I’ve got to ask again . . . have you felt it yet? That little stirring deep within that keeps telling you, I gotta do something.
I think you know what I'm talking about, not just because I’ve been preaching about it for the last few weeks but because as a Christian, God's spirit dwells within you and so you see the world a little bit differently. You can see its brokenness more clearly and you see each person as a life that matters to God . . . and as you see the world through the lens of God's grace . . . His Spirit stirs within you and you think to yourself . . . I gotta do something.
But so often, we tend to find every reason why we shouldn't follow that stirring.
What I hope you’ve heard over the past few weeks is that God values faith. And I think he gets a little fired up when you follow that stirring and step out in faith and just do something.
It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be perfect . . . it just needs to be done in faith.
But one of the challenges we have in modern western Christianity is that we are very inward focused. We typically only do things when there’s something in it for us. Does it make me feel good? Does it fill me up? Does it challenge me? Does it make me a better person? Does it interrupt my weekends?
So when we do step out in faith and do something . . . oftentimes, we’re doing it for us . . . because it feels good and honestly, it makes us look good. Why else would we post so many pictures and change our statuses on Facebook to let the world know all about our great accomplishments?
But what happens when you step out in faith and things start getting a little difficult? And that happy feeling you used to get has been replaced with frustration or even anger.
What happens then? Do we throw in the towel? Do you give up? Do you just walk away, thinking "well I guess I was wrong about that one".
What the writer of Hebrews is saying to those early believers who, like many of us, are struggling with faith; what it means and how it works itself out in your life is when things is . . .
• When things get a little difficult . . . and that will happen.
• When things don’t go exactly as you planned . . . and that will happen.
• When things don’t move as quickly as you think they should . . . and that will happen.
Don’t give up. Don't tap out. Don’t lose sight of who God is and what he has called you to do because here’s the deal . . . when God gives you something to do . . . it’s not about you. It’s about what God is already doing in the world and your faithfulness in what he has given to you is going to help someone else grow in their faith . . . and that’s what you should rejoice in.
And today we continue to look at the lives of Abraham and Sarah who were at retirement age when God gave them a promise of a son and land and they set out on this journey of faith.
A lot of stuff happens on this journey which tests Abraham’s faith but 25 years later, their son was born; which means that Abraham is 100 years old and his wife Sarah is 90 when their life finally seems to be coming together.
As we pick up the story today, we find that Abraham has settled down in a place he named, Beersheba. He knows that they are going to be here for a long time . . . so he plants a tree. When his son grows up he can play in that tree. When his grandkids come over, they can build a fort in that tree. This is home.
After all of the drama and trauma and struggle in his life . . . finally, good times; house, wife, servants, business is going good, everything is going great and he’s got his son, Isaac. Oh, how he loved that Boy
• He had waited his whole life to get this boy
• He wrestled and played ball with this boy
• He went fishing and camping with this boy
• He read to him and tucked him in at night
• He sang and prayed with him
• He raised this boy and He loved this boy.
And then it happens . . . in the middle of this calm and peace God shows up again and he asks Abraham to do something that is unthinkable to sacrifice his Son, Isaac.
In all honesty, I can’t think of anything more horrifying than being asked to do this. This seems so absolutely out of character for God. Kill your child?
The text gives us a clue that this is going to be a test of Abraham’s faith but Abraham doesn’t know that.
So the question is . . . how will Abraham respond? He’s an old man who’s raised his son. His son is at the place where he’s almost old enough to get married and have babies and make Abraham a grandfather. The one thing Abraham longed to be but wasn’t sure he would achieve – to be a grandpa.
Abraham now has to choose between his two deepest loves; his son and future generations and his God. And it’s interesting because whichever one you love most . . . that’s your God.
And now, he must now choose, my son or my God . . . unbelievable decision he has to make
The story continues, Abraham gets up early in the morning and saddles his donkey; doesn’t talk to his wife, Sarah who is never mentioned in this whole narrative. He takes 2 servants and his son, Isaac and enough wood for the burnt offering and he sets out to the place God had told him about.
Immediate obedience, not questioning, no arguing, not talking back, no delaying, not saying a word . . . just trusting God, saddling up the donkey, grabbing the boy, some wood, a couple of servants, and heading off to murder his son.
And on the 3rd day – this was about a 50 mile journey – he looked up, and he saw the place.
Can you imagine what this trip must have been like?
I know I’m speculating but I can’t help but think that at some point Abraham was looking at his son and thinking, “Should I turn back” “Can I really go through with this?” But we don’t know, it doesn’t say.
When they reached the place God had told him about he told his servants to stay with the donkey while he and Isaac go over there to worship and when we are finished we will come back to you.
“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son, Isaac.” Abraham is old and it’s a long way up the mountain and so Isaac, who is young and strong, is the one who has to haul the wood up the mountain. This wood is going to consume his flesh.
Abraham carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went up the mountain Isaac spoke. This is the only recorded conversation between Abraham and Isaac in the bible, so it’s very important
He says, “Dad, the fire is here and the wood is here but where’s the lamb for the offering?”
It’s interesting that Isaac knows that there must be a lamb. You’re going to find out today that they don’t get a lamb. The lamb won’t come till much later and we get a clue to this in Abraham’s response.
Abrahams says, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering”
Abraham knows that God is the God who provides and he trusts that somehow God will provide through his son, Isaac and so they continued their journey up the mountain and when they reached the place, he built and altar and arranged the wood on it, and bound his son, Isaac.
Now think about this for a minute . . . Abraham is somewhere between 115-130 years of age which means that Isaac is somewhere between 15-30 years of age. Abraham could have easily been outwrestled or outrun by Isaac but what Isaac does is to fully yield himself to his father.
I’m sure that Isaac had a terrified look on his face but he knows that he can trust his father.
Then Abraham takes his knife in his hand and he’s looking Isaac in the eye and I don’t think it’s a far stretch to say that at this point they are both weeping . . . and he is about to slaughter his son.
Hebrews 11:17-19 sheds some light on this event. It says that Abraham believed that even if he killed his son that God would resurrect him and bring him back to life.
This is a man who has grown in faith to where he trusts God with that which he cherishes most and he says, “Even if I kill my boy and his body is reduced to charred ashes, God will bring back my son.”
I have to be honest, Abraham is much better than me. I couldn’t do it. I don’t think I have enough faith.
Knife raised ready to descend on his son’s body and the angel of the Lord calls out from heaven, “Do not lay a hand on that boy, now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by the horns.”
Isaac was right, there needs to be a lamb but instead there’s a ram. He went over, and he took the lamb and he sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Theologically we call this substitutionary atonement. It’s a big word but it’s very important. At the heart of Christian theology is the answer to two questions.
• Who is Jesus and what did he do on the cross?
• The answer to these questions is at the heart of our faith.
In this story the son is spared and gets to go free, and in his place the ram’s life is taken. In the same way, Jesus becomes a man and he goes to the cross as a substitute for us. He pays our penalty because the penalty for sin is death.
We give him our brokenness and our failures and he gives us God’s restoration.
This is so incredibly important because without this understanding, we don’t have the gospel, we have no good news, we have no salvation, and we have no need for Jesus.
All of that is shown here with the ram being sacrificed as a burnt offering.
“So Abraham called this place, Jehovah-Jireh – the Lord provides.”
Then the story closes with God reminding Abraham of his promises . . . that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars and that through your son and your grandson and your great grandson will eventually come Jesus and he will be a blessing to all nations on the earth.
So, what’s hanging in the balance here is the coming of Jesus.
The question persists, however, and I’m sure that some of you are wrestling with this. Why would God do this to Abraham?
How many of you, at first glance think that this is just exceedingly cruel? Take a three day journey, build an altar, surround it with wood, take the knife, and then right before you slaughter your son God says to you, “Ah, never mind . . . I just wanted to see if you would do it”
• This seems like a cruel God, no different from any other God during that time which expected a child sacrifice to be appeased.
• This doesn’t sound like the God who in the next book says, “He is the Lord slow to anger, abounding in love and compassion and mercy and forgiveness.”
• It doesn’t seem like he’s wonderfully gracious and compassionate . . . does it?
Why would God do this to Abraham?
The beginning of this story gave us a clue . . . do you remember what it was? It’s a test
God was proving the faith of Abraham but
• he wasn’t proving it for God because knows all things and God already knew his heart
• he wasn’t proving it for Abraham because he already been called righteous by God
So who is God proving for? I believe that all of this is for Isaac. Think through this with me for a minute:
Abraham is a man, who has faith, but Isaac can’t just borrow the faith of his father; he needs to have his own faith. Just like all kids that we raise, they can’t just borrow our faith. At some point they pass into their own relationship with God, and they need to have their own faith.
And I believe that’s what God is doing here, and it’s amazing to me because Abraham is showing an unbelievable depth of his faith to his son.
Often times, when things are happening in your life that are hard, difficult, and tragic it may not mean that God is picking on you. It may be God pushing your faith out of you so that it might be seen by others so that they too might come to love and trust your God.
But sometimes we are so obsessed with our own feelings, thoughts, hurts and needs, so narcissistic in our hardship that when tough times come we don’t act in faith but instead we curse God, turn away from God or simply give up on God.
Somehow, Abraham is able to understand, “My son is watching, and how I act is enormously important because if I curse God or disobey God, I will raise a faithless son who does not know the Lord.” And the only things worse than seeing a son die is a son die apart from faith.
In the middle of all of this, Abraham maintains his faith in God knowing that his son is watching.
I know that some of you are in really hard circumstances. Assume that God is for you, not against you. Assume that God is good and not bad. And assume that God is giving you an opportunity to live out your faith so that others who are around you might have their faith birthed or built.
For all of us who call ourselves followers of Christ . . . there are people watching our lives – family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and they want to see when hard times come is faith real, or is it just something you post in your Facebook status and when things get difficult it just goes away.
That’s exactly what is going on here and because of Abraham’s faith, here’s what’s going to happen.
Through Abraham comes Isaac. Isaac needs to worship God who will raise his son to worship God, who will raise his son to worship God, who will raise his son to worship God and eventually, we’ll get to the seed of Abraham, Jesus, his offspring so that all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and so this line of faith needs to continue through this covenant family because the lamb is on the way.
At the end of this story what happened was Abraham and Isaac offered a sacrifice. That was worship. They prayed. They sang. They celebrated. And all the way home they had a conversation that went something like this. “Isaac, you’re a man now. You’re gonna be a dad. You’re gonna be a husband. You need to worship God as well. You need to grow in your faith. You’re just beginning this incredible life long journey of faith in God. He’s good for everything. Son, trust him.”
Some of you today will begin that journey. Some of you will take a forward step of maturity and progress, and when you’re ready we’ll sing and celebrate and worship this God because today he’s either giving us faith or growing the faith that he has already imparted to us, and we thank him for that.