The Worst Story in the Bible . . .

. . . is the Akedah, or commonly called The Binding of Isaac. It is found in Genesis 22:1-14. If you don't know it, the story goes like this: God commands Abraham to go to the "holy mountain" and there to build an altar upon which to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. This is the SAME son that God has promised to be the heir of the covenant, and through whom children too numerous to count will descend. (The logic, then, of God making such a demand is questionable). As the story goes, Abraham does as commanded, and the boy (we don't know how old he was but we know he could walk) Isaac accompanies his father, carrying the wood for the altar fire. When they get to the appointed place, Abraham does as he is charged: he binds the boy, lays him on the altar and hoists the knife to kill him. But just in time, an Angel of the Lord appears and directs Abraham to a ram caught in the brambles nearby. The ram is sacrificed instead.
I hate this story!
What was God thinking????
It is an abhorent request. As a mother, it infuriates me. I can only imagine what Sarah must have thought -- if she ever even knew.
Through the centuries, Jews, Christians and Muslims all have tried to unlock its meaning. It is in the Qu'ran, too. Most argue it is a story of Abraham's obedience and faith, that God knew what God was doing in making that request. There are some who offer it was Abraham rather than God who was doing the testing. Perhaps. Some argue that it was the ancient Hebrew's way of condemning what was common practice among the Semitic people of the era (1500+/- B.C.E.): child sacrifice. The One True God, YHWH, rather than demanding child sacrifice as the pagan gods were thought to do, actually was against it and not shy about proving that. Interesting. Maybe . . . ? I rather adhere to another interpretation: that God was pushing Abraham (and us) to turn loose of what we hold dearest in the world, entrusting it to God's faithful care. That makes more sense to me. I guess you could argue that interpretation is about faith, as well. But it also is about trust -- trusting that there is nothing, no one in our lives that we can love more than God loves them. I like that . . . because it is not only reassuring, it is also convicting. It is a warning against idolatry in whatever form it presents itself, that is -- turning ourselves, or others, or things into 'gods' in our lives, making them the central focus of our existence, instead of the One who created us and calls us to service for good. To understand that interpretation, we need to view sacrifice not as "killing" but rather as "freeing up." I like it, too, because it seems like that is exactly what God did those centuries later, on Calvary. There, the One so precious to God, God's own Incarnate Son, was loosed to the world. It didn't turn out so well, either. There was no ram caught in the brambles at Golgotha. Yet, in that real and grizzly sacrifice -- in the "killing" sense of the word -- God gave to us the possibility for eternal freedom in God and God alone. Maybe, then, the Akedah is the Second Worst Story in the Bible -- but ties with the Cross for turning out the best.
Talk amongst yourselves . . . and let me know what you think.
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The Work of Creation __________________...

Fill in the blank.
The work of creation -- goes on.
The work of creation -- is finished.
The work of creation -- is described in Genesis, blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . .
The work of creation -- is boring.
The work of creation -- is evolving.
The work of creation -- is just a story.
The work of creation -- is amazing.
And so on.
This weeks Scripture passage takes us back to the very taproot of the Bible: Genesis 1-2:4a. It is the story of how and why God created the world. Not much about when, however. Timeframe -- we just don't know. It speaks of a God so magnificent and powerful as to be ABLE to create something/everything out of a big black hole. It speaks of a God so meticulous as to be able to PLAN that all things work together for the good of that same creation. It speaks of a God so involved with this creation that there is NO LINE OF SEPARATION from it. It speaks of a
God so pleased with the work as to prounounce it, over and over and over again, "GOOD!" How does it feel to be a part of that creation, still? Don't think about it much? Maybe you should . . . because it is pretty overwhelming that the same God who made all of this, cared enough for it to dive into to it full-force in the person of Jesus of Nazareth -- no matter the consequences. It is also pretty reassuring to know that the same God who made it, and cares so much for it, is still involved, active and present -- with no plans to turn it or us looose. This Sunday, June 19th, is Trinity Sunday: Creator/Redeemer/Sustainer = One God = Our God. Father/Son/Holy Spirit.
Come, and give thanks for YOUR creation as we worship together, and remember our partnership in it with God that we sometimes -- oftentimes -- forget.
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Carried Away

I just got home from a brief trip to Las Vegas, a gift to my daughter as a belated 21st birthday present. I have never been to Vegas, and it was quite an experience. I don't gamble. Rarely drink, and usually champagne if at all. I don't shop at high-end expensive shops like Gucci and Versace. I do love Broadway shows and we saw two. I also love the desert air, and it was wonderful. But I got completely carried away by two things: Hoover Dam and people watching. I'd always seen pictures of Hoover Dam, but never have been there. It is such a magnificent testimony not only to human ingenuity, but also to the role government can and should play in a crisis. It was a WPA project in the Depression and put thousands of people back to work in it the 1930's and early 1940's in its construction. A magnificent sight, to be sure. I also got carried away watching people come and go from various perches around Vegas: lunch at the grand hotels, on the sidelines in the casinos, walking up and down the strip. I saw lots of other people "carried away" by booze, drugs, solicitation, overindulgence, overspending, and of course, losses at the gaming tables. You name the human sin, and Vegas has an opportunity for it -- in spades. It dawned on me that Jesus got carried away, too. Literally, on a cross. Literally, up from a grave. Literally, up into heaven on that mountaintop after his resurrection. This Sunday is Ascension Sunday, when we remember that this Incarnate Son of God got carried away, back to the place from which he had come. But he left one thing as a great act of trust: us. He placed the future of his Reign in this world in the hands of disciples who, on any given day, get carried to places we dare not even imagine. Yet, that is what he did, with the great assurance of his final words: "I am with you until the end of time."
When have you been "carried away"? Talk amongst yourselves . . . and come to worship on Sunday, when we'll celebrate this Feast in style and remembrance.
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