No Greater Love - Remembrance Sunday Talk 2016 (John 15:9-17)

Introduction

National Memorial Arboretum

• Two monuments:
• Armed Forces Memorial – opened by Queen in 2007.
• Honours those members of the Armed Forces who were killed since WW2.

 

• Shot at Dawn Memorial
• Commemorates the 306 British Army and Commonwealth soldiers executed after courts-martial for desertion and other capital offences during World War I.
• Captain Julian Bickersteth – served as Chaplain During WW1, was mentioned twice in dispatches & awarded Military Cross in 1918 for “distinguished service in the Field". He wrote a moving letter to his mother about spending a night in a prison cell with a soldier who was going to be shot at dawn for desertion

He sat down heavily on a chair…. I took a chair and sat next to him. 'I am going to stay with you and do anything I can for you. If you'd like to talk, we will, but if you would rather not, we'll sit quiet.' … Suddenly I hear great heaving sobs and the prisoner breaks down and cries. In a second I lean over close to him, as he hides his face in his hands, and in a low voice I talk to him…. How can I reach his soul? I get out my Bible and read to him something from the Gospel. It leaves him unmoved. He is obviously uninterested and my attempt to talk a little about what I have read leaves him cold…. I get out an army prayer- book, which contains at the end about 130 hymns, and handing him the book, ask him to read through the part at the end, so that, if he can find a hymn he knows, I can read it to him. He hits on Rock of Ages and asks, not if I will read it to him, but if we can sing it… and we sat there and sang hymns together for three hours or more… Oh! how we sang — hymn after hymn…. All night I sat by his side…. At 3.00 a.m. I watched the first beginnings of dawn through the window. At 3.30 a.m. I heard the tramp tramp of the Firing Party marching down the road…. While his breakfast was being brought up, we knelt together in prayer. I commended him to God and we said together the Lord's Prayer… 'Is it time to go?' he said. `Yes, it is time. I will stay close to you.'… I held the prisoner's arm tight for sympathy's sake. Reaching the house, the police immediately hand-cuffed the man and the Doctor blindfolded him… I said a short prayer and led him the 10 or 12 paces out into the yard, where he was at once bound to a stake. I whispered in his ear `Safe in the arms of Jesus', and he repeated quite clearly 'Safe in the arms of Jesus'…. In three or four seconds the Firing Party had done their work. Poor lads — I was sorry for them. They felt it a good deal and I followed them out of the yard at once and spoke to them and handed them cigarettes… we took the body in a motor ambulance to the nearest cemetery, where I had a burial party waiting, and we gave his body Christian burial. (Taken from 'The Bickersteth Diaries 1914-1918')

• In 2007 the Armed Forces Act 2006 was passed, pardoning posthumously the 306 soldiers shot during WW1.

• These monuments, like war memorials up & down the country help us to remember the cost of war, and for us to not take for granted the freedoms we enjoy today.
• Remembering is important.
• When the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God instructed Joshua to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, and take a stone from the Jordan River and put them down at the place where they were to spend the night. In order to serve as a sign.  So that

‘when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?” tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel for ever.”’ (Joshua 4:6-7)

• This pile of rocks, was to remind the people of Israel how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and brought them to freedom in the promised land.
• At the heart of the Christian faith stands an even greater, more powerful symbol of God’s love for us, and that is the cross.
• In our reading from John’s Gospel, Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
• That is what Jesus did for us, when he laid down his life for us on the cross.
• Apostle John wrote ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)
• Paul writes ‘God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8)
• Through his death on the cross & his resurrection Jesus has led us:
• from slavery to sin to freedom in Christ
• from darkness to light
• from despair to hope
• from alienation to reconciliation
• from death to life

As the words of the song Amazing Love, expresses it:

My Lord, what love is this That pays so dearly That I, the guilty one May go free!

Amazing love, O what sacrifice The Son of God given for me My debt He paid, and my death He died That I might live, that I might live That I might live!

How do we respond to such love?

• First of all we need to remain in God’s love.
• “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” (John 15:9)
• What does this mean exactly?
• First of all it is about knowing & loving God
• When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment of all, he answered. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’ (Luke 10:27)
• You cannot love someone you don’t know, so knowing God should be our first priority, and the way we get to know someone is by spending time in their company. And with God we do this through study of His word, and through prayer & worship.
• But it doesn’t end there.
• Jesus makes it clear, to remain in his love is also about OBEDIENCE.
• “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love….  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:10, 12)
• Jesus commands us to love one another. That is why Jesus after saying we should love God, goes on to say love your neighbour as yourself.
• Love starts with God, but then moves out to those around us.
• The Apostle John said this:  ^‘If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.’ (1 John 4:20) 

Jesus Our Model 

• As Christian’s, we look to Jesus, who is our role model, and guide. Love each other AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.
• If we are serious about loving people like Jesus, it will be costly, because Jesus is the one who called us to ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ (Matthew 5:44) And he is the one who laid down his life for us, out of love for us.

A Divided World 

• We live in a very divided society and divided world. We’ve seen this in this country following the Brexit vote, and in America with the presidential election, and the tension and fear that exists between different people.
• As God’s people, we are called to commit ourselves to the task of peace, in our church, in our community, amongst our family & friends and in the world at large.
• If we want to see peace in our lives & peace in our world, then we need to take seriously Jesus’ instruction to love one another.
• Mothering Theresa said 'Not all of us can do great things. But we can all do small things with great love.'
• There was an old man who used to walk along the beach every morning. Early one morning, walking along the beach after a big storm had passed, he found the beach littered with star fish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance the old man noticed a small boy who would bend down, pick up an object and throw it into the ea. As the boy came closer the old man called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto teach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves, and when the sun gets high, they will de unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t be able to make much of a difference.” The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it back into the ocean. Then he turned and smiled and said “It made a difference to that one.”

How do we make a difference in the world?  Loving one person at a time.

So let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.

Let us strive for all that makes for peace.

Let us seek to heal the wounds of division.

Let us work for a just future for all humanity.

And let us do this, by following the example of our crucified saviour who calls us to love one another, as he has loved us, knowing as Julian reminded the soldier, that we are ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus’. 

Abraham & Isaac: Genesis 22:1-18

Introduction

Although S and J were very happily married, there was one thing they desired more than anything else, to have children.  But despite lots of attempts, including IVF, they were unable to conceive.  Over several years I and many others prayed that God would bless S and J with children.    

It was therefore with immense joy, when one day S took out his phone and said “I have something to show you.”  On the phone was a photo of an ultra sound scan, taken that same morning of not one, but two babies that his wife J was expecting.  The birth of their twins brought immense joy. 

Abraham and Sarah

For Abraham and Sarah the wait to have a child of their own took even longer.  Abraham was 75 when he first received God’s call, and the promise that God would bless him and make him into a great nation (Genesis 12:2).  But Abraham and his wife Sarah had to wait another 25 years, before their son Isaac was born, by which time Abraham was 100 years old. 

When Isaac was born, there was much joy and celebrating. 

Why therefore would God some years later say to Abraham “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22:2) 

This passage of scripture has been wrestled over, and debated for centuries by Jewish and Christian theologians.  Few Scriptures have provoked more anguish, more controversy and commentary, than this passage.  Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen have even composed songs about it!    

Child Sacrifice and The Bible

The Bible is clear in its denunciation of child sacrifice, which was common practice amongst the Canaanite religions.  For example it states in Deuteronomy 12:31 “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” (see also Leviticus 20:1-5)

Why then would God test Abraham by telling him to do something which is so detestable?  And why doesn’t Abraham question this instruction.  In Genesis 18, Abraham pleads with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah, why therefore does he not plead for the life of his son?  As a parent I would do everything in my power to protect my children from harm, why doesn’t Abraham turn round to God and say “No – this is something I will not do.”  This passage raises lots of difficult and uncomfortable questions, which cannot be easily answered.

But because we find this story disturbing doesn’t mean we can simply dismiss it.  In fact the more we look into it, the more it has to teach us, even if it does leave some unanswered questions.

Being Put To the Test

God was putting Abraham’s faithfulness and loyalty to the test.  It is one thing to say you love God above all else, but do you really?  But this was a test that was contrary both to human reason – there is nothing more abhorrent than the thought of a parent murdering their child – and divine promise, it was through Isaac that God had promised to bless Abraham.

Why did Abraham not simply refuse to go through with this test?  Why did he not say to God, I’m not prepared to do this? 

Trust

The answer I think lies in the fact that over the years Abraham had learned many tough lessons about the importance of obeying God.  And he had also learnt that even if what God was calling him to do made no sense, GOD COULD BE TRUSTED.  It was because he trusted God, that he was able to obey Him (see Hebrews 11:17-19). 

But this story illustrates that obedience to God can be a struggle.  Putting aside our will and submitting to God’s will is one of the hardest lessons we need to learn in the Christian faith.  Obedience can only come once we’ve learnt to trust God.

The clue that Abraham trusted that God would somehow intervene, can be seen in the fact that he says to his servants “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (22:5)  And when Isaac asks about the lack of sacrifice, Abraham responds “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” (22:8)

As Abraham journeyed to Mount Moriah, he would surely have remembered the promises God had given him to bless him (see Genesis 17:15-16), and the times when God had seen him through difficulties. 

When times are tough, when God feels distant, or we are being called to do something that scares us, something that takes us out of our comfort zone, it’s good to remember the promises God has given us in the past, both in Scripture and personally.  It helps to remind us that God is faithful, and will not fail us.  As it says in Proverbs, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart.’ (Proverbs 3:5)

The test for Abraham was, is he willing to put God first, even above the love for his son?  Jesus issued a similar challenge when he said "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26).  God wants our total love, service and devotion.  One of the questions this story asks us to consider is, how much would I be prepared to sacrifice for the sake of God?  Where does God come in my life? 

Isaac and Jesus

We’ve considered Abraham’s response, but what about Isaac?  Isaac has a rather passive role in the story.  I’m left wondering, why when it became apparent that he was to be the intended sacrifice, did he not struggle against his father, or call for help.  Abraham was an old man, surely it wouldn’t have taken much for Isaac to escape his father’s grasp and flee.  Could it be that Isaac submitted to all that was taking place?  And if so why?

To understand the answer to this question, we need to look to the New Testament.  Because the New Testament tells a very similar story to the one we are looking at today.  That story is of course about Jesus.

There are striking similarities between the story of Abraham and Isaac and the story of Jesus.

Isaac is called ‘your son, your only son whom you love.’  At Jesus’ baptism, a voice from heaven declares “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17).  Jesus is God’s only beloved son.

As Isaac carried the wood for the burnt offering.  So Jesus’ carried his cross to the place of execution.

Abraham and Isaac travelled Mount Moriah, where the Jerusalem Temple would one day be built, and near to where Jesus would be crucified. 

The journey to Mount Moriah took Abraham and Isaac three days.  Jesus would spend three days in the tomb.

With the provision of a ram, as a substitute for Isaac, Abraham renames Mount Moriah Jehovah Jireh, ‘The Lord will provide’ (Genesis 22:14).  It was in this same place two thousand years later that Jesus, sent by the Father, became our substitute by laying down his life for us on the cross.

Conclusion

It is Jesus’ death on the cross that ultimately enables me to make sense of the story of Abraham and Isaac.  It was out of love for us, that God the Father sent his son Jesus into the world, and why Jesus was willing to submit to death on the cross.

Although the story of Abraham and Isaac still leaves many questions to be answered, it is a fundamentally a story about faithfulness, obedience and love, as shown by Abraham to God, and most importantly that God shows to us.  Because ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16)  As God provided us with a saviour in Jesus, so he continues to provide for us.  As Paul writes, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Let us pray.

E100 Bible Reading Challenge: The Final Days of Jesus, The Crucifixion (68)

John 19:1-42

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’ When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.’ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’

 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, ‘Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?’ Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’ From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.’

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in HebrewGabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, ‘Here is your King!’ They cried out, ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but the emperor.’ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews.” ’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’ When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfil what the scripture says,

‘They divided my clothes among themselves,
   and for my clothing they cast lots.’
And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.(He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.’

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

- - - - - -

Paid In Full

KEY THOUGHT

Jesus’ death on the Cross completed his God-given mission.

OVERVIEW

Just before he died, Jesus shouted, “It is finished” (19.30). In the Greek, the literal meaning of the word Jesus used was, “Paid in full.” It was the same word that was stamped on a paid invoice. Instead of a dying gasp, Jesus’ last word was a triumphant shout, “I’ve paid the price, the full price for all time for the sins of the world. Death no longer has the final say. The kingdom of darkness is defeated. I’ve completed my mission. It is finished!”

CHALLENGE

BECAUSE OF THE CROSS, YOUR DEBT OF SIN CAN BE PAID IN FULL.

Wedding Talk Colossians 3:12-17 & 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Peter and Germa

I love weddings, and it is a great privilege for me to be able to conduct Peter and Germa’s wedding today.  Today we are doing several things, firstly we are celebrating the love Peter and Germa have for one another.  We are also looking ahead to what the future holds for them as husband and wife, but most importantly of all we are asking for God’s blessing to be upon them as they begin this new and exciting chapter in their lives together. 

But what does it mean to love someone?  Here’s what some children had to say. 

Bobby age 8 said, "Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I have been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me."

Rebecca - age 8  "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

Chrissy - age 6 "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Terri - age 4  "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

When asked what most people think when they say “I love you” Michelle age 9 said "The person is thinking: Yes, I really do love him. But I hope he showers at least once a day."

Finally, some sound advice on how to make a marriage last. 

Erin, age 8 said "Don't forget your wife's name...That will mess up the love."

Dave, age 8.  "Be a good kisser. It might make your wife forget that you never take out the rubbish."

Needless to say, weddings are very special occasions, and so we make a special effort to look our best – and I am sure you will agree with me that Germa looks beautiful.

Now, although I’m a man, and therefore don’t know much about these things, I do know that a lot of thought goes into choosing the right wedding outfit, particularly the bride’s dress.   But how does one dress for success in a marriage? What is the secret for creating a long, happy and fulfilling marriage?

Paul in his letter to the Colossians has some suggestions for a marriage wardrobe. “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness and love.  These are the things you should clothe yourself in, if you want a good, lifelong marriage.

Love requires time & commitment

True love and isn’t just about emotions and feelings, true love is about commitment and sacrifice.  

Louis de Berniere in his book Captain Correlli’s Mandolin, writes the following: 

Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day… No.  That is just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do.  Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away…  Your mother & I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.

To build a loving lasting relationship takes time & effort.  The Christian understanding of love is that love is not so much an abstract noun as an active verb.  Love involves doing.  It is not only what we say, but what we do, that counts.  Marriage is more than finding the right person. It is about learning to be the right person.

True love means putting the needs of the other person before yourself, and that is not always easy.  For your relationship to grow and develop, it will need to be nurtured and cared for, and that requires commitment and hard work.  But the more you invest in your marriage, the more valuable it will become.  

I came across this quote which said: “All things need watching, working at, caring for, and marriage is no exception. Marriage is not something to be indifferently treated or abused, or something that simply takes care of itself. All things need attention, care and concern, and especially so in this most sensitive of all relationships of life.

Remember to build each other up, to strengthen and sustain, to keep companionship lovely and alive. Remember dignity and respect; understanding; not expecting perfection; a sense of humor and a sense of what is sacred and serious; common purposes, common convictions, and the character to keep a covenant - in these are the making of a good and solid marriage.”

At the beginning of the service I began with the words, God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.  If you want to know what true love is like you only need to look to God.   God is the source of all love.  In God we see what love truly is like.  God's love for us is unconditional; no matter what we say or do his love for us never diminishes.  God's love does not keep a record of wrongs, and it is totally self-giving.  This is how we know what love is really like. 

Paul, in his letter the Corinthians wrote these words about love. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

For Paul these words are not sentimental idealism.  For Paul it was practical, real and true.  He had encountered this kind of love for himself in his relationship with Jesus. 

A few years ago whilst on holiday with my family we visited the Historic Dockyard in Chatham.  There we saw the ropery, where they have been making rope since 1618.  We watched as they made the rope, which was made by twisting three cords around each other.  The reason this rope was made of three cords, is because one or two cords can be easily broken, but three cords woven together cannot be easily broken.

Marriage is like a three-stranded cord. One cord is the husband. Another cord is the wife. A third cord is the Jesus. On your own, Peter and Germa, you can be easily broken. Together, you acquire more strength. But when you build your marriage around Jesus, you become three cords woven together which are much stronger.

My experience is that the love of God is practical, real and true, and has the power to transform lives.  And you cannot build your marriage on a better foundation than the love of God found in Jesus Christ. 

Peter and Germa as you begin this journey of marriage, my prayer is that you will discover true love in all its dimensions, in each other, but also in the one in whom we experience it most clearly, Jesus Christ, the source and the model of all love. 

So, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Amen.

The E100 Bible Reading Challenge: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: Isaac's Birth & 'Sacrifice' (8)

Genesis 21:1—22:19

21The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. ²Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.³Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. ⁴And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” ⁸The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ¹⁰So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” ¹¹The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. ¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. ¹³As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. ¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²At that time Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do; ²³now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have resided as an alien.” ²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, ²⁶Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” ²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. ²⁸Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock. ²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” ³⁰He said, “These seven ewe lambs you shall accept from my hand, in order that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” ³¹Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there both of them swore an oath. ³²When they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. ³⁴And Abraham resided as an alien many days in the land of the Philistines.

22After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ²He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” ⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. ⁹When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹²He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place “The Lordwill provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, ¹⁸and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

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Strange But True

KEY THOUGHT

Abraham’s “sacrifice” foreshadows God’s sacrifice of Jesus.

OVERVIEW

God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac (Gen. 22.2) and Abraham wastes no time obeying. As the tension mounts in front of the altar, Abraham unwittingly prophesies God’s plan of salvation when he says “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” (Gen. 22.8). God did provide the lamb for Abraham. He also provided the

Lamb, his only son Jesus Christ as the once and for all sacrifice for our sins.

CHALLENGE

WILL YOU ACCEPT GOD’S INVITATION AND RECEIVE HIS SALVATION?