https://youtu.be/yVK0Yu7DNT0
What kind of God would ask a man to sacrifice his son?
Thats the question of the Genesis reading this morning.
Its kind of sick isn't it? That God would ask someone to do this? Some people say that it was just a test of his faith - to see if Abraham loved God enough to do whatever he asked him to do. But that's twisted too.
The other day I watched a movie called The Kingsman. In the movie, these young adults are being trained as spies, and their training is deadly. They've seen other people die during their training. Near the beginning, they are each told to choose a dog to train alongside them, so all through the training they have these little puppies that they are training up as well. When the training gets down to the last two people, they are taken into a room with their dogs and given a gun and told to shoot the dog. The main character can't do it and he's kicked out of the program.
Later, he finds out that the gun was loaded with blanks and that it wouldn't have killed the dog. It was a test to see if he would follow orders. Think about this for a minute. How sick is this? They've asked this guy to love and care for this dog, to raise and train it up, and then to shoot it. And people think this is what God is asking Abraham to do. Handing him an unloaded gun, so to speak, and telling him to kill his son as a test.
I don't think that is what’s going on here. The Hebrew word for test here is "Nasah" and it can mean "to seek understanding through trial". Another way to say that would be a "test". In this case I would argue that God is trying to get Abraham to understand something about God that he has wrong. I think that God is trying to show Abraham something completely new here.
[if you don't watch the video up top, this is the part, you may want to watch at least this part, where I read from a book by Rob Bell.]
So here Is Abraham, completely willing and ready to sacrifice his son. But God stops him.
So, back to the original question... What kind of God would ask a man to sacrifice his son?
NOT THIS GOD.
This God stops the cycle of violence.
This God provides the sacrifice.
This God calls us to something new.
Things weren't done this way before, but he is showing us a new way of doing things.
Are we there yet?
Nope.
Slaves to Sin
Last week we talked about being saved from sin and this week Paul encourages us to free ourselves from sin. We are no longer under the dominion of sin, so why continue to do it? It's a good question, and one we still face today. Sometimes, even when we are freed from something terrible, we stick with it because it’s all we know. It reminds me of a story my mom wrote of in our Family HiSTORYs book about her mom and dad.
"[Dad] and Minnie lived off-base in an old Southern Mansion that had been made into a boarding house. The Blacks they thoughtto be employees turned out to be the descendants of slaves who had been on the estate as long as they had a history. Minnie made friends with a huge black woman also named Minnie. She discovered these “servants” received no pay, just their keep, the same as their slave ancestors. She coaxed her to leave this place and go to the city and work for wages. The old Mama laughed. “Why honey, this is my home. These white folk are my family. They couldn’t do without me. They can’t take care of themselves, they never had to.” A symbiotic relationship, Minnie decided"
Sometimes its because we don't know anything else.
Sometimes its because we LIKE it.
Whatever the reason, Paul tells us that we are free from it. Sin no longer has dominion over you, since you not under the law but under grace. Its a new way of doing things. God has given us a way out, just as he did with Abraham. So the question comes up again... why do we keep doing it and how do we get out from under it? Well, you'll have to come back next week for an answer to that.
What kind of God would ask a man to sacrifice his son?
Thats the question of the Genesis reading this morning.Its kind of sick isn't it? That God would ask someone to do this? Some people say that it was just a test of his faith - to see if Abraham loved God enough to do whatever he asked him to do. But that's twisted too.
The other day I watched a movie called The Kingsman. In the movie, these young adults are being trained as spies, and their training is deadly. They've seen other people die during their training. Near the beginning, they are each told to choose a dog to train alongside them, so all through the training they have these little puppies that they are training up as well. When the training gets down to the last two people, they are taken into a room with their dogs and given a gun and told to shoot the dog. The main character can't do it and he's kicked out of the program.
Later, he finds out that the gun was loaded with blanks and that it wouldn't have killed the dog. It was a test to see if he would follow orders. Think about this for a minute. How sick is this? They've asked this guy to love and care for this dog, to raise and train it up, and then to shoot it. And people think this is what God is asking Abraham to do. Handing him an unloaded gun, so to speak, and telling him to kill his son as a test.
I don't think that is what’s going on here. The Hebrew word for test here is "Nasah" and it can mean "to seek understanding through trial". Another way to say that would be a "test". In this case I would argue that God is trying to get Abraham to understand something about God that he has wrong. I think that God is trying to show Abraham something completely new here.
[if you don't watch the video up top, this is the part, you may want to watch at least this part, where I read from a book by Rob Bell.]
So here Is Abraham, completely willing and ready to sacrifice his son. But God stops him.
So, back to the original question... What kind of God would ask a man to sacrifice his son?
NOT THIS GOD.
This God stops the cycle of violence.
This God provides the sacrifice.
This God calls us to something new.
Things weren't done this way before, but he is showing us a new way of doing things.
Are we there yet?
Nope.
Slaves to Sin
Last week we talked about being saved from sin and this week Paul encourages us to free ourselves from sin. We are no longer under the dominion of sin, so why continue to do it? It's a good question, and one we still face today. Sometimes, even when we are freed from something terrible, we stick with it because it’s all we know. It reminds me of a story my mom wrote of in our Family HiSTORYs book about her mom and dad."[Dad] and Minnie lived off-base in an old Southern Mansion that had been made into a boarding house. The Blacks they thoughtto be employees turned out to be the descendants of slaves who had been on the estate as long as they had a history. Minnie made friends with a huge black woman also named Minnie. She discovered these “servants” received no pay, just their keep, the same as their slave ancestors. She coaxed her to leave this place and go to the city and work for wages. The old Mama laughed. “Why honey, this is my home. These white folk are my family. They couldn’t do without me. They can’t take care of themselves, they never had to.” A symbiotic relationship, Minnie decided"
Sometimes its because we don't know anything else.
Sometimes its because we LIKE it.
Whatever the reason, Paul tells us that we are free from it. Sin no longer has dominion over you, since you not under the law but under grace. Its a new way of doing things. God has given us a way out, just as he did with Abraham. So the question comes up again... why do we keep doing it and how do we get out from under it? Well, you'll have to come back next week for an answer to that.
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