Bringing Your Dreams On The Altar
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Everyone has a dream. That dream is, for them, the key to a better life. This dream may impact their job, their home, or even their church. But how are these dreams accomplished? What has to be given up in order to make a dream come true? Scott Suskovic will write the main article, with Stephen McCutchan writing the response. Illustrations, liturgical aids, and a children's sermon are also provided.
Bringing your Dreams on the Altar
Scott Suskovic
Genesis 22
THE WORLD
What are your God-sized dreams? These are the dreams that you alone cannot achieve with more education, more hours, more determination, and more contacts. These are dreams that only God can achieve working through the likes of you, a flawed, cracked vessel. These are dreams that have nothing to do with your quick wit and winning smiles. It may be a dream to grow a church that reaches thousands. It may be a program that will help transform a neighborhood. It may even be dreams of running for public office and truly serving the people. If all obstacles were taken away, what are your God-sized dreams?
The story in Genesis 22 about the sacrifice of Isaac should cause each of us to stop in our tracks and consider these God-sized dreams. They are all good. They are all for the sake of the kingdom. They are all serving God. Genesis 22 tells us in no uncertain terms that you are ready to go forward with your dreams once you are ready to place those dreams on the altar and plunge a knife in them. Are you ready to do that?
Often we confuse doing the work of God with knowing God. Knowing God comes before everything else. The First Commandment is clear. You shall have no other gods before me. This includes your dreams -- no matter how noble and far reaching they may be.
THE WORD
I want to share with you a powerful testimony I heard this past week by Phil Vischer speaking at a conference at Willow Creek. Anyone hear of Phil Vischer? You may not know him by name but you might know his product. He is the creator of VeggieTales. Have you heard of VeggieTales? If you haven't, VeggieTales are animated, short videos for children featuring limbless vegetables acting out Bible stories and moral truths. When you put it that way, doesn't sound very impressive, huh? Consider this:
VeggieTales has sold 40 million videos. In 1999 and 2000, VeggieTales outsold Barney, Scooby Doo, and Pokemon combined. Those same years, CNN announced that VeggieTales listed in the top ten videos watched on college campus. In 2000, Vischer was named as one of the top ten religious leaders in America with write-ups in Newsweek, Time, and People magazine.
VeggieTales was an incredible, nearly overnight success story headed up a guy who, as he describes himself, was kicked out of Bible college after three semesters for failing chapel. So he left school to pursue his God-sized dream. This was a man of faith who wanted to make a deep impact for the kingdom, not just sell videos and retire early in southern Florida. He caught the attention of Disney who surrounded him with a staff of over 200 people who whispered around the watercooler, "Phil Vischer is the next Walt Disney." Unbelievable!
Then a former distributor sued them. Vischer knew that he was in the right but it doesn't matter when you are presented with a lawsuit. You go to court, you spend lots of money on lawyers, and in the end you are at the mercy of the court who decided against Phil and gave the distributor everything they asked for and more. Vischer had to close down the studio, lay off the staff, and sell VeggieTales in order to pay off the enormous debt. As quickly as this God-sized dream had grown, it disappeared. VeggieTales was finished.
Stunned, Vischer wondered, "How could you, God? How could you give me this incredible gift and then sit back and do nothing as I watched it die? How could you? How could you promise me this dream, deliver this dream, and then pop this dream?"
After a long time in prayer and reading his Bible, Vischer was drawn to Genesis 22 -- Abraham sacrifice of Isaac. Remember, Abraham was given a promise that his descendants would be more numerous than grains of sand. They would outnumber the stars. Sure, he had to wait a long time -- 25 years of waiting. But now, the God-sized dream came true with Isaac. Now God says to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, the one whom you love (and just so there is no misunderstanding) -- Isaac and sacrifice him to me." It was a test with only one question. What is more important to you -- the dream or God? As Abraham raised his knife to Isaac, God knew that Abraham was willing to surrender and let go of everything, even his God-sized dream. He was willing to put it all on the altar and watch it die -- except for knowing God.
Through that experience of Abraham, Phil Vischer realized that he had confused doing the work of God with knowing God. His goal was to make a great impact, to reach more people, and to do more wonderful things for God. All great and wonderful things. However, it was not to know God. So Phil understands what had happened with VeggieTales as God asking him to sacrifice his dream on the altar for the sake of keeping his eyes on Jesus. He had gotten ahead of God. He was asking God to catch up to him and bless what he had done. Bottom line: He had taken his eyes off Jesus.
Then he asked a question to the congregation, "What do you dream that you can do for God? Expand your ministry? Increase membership? Impact more people? Build a bigger church? What do you dream that you can do for God? When you are ready to put that dream on the altar and kill it for the sake of knowing God, then you are ready."
CRAFTING THE SERMON
At this point, each preacher can craft the sermon to fit his or her own context. Are you in the middle of a capital campaign? Are you reaching out into the neighborhood? Are you doing advocacy work? What is your God-sized dream? Do you have that identified? Good. Now, are you ready to take you dream, your only dream, the one that you love, the one named (you fill in the blank), put it on the altar and plunge a knife in it? It is not a question to be answered lightly or flippantly. Have you confused doing the work of God all these years with knowing God? What do you need to sacrifice for the sake of keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus?
ANOTHER VIEW
Children Sacrificed to God
Stephen McCutchan
In September 2004, a John Hopkins study estimated that over 100,000 women and children were killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. The same study estimated that while 1,107 American soldiers were killed, over 8,000 were wounded for a ratio of seven wounded for every one killed. We know that since September of 2004 the number of American soldiers killed is over 4,000. These soldiers, killed and wounded, were also someone's sons or daughters, and we have not even begun to estimate the number of Iraqi soldiers killed during the same time.
There was a time when wars used to be largely fought between armies. As tragic as the deaths were, at least they were of those who had signed up for the fight. Then with the advent of planes and then missiles, the arena of war extended to more frequently include the civilian population as well. Now, with the introduction of terrorism, even countries that don't think they are at war can be vulnerable to attack. Those who plan such wars are rarely the subject of such violence and those who are killed are normally not given a vote in the decision that leads to war.
As a child, I used to read with horror the story of the sacrifice of Isaac from Genesis 22:1-14. How could a good God ask a parent to do such a horrible thing? Even worse, what type of parent would choose to obey such a violent command? As I grew to be an adult, I became aware that this is the sacrifice that all gods ask of parents. The god of war asks politicians and patriots to sacrifice their children. The god of wealth frequently asks parents to sacrifice their children in pursuit of wealth. Sadly, even we pastors have to admit that we are often asked to sacrifice our children for the sake of our profession. The list could go on. Ask for what are you willing to sacrifice the health and happiness of your children and you will have named your god.
The story of Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac is not a story of something new in the world but a very old story describing exactly what our gods ask of us. When Abraham heard the command, did he respond the same way that we often respond when our nation decides to go to war? Did he assume that such a decision was beyond his power to resist and he simply had to obey?
Or did Abraham remember once before when he had tried to explain the reality of the world to God, and God had responded with a promise that his progeny would be through Isaac (Genesis 17:19), a child yet to be born to a 90-year-old woman and a hundred-year-old man. The Jewish Midrash suggests that this is the tenth and last test of Abraham's trust in the Lord. Since everyone seems to be willing to sacrifice their children to their gods, did Abraham, this time, decide to test God through his obedience?
Here we see the turning point of the practice of human sacrifice in the religions and quasi-religions of the world. This God stays Abraham's hand. This God offers us an alternative to the continual violence that consumes the promise of our children. The sacrifice of our children, whether to the god of religion, war, wealth, or power, is no longer a faithful act. We cannot place our child or anything else before God but if we are obeying the true God, this God will stay our hand.
As our understanding of this God continues to be revealed to us in the Christian faith, there is a new dimension added. We worship a God who not only will not ask of us the sacrifice of our children but this is a God who will offer us his beloved son as a sacrifice for us. This is not, as some have accused, an event of child abuse, because in Christ we experience God. This is a God who is willing to sacrifice himself for our sake. Now comes the true test of the other gods that ask worship from us. How many of them are willing to sacrifice themselves for our sake. Can you imagine the result if politicians could only vote to go to war if they were the ones who had to fight the war?
ILLUSTRATIONS
How could Abraham have gone ahead with taking his son Isaac up onto the mountain and there doing what he heard God telling him to do? After all, years earlier, God had promised Abraham that he would have a son (even in his extreme old age!) and that through him all the world would be blessed. So how could God now be asking him to do this unspeakable thing?
Søren Kierkegaard says:
And there he stood, the old man, with his only hope! But he did not doubt. He did not look anxiously to the right or to the left, he did not challenge heaven with his prayers. He knew that it was God the Almighty who was trying him, he knew that it was the hardest sacrifice that could be required of him; but he knew also that no sacrifice was too hard when God required it.
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974), p. 36
* * *
Oswald Chambers reminds us that Abraham was a person of strong faith in the living God, ready to obey him in whatever he asked:
The great point of Abraham's faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God...If you will remain true to God, God will lead you straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself...Abraham remained true to God and God purified his faith.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 1963) p. 117
* * *
As Abraham and Isaac walked up the mountain together on that fateful morning, Isaac began to be troubled, and said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
And what did Abraham answer? He said, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
Some people claim that Abraham said that just to calm his son. But if we look back over Abraham's life, we'll see that, incident by incident, as God required increasingly difficult things of Abraham (and delivered on his promises), Abraham's trust in God grew.
God had already brought him through many difficult times -- and had already fulfilled some of his promises: Abraham now had not only a land but a son. And in time he could expect his descendants to become a great people -- and from them, one who would be a blessing to all people.
Abraham had, over the years, learned to trust God, and therefore could say to Isaac, "God will provide, my son."
* * *
Tim complained to his teacher about having to take his next math test. He told her that taking the test worried him because of the prospect of failing. She assured him that he would do just fine on the exam because he was able to solve the math problems in class. In reply he asked, "Well, if you already know that I'm going to pass the test, then why do I have to take it?"
She responded wisely, "The purpose of the test is not to show me that you can do it. It's to show you that you can do it!"
* * *
Mitch and Brenda sat in worship one Sunday morning when the offering placed came their way. Mitch noticed that Brenda placed a few coins in the plate and passed it along to the person sitting next to her. After worship they were talking about the service, and he brought up what she had done regarding her the offering. He asked her why she dropped only a few coins in the offering plate. She explained that when she went to church as a little girl, her father always dropped small change in the offering plate, so she followed his example. She went on to say that he always insisted that giving to the church should never involve more than spare time and pocket change.
Brenda had missed the point of worship by following her father's bad example. Giving is an act of worship. Abraham was about to give much more than pocket change by giving up Isaac, his son, whom He loved so very much. For him, worship was a painful experience of giving up what he treasured most, far more than pocket change.
* * *
Doris didn't know much about so-called naming opportunities until she received her inheritance from her grandfather. The amount was staggering, at least for her. The development office at the university from which she had graduated years earlier found out about the inheritance too, and one of the vice presidents contacted her. He asked her about her interest in a naming opportunity. As she soon discovered, a naming opportunity meant that she would have the privilege of naming a building on campus -- presumably after herself -- if she gave a generous portion of her inheritance to the university.
She thought about the opportunity and decided to make the contribution as requested because she loved her alma mater. But she decided to name the building after her grandfather because he had been such a positive force in her life.
At the ceremony in which her grandfather's name was officially placed on the new science building, the president spoke about Doris' gift and surprised her with one comment in particular. "From now on, Doris' gift will be a constant reminder of what she has done for her university. For years to come, we will remember her because of what she has provided."
As Abraham left Mount Moriah, he took advantage of the naming opportunity. He could have named it after himself since he had been willing to give up his most precious treasure as an act of obedience. Instead, he named it after the Lord who provided. What mattered most to him was not what he himself had done, but what the Lord had done.
* * *
Thomas Cahill describes in exquisite detail how the Druids worked themselves up to do a human sacrifice of the firstborn in his classic book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. We may want to romanticize the Druids and their spirituality. God knows Celtic spirituality has generated worldwide interest... but the horror of firstborn sacrifice cannot be minimized.
The music, the drums, the sexual overtones, the body paint all contribute to the frenzy as the knife is lifted to appease the gods... but ultimately the horror of blood letting is there for all to see and we recoil from what was a universal practice among so many of our ancestors in faith practice.
With Abraham and Isaac, there is no such frenzy, just the stark reality of father and son walking in companionship with God ready to do his will. Just when the moment comes, the son looks to his father to ask where the sacrifice is, the human spirit cries out with all humanity to say... no more human sacrifice!
Amazingly, and by God's good grace, the ram was caught in the thicket, and as it was said then, now and forever; "God will provide!"
The great religions of Abraham have understood since: no more human sacrifice, because "God will provide."
* * *
There is no worse loss I can imagine than the loss of a child. The times I've ached with the parents of those who have lost their children, especially when due to sudden and accidental death, is among some of the most painful moments I've spent in my lifetime.
The only comfort I know of is this: God knows what it is like to lose an only Son!
* * *
When we look at life through the eyes of a child, we see so much more than we do as adults. Like it was yesterday, I remember JFK's little boy saluting his slain father's casket. It was too much to bear, knowing myself what it was like and knowing how many years he would be without a dad. Then imagine the airplane crash of Martha's Vineyard to bring the loss full circle!
Through it all the unshakable faith of the family embraced all that life dished out. What a marvel we are when we endure so much joy as well as sadness.
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: With joy and celebration,
God welcomes us to this place.
People: How good it is to gather in God's house!
Leader: With joy and celebration,
we welcome one another.
People: We greet each other by name;
we are equal in God's kingdom.
Leader: We open our hearts, to welcome God's love;
we open our arms, to welcome God's people.
People: Here, every single one of God's children is welcome.
Prayer Of The Day
You have invited us
to this place,
Accepting God,
for this is where you want us.
Here, we learn to trust you,
and to faithfully follow where you lead us.
Here, we learn to listen to you,
and hear the words of life,
of hope, and of healing.
Here, we learn to bring everything to you --
even our pain, especially our brokenness --
that we might be made whole.
Pilgrim Jesus,
you are with us in this place,
and in every place
where we live, work, play, pray.
If we dare to trust
this good news,
we discover that grace,
which sets us free
to treat one another
as sisters and brothers;
to use that grace
to break down every barrier;
to live that grace
in every moment of our lives.
We would receive you
into our hearts,
Abiding Spirit,
knowing that you have brought us together,
and by the gift of your presence,
we are no longer strangers
but friends and neighbors
in your kingdom.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Created to live with one another and our God, we know the truth about our shattered lives and relationships. Yet, out of this brokenness, God shapes new people, giving every one of us a new start. Let us confess those things that separate us from one another, that we might be made one in Christ.
Unison Prayer Of Confession
In your house, there is room for all; at your table, we find a place set for us. Yet we admit, Inviting God, that we find it difficult to be as accepting as you and we find it easy to shoulder others away from your feast. You fling wide the doors to your kingdom, Welcoming God, but we are quick to try to shut them to those who are different from us. Your heart is open so that all might experience your grace, and we reluctantly remember our ungracious words and deeds.
Forgive us, God of Every Person: heal our broken lives; mend our fragmented souls. Open our hearts to your vision of the kingdom where all are welcome, all are affirmed, all are beloved -- even as we receive these gifts from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: Can it be any clearer? God has created us to be a family -- sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends. No longer strangers, we are all welcome in the kingdom of love, grace, and hope.
People: In Christ, we are one. There are no barriers, no differences, and no divisions. We are a new people, forgiven and made whole. Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The biggest paycheck
Object: make up what looks like checks and run them off on your copier
Romans 6:12-23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Good morning, boys and girls. Has anyone ever paid you for doing some work? Did they promise that you would be paid if you helped them clean up the yard, or help carry some boxes or bags into the house? (let them answer)
When you get a little older and you get a job you will be paid for your work. Usually you will receive an envelope with a check inside it and it is enough to buy groceries and gas for the car and other things we need to live.
Most of the time we like getting paid. But in the Bible today we learn that we can earn other kinds of pay. This kind of pay we don't like. Let me explain. Tell me something you did this week that was really bad. (let them answer) I will write you a check for each bad thing you did. (as they tell you about something they did, begin writing them a check with the words free gift in the place where the amount goes and in the memo it should read for eternal life and it is signed God) How would you like for me to make out the check? Should it be to Mr. Aaron Smith? (go to the next person) And how would you like me to write your check? Should it be to Mrs. Rogers' son or would you like it in your name? (write several checks)
I think everyone has been paid in full. I don't think anyone missed being paid today because everyone of us has done something we are not very proud of doing. Has everyone received a check? (let them answer)
Let's look at our checks. The check has the date on it. It is June 29 and it has your name and also the amount printed in the right place. What do you think you should get for the bad things you did? (let them answer) Has anyone ever paid you before for doing bad things? Most of the time we get grounded or sent for a "time out." Sometimes we have to go to our rooms. I don't like being caught when I do something bad. I try to hide but today you are going to be paid for your bad things.
Let's see, the check is signed by God. God is paying you for your sins. I don't believe it. What do you think God should do to you for being bad and doing bad things? (let them answer) Instead he has given you a real gift. Let me read the check. It says to Aaron Smith and then it says this is a free gift and down in the corner where it tells you what the free gift is, it says, for eternal life.
What a wonderful God. Because you are really sorry for the bad things you did, you thought God forgave you. But God doesn't just say, "You are forgiven;" instead he gives you the gift of living with him forever. You just received the best paycheck you will ever be given. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 29, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
Bringing your Dreams on the Altar
Scott Suskovic
Genesis 22
THE WORLD
What are your God-sized dreams? These are the dreams that you alone cannot achieve with more education, more hours, more determination, and more contacts. These are dreams that only God can achieve working through the likes of you, a flawed, cracked vessel. These are dreams that have nothing to do with your quick wit and winning smiles. It may be a dream to grow a church that reaches thousands. It may be a program that will help transform a neighborhood. It may even be dreams of running for public office and truly serving the people. If all obstacles were taken away, what are your God-sized dreams?
The story in Genesis 22 about the sacrifice of Isaac should cause each of us to stop in our tracks and consider these God-sized dreams. They are all good. They are all for the sake of the kingdom. They are all serving God. Genesis 22 tells us in no uncertain terms that you are ready to go forward with your dreams once you are ready to place those dreams on the altar and plunge a knife in them. Are you ready to do that?
Often we confuse doing the work of God with knowing God. Knowing God comes before everything else. The First Commandment is clear. You shall have no other gods before me. This includes your dreams -- no matter how noble and far reaching they may be.
THE WORD
I want to share with you a powerful testimony I heard this past week by Phil Vischer speaking at a conference at Willow Creek. Anyone hear of Phil Vischer? You may not know him by name but you might know his product. He is the creator of VeggieTales. Have you heard of VeggieTales? If you haven't, VeggieTales are animated, short videos for children featuring limbless vegetables acting out Bible stories and moral truths. When you put it that way, doesn't sound very impressive, huh? Consider this:
VeggieTales has sold 40 million videos. In 1999 and 2000, VeggieTales outsold Barney, Scooby Doo, and Pokemon combined. Those same years, CNN announced that VeggieTales listed in the top ten videos watched on college campus. In 2000, Vischer was named as one of the top ten religious leaders in America with write-ups in Newsweek, Time, and People magazine.
VeggieTales was an incredible, nearly overnight success story headed up a guy who, as he describes himself, was kicked out of Bible college after three semesters for failing chapel. So he left school to pursue his God-sized dream. This was a man of faith who wanted to make a deep impact for the kingdom, not just sell videos and retire early in southern Florida. He caught the attention of Disney who surrounded him with a staff of over 200 people who whispered around the watercooler, "Phil Vischer is the next Walt Disney." Unbelievable!
Then a former distributor sued them. Vischer knew that he was in the right but it doesn't matter when you are presented with a lawsuit. You go to court, you spend lots of money on lawyers, and in the end you are at the mercy of the court who decided against Phil and gave the distributor everything they asked for and more. Vischer had to close down the studio, lay off the staff, and sell VeggieTales in order to pay off the enormous debt. As quickly as this God-sized dream had grown, it disappeared. VeggieTales was finished.
Stunned, Vischer wondered, "How could you, God? How could you give me this incredible gift and then sit back and do nothing as I watched it die? How could you? How could you promise me this dream, deliver this dream, and then pop this dream?"
After a long time in prayer and reading his Bible, Vischer was drawn to Genesis 22 -- Abraham sacrifice of Isaac. Remember, Abraham was given a promise that his descendants would be more numerous than grains of sand. They would outnumber the stars. Sure, he had to wait a long time -- 25 years of waiting. But now, the God-sized dream came true with Isaac. Now God says to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, the one whom you love (and just so there is no misunderstanding) -- Isaac and sacrifice him to me." It was a test with only one question. What is more important to you -- the dream or God? As Abraham raised his knife to Isaac, God knew that Abraham was willing to surrender and let go of everything, even his God-sized dream. He was willing to put it all on the altar and watch it die -- except for knowing God.
Through that experience of Abraham, Phil Vischer realized that he had confused doing the work of God with knowing God. His goal was to make a great impact, to reach more people, and to do more wonderful things for God. All great and wonderful things. However, it was not to know God. So Phil understands what had happened with VeggieTales as God asking him to sacrifice his dream on the altar for the sake of keeping his eyes on Jesus. He had gotten ahead of God. He was asking God to catch up to him and bless what he had done. Bottom line: He had taken his eyes off Jesus.
Then he asked a question to the congregation, "What do you dream that you can do for God? Expand your ministry? Increase membership? Impact more people? Build a bigger church? What do you dream that you can do for God? When you are ready to put that dream on the altar and kill it for the sake of knowing God, then you are ready."
CRAFTING THE SERMON
At this point, each preacher can craft the sermon to fit his or her own context. Are you in the middle of a capital campaign? Are you reaching out into the neighborhood? Are you doing advocacy work? What is your God-sized dream? Do you have that identified? Good. Now, are you ready to take you dream, your only dream, the one that you love, the one named (you fill in the blank), put it on the altar and plunge a knife in it? It is not a question to be answered lightly or flippantly. Have you confused doing the work of God all these years with knowing God? What do you need to sacrifice for the sake of keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus?
ANOTHER VIEW
Children Sacrificed to God
Stephen McCutchan
In September 2004, a John Hopkins study estimated that over 100,000 women and children were killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. The same study estimated that while 1,107 American soldiers were killed, over 8,000 were wounded for a ratio of seven wounded for every one killed. We know that since September of 2004 the number of American soldiers killed is over 4,000. These soldiers, killed and wounded, were also someone's sons or daughters, and we have not even begun to estimate the number of Iraqi soldiers killed during the same time.
There was a time when wars used to be largely fought between armies. As tragic as the deaths were, at least they were of those who had signed up for the fight. Then with the advent of planes and then missiles, the arena of war extended to more frequently include the civilian population as well. Now, with the introduction of terrorism, even countries that don't think they are at war can be vulnerable to attack. Those who plan such wars are rarely the subject of such violence and those who are killed are normally not given a vote in the decision that leads to war.
As a child, I used to read with horror the story of the sacrifice of Isaac from Genesis 22:1-14. How could a good God ask a parent to do such a horrible thing? Even worse, what type of parent would choose to obey such a violent command? As I grew to be an adult, I became aware that this is the sacrifice that all gods ask of parents. The god of war asks politicians and patriots to sacrifice their children. The god of wealth frequently asks parents to sacrifice their children in pursuit of wealth. Sadly, even we pastors have to admit that we are often asked to sacrifice our children for the sake of our profession. The list could go on. Ask for what are you willing to sacrifice the health and happiness of your children and you will have named your god.
The story of Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac is not a story of something new in the world but a very old story describing exactly what our gods ask of us. When Abraham heard the command, did he respond the same way that we often respond when our nation decides to go to war? Did he assume that such a decision was beyond his power to resist and he simply had to obey?
Or did Abraham remember once before when he had tried to explain the reality of the world to God, and God had responded with a promise that his progeny would be through Isaac (Genesis 17:19), a child yet to be born to a 90-year-old woman and a hundred-year-old man. The Jewish Midrash suggests that this is the tenth and last test of Abraham's trust in the Lord. Since everyone seems to be willing to sacrifice their children to their gods, did Abraham, this time, decide to test God through his obedience?
Here we see the turning point of the practice of human sacrifice in the religions and quasi-religions of the world. This God stays Abraham's hand. This God offers us an alternative to the continual violence that consumes the promise of our children. The sacrifice of our children, whether to the god of religion, war, wealth, or power, is no longer a faithful act. We cannot place our child or anything else before God but if we are obeying the true God, this God will stay our hand.
As our understanding of this God continues to be revealed to us in the Christian faith, there is a new dimension added. We worship a God who not only will not ask of us the sacrifice of our children but this is a God who will offer us his beloved son as a sacrifice for us. This is not, as some have accused, an event of child abuse, because in Christ we experience God. This is a God who is willing to sacrifice himself for our sake. Now comes the true test of the other gods that ask worship from us. How many of them are willing to sacrifice themselves for our sake. Can you imagine the result if politicians could only vote to go to war if they were the ones who had to fight the war?
ILLUSTRATIONS
How could Abraham have gone ahead with taking his son Isaac up onto the mountain and there doing what he heard God telling him to do? After all, years earlier, God had promised Abraham that he would have a son (even in his extreme old age!) and that through him all the world would be blessed. So how could God now be asking him to do this unspeakable thing?
Søren Kierkegaard says:
And there he stood, the old man, with his only hope! But he did not doubt. He did not look anxiously to the right or to the left, he did not challenge heaven with his prayers. He knew that it was God the Almighty who was trying him, he knew that it was the hardest sacrifice that could be required of him; but he knew also that no sacrifice was too hard when God required it.
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1974), p. 36
* * *
Oswald Chambers reminds us that Abraham was a person of strong faith in the living God, ready to obey him in whatever he asked:
The great point of Abraham's faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God...If you will remain true to God, God will lead you straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself...Abraham remained true to God and God purified his faith.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 1963) p. 117
* * *
As Abraham and Isaac walked up the mountain together on that fateful morning, Isaac began to be troubled, and said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
And what did Abraham answer? He said, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."
Some people claim that Abraham said that just to calm his son. But if we look back over Abraham's life, we'll see that, incident by incident, as God required increasingly difficult things of Abraham (and delivered on his promises), Abraham's trust in God grew.
God had already brought him through many difficult times -- and had already fulfilled some of his promises: Abraham now had not only a land but a son. And in time he could expect his descendants to become a great people -- and from them, one who would be a blessing to all people.
Abraham had, over the years, learned to trust God, and therefore could say to Isaac, "God will provide, my son."
* * *
Tim complained to his teacher about having to take his next math test. He told her that taking the test worried him because of the prospect of failing. She assured him that he would do just fine on the exam because he was able to solve the math problems in class. In reply he asked, "Well, if you already know that I'm going to pass the test, then why do I have to take it?"
She responded wisely, "The purpose of the test is not to show me that you can do it. It's to show you that you can do it!"
* * *
Mitch and Brenda sat in worship one Sunday morning when the offering placed came their way. Mitch noticed that Brenda placed a few coins in the plate and passed it along to the person sitting next to her. After worship they were talking about the service, and he brought up what she had done regarding her the offering. He asked her why she dropped only a few coins in the offering plate. She explained that when she went to church as a little girl, her father always dropped small change in the offering plate, so she followed his example. She went on to say that he always insisted that giving to the church should never involve more than spare time and pocket change.
Brenda had missed the point of worship by following her father's bad example. Giving is an act of worship. Abraham was about to give much more than pocket change by giving up Isaac, his son, whom He loved so very much. For him, worship was a painful experience of giving up what he treasured most, far more than pocket change.
* * *
Doris didn't know much about so-called naming opportunities until she received her inheritance from her grandfather. The amount was staggering, at least for her. The development office at the university from which she had graduated years earlier found out about the inheritance too, and one of the vice presidents contacted her. He asked her about her interest in a naming opportunity. As she soon discovered, a naming opportunity meant that she would have the privilege of naming a building on campus -- presumably after herself -- if she gave a generous portion of her inheritance to the university.
She thought about the opportunity and decided to make the contribution as requested because she loved her alma mater. But she decided to name the building after her grandfather because he had been such a positive force in her life.
At the ceremony in which her grandfather's name was officially placed on the new science building, the president spoke about Doris' gift and surprised her with one comment in particular. "From now on, Doris' gift will be a constant reminder of what she has done for her university. For years to come, we will remember her because of what she has provided."
As Abraham left Mount Moriah, he took advantage of the naming opportunity. He could have named it after himself since he had been willing to give up his most precious treasure as an act of obedience. Instead, he named it after the Lord who provided. What mattered most to him was not what he himself had done, but what the Lord had done.
* * *
Thomas Cahill describes in exquisite detail how the Druids worked themselves up to do a human sacrifice of the firstborn in his classic book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. We may want to romanticize the Druids and their spirituality. God knows Celtic spirituality has generated worldwide interest... but the horror of firstborn sacrifice cannot be minimized.
The music, the drums, the sexual overtones, the body paint all contribute to the frenzy as the knife is lifted to appease the gods... but ultimately the horror of blood letting is there for all to see and we recoil from what was a universal practice among so many of our ancestors in faith practice.
With Abraham and Isaac, there is no such frenzy, just the stark reality of father and son walking in companionship with God ready to do his will. Just when the moment comes, the son looks to his father to ask where the sacrifice is, the human spirit cries out with all humanity to say... no more human sacrifice!
Amazingly, and by God's good grace, the ram was caught in the thicket, and as it was said then, now and forever; "God will provide!"
The great religions of Abraham have understood since: no more human sacrifice, because "God will provide."
* * *
There is no worse loss I can imagine than the loss of a child. The times I've ached with the parents of those who have lost their children, especially when due to sudden and accidental death, is among some of the most painful moments I've spent in my lifetime.
The only comfort I know of is this: God knows what it is like to lose an only Son!
* * *
When we look at life through the eyes of a child, we see so much more than we do as adults. Like it was yesterday, I remember JFK's little boy saluting his slain father's casket. It was too much to bear, knowing myself what it was like and knowing how many years he would be without a dad. Then imagine the airplane crash of Martha's Vineyard to bring the loss full circle!
Through it all the unshakable faith of the family embraced all that life dished out. What a marvel we are when we endure so much joy as well as sadness.
WORSHIP RESOURCE
Call To Worship
Leader: With joy and celebration,
God welcomes us to this place.
People: How good it is to gather in God's house!
Leader: With joy and celebration,
we welcome one another.
People: We greet each other by name;
we are equal in God's kingdom.
Leader: We open our hearts, to welcome God's love;
we open our arms, to welcome God's people.
People: Here, every single one of God's children is welcome.
Prayer Of The Day
You have invited us
to this place,
Accepting God,
for this is where you want us.
Here, we learn to trust you,
and to faithfully follow where you lead us.
Here, we learn to listen to you,
and hear the words of life,
of hope, and of healing.
Here, we learn to bring everything to you --
even our pain, especially our brokenness --
that we might be made whole.
Pilgrim Jesus,
you are with us in this place,
and in every place
where we live, work, play, pray.
If we dare to trust
this good news,
we discover that grace,
which sets us free
to treat one another
as sisters and brothers;
to use that grace
to break down every barrier;
to live that grace
in every moment of our lives.
We would receive you
into our hearts,
Abiding Spirit,
knowing that you have brought us together,
and by the gift of your presence,
we are no longer strangers
but friends and neighbors
in your kingdom.
God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus taught us, saying,
Our Father ...
Call To Reconciliation
Created to live with one another and our God, we know the truth about our shattered lives and relationships. Yet, out of this brokenness, God shapes new people, giving every one of us a new start. Let us confess those things that separate us from one another, that we might be made one in Christ.
Unison Prayer Of Confession
In your house, there is room for all; at your table, we find a place set for us. Yet we admit, Inviting God, that we find it difficult to be as accepting as you and we find it easy to shoulder others away from your feast. You fling wide the doors to your kingdom, Welcoming God, but we are quick to try to shut them to those who are different from us. Your heart is open so that all might experience your grace, and we reluctantly remember our ungracious words and deeds.
Forgive us, God of Every Person: heal our broken lives; mend our fragmented souls. Open our hearts to your vision of the kingdom where all are welcome, all are affirmed, all are beloved -- even as we receive these gifts from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Silence is kept
Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: Can it be any clearer? God has created us to be a family -- sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends. No longer strangers, we are all welcome in the kingdom of love, grace, and hope.
People: In Christ, we are one. There are no barriers, no differences, and no divisions. We are a new people, forgiven and made whole. Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The biggest paycheck
Object: make up what looks like checks and run them off on your copier
Romans 6:12-23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Good morning, boys and girls. Has anyone ever paid you for doing some work? Did they promise that you would be paid if you helped them clean up the yard, or help carry some boxes or bags into the house? (let them answer)
When you get a little older and you get a job you will be paid for your work. Usually you will receive an envelope with a check inside it and it is enough to buy groceries and gas for the car and other things we need to live.
Most of the time we like getting paid. But in the Bible today we learn that we can earn other kinds of pay. This kind of pay we don't like. Let me explain. Tell me something you did this week that was really bad. (let them answer) I will write you a check for each bad thing you did. (as they tell you about something they did, begin writing them a check with the words free gift in the place where the amount goes and in the memo it should read for eternal life and it is signed God) How would you like for me to make out the check? Should it be to Mr. Aaron Smith? (go to the next person) And how would you like me to write your check? Should it be to Mrs. Rogers' son or would you like it in your name? (write several checks)
I think everyone has been paid in full. I don't think anyone missed being paid today because everyone of us has done something we are not very proud of doing. Has everyone received a check? (let them answer)
Let's look at our checks. The check has the date on it. It is June 29 and it has your name and also the amount printed in the right place. What do you think you should get for the bad things you did? (let them answer) Has anyone ever paid you before for doing bad things? Most of the time we get grounded or sent for a "time out." Sometimes we have to go to our rooms. I don't like being caught when I do something bad. I try to hide but today you are going to be paid for your bad things.
Let's see, the check is signed by God. God is paying you for your sins. I don't believe it. What do you think God should do to you for being bad and doing bad things? (let them answer) Instead he has given you a real gift. Let me read the check. It says to Aaron Smith and then it says this is a free gift and down in the corner where it tells you what the free gift is, it says, for eternal life.
What a wonderful God. Because you are really sorry for the bad things you did, you thought God forgave you. But God doesn't just say, "You are forgiven;" instead he gives you the gift of living with him forever. You just received the best paycheck you will ever be given. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, June 29, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
