults,

o   The grief we feel when death separates us,

o   All the suffering of true love, we prefer not to face

–         Love’s illusions are sweeter

 

There can be a romanticism in Christian faith that actually sets us up for a fall

–         Sometimes we believe in a fairy tale, don’t we – one in which God’s love for us equates to a dizzy dancing feeling that we think will last forever

–         We imagine our faith to be invincible and we make grand promises in the worship songs we sing and the prayers we pray, promises we can’t keep

–         We might think, for our faith to be true we must always feel peace & joy,

–         But then the ‘fairy tale comes real’ and God seems distant

–         We might feel alone, like God has abandoned us to sickness or despair or the violence of our unwanted thoughts & compulsions, the tyranny of self

We find that sanctification, being made holy, becoming like Christ, includes being shown a mirror of all our faults and it’s too much to take

–         Sometimes being a believer in Jesus is bliss – but much of the time it’s just hard graft, in this world at least (I’m not sure what the next life holds)

–         And ‘still somehow its love’s illusion we recall – we really don’t know love at all.’

 

Suffering is the natural partner of love

–         Suffering strips away illusion – it proves the truth of love, actually shows us love in all its glory

–         We can’t know how much God loves us until we look in the mirror and see what we are really like

–         Nor can we know how much we love God until we give ourselves to him when it seems there’s nothing in it for us

 

Jesus gives us the glory God gave him and that glory includes both love and suffering

–         We might not all suffer in the same way, but we all suffer, and so our oneness comes from carrying our cross, as Christ carried his cross

–         We are to love one another because God first loved us and because we are all hurting in our own private way

–         We don’t ‘give ourselves away’ when maybe sometimes we should

–         Life is hard – we need to be on each other’s side

 

Made one for a purpose:

There is purpose in the oneness of our love & suffering

–         We are made one, not just for ourselves, but primarily for others – that the world would know and believe that Jesus comes from God

In verse 21 Jesus says…

Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

–         And in verse 23 he says…

…May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

In verse 21 Jesus prays for our oneness so, that the world may believe and in verse 23 he asks that we be brought to unity, that the world may know

–         Believing & knowing go hand in hand in this context

–         It seems the kind of knowing Jesus has in mind here is not just a superficial mental awareness but the knowing of deep conviction

–         Believing it in your core – trusting the knowledge

 

The relationship between knowledge & belief is found throughout the Bible

–         In Psalm 9, verse 10, for example we read…

–         Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

 

To help us understand the relationship between knowing and believing, imagine you are standing on one side of a huge chasm

–         There is no way around and the only way across is a narrow swing bridge

–         To get to the other side of the chasm you need to know where the swing bridge is and how to get to it

–         But simply knowing where the bridge is, is not enough in itself to get you across

Once you have reached the bridge you then need the faith to cross it

–         You need to believe that it will hold your weight and that the destination on the other side is worth the risk

Jesus is the bridge

–         The miracle of our oneness is the sign which points to the bridge so people know where to cross

–         And knowledge of God’s love for us helps people to believe in Jesus, to trust him – it gives people confidence to cross over to the other side

–         (Because if God can love us he can love anyone)

 

In John 9 Jesus heals a man born blind

–         This man then gets interrogated by the Pharisees

–         The Pharisees say, ‘We don’t know where Jesus comes from’

–         And the man replies:

–         “What a strange thing that is. You don’t know where he comes from but he cured me of my blindness… Unless this man came from God he would not be able to do a thing.”  

–         The Pharisees didn’t like that logic so they expelled the man from the synagogue

At that point the man born blind can see the crescent but he can’t see the whole of the moon – he knows that Jesus is a prophet, who comes from God, but he doesn’t yet realise that Jesus is far more than a prophet

When Jesus heard what had happened he found the man and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

 The man answered, “Tell me who he is, sir, so that I can believe in him!”

Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now.”

“I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.

 

Knowledge and belief go hand in hand

–         Knowledge enables us to see the crescent

–         Belief helps us to see the whole of the moon

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard how Jesus prayed for us, who believe in him without ever having seen him

–         Jesus prayed that we may be one as he and God the Father are one

–         We are made one by the glory Jesus gives us – the glory of God’s love and suffering

–         And we are made one for a purpose – so the world may know & believe that God sent Jesus

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

–         Why do you think this stood out to you?

2.)    Have you had the experience of seeing the crescent of something and then being shown the whole of the moon? What happened?

3.)    What do you think Jesus had in mind when he prayed for us to be one?

–         Discuss (or reflect on) the possibilities

4.)    What did Jesus say makes us one?

–         What is the glory Jesus has given us?

5.)    To what extent do you (personally) know you are loved by God?

–         How do you know this?

–         Why is suffering necessary to love?

6.)    Listen to Joni Mitchell’s song, ‘Both Sides Now’

–         What are you in touch with as you listen? (What do you feel and remember?)

7.)    Why did Jesus pray for us to be one?

–         Why do we need to love one another?

8.)    Thinking of the man healed by Jesus in John 9, what is the relationship between knowledge and belief/faith?

–         Why is knowledge necessary to belief, and vice versa?

 

Tawa Baptist

Rebekah’s Faith

Scripture: Genesis 24:54-67 & John 4:46-54

Title: Rebekah’s Faith

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Faith is trusting without seeing
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on the life & faith of Abraham

–         Last week we heard how marriage is an act of God and an act of hesed

–         Today we hear how marriage is an act of faith

–         At this point in the story Abraham’s servant has found a wife for Isaac and has almost convinced the family to agree to the marriage

–         We pick up the story from Genesis chapter 24, verse 54, in the NIV…

When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.” But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”

But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”

Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands;
may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”

Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

Faith is trusting without seeing:

We are talking this morning about faith and in particular Rebekah’s faith

–         But what do we mean by faith?

–         Well, at a basic level, faith means believing – taking someone’s word for it, even though you may not have seen or experienced it for yourself

–         Faith means trusting without seeing

Let me illustrate…

–         I have here a can without a label on it

–         You can’t see what is in the can and there’s no label to tell you either – so you have to take my word for it that this can contains black doris plums and not nuclear waste or dog food

–         If faith is trusting without seeing then your faith would be proved by your willingness to purchase this can from me

–         I could give you this can for free but there would be little faith involved in doing that because you don’t risk losing anything

–         Besides Robyn needs these for her breakfast this week

Now you might not like black doris plums – that’s fine, the plums are just a metaphor

–         Imagine the can contains love or healing or joy or some other good thing

–         The point is: faith is trusting without seeing and our faith (our belief) is proved by our willingness to take a risk

–         Faith involves making a choice – not just an intellectual choice (in our head) but a real choice in our actions – Faith is a verb

Although Isaac & Rebekah’s marriage was arranged for them, Rebekah & Isaac still got a choice in the matter

–         When Rebekah’s family asked if she would go with Abraham’s servant she agreed

–         When you think about it Rebekah demonstrated real faith in leaving her family to travel hundreds of miles with someone she had only known for a day, in order to marry someone she has never met

–         The can of plums that she is being offered has no label on it – she simply has to take the servant’s word for it

–         Abraham’s servant didn’t have a photo of Isaac and there was no internet so Rebekah couldn’t stalk Isaac on Facebook

–         If it was one of my daughters I don’t think I’d be so quick to let her go

–         And, to be fair to Rebekah’s family, they did suggest she delay her departure – presumably to allow a cooling down period

–         But Rebekah was willing to leave – she was willing to take the risk

–         Her faith & courage is similar to that of Abraham – who also left his homeland without seeing where God was taking him

 

The children in the Flock Sunday school, this morning, are learning how Jesus healed a boy, in John 4

–         A government official, who most likely worked for Herod, came from Capernaum to Cana (a distance of about 32 km’s) to ask Jesus to heal his son – the boy was close to death

–         Now it wasn’t as easy to travel 32 km’s back then as it is today

–         What’s more, Herod was no friend of Jesus, so it took some pluck for the official to ask this favour of Christ

Jesus didn’t give the government official a very warm welcome. He said, ‘None of you will ever believe unless you see miracles & wonders’

–         There is some irony here because seeing is not believing – faith (or believing) is trusting without seeing

–         But Jesus knew the man wasn’t there as an official, he was there as a dad and Jesus understood the father/son relationship pretty well

–         So he says to the man, ‘Go, your son will live.’

The man believed Jesus’ words & went, without seeing or knowing the outcome

–         The can Jesus offered him had no label on it but he trusted Jesus that it was filled with the healing his son needed

–         On the way home his servants met him and said his son had recovered

–         When asked what time the boy regained his health they said 1pm – the same time he trusted Jesus that his son would live

–         Faith is trusting without seeing 

–         Jesus’ healing of the boy was an act of faith

Marriage also is an act of faith

–         Marriage is for the rest of your life – it’s for better or worse, it’s for richer or poorer, it’s in sickness and in health

–         In marriage we make a solemn commitment without seeing what the future holds

The significant thing with Rebekah & Isaac is: the step of faith comes before the feeling of love – love is the last thing that is mentioned

In verse 67, after Rebekah finally arrives in the Promised Land, we read that Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

In Isaac & Rebekah’s case, love comes after the step of faith in getting married

Now, in saying this I don’t mean to imply that you don’t need to get to know someone before you get married

–         With any significant decision it is important to do some due diligence

–         We need to do our homework and understand the risk

–         We heard about Rebekah’s due diligence last Sunday – Abraham’s servant made a pretty strong case for marrying Isaac

–         Faith doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind – faith still asks us to hold on to common sense

–         It is not appropriate to trust everyone – but we can trust God

When it comes to marriage ideally we should build a good foundation of trust and honest communication beforehand

–         But Rebekah didn’t have that luxury. For her, faith came before love – just as for the official, in John 4, faith came before healing

 

Conclusion:

Faith is trusting without seeing

–         Although Rebekah’s faith is more visible in Genesis 24, Isaac’s faith shouldn’t be overlooked

–         While Rebekah showed faith by leaving home to go on a journey, Isaac demonstrated faith by waiting where he was in the land of promise

–         Isaac didn’t take matters into his own hands by looking for a wife among the local Canaanite girls – he believed in God’s promises to Abraham and waited patiently for God to provide

–         Sometimes faith requires us to step out into the unknown, like Rebekah

–         Other times faith requires us to sit still and wait, in meditation, like Isaac

–         And then there are times when faith brings us home after being on a journey, like the government official in John 4

 

Whatever faith in God (and in Jesus) may require of us we do well to remember that Rebekah, Isaac and the government official were not disappointed

–         Rebekah’s faith was rewarded with Isaac’s love

–         Isaac’s faith was rewarded with Rebekah’s comfort

–         And the official’s faith was rewarded with the restoration of his son’s life

 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

1.)    What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon?

2.)    What does faith mean to you?

–         How do we know our faith is real / genuine?

3.)    Rebekah (in Genesis 24) and the official (in John 4) trusted without seeing

–         Can you think of other people in the Bible who trusted God/Jesus without seeing?

–         Can you think of a time in your own life when you trusted someone (either God or another person) without seeing?  What happened? How was your faith rewarded?

4.)    In what ways was Rebekah’s act of faith similar to Abraham’s faith?

5.)    What do you think Jesus meant when he said to the government official (in John 4), “None of you will believe unless you see miracles and wonders.”?

6.)    In what sense is marriage an act of faith?

7.)    In what way did Isaac demonstrate faith?

–         How was this different from Rebekah?

8.)    Whose faith do you identify with most – Rebekah’s, Isaac’s or the government official’s?

 

 

Tawa Baptist

Faith Tested

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Title: Faith Tested

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s test
  • Abraham’s faith
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

When I was applying for ministry training with Carey College in Auckland they required us to do some testing

–         We were interviewed by a psychologist and by various other people and we had to sit a psychometric test

–         I remember being put in a small room by myself, given a questionnaire and told to answer as many of the questions as I could within a certain time frame – it wasn’t long, only about 30 minutes or so, if my memory serves me correctly

While I was sitting the test someone walked by the open window behind me – it was clear they needed help and so I was faced with a choice:

–         Do I stop what I’m doing to help them and thereby jeopardise my psychometric test results? Or, do I just ignore the person in need?

–         I decided to see if I could help the guy

–         I don’t remember what he needed now (it was nothing major) but it chewed up a few minutes and consequently I wasn’t able to complete all the questions

–         It didn’t matter though because they accepted me anyway

–         Carey must have been desperate that year

At the time I didn’t think anything of it but, it occurred to me afterwards, that maybe the guy stopping by the window asking for help was actually part of Carey’s test

–         I thought I was sitting a written tick box test when in fact the real test was whether I would interrupt what I was doing, while under pressure, to see to the needs of someone else. I guess I’ll never know.

 

Today we continue the series on Abraham, focusing on Genesis 22, page 24 near the front of your pew Bibles

–         Just to bring you up to speed, Sarah has by this stage given birth to Isaac, the long awaited son & heir to God’s promise

–         Ishmael & Hagar have left home and Isaac is probably in his mid to late teens by now, maybe around 17 or 18 years’ old

–         In these verses the Abraham cycle reaches its climax with God putting Abraham’s faith to the ultimate test. From Genesis 22, verse 1 we read…

Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, “Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Yes, here I am!”

2 “Take your son,” God said, “your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance. 5 Then he said to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together, 7 Isaac spoke up, “Father!”

He answered, “Yes, my son?”

Isaac asked, “I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide one.” And the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He answered, “Yes, here I am.”

12 “Don’t hurt the boy or do anything to him,” he said. “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.”

13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named that place “The Lord Provides.” And even today people say, “On the Lord‘s mountain he provides.”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this Scripture for us

 

God’s test:

In the 1971 movie version of Roald Dahl’s Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka is in search of someone to take over his chocolate business

–         To select the right person, someone he can trust, Mr Wonka devises a test

–         Those lucky children who win a golden ticket get a tour through his chocolate factory

–         Before they enter the factory however, a villain by the name of Slugworth, approaches each child individually and offers to pay them a large sum of money if they will steal an everlasting gobstopper for him

–         During the factory tour each child gets given an everlasting gobstopper and so the test is set

One by one each of the children eliminate themselves by some moral failure until only Charlie is left – but even Charlie has disqualified himself by stealing fizzy lifting drink, so he is dismissed by Mr Wonka without getting anything

–         Charlie’s grandpa Joe storms out in a rage determined to sell Slugworth the everlasting gobstopper but, even though there is nothing in it for him, Charlie quietly leaves the gobstopper on Mr Wonka’s desk

–         Charlie would rather remain in poverty than betray Mr Wonka

–         “So shines a good deed in a weary world”

–         Charlie has passed Mr Wonka’s test and inherits the chocolate factory

 

Genesis 22 starts with the narrator telling us that God tested Abraham saying…

–         [Please] Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.

Probably the first thing we notice here is how out of character God’s request is

–         It does not make sense, it goes against who God is, it seems to be a contradiction of God himself

–         Previously the Lord had promised a son to Abraham & Sarah, and Isaac was born. It was Isaac that God said would inherit the promise

–         Isaac was the one through whom God’s blessing would flow

–         And yet God is now telling Abraham to kill Isaac

–         “The command and the promise of God are in conflict” [1]

Quite apart from being illogical, God’s request for Abraham to sacrifice his teenage son seems immoral

–         Some centuries later, in the Bible, God makes it clear that child sacrifice is evil and therefore not to be practised, although at that point in history the law had not yet been given

–         What we have to keep in mind here is that God never intended for Isaac to be sacrificed – as verse 1 makes clear, this was just to test Abraham

–         We might listen to this story and think that Isaac’s life is at risk here

–         But Isaac’s life was not at risk – we know God would not have let any harm come to Isaac because of the promises God had made about Isaac

–         The real risk here is to Abraham’s relationship with God – because it’s the relationship that’s being tested

–         Will Abraham trust God with everything?

–         Of course Abraham doesn’t know it’s a test, at least not yet, just as Charlie didn’t know he was being tested by Mr Wonka and just as I didn’t know the true nature of my test to get into Carey – this sort of test only works if the one being tested doesn’t realise it’s a test

 

The other thing, which isn’t so obvious in our English translations, is the gentleness or tenderness with which God speaks to Abraham here

–         Most English translations have God saying: Take your son…

–         But the Hebrew has a particle of entreaty attached, which gives this phrase a feeling of tenderness:

–         Please take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love so much…

–         Gordon Wenham sees here a hint that the Lord appreciates the costliness of what he is asking Abraham to do [2]   

It’s interesting that God requires Abraham to travel to Moriah to make the sacrifice. Moriah is 3 days journey away from Beersheba

–         Three days walking and thinking

–         Three days for the reality of what God is asking to sink in

–         Three days to change your mind

–         But Abraham doesn’t change his mind

 

The exact location of ancient Moriah is disputed – some say Moriah is where the temple in Jerusalem would later be located, which has a certain poetry to it

–         But others say this is unlikely

–         What is perhaps more significant (and more knowable) is the name itself

–         Moriah is derived from the Hebrew word ra’ah which primarily means to see to or provide

–         So in the very word Moriah (which means something like provision) we have the seed of salvation & deliverance [3]

–         If Abraham reads between the lines then he will find a hidden message of providence from God

The bigger principle we draw on for our own application is that God’s testing usually contains his provision, his salvation, his grace

 

In Mark 10 we read how Jesus tested a man who came to him. From verse 17…

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’ ”

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

 

This gospel story shares a number of things in common with Abraham’s story in Genesis 22

–         In asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God was basically asking Abraham to give up everything

–         Likewise Jesus was asking the rich man to sacrifice everything

–         And, in both stories, the Lord’s testing contained his provision, his salvation, his grace

–         We’ll get to God’s provision for Abraham shortly but in the case of the rich man, Jesus wasn’t asking him to sacrifice everything for nothing

–         Rather he was saying that his giving to the poor would be transferred for him into heaven, so it wouldn’t be lost

–         What’s more Jesus wasn’t asking the rich man to step into a vacuum

–         Rather he was inviting the rich man to walk with him – so the man would be provided for within the community of Jesus’ followers

–         The Lord’s testing contained his provision – it just required a step of faith

 

Another thing we note is the Lord’s love

–         God was testing Abraham in a spirit of love – not in order to catch him out or disqualify him

–         Likewise we read that Jesus looked at the rich man and loved him

–         Jesus wasn’t trying to make it harder for the rich man – he was helping to set the man free so it would be easier for him to find eternal life

–         To be tested by God is difficult but it’s also a sign of respect & affection

–         If God tests us it’s because he believes in us – he thinks we will pass the test. God doesn’t test us beyond what we can handle

–         His testing is done in love, to strengthen us – it is not meant to destroy us

 

There’s at least one more thing these two stories share in common

Walter Brueggemann says:

–         “God tests to identify his people, to discern who is serious about faith and to know in whose lives he will be fully God” [4]

You see, it’s possible to obey God in some aspects of our life but not in others

–         The reality is: God is Lord of our life in those aspects where we trust & obey him, but something else is lord of our life in those aspects where we don’t trust him and therefore don’t do what he wants

–         For God to be fully God of our whole life we must be willing to trust him with every aspect

–         The whole meaning and purpose of Abraham’s life hinged on Isaac

–         So in asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac God was asking everything of Abraham

–         By choosing to obey God in this, Abraham was saying that he trusted God completely with Isaac’s life and with the meaning of his own life

–         Therefore the Lord knew he could be fully God in Abraham’s life

In the case of the rich man and Jesus (in Mark 10) we don’t know what the rich man chose in the end – we only know he went away sad

–         If he chose his wealth over Jesus then he was basically saying he didn’t trust God with his wealth and consequently he wasn’t willing to allow Jesus to be fully Lord of his life

 

Okay, so we’ve talked about God’s testing of Abraham

–         Now let’s consider how Abraham handled God’s test

 

Abraham’s faith:

Verse 3 tells us that early the next morning, after God had told him to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham cut some fire wood, loaded his donkey and headed off to Moriah with Isaac and two servants

–         The point is, Abraham wastes no time in obeying God

 

As they draw near to the place, Abraham tells the two servants to stay where they are, while he takes Isaac with him

–         Isaac carries the wood & Abraham carries the knife & coals for the fire

–         As Christians we look at this picture and are reminded of Jesus who carried a burden of wood on his back in preparation for his sacrifice on the cross. Isaac points to Jesus.

 

As they walk along Isaac asks Abraham, where is the lamb for the sacrifice?

–         And Abraham answers, “God himself will provide one”

 

The Hebrew word for ‘provide’ used there is ra’ah – from the same root used for Moriah – it means to see to it, as in God will see to it

–         Our English word ‘provide’ comes from the Latin word ‘pro-video’ [5]

–         Video means to see and pro means before

–         So pro-video means to see before

–         God is able to provide because he can see what is needed beforehand

–         Abraham doesn’t know how God will provide he simply trusts that God will see to it – such is Abraham’s faith in the Lord

 

In verse 9 we read that when Abraham came to the place God had told him about he built an altar, arranged the wood on it, bound his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood

 

Again we see something of Jesus in the way Isaac submits to his father’s will

–         As a boy of 17 or 18, strong enough to carry a heavy load of fire wood, Isaac could have easily resisted his elderly father – but Isaac doesn’t resist, he is the picture of meekness

–         What was it Jesus said? Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Isaac actually did inherit the land

 

Abraham lifted the knife and was about to kill his son when, at the last second, the angel of the Lord called to him, from heaven, to stop

–         Speaking on God’s behalf the angel said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.”

–         This sentence is interesting, especially the first part…

–         Now I know that you fear God…

 

What does it mean to fear God?

–         In the Bible, to ‘fear God’ is a term which basically means to obey God

–         Fear God is code for obey God

–         People might obey God for any number of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with fear, in the sense of being terrified or anxious

–         In this context Abraham doesn’t obey God because he’s scared of what God might do to him if he disobeys

–         No. Abraham is remarkably calm about all of this – he obeys God because he trusts God and believes God will somehow provide a way

 

But the really interesting thing here is that little phrase at the start of the sentence: ‘Now I know…’

–         ‘Now I know’ seems to imply that God didn’t know something about Abraham previously

–         What? Isn’t God supposed to know everything already in advance?

–         Shouldn’t the Lord have known beforehand what Abraham would do?

 

John Walton offers a good explanation I think. He writes…

–         “We must differentiate between knowledge as cognition and knowledge as experience” [6]

–         You see, there are different types of knowledge, aren’t there

–         There’s knowing something in your head, cognitively, and there’s knowing something practically, from experience

 

Cognitive knowledge by itself is not enough – it’s less than satisfying

–         For example, I have here a bar of chocolate

–         Looking at this bar of chocolate I know cognitively (in my head) that I will enjoy it, but knowing that in my head doesn’t actually satisfy me

–         It’s only when I experience the chocolate by eating it that I know the enjoyment of it

 

Or take another example…

–         R. knows cognitively (in her head) that I love her, but if she went through our whole marriage only ever knowing that in her head, then we would have a pretty sad and empty marriage

–         But when I do the housework or I buy her something I know she likes

–         Or I give her my undivided attention and listen to her

–         Or I tell her how much I like what she is wearing, or I take her out on a date or on a holiday, then she knows in her experience that I love her

–         And knowing something in your experience is far more satisfying

 

Because we believe that God is all knowing we can agree that God knew, cognitively, what Abraham would do (in advance) – but he didn’t know it in his experience until Abraham actually obeyed him

 

God’s test enabled the Lord to taste the quality of Abraham’s faith

–         I believe God experienced Abraham’s faith as genuine and pure

–         We know his faith was genuine because he obeyed God

–         And we know it was pure because Abraham obeyed even though there was nothing in it for him & in fact obedience would have cost him dearly

–         Knowing the purity (the quality) of Abraham’s obedience of faith, in his experience, delighted God, it blessed him

 

When was the last time you did something for God that caused him to know, in his experience, that you love him?

–         We can demonstrate our love for God in a whole variety of ways, both large & small

–         We can put our shopping list prayer aside for a few minutes and spend time simply adoring him, praising him, telling him how much we appreciate and value him

–         We can love those people he places around us – even people we find difficult

–         We can forgive others as he has forgiven us

–         We can give the Lord our undivided attention, spending time in the Bible trying to listen to what he is saying

–         We can follow the promptings of his Spirit

–         We can respond in obedience to his call on our life

–         And when it feels like our life is being emptied and we can’t see the way ahead we can trust that God will provide a way, somehow

 

In verse 13, having been stopped by the angel of the Lord, Abraham looks around and sees God’s provision in the form of a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. Abraham sacrifices the ram and Isaac lives

–         Then Abraham named that place Jehovah Jireh, ‘the Lord provides’

–         And guess what, the Hebrew word translated as provide is: Ra’ah

–         God saw beforehand what was needed and put the ram there in advance

 

Conclusion:

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews makes this comment on Abraham’s faith…

 It was faith that made Abraham offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I promised.” Abraham reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from death – and, so to speak, Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.  [7]

The writer of Hebrews is drawing a connection between Abraham’s faith and our faith, as Christians, in the resurrection of Jesus

–         If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. [8]

 

It has been a testing time for many people in this congregation lately

–         Some of you have experienced significant loss and all the pain and disorientation that goes with that

–         In Genesis 22 God preserves Isaac’s life, but we know from our own experience that he doesn’t always preserve life

–         To those of you who have lost the Isaac in your life, the good news is: death does not have the final say. God has provided a way

–         Through Jesus’ resurrection God has seen to it that our losses can be restored and our mistakes redeemed

 

Let us pray.

–         Loving Father, save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

–         But if it is your will that we be put to the test, grant us the grace to keep trusting you and give us eyes to see your provision within the test. Through Jesus we ask it, Amen.

 

Questions for Discussion & Reflection

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

2.)    How do you feel reading this story of Abraham being tested by God?

3.)    Have you ever sensed that God was testing you in some way?

–         How? What happened?

4.)    In what sense was God’s test of Abraham illogical and even a contradiction of God’s own character?

5.)    Compare & contrast God’s testing of Abraham in Genesis 22 with Jesus’ testing of the rich man in Mark 10. How are these stories similar? How are they different?

–         How is God’s love evident for Abraham and the rich man?

–         How did God provide for Abraham and the rich man within the test?

–         Is there any aspect of your life that you are yet to trust God with?

6.)    Can you think of other examples from the Bible, or from your own experience, where God’s testing also contained his provision?

7.)    In what ways does Isaac remind us of Jesus?

8.)    What does it mean to fear God?

9.)    In what sense did God not know? (refer Gen 22:12)

10.)       How do we know when our faith in God is genuine?

–         How do we know when our faith in God is pure?

11.)       Take some time this week to express your love for God.

 

[1] Calvin quoted in Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Genesis, page 188.

[2] Gordon Wenham quoted in Paul Copan’s book, ‘Is God a Moral Monster?’ pages 47-48.

[3] Paul Copan, ‘Is God a Moral Monster?’ page 48.

[4] Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Genesis, page 193.

[5] Karl Barth referred to in Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Genesis, page 191.

[6] John Walton, NIVAC on Genesis, page 514.

[7] Hebrews 11:17-19

[8] Romans 10:9