scowfer@susumc.org
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Pastor Steve - Message for September!
We know the story, don’t we? Abraham takes Isaac to
the mountain and prepares to sacrifice him as
instructed, when, at the last moment, God stops him
and offers a ram for sacrifice to take Isaac’s place. The
whole story, it appears, was meant to test the faith of
Abraham. Specifically, it was meant
to test Abraham’s faith in the promise
of God. God promised Abraham
many nations through Isaac, yet here
Abraham is asked to sacrifice his very
son, making the promise of God
impossible.
There are many things we can take
from this story. Many people have thought about this,
prayed about this, and written about this. One
individual, in particular, was a man by the name of
Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian, who lived in
the first half of the 19th century. Kierkegaard imagines
many changes to this story. Belief in the Preposterous This month my message goes someplace we don’t often venture to. It has been common practice throughout the history of our tradition to delve into Holy Scripture and imagine other ways that the story could have developed. Doing this, it can help us to see aspects of the story that we otherwise might miss. So, in that spirit, I offer you these words from Genesis: “After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” (Genesis 22:1-2) We know the story, don’t we? Abraham takes Isaac to the mountain and prepares to sacrifice him as instructed, when, at the last moment, God stops him and offers a ram for sacrifice to take Isaac’s place. The whole story, it appears, was meant to test the faith of Abraham. Specifically, it was meant to test Abraham’s faith in the promise of God. God promised Abraham many nations through Isaac, yet here Abraham is asked to sacrifice his very son, making the promise of God impossible. There are many things we can take from this story. Many people have thought about this, prayed about this, and written about this. One individual, in particular, was a man by the name of Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian, who lived in the first half of the 19th century. Kierkegaard imagines many changes to this story.
Possibility is that Abraham goes alone to Moriah and there offers himself as a sacrifice,
pleading that God accept him rather than his son. That would make more sense, at least
to us, but that isn’t how the story is told. So, what does this have to teach us about faith?
Interestingly enough, had Abraham taken his own life, it would show us an example much
more like ourselves, because it would be an example of a faith centered only on eternity,
completely disregarding the earthly life we have been given. The fact that Abraham did
intend to sacrifice Isaac, shows that his concern is doing God’s will, and shows little
concern for how Abraham will suffer from such a cruel act. Kierkegaard explains it this way:
“Yet Abraham had faith, and had faith for this life. In fact, if his faith had been only for a life
to come, he certainly would have more readily discarded everything in
order to rush out of a world to which he did not belong. But Abraham’s
faith was not of this sort, if there is such a faith at all, for actually it is not
faith but the most remote possibility of faith that faintly sees its object on
the most distant horizon but is separated from it by a chasmal abyss in which doubt plays
its tricks. But Abraham had faith specifically for this life - faith that he would grow old in THIS
life, be honored among THIS people, blessed by posterity, and unforgettable in Isaac, the
most precious thing in his life, whom he embraced with a love that in inadequately
described by saying he faithfully fulfilled the father’s duty to love the son, which is indeed
stated in the command: the son, whom you love. Jacob had twelve sons, one of whom he
loved; Abraham had but one, whom he loved. But Abraham had faith and did not doubt;
he believed the preposterous. (Eulogy on Abraham, Fear and Trembling)
To sacrifice a beloved son, whose life was necessary to ensure fathering many nations,
when God asks you to do so, can only be described as a belief in the preposterous. To any
sane individual, it would seem maddening. As I look around at this world we live in, and
even in the church we love so much, I have to ask if we still believe in the preposterous?
Do we truly take as truth that which seems impossible to the world? Do we believe, with
every fiber of our being, that our God has truly beaten death, and that a dark eternity no
longer waits? It is one thing to believe, it is another thing to act in that belief. So more
importantly, if we believe in the preposterous, do we act as if that impossibility is the only
possibility? Do we lead our lives as if that which the world lifts up is truly inconsequential to
us? Do our lives speak, in word and in practice, to a faith which lives in the here and now
as well as the there and then?
I hope so. I truly hope so.
Blessings,
Pastor Steve
