Today's Scripture Reading (October 3, 2024): Genesis 22
When I was first starting out, one of
the goals I was chasing was ordination in the denomination. That meant I was
required to go to the denominational headquarters once a year and sit in front
of a board of leaders to be questioned. Nothing was off the table. These men
and women would ask me whatever was on their minds. I remember facing questions
ranging from deep theological concepts to who I thought would win a hockey game
later in the week. I am sure that it was my prognostications of the winner of
the next hockey game that kept me from being ordained sooner.
Many years ago, I stumbled onto a story
about a pastor who was applying for a job at a Christian University. He
remembers sitting at a table, surrounded by a group of professors. And these
learned men were there to ask him about anything that they wanted to ask. The
story reminded me of my days being interviewed for my ordination.
For the author of this article,
everything was going well until one professor asked a question that he had
never considered. Was God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son an example of
divine child abuse? The author of the article didn't remember what his answer
was, which was too bad because it was an answer that I would have loved to
read, but the author did admit that he didn't get the job, so the response was
likely not what the panel wanted to hear.
It is a strange question, but maybe not
an unexpected one. In his 2007 book, "The God Delusion," Atheist
evangelist Richard Dawkins asks the same question. Speaking about this
story, Dawkins writes
… this disgraceful story is an example
simultaneously of child abuse, bullying in two asymmetrical power
relationships, and the first recorded use of the Nuremberg defence: ' I was
only obeying orders ' Yet the legend is one of the great foundational myths of
all three monotheistic religions" (Richard Dawkins, the God Delusion).
I think part of Dawkins's problem is
that he refuses to engage with the text. He assumes that Abraham expected this
sort of thing, and I am sure that is not true.
Abraham was a man who was known for
his faith, even when faith didn't make sense. When God asked Abraham to move to
a place that he would reveal later, Abraham accepted that on faith and moved.
When the angels told Abraham that he and Sarah were going to have a son, even
in their later years, and when Sarah was well past the age of having children,
Abraham had faith that whatever God wanted to do, he would do.
And maybe I am reading too much into
the text, but even here, I see Abraham's faith. Listen to his words,
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the
place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the
donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come
back to you" (Genesis 22:4-5).
And it is that last sentence that draws
my attention. "We
will worship and then we will come back to you." Did Abraham mean it when he said "we?" Is
this his faith speaking through the pain of that moment? I think so. Abraham testifies,
"I know what God said, but God has done nothing to harm me, so I will
trust that he has a plan even here and that his plan won't hurt me or the son he
promised me.
God has not failed me before; I don't
think he will forget me now. If I trust, if I do what I can do, then I believe
that everything is going to be okay. Sometimes, I think that is the part that
we forget. I have to do what is right, even if I don't want to. I am convinced we
know what we should be doing because sometimes we work hard to explain why we
are doing something different. But if we do what we know is right and trust God
that he will do what he does, then we will be where we need to be in his will.
I am convinced that Abraham trusted
that God had a plan, and when he got to the other side of this situation,
Abraham would finally understand what it had all been about.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Genesis 23
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