5th Sunday in Lent March 21, 2010
Genesis 22:1-14 The Lord Will Provide!
Dear fellow redeemed,
"The Lord will provide!" Have you ever wanted to smack someone for saying that?
* Maybe you heard this said when you were laid off after thirty years of faithful service at the same company.
* Or it was said at the time your husband divorced you. You had just spent half your life standing by him "for better or worse, richer or poorer".
* Or it was said by some parishioner when your mother died at a young age. You could not imagine who could replace her and take care of you each day.
* "The Lord will provide!" You wondered at the time whether they really believed what they were telling you. Or where they simply feeding you some pious cliche? "Remember, you're a Christian, now", they seemed to be saying in their holier-than-thou talk.
* Maybe they were deluded, living in some fantasy world. Or maybe they felt just as helpless as you did, and they didn't know what else to say.
"The Lord will provide!" Maybe Isaac could relate to a certain extent.
* Was it really believable what his father, Abraham, was telling him?
He's told they're to go on this three day journey. The purpose? They shall travel to a special place designated by God and offer up the burnt offering.
* Well, this sounds important, important enough that when they arrived, a lamb would be waiting for them. But where is this creature?
* Sure, you've told me: "The Lord will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. " So, why have you bound me? Why are you placing me on this altar on top of the wood? Why are you reaching for your knife?
* Oh, I get it! I'm the sacrifice! You've just been doling out this religious talk to keep me quiet; to go along! God has given you this horrible command and you don't know what else to say to me!
We don't know exactly what was going through Isaac's mind, but we may assume in time that Abraham explained things to him, and his father's incredible test, became his test.
* Abraham's test had to do with: who did he love more, his son, or the Lord God. And so would Isaac be tested. Who did he trust more, himself; his own instincts, or God's Word? The latest Word was: the Lord will provide despite how impossible life's tests may seem.
* No doubt, Isaac trusted God's Word.
He would simply follow his father lead in this matter.
* And it didn't take too long to receive some reassurance in this matter.
There were Abraham's words to the two men who had accompanied them on the trip. Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. Both of them would return, he was saying.
* And then of course, there were his words to Isaac who in time had reason to be curious, wondering: Okay. How is this going to play out?
Where are we going to find a lamb for the sacrifice?
* Abraham assured him: God will provide for himself the lamb .
True Abraham had been commanded to offer up his son as the sacrifice.
But it was also true that Abraham believed the right kind of sacrifice would take place in the end.
* So it didn't matter what Isaac thought. His father had assured the servants they'd both return. And a lamb would be offered up as the proper offering.
But maybe more relevant is what was going through Abraham's mind.
* This test didn't make any sense. It was an impossible test. On the one hand, God had promised the Messiah would come from the seed of his son.
On the other hand, Abraham is commanded to sacrifice the same son.
* It seemed God was contradicting himself. So what was up here? Was God going back on his word? Had he been lying to Abraham up until now?
* Or maybe this command wasn't from God at all.
Maybe Satan was messing with him.
Or maybe this crazy scheme was a figment of Abraham's overly active imagination. Perhaps he was delusional and living in some fantasy land.
* As with Isaac, we don't know Abraham s exact thoughts.
But had he been thinking any one of these things, we may presume he was listening to his reason rather than God's Word.
We may be reminded of the Jews in today's Gospel reading.
* They set out to test Jesus, using their reason to prove that he has a demon.
But as Jesus did so routinely, he turns the tables and ends up testing them.
* Did they really know who he was? He says to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
* Well, that was quite a promise, they thought. Now, we know that you have a demon! Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who died?
* And sometimes we too doubt things are adding up as the Lord has assured us. You've made me quite a promise, Lord, telling me you'll provide your support even under the current circumstances.
* Look at me! I've got cancer! Are you greater than the wages of sin that brings death for everyone on earth?
* Are you stronger than the forces of sin and evil which have caused my daughter to disown me, my business to go bankrupt, that recent accident to cripple a loved one?
* What will you provide? How am I supposed to believe you?
Well, if we think we have a case against God by our superior reasoning, let's return to our lesson.
* Think about this. What God in heaven could see any possible benefit coming from this man killing his son? So, Abraham should be tested!
But slaughter his only born son?! Why?
* To demonstrate to Abraham and all future children of Abraham that reason cannot find the answers God would give us.
Only his Word can give us such answers.
* Because reason is corrupted by sin, reason is inclined to see man as the solution to his problems, rather than God. That s why we need God's tests.
God must show us that reason often times only leads us off course.
* It's possible Abraham, Sarah and even Isaac had slipped into some'very faulty reasoning concerning Isaac s future. It's conceivable they had come to believe that Isaac himself was the Messiah.
* That's why Abraham's test was necessary. What the Lord would teach them instead, is that Isaac wasn't worthy of this remarkable blessing.
No. He was deserving of the same judgment as any other sinner.
Even so, it may hardly seem fair. The most important tests in life, are the ones for which we don't have a chance to study. So how do we pass such a test?
* There is only one other possibility.
Instead of relying on our reason, we trust in God's promises.
* Recall what Abraham declares - both in the opening'verse and when he's about to take his knife to slay his son.
Here am I. he says with unbending determination to listen to God's voice.
And he could listen and would listen. That was the point!
* This test would not teach the Lord what he needed to know about Abraham.
It would teach Abraham what he needed to know about the Lord.
* After being told not to lay his hand on the boy, Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. God was true to his Word. He always provides what he promises.
And our tests teach us the same thing.
* Never is our future placed in jeopardy when we listen to God!
No matter where his Word seems to be leading us and no matter how crazy or dangerous it may appear, he will provide and deliver us from life s tests.
* And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out, so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
* There are many times when the road in front of us seems to be leading in one direction, with one possible destination, taking us to our doom.
* However, the solution to every impossible test is Christ.
Like Abraham we simply lift our eyes and look and behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
* We see our substitute and every one of life s tests is solved.
We see our sin covered by the blood of our Savior, and we believe our Lord has provided. And all is well!
To be assured of this is why God's people for many generations have come to his house. This is where we get to see the Lamb.
* It's why Abraham was willing to make the long journey to the land of Moriah. Unless the lamb made his appearance, not only was his son in serious danger, so was his faith.
* The lamb for the burn offering, you see, is what defined the people's religion.
It's what it meant to be a believer. The animal was slain for their sin.
And if you believed in the promise connected to this sacrifice which pointed to your future redeemer, you received forgiveness of sins.
* This Abraham knew. There was no such thing as true worship without the Lamb. True and God-pleasing worship was not about human sacrifices.
It was about the Lamb who made the people of God holy in his sight.
And it's no different today. The divine service is not about our sacrifices; what we give God. It's about what God gives us.
* The divine service is where we find the Lamb and where the Lord provides forgiveness for every last sin.
* And did you happen to notice that the Lamb of God does appear in today's reading? Answer this: who provides the substitute sacrifice?
* It s the angel of the Lord! That's'very interesting, for the Old Testament's references to the angel of the Lord is none other than Christ.
* So it was Christ who offered a substitute for Isaac, just as it is Christ who offers himself as our substitute! In both cases it's the Lord who provides.
He provides for our rescue from sin and death.
* That means no matter how bleak things appear to you today, God's going to take care of you. Everything's going to be fine! The Lord will provide!
Do those words sound like something from a fantasy-based fable?
If so, maybe you'll appreciate hearing about the milkmaid and her pail.
* A farmer's daughter had been out to milk the cows, and was returning to the dairy carrying her pail of milk upon her head. As she walked along, she began musing to herself: The milk in this pail will provide me with cream, which I will make into butter and take to the market to sell.
* With the money I'll then buy a number of eggs, and these, when hatched, will produce chickens. Then I shall sell them and with the money they bring in I will buy myself a new gown, which I shall wear when I go to the fair; and all the young fellows will admire it, and come to me.
But I shall toss my head and have nothing to say to them.
* Forgetting all about the pail in her deep musing, the farmer's daughter did toss her head. And down went the pail, all the milk was spilled, and all her fine castles in the air vanished in a moment! The moral?
* Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
Is that what you shall deduce when the Lord gets you thinking about what will be?
* It seems'very nice and all, the Lord dying for me and then promising he'll take care of me today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter.
But I better not count my chickens yet!
* That's what many in this world would tell you, to be sure.
They think of you as that overly pious and delusional believer.
Their opinion, they base on your regular attendance at the divine service.
* You get up early on Sunday morning. You go through the aggravation and stress of getting ready for church. You drive to Triune God believing in your heart and soul that everything will be fine. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt 6:33).
Is that what you shall think about God's promises?
It s too early to count them; too early to count on them?
* No. When God tells us: "The Lord will provide!" the Lord will indeed provide.
He who gave up his own Son for the sins of the world, will give you today his forgiveness in his Word and Sacrament. And he will give you tomorrow what you need tomorrow for your body and soul.
* No. There's nothing delusional about what you believe or what I'm declaring in the Lord's behalf. Am I telling you this because I don't know what else to say to all you who are destined to die some day?
* No. I say it because the Lord promises it. To say nothing about what your reason or your gut may tell you, this is what God's Word tells you!
The Lord will provide! Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.