Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."
Genesis 22:6-14 NRSVue
As we make our way into Summer many of our rather worn "Velveteen Rabbit" congregations become even more threadbare in terms of attendance. Clergy continue to offer thoughtful and even empassioned sermons on passages in the lectionary cycle which aren't heard by many, especially on holidays such as this Canada Day celebration. I found that there were some fascinating scriptural threads, including selections from the prophets, which may have been read aloud with few to hear them.
This year there a dozen Sundays in a row with passages from Genesis including the "dreamy" stories of Jacob and Joseph, of technicolour coat fame (more accurately an "ornamented tunic.") There is also the the troubling story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac by the patriarch Abraham. If Abraham had followed through on his perception that killing his beloved son would demonstrate loyalty to God it would have changed the trajectory of three religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Our son, Isaac, our United Church minister, is on sabbatical, so he won't have the opportunity to reflect from the pulpit on the implications of filicide and the love of God.
Rather than wrestling with the text myself I've shared a cartoon about grammar -- really, that's so much easier!
John August Swanson
2 comments:
I'm with Isaac - punctuation is important!
In recent years I have heard preachers reflect on the whole idea of blood sacrifice, and whether God required Jesus; death on the cross to save us from our sins, or whether Jesus chose this route to demonstrate his commitment to his way... which, of course, changes the whole meaning of communion. And makes me have think REALLY carefully about my Christian faith, and my way of living out that faith!
Old testament prophets said God did not like their blood sacrifices...did someone get it all wrong in the writing of the scriptures?
Worthwhile thoughts Judy. The importance of sacrificial love is not diminished by tempering the gory emphasis on blood sacrifice which crept into Christian theology and is still prevalent in some circles. It may play well in preaching but is it really a faithful expression of Christian theology.
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