Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14; Romans 6:12-23
These are two of the foundational scripture texts of the Christian faith. They are also
two passages many of us try to avoid. Who among us wants to believe in a God that would
command a father to sacrifice his son? And who among us would ever want to be a slave? But
if we struggle with these passages, we find a thread that links them together, a thread
that links us to the One from whom all blessings flow, the One who provides for all our
needs, the One in whom we find our freedom and our life.
Some years ago, I encountered a quote from Martin Luther that became in my soul like a
small pebble in my shoe. I didn't want to believe it was true. Like a pebble, I would work
it out of the way for awhile. Then without warning, it would start to trouble and puzzle
me once again, wanting to be recognized, claiming to be true. The quote was something to
the effect that our God is that for which we would sacrifice our children. The quote
probably comes from a sermon or commentary that Luther wrote on the Old Testament story we
just read about Abraham nearly sacrificing Isaac.
For years, I didn't want to believe there was any circumstance under which I would
sacrifice my children. I would lay my life down for them in an instant. But as the years
have gone by, and that pebble keeps returning, I've realized Luther is right.
Although we don't tie our children to altars, we do sacrifice them every day to one god
or another. This is not a sermon on interfaith dialogue. I'm talking about the gods that
you and I as Christians are tempted to worship and follow in our life, with our time, our
money, and our dreams, and to whom we sacrifice the children of this earth, whether ours
by birth or not.
Lest you think I'm speaking of delusional parents who believe God is telling them to
harm their children, let me give you some examples.
Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Xerox - each day brings new revelations about more executives
who followed the gods of greed and power, sacrificing their own children and those of
their employees and communities on the altar of ego.
Or consider the recently appointed and replaced football coach at Notre Dame who lied
about his qualifications, and the parents who forced a school board to accept their
students' plagiarized essays even as teachers resigned in mass protest against the Board's
acquiescence in dishonesty. Each week brings more stories of people who follow the gods of
greed and power, giving up their critical roles as mentors and models for a good, civil,
and respectful community. They sacrifice not only themselves, but their children and the
children of the community to these gods of greed and power.
We too, are tempted to follow these same gods. And although our idols are not apt to be
exposed on the front page of the newspaper, they do have destructive consequences that we
hate to admit. So we long to hear again the witness of the faith that calls us back into
the footsteps of those who have gone before. Stories of sacrifice for a different god that
remind of us the path we too, can walk, the choices we too, can make.
As we remember this week the birthday of our country, let us remember its roots: that
hundreds of years ago, faithful Christians left Europe to establish what they hoped would
be a holy city, a new community rooted and grounded in Christian faith and values on the
shores of what they called, the New World. That vision of a Christian community was so
important to them, they risked their children's dying on ship or in the New World in order
to make that vision a reality.
This is the country for which my father and many others have been willing to sacrifice
themselves and, therefore, potentially sacrifice their children, because they believe this
is God's vision of how we are to live. This is the vision to which God calls us this
Fourth of July, a Fourth of July that seems so different from just one year ago. This is
the vision for which we are to sacrifice ourselves and our loved ones, the vision of life
to which God calls us and that sets us all free:
- a vision of a country and a world where no child is hungry,
- where no one lives in fear of bombs or beatings,
- where justice is fair and equal,
- where hard work is rewarded with a living wage and there is no such thing as the working
poor;
- a country where each person honors the earth from which we receive our food and water,
the air we breathe and the oceans that sustain our life;
- a country where each member uses their gifts for the common good, not merely to line
their own pockets and build their own bank accounts;
- a country where we give freely in ordinary times and times of crisis and the best of
ourselves is seen often and fully.
This is the vision of God's world for which Martin Luther King, Jr. was willing to
sacrifice his family during the Civil Rights Movement, as he received death threats
against his wife and children and had to decide whether to risk their lives by continuing
in what he believed to be God's call for him, or to seal his mouth and disappear into the
night.
Our choices are not usually as clear as my father's or Martin Luther King's, or the
Pilgrims', or even Martin Luther's in the 16th century. But we do choose each day, whom we
will serve, and if we want to put it most baldly, like a pebble in the soul or a plumb
line against which to measure our life, we choose each day to whom we will sacrifice the
children of this world, both those that are ours by birth and those that are not.
The Apostle Paul puts these choices in terms of making ourselves slaves to the world or
slaves to God. It is hard to imagine a less inviting image for the Christian life than
that of slavery. No one ever wants to be a slave . . . you don't, I don't, no one does in
our time or in Paul's. No one wants to give up their freedom and be subject to the will of
someone else. As hard as it is for modern Americans to imagine ourselves as sheep with
Jesus as our shepherd, it is even more difficult to convince us that we want to be slaves.
Paul lived in a part of the world, and in a time when slavery was common. People knew
what it meant to be a slave - your deeds, your energy, your time were not your own, they
were for the benefit of someone else. No one wanted to be a slave, but everyone knew what
it meant.
When Paul says that we are either slaves to the world or slave to God, he means that
none of us is free in the way we think we are. We are either obedient to God or we are,
consciously or unconsciously, obedient to and driven by the compulsions and impulses that
so easily destroy us and our communities. The Christian life calls us to a conscious way
of living that promotes community and openness, sharing of our lives and resources and
selves with others, humility in the face of those with whom we disagree, and courage in
the face of evil. The Christian life is not a set of rules that enslaves us, but a way of
being and a focus on God who really, truly, does set us free.
As much as I struggle with a story of sacrifice, as much as I rebel against the
language of slavery and obedience, I see that the truth of the story is evident in my
life, and it can be in yours as well. When I dare to trust God, when I dare to place that
which is most important to me in God's hands, when I dare to put my future with God, not
knowing where it will take me nor what the price will be, I discover blessings beyond my
greatest imagining, I discover vistas I never thought I would see, I discover
relationships I never dreamed would grace my life. Much as God provided the ram for
Abraham and Isaac to sacrifice, I discover all I have needed, God's hand has provided.
We make choices each day of our life, and when our choices are faithful to God's
purposes, they lead to health and goodness, to wholeness and peace. Not the clutter on the
surface, but rather, all our true needs are provided.
It's as if there are two ways of living in the world, but it takes the eyes of faith to
see their reality, and to recognize that they are the consequences of the choices we make
and the god we choose to follow. Paul's words are convoluted, the Genesis story, bizarre.
Let me therefore put before us two pictures of where I believe our choices lead us.
If I take the first path, if I follow the tempting gods too numerous to name today, I
stand freely and boldly, confidently and triumphantly on a hill, unafraid of anyone who
would draw close, for I am strong, invincible and mighty.
But the landscape around me is burned out and barren, there are no people in sight, no
hint of warmth or comfort, no water or shade. My bravado covers a fear of being
vulnerable, a fear of trusting anyone, and a deep longing that I cannot even name.
I find myself filled with envy and anxiety, fear and anger, seeking my own good at all
cost, protecting myself from others that could hurt me, ignoring the needs of all whom I
don't want to acknowledge even exist. I have worked hard and climbed to the top of the
highest hill. I am in charge of my life. It is a harsh and desolate territory I have
conquered and of which I am now the ruler. The Apostle Paul would say my victory is
actually death.
There is another possibility, another God whom I can follow other than the lesser gods
the world puts before me.
When I follow that God, I live and love in a way that is whole and genuine, in a way
that stands up for myself and honors who I am. It is that which gives me life, and does
the same for others.
I live and love in a way that doesn't need to hide, feels joy and sorrow, both gives
and receives. I can give away freely what I have, for I know my true needs are not
material goods. I am nurtured by friendships where I am vulnerable, honest, and secure in
myself. Once again, I find myself on a hill, but this time, I love in a way that invites
my dear ones to be with me on that hill, where the dry ground has become lush and green,
the breeze blows gently, the shade tree is nearby, the picnic basket always full, our
hearts strong and brave and unafraid, but soft towards one another, and the blanket large
enough to welcome others who come up the hill to join us.
This is the freedom to which we are called, the eternal life we are offered. "Choose
this day whom you will serve," says Joshua. "Put away the other gods
that you have followed and incline your hearts to the Lord. For I set before you this day,
life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your descendants
may live."
