{"id":694,"date":"2023-06-25T22:40:04","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T22:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/?p=694"},"modified":"2023-09-29T19:37:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T19:37:20","slug":"gs10-abraham-and-isaac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/?p=694","title":{"rendered":"GS09 Abraham and Isaac"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>&nbsp;<strong>Abraham and Isaac: sacrifice and reward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;(Genesis 22.1-140. Matthew 10.40-42)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>St Peter&#8217;s Wellington; 2 July 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Bishop Richard Randerson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s first reading a shocker! <\/strong>What sort of God would require child sacrifice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet this is what God asked of Abraham, to sacrifice his son Isaac. This was about 1900 BC or BCE (before the common era, as we say today). &nbsp;It was in the age of the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and their wives Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Child sacrifice for sin was part of the culture of those days. God was testing Abraham\u2019s faith. Was his loyalty to God such that he would sacrifice even his only son? Was he fit to lead God\u2019s people to be a light to the nation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abraham passed the test and the Lord stayed the execution, thus outlawing child sacrifice as having no place in God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also note Isaac\u2019s obedience as successor to his father Abraham. Note too God\u2019s grace in providing a ram for sacrifice:&nbsp; the place was called \u201cGod will provide\u201d, in Hebrew. Jehovah Jireh. Abraham worshipped God there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The chapter goes on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Israel will become as numerous as the stars in the sky or as the grains of sand on a beach<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It will offer redemption to all nations (noted again in Isaiah 49)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A land is promised \u2013 Canaan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jacob\u2019s son Joseph becomes prominent with Pharaoh in Egypt and brings his family there. After 500 years there Moses leads the exodus hrough 40 years in the wilderness back to the promised land of Canaan(C 1400-1300 BCE).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Does God\u2019s call to sacrifice have a parallel with Jesus\u2019 death? Yes and No<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one way YES:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jesus\u2019 death on the cross was seen as the ultimate sacrifice to end all previous repetitive sacrifices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jesus seeks the same 100% loyalty of his followers (Peter: \u201cyou are the Christ, the son of the living God\u201d).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;And Jesus\u2019 death and resurrection also offers redemption to all nations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But in a major way NO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>God is a God of love, not punishment. No price has to be paid for sin. Jesus did not die for our sins. The concept of sacrifice for sin is superseded.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jesus\u2019 death was not required by God, although it was foreseen by Isaiah in the suffering servant figure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jesus\u2019 death resulted from a conspiracy of evil forces \u2013 political, religious and the crowd. &nbsp;Jesus spoke truth to power and was a threat to be eliminated. &nbsp;Jesus chose to drink the cup of suffering.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anglican theologian Tom Wright says the power of victimhood<\/strong> overthrows the power of the sword. The concept here is one of martyrdom \u2013 that those who suffer in the cause of justice and love become a witness for the faith to others. In Jesus such suffering and its life-changing power is held up for all to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For a brilliant podcast on Tom Wight\u2019s new book on Paul, in dialogue with Tom Holland, enter online <u>YouTube Tom Holland and Tom Wright&nbsp; <\/u>&nbsp;&#8211; 58 mins but worth every second.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s gospel<\/strong> continues the theme from Genesis that we are all called into an unqualified relationship with God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We become one with God through Christ.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&nbsp;It is not earned \u2013 it is pure gift; spontaneous, like love between two people<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cRewards\u201d to the prophets and righteous people are also pure gift (cf the labourers in vineyard Matthew 20.1-16)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cThe prophet\u2019s reward\u201d includes also exposure to persecution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The cup of water given to the least includes all on the margins in life and community. It also is pure gift with no return needed or sought.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So what is the take home message?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each of us is called\/invite into a central relationship with God<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Love is at the heart \u2013 pure mutual gift<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We are called to proclaim God\u2019s word and reach out to the community in mission<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Church IS mission, not just a programme run by the church. Just as a fire exists by burning. (Cf Richard Niebuhr in <em>Christ and Culture<\/em>: mission is not saving people OUT of the world but building God\u2019s reign IN the world).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We witness in our workplace, community, and personal networks by the kind of people we are &#8211; sensitive, compassionate, speaking the truth and working for justice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Rev. Wendy Scott\u2019s research showed that sharing faith with others occurs most naturally in context of meeting them at their point of need eg. in a conversation about needs and relationships, illness or loss..<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In all of this we are sustained by worship, prayer and meditation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Over 2000 years <\/strong>our understanding of God has grown:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>God does not require sacrifices for sin, let alone child sacrifices<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>God is a God of love, not retribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We are called to be channels of that love.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-1d5d478c-2b39-4e84-92c7-878cd7c9aa51\" href=\"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/StP-Abraham-and-Isaac.docx\">GS10 Abraham and Isaac<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/StP-Abraham-and-Isaac.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-1d5d478c-2b39-4e84-92c7-878cd7c9aa51\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;Abraham and Isaac: sacrifice and reward &nbsp;(Genesis 22.1-140. Matthew 10.40-42) St Peter&#8217;s Wellington; 2 July 2023 Bishop Richard Randerson Today\u2019s first reading a shocker! What sort of God would require child sacrifice? Yet this is what God asked of Abraham, to sacrifice his son Isaac. This was about 1900 BC or BCE (before the common [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general-sermons","8":"no-featured-image"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":731,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awordforallseasons.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}