Archive for the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ Tag
Above: The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Caravaggio
Image in the Public Domain
The Time of Testing
FEBRUARY 18, 2024
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Genesis 22:1-18
Psalm 6
Romans 8:31-39
Mark 1:12-15
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O Lord God, you led your ancient people through the wilderness
and brought them to the promised land.
Guide now the people of your Church, that, following our Savior,
we may walk through the wilderness of this world
toward the glory of the world to come;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
or
Lord God, our strength,
the battle of good and evil rages within and around us,
and our ancient foe tempts us with his deceits and empty promises.
Keep us steadfast in your Word, and,
when we fall, raise us again and restore us
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 17-18
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O almighty and eternal God, we implore you
to direct, sanctify, and govern our hearts and bodies
in the ways of your laws and the works of your laws
and the works of your commandments
that through your mighty protection, both now and ever,
we may be preserved in body and soul;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 33
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I know an Episcopal priest who handles well one’s claim not to believe in God. He asks those who claim not to believe in God to describe the deity in whom they do not believe. Invariably, that person describes a total bastard deity in whom the priest does not believe either.
Biblically and creedally, belief in God is trust in God. Of course, the most popular understanding of “believe in God” may be to affirm the existence of God. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, my answer to whether I believe in God begins with,
What do you mean?
Once I hear the answer to that question, I continue with my reply. For the record, I always affirm the existence of God and usually trust in God.
The portrayal of God in Genesis 22:1-18 is that of a total bastard deity in whom I do not believe, regardless of how one defines belief in God. That portrayal of God is of a vicious, monstrous deity.
No, I do not believe in that God. I do, however, believe–trust–in God, who is love from whom nothing can separate us. I do believe–trust–in God, who is on our side in the midst of troubles and persecution. I do believe–trust–in God, whose kingdom breaks into our troubled world. I do believe–trust–in God, who comforts–not afflicts–the faithful.
The Lord’s Prayer contains a petition for God to
save us from the time of trial.
Divine testing of the faithful is a Biblical concept. The Wisdom of Solomon 3:5-6 tells us of the righteous deceased:
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
—Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition
Trusting is one matter; abuse is another. I believe–trust–in God, who tests, not abuses.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 15, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND
THE FEAST OF JEAN BAPTISTE CALKIN, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF VETHAPPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Caravaggio
Image in the Public Domain
To Argue Faithfully
FEBRUARY 26 and 27, 2024
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The Collect:
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death
to be for us the means on life.
Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer shame and loss
for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 27
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 21:1-7 (Monday)
Genesis 22:1-19 (Tuesday)
Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (Both Days)
Hebrews 1:8-12 (Monday)
Hebrews 11:1-3, 13-19 (Tuesday)
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For he remembered his holy word
and Abraham, his servant.
–Psalm 105:42, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The New Testament defines faith three ways, for that anthology is the product of more than one writer. Faith, in the Pauline sense, is inherently active, hence justification by grace. Yet, in the Letter of James, faith is intellectual, hence that book’s theology of justification by works. Those two schools of thought affirm active faith, so they are two ways of making the same point. Then there is faith according to Hebrews 11:1:
Now faith is the assurance of things not hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Faith, according to this definition, which overlaps with the Pauline meaning, keeps one going in the absence of evidence in support of or in contradiction to a proposition.
Abraham, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, was an exemplar of that kind of faith. As we have read in Genesis in this lectionary-based series of devotions, this was not always true. (The author of Hebrews glossed over some content from Genesis.) And I argue that, in Genesis 22, the patriarch failed the test of faith, for the faithful response was to argue.
Did I hear you correctly? Do you want me kill my own son? Have I not sacrificed Ishmael already by sending him away with Hagar? What kind of God commands me to kill my son?
The near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham must have caused psychological damage to the son (how could it not?), for he became a passive, minor figure and the least of the patriarchs.
My favorite aspect of Judaism is arguing faithfully with God. In Islam one is supposed to submit to God, but Jews get to confront the deity in good conscience. This ethic is evident in the Psalms, with frequent complaints to God. I recall, decades ago, reading a review of a translation of the Psalms. The new translation avoided King James-style politeness, as in
Lord, I beseech thee,
preferring
Look, Yahweh.
The review, from a Christian magazine, was favorable. I have kvetched to God with great honesty often. Is not honesty essential to any healthy relationship?
Pondering the art of faithful arguing led me to remember an incident from the Gospels. The four Gospels are wonderful texts, but they lack any description of tone of voice at some crucial points in the narratives. Tone of voice, of course, can change the meaning of dialogue. In Matthew 15, for example, Jesus was in Gentile country–the region of Tyre and Sidon. There a Gentile woman begged our Lord and Savior to heal her daughter. He replied,
It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
–15:26, The Revised English Bible (1989)
She answered,
True, sir, and yet the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.
–15:27, REB
Jesus replied,
What faith you have! Let it be as you wish.
–15:28a, REB
The context if that story tells me that Jesus said what he did to prompt her to reply as she did. She passed the test. All she had to do was argue. Isaac would have been better off had Abraham been as faithful as that Gentile woman.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 8, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE NINTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATUS OF LUXEUIL AND ROMARIC OF LUXEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS AND ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, ARCHDEACON OF EILENBURG
THE FEAST OF RICHARD BAXTER, ANGLICAN THEOLOGIAN
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/to-argue-faithfully/
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Above: The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Caravaggio
Genesis and Mark, Part XIII: Arguing for Compassionate Deeds
FEBRUARY 28 and 29, 2024
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 22:1-19 (13th Day of Lent)
Genesis 24:1-31 (14th Day of Lent)
Psalm 5 (Morning–13th Day of Lent)
Psalm 38 (Morning–14th Day of Lent)
Psalms 27 and 51 (Evening–13th Day of Lent)
Psalms 126 and 102 (Evening–14th Day of Lent)
Mark 7:1-23 (13th Day of Lent)
Mark 7:24-37 (14th Day of Lent)
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Some Related Posts:
Behind the Lines, a.k.a. Regeneration (1997):
http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/behind-the-lines-a-k-a-regeneration-1997/
Prayers:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/prayer-for-wednesday-in-the-second-week-of-lent/
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/prayer-for-thursday-in-the-second-week-of-lent/
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What can I say or write about the near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 without repeating myself? Nothing! I refuse to make apologies for it. There is no record in Genesis that father and son spoke again after that incident. They must have had conversations afterward, but Isaac’s relationship to Abraham must not have been the same as before. How could it have been? Really, O reader, if you were Isaac, how much would you want to say to your old man after such an incident?
One traditional lesson drawn from Genesis 22 is that God does not desire human sacrifice. And narrative praises Abraham for his faithfulness. Really? But should not Abraham have pleaded for the life of his son? He begged God to save the lives of strangers in Genesis 18:22-33. Sometimes we are supposed to argue; sometimes that constitutes passing the test of faithfulness. The Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30 passed the test with flying colors.
Abraham apparently loved his son and sought a wife for him in Genesis 24. The patriarch was not a villain, but his record as a parent was troublesome. (What about his treatment of his first son?) But Abraham did take care of his second son–at least after trying to kill him.
Jesus, in Mark 7, presents a great lesson in several parts.
- Food does not make one unclean.
- Ritual purity–in this case, in the form of the ceremonial washing of pots–is irrelevant.
- Being a Gentile or a disabled person ought not to marginalize one. (People with major disabilities and deformities were impure. A blind man or a man with crushed genitals or a deformed arm could not serve as priest, according to the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses did not anticipate the Americans with Disabilities Act.)
- No, bad attitudes and resulting sins of commission and/or omission made one unclean.
- All foods are clean. (Mark 7:19)
- A Gentile woman impresses Jesus with her faith and debating skills.
- But manipulating the Law of Moses and interpretations thereof to the detriment of others does make one unclean.
The standard (once more) is compassion. Any human tradition which contradicts it is wrong.
To point to such violations from long ago is easy, and does not cost one anything or cause one even the slightest discomfort. So I invite you, O reader, to look around. Consider your present reality. Where are violations (considered respectable and proper) of compassion? And will you argue with them? What will that cost you? What will not arguing with them cost you?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 15, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE FIRST U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF COMMON WORSHIP, 1906
THE FEAST OF CAROLINE CHISHOLM, HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF PIRIPI TAUMATA-A-KURA, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/genesis-and-mark-part-xiii-arguing-for-compassionate-deeds/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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