“Where’s the Lamb?”

Text: Genesis 22:1-18

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          And God said to Abraham, of his wife Sarah, “’I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed.” That’s Genesis 17 where the birth of Isaac is foretold. And then in Genesis 21, “And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac…And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me, everyone who hears will laugh over me.”

Naming a kid is a bit of a tricky thing. Coming up with a list of names that you like is one thing, but then you have to compare that list with the one your spouse made and see if there’s any overlap. I think I’ve shared before that we’ve never been able to agree on a name until after the baby is born. And then you wonder and worry whether it’s going to fit, which is always a pointless exercise because within a few days you can’t imagine that baby with any other name than the one you gave them.

There’s a lot in a name though. Maybe it’s honoring a relative or just something you’ve liked and always thought would be great to use. Maybe it’s the meaning of the name that has special significance in your life or for that particular child. Just this last week I’ve had multiple conversations with people about how they came up with their babies’ names and it reminded me of our reasoning for choosing the name Isaac, which means laughter. We found out we were expecting him right around the time we decided to uproot our lives and head to seminary. In the same way that Abraham laughed at the thought of having a child at 100 years old, we laughed at God’s timing for this particular blessing. And in the same way Sarah laughed for joy at Isaac’s birth, we received him in the same way.

But sometimes naming a child a biblical name can also have less fortunate consequences. Reading the account of Abraham and the boy Isaac from our Old Testament lesson today could potentially be traumatic if the distinction isn’t properly made between the historical account of the events that happened thousands of years ago and the Issac of today. In fact, sometimes the name isn’t even necessary to strike fear in the heart of a child at hearing today’s lesson of God’s charge to Abraham to offer his own child as a sacrifice. I’m aware of a woman who had a recurring childhood nightmare that God might ask her father to do the same thing he asked of Abraham. It’s a little funny now, but I’m sure at the time it was terrifying.

Because…if God could ask Abraham to sacrifice his own son, what might He ask any one of us to do. And quite frankly, the situation Abraham, and Isaac were placed in, was puzzling. God clearly says not to kill. Even though this is before the giving of the 10 Commandments, it’s clear from the reaction to the murder of Abel, that it’s wrong to take the life of another human being. Not to mention the law written on the hearts of all people. And then you have this son who was promised. If he’s gone where will the descendants as numerous as the stars come from? None of it really makes any sense at all. At least that we can see without the mind of God. It’s just like so many situations in our lives . . . no rhyme or reason that we can see.

And not only is the situation puzzling. The situation is excruciating. What are you asking of me God?  How can you be asking me to give you THIS? Abraham’s answer could have very easily been, “I just can’t do that.” God often asks the one thing we don’t want to give. Give me your best. Give me your first. Go speak to Pharoah. Wait until you’re in your 90s to have a baby. Be thrown in a pit and then put in jail. In each of those situations, the right and proper response was eventually reached. But it was often a bit of a struggle to get there. If we were to evaluate our own response when God asks the hard thing of us, it could often be summed up as “I’ll do anything for you Lord, but I can’t do that.”

Really? We’ll attend worship services, but we won’t tell our colleagues about it on Monday morning. Really? We’ll help our neighbor repair his house, but become shy when discussing the foundation on which his faith is built. Really? We’ll give our offering, but only whatever’s left after everything else is paid for. Really? We’ll take on the burden, but only on our own terms and only if we can let everyone else know how heavy it is. Really? In all these and so many more, what we so often say is, “I’ll do anything for you Lord, but I can’t do that.”

But what does God say? We’re to present our bodies and ourselves as living sacrifices.  Psalm 118 tells us to “bind the sacrifice with cords to the altar.” Why? Because if given the opportunity, that sacrifice is going to jump right off that altar and run away. We’re to be living sacrifices. And the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar. We keep wanting to get down. To get away from whatever the hard thing is that God has called us to. And the further we remove ourselves from the altar, the harder it becomes to do the things that God is asking. The further we are from the voice of God, the louder the voice of the opposition becomes. And the devil lies. He says that God doesn’t care about us, says we’re all alone, says we might as well climb down off that altar because God isn’t even there.

That woman I told you about before who had the childhood nightmare that her father would be asked to make a sacrifice. She says that although it didn’t come true in the way it played out in her dreams, in the end it was actually true. Her lifelong fear of being tied to the altar comes true every day. Following Jesus does mean taking up your cross. It means allowing God to use you in whatever way He desires. Being the living sacrifices we’re called to be means giving our lives back to Him.

We always focus on the faithfulness of Abraham in this account, but rarely think about the fact that Isaac allowed himself to be tied to the altar. Not even a hint that there was a question about this odd diversion from the usual procedures for a sacrifice. It says a lot about Isaac’s faithfulness as well. His trust in the God-given authority of his father, and his trust in his Heavenly Father as well.

So, this situation was puzzling, it was excruciating, but it was also taken care of well ahead of time. Isaac says to his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” God knew all along what He was going to do. And what He did was to provide the sacrifice. Once Abraham and Isaac’s willingness to do the Lord’s will was made clear, the ram, caught in the thicket, is revealed to them. If you haven’t examined it before, spend a little time looking at the altarpiece in the chapel. In the bottom left hand corner you’ll see the sacrifice that was provided as a replacement for Isaac on that altar. What’s striking about the depiction is the way in which the thorns are wrapped around the lamb’s head. It points us to the crown of thorns the King of Kings wore on his way to Calvary, where God provided the true and final sacrifice in the place of each of us.

He provided a ram so that Isaac would not have to die. And He provides His only son, so that we might live forever. His best. His first. The hardest thing He could have done. That’s what love looks like.  And He wants our love reflected back to Him to look the same – no holds barred, all in.

That fear of being asked to do the hard things; the fear of being tied to whatever altar the Lord asks you to be bound to; it’s real. But it can be overcome. Sharing your faith with your colleagues becomes easier the more you do it. The burden we carry becomes lighter as we allow God to handle it on our behalf. Giving of our first fruits becomes easier once we recognize the importance of seeing God’s work as our highest priority.

James sums up our message nicely today when he writes, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” Remain steadfast, knowing that your crown of life has been purchased by the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf and in your place. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.