Sermons in Glass 10. Sacrifice

Sermons in Glass: 10. Sacrifice

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

November 10, 2013

Genesis 22:11-14

            A few months ago a movie was filmed here at our church. It is ‘The Right Regrets’ staring Marilyn Mason. There was a private showing of it last Sunday at Del Monte Theaters so Linda and I attended. It is very good.

          The good news is that I was an extra in the movie.

          The bad news is that I was cut out and ended up on the editing room floor.

          After the movie Linda and I took the ‘red eye’ and flew all night to Pennsylvania to see my 94 year old mother for a couple of days.

          The good news is that we had a very fine visit with her.

          The bad news is that it was very hard to leave her. We both cried.

          Our ‘sermon in glass’ this morning has good news and bad news.

          This a series of messages based on the stories of faith in our stained glass windows. We are now looking at the tenth lancet.

          The top picture is the crucifixion of Jesus.

                    The good news is that the cross is a symbol of love.

                    The bad news is that the cross is a symbol of death.

          The Biblical Scene in the major theme window is of Abraham who is put to the test by God as he is required to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.

         

          As he is about to plunge his knife into the boy, the angel tells him to stop. Abraham sees a ram caught in a thicket which is offered up instead of the boy.     Sarah, Abraham’s wife, waits anxiously at home.

          The bad news is that Abraham was asked to sacrifice that which was most precious. 

          The good news is that God’s grace provided an alternative.

          The bottom window is of William Taylor an early Methodist preacher in San Francisco who preached at Union Square.

         

          Taylor Street is named for him.

          After seven years in California, Taylor went to Australia, and it is said that he returned with eucalyptus seedlings which introduced the tree to California. I am not sure how factual that is but that is what has been reported.

          He then went to South Africa. As a retired lay man he was elected Bishop of Africa and served twelve years in Liberia. In the window Bishop Taylor stands in front of the Golden Gate with a eucalyptus tree at his side.

          The good news is that William Taylor preached the gospel.

          The bad news is that he brought those nasty, dirty, fire prone eucalyptus trees to America. If you have ever seen El Camino Real in Burlingame following a storm you will know what I mean.

          The key word in all of the pictures is sacrifice.

          Sacrifice is the act of giving up something that you want to keep in order to get or do something else or to help someone.

          1. The Crucifixion of Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrifice.

                    Here the last act begins.

                    Here we see love’s extravagance.

                    Here we see love’s last appeal and the failure of friends.

                    Here we have courage and cowardice.

          2. Abraham was willing to sacrifice that which was most dear to him to fulfill God’s demands.

          There is hardly any more disturbing story in the Hebrew Scriptures than the binding of Isaac.

          The only way I can make sense out of this story is to think of it as a test. Genesis 22:1 says, “After these things God tested Abraham.”

          The Bible never meant its readers to understand that God would allow Isaac to be harmed. While Abraham apparently does not know, we are allowed to know that the whole episode is a TEST, a test of Abraham's devotion to God.

          If you're expecting me to resolve the Abraham and Isaac story for you, I can only say that I can’t.

          I don't have the answer.

          Some people say that Abraham's wife, Sarah, was there all the time, hidden, pushing the ram up the hill in order to save her child.

           It wouldn't surprise me to find that a woman once again had saved the day, and once again had been God's instrument—and had been left out of the story!

          I suspect that the story says more about the way the ancient Israelites understood God than it says about God himself or herself.

          There may not even be an answer.

          Muslims tell this same story but instead of Isaac the child is Ishmael.

          There is no way to soften this story.

                    You have to feel some sense of moral outrage.

                    This is a strange, strange story.

                              A command to kill a son.

                              An obedient father.

                              An example of great faith.

          We have to remember that this story comes after Abraham has walked with God for quite some time.

          He’s seen God provide for him over and over again.

          He has come to rely on God, rather than on luck, to sustain him.

          Now, in this ultimate ‘test’ of faith, Abraham puts everything on the line and demonstrates a radical dependence on God, even offering God the most valued part of his life.

          This was not the first test of Abraham and his wife Sarah.

          Remember, how they could not have children so Abraham had a child, Ishmael, by his servant Hagar.

          It was only when Abraham was 100 years old that Isaac was born.

         
          Let’s turn this story into a metaphor of today’s fathers.

 

          Some fathers today are sacrificing their children on the altar of:

                    Materialism

                    Societal expectations

                   Keeping up with cultural norms.

          There are other dads who put their children on the altar of their own needs and ego.
         

          Parenting has never been easy but perhaps there are even more challenges today.

          Linda and I were in the Amish country of Pennsylvania this week. There we heard about the challenges the Amish are facing with their teenage children even to the point of them going out with horse and buggy to party.

          One even got a DUI while driving a buggy!

          While we were three girls were in an accident with their buggy at 11:00 p.m. when they pulled out in front of a large SUV. They were injured seriously enough to be air lifted.

          Parenting has its challenges in all cultures.

          Malcom Gladwell has written a new book. It is David and Goliath. In it he says something very interesting. He says that parents who have an income of less than $75,000 a year can tell their children that they can’t afford to help the children buy a house or a car. They just can’t and the children know that it is true.

          However, he says that if families make more than $75,000 a year they have to say they won’t help their child because the children know they can. That is a very different message and creates a different dynamic between parent and child.

          My point is that parents today are tested just as Abraham was.

         

          From this unforgettable story of faith, let me extract two great truths.

          FIRST, ALL PEOPLE OF FAITH WILL BE TESTED.

          Not as Abraham was, but all of us will be tested.

          Without testing, one’s faith gets flabby.

          Remember, if you want to improve your cardio-vascular condition, you must exercise. So it is with faith too.

          God is not like a recreational director on a cruise ship, just wanting to make sure we are having a good time. God’s aim is to mature us, to grow us into Christ-like people.

          That involves testing!

          As you look back over your life, think of the times when you did the most growing and maturing.

          Were those periods when life was tranquil and easy or were those periods of difficulty?

          My guess is that we do most of our growing and maturing during times of stress and difficulty.

          There is a poem by Robert Browning Hamilton that I like.

“I walked a mile with pleasure;

she chattered all the way,
But left me none the wiser

for all she had to say.
I walked a mile with sorrow

and not a word said she;
But oh the things I learned from her

when sorrow walked with me.”

          If you are a follower of Jesus, you will be tested.

          Here is the second truth:

          GOD WILL PROVIDE AS MUCH HELP AS YOU WILL RECEIVE.

The Lord will provide!

          The most important help he provides is for our greatest need—forgiveness.

          In silence father and son walked the final steps to the mountain. As they approached their destination Isaac asked his father, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

          Abraham replied, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering my son." There was no other conversation as they slowly made their way up the mountain.

          A troubled father,

                   a trusting son,

                   making their way into the dim unknown.

          That's what faith is all about, isn't it?

          3. William Taylor was a person who put his faith into action from preaching in Union Square to South Africa to the West Indies to India and finally to Africa.

          He was tested many times.

          But he remained faithful.

          He was an amazing person living during the 1800s. Can you imagine San Francisco during this time? It was pre earthquake and during the gold rush.

          Here is his picture.

          John Wesley once said, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America.

          But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.

          And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

          What he meant was that we need to be willing to sacrifice—to give up something that you want to keep in order to get or do something else or to help someone.

          Geoff Van Loucks has a challenge for us. It is an opportunity to sacrifice.

Geoff,would you come forward?

Prayer

          As the world rushes by, O God, we want to slow down and find meaning in
you.

          In the age of information, may we stop and listen and empty ourselves to
find the simple and true message about your love for every human being.
          Create in us a place that is not touched by the world that calls us to rush,
hurry, consume and satisfy all our wants.

          Simplify our desires so that they become one with your desire for us.

          And when we are weary, give us the strength to find the quiet place that renews us for the days ahead.

          In your goodness, we pray the prayer of the ages that you have taught us saying…….