Urunga Uniting Church - Dependency Upon God in Difficulty Times

Urunga Uniting Church

Sunday 2 July 2017

Bible Readings in the Good News

Psalm – Psalm 13

1st Reading – Genesis 22:1-14

2nd Reading – Romans 6:12-23

Joyce G. Baldwin in her commentary on Genesis 12-50 writes this introductory paragraph to the Old Testament reading today.

Everyone who lives within earshot of the Filton area of Bristol is aware of the testing of aircraft engines. The whirring roar indicates that those powerful machines are being subjected to unusually severe conditions in order to be sure that, whatever the strains put upon them, they are thoroughly airworthy. People may subject themselves to extreme conditions in order to prove their capabilities, and Scripture reveals that testing is part of God’s education of his children so that they may come to maturity (James 1:2-4).

Baldwin, Joyce. G. 1986. The Bible Speaks Today: Genesis 12-50. (Reprinted 2009). (p. 90). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press

While there is an element of testing of worthiness in conducting God’s business, there is also an element of terror about what Abraham is required to do and as an Anglican Parish Priest Gregory Jenks with the Anglican Diocese of Grafton writes;

When the international lectionary committee chose the readings for this week, they could never have guessed what else would be happening in our context here as this passage was read aloud in all the major churches across Australia today:

This week we have seen the data from last year’s national census. Among other things the census demonstrated a continued decline in the number of Australians who identify as Christians (now just 52%), while a record high number of people (30%) reported they do not have any religion at all.

Then, at week’s end, came the announcement that Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, has been charged with historical child sex offences and will face court later this month.

While George Pell must enjoy the presumption of innocence until a court determines otherwise, and while it is hardly news that fewer of our neighbours still share our faith, both those stories about religion in the national media this week sit very awkwardly alongside today’s reading from the Old Testament.

Genesis 22 is a ‘text of terror’ and it resonates darkly with the major religious headlines of the past few days.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/2957471/posts/1511654092

An interesting fact about the sacrifice site, is the sacredness to three living religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“Today, the great Dome of the Rock, third most sacred site of Islam, stands on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem where this sacrifice is said to have taken place.” According to Rev John Shearman of the United Church of Canada.

Mount Moriah is about 70 km from Beersheba.

Welcome, as I ponder the following words jump out; welcome, deliverance, righteousness, sacrifice and rewards for Pentecost 4.

The story of Genesis 12-50 is a history of one family, who lived in Northern Mesopotamia (Ancient Near East). These chapters cover four Jewish heroic ancestors.

·        12 chapters on Abraham

·        2 chapters on Isaac

·        9 chapters on Jacob

·        12 chapters on Joseph

These Jewish ancestors are commonly referred to the period of time known as the patriarchal and is consider to be the Middle Bronze Age around 2000 – 1500 BCE. The story of Abraham is found in Genesis 12-25 and todays read, chapter 22 focuses on Abraham is willingness to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God.

W. H. Griffith Thomas, an outstanding Bible teacher, preacher, lecturer and author from Canada and the United States in the early 1900, breaks the chapter up into 5 parts in his commentary Through the Pentateuch Chapter by Chapter (1982).

·        Vv. 1-2: The Test

·        Vv. 3-10 The Trial

·        Vv. 11-14: The Triumph

·        Vv. 15-19: The Testimony

·        Vv. 20-24: The Tidings

Our portion of the chapter cover only the test, the trial and the triumph.

God has given Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac. Ishmael, born of a slave woman, has been banished, with his mother, Hagar. While Abraham’s line will continue through Isaac, Ishmael too will be a father of a nation. Put yourself in Abraham’s shoes, Ishmael has been banished and now God wants him to sacrifice Isaac. What terror goes through your mind and emotions trigger after being promised a blessing with Isaac?

The elements of this story is a tribal legend, Abraham hears God and answer immediately, always attentive to the voice of God. God gives Abraham instruction about his only son. Note the double emphasis about the son in verse 2, “Take your son, your only son Isaac...” The writer is clearly identifying which son was the son of Abraham. To take your son to the land of Moriah and as I have highlighted, the site is the sacredness to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This is the test that Abraham was required to undertake.

So the trial and the journey begins, Abraham takes Isaac with two young men, no mention of Sarah involvement. I can imagine that she waves goodbye to her husband and her son as it would be a regular event in those time like my grandfather had taken my father to Sydney without my grandmother. Three days out, the writer mention that Abraham observe the place off in the distance and petition the young men to set up camp, while he and Isaac continues. Isaac then assist in conveying the timber for the burnt offering and Abraham carried the fire and the knife. Both are required to participate in the trial. A conversation takes place on the walk to the site and Isaac question his father about the sacrifice animal. A very isolated place is suggested, nothing around but his father replies “God himself will provide…” (v. 8). I would suggest that Isaac trusted his father’s answer and they continued their walk together. They came upon the site for the sacrifice, Abraham built an altar and laid the timber for the burnt offering. The trial is built around trust and obedience to the test that was given earlier. Abraham bound Isaac as directed by God, would we take this step or try to pray our way out. I cannot answer for you but I know there have been times in my life where I failed this step because of the consequences of following. The picture is set before us, Isaac is bounded upon the altar and Abraham is ready to observe by the ultimate sacrifice of the blessing he had received from God, to kill Isaac.

In that moment of Abraham position himself to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord intercedes, calls out (v. 11). The triumph begins. The angel instructed Abraham that he is relieved from carrying out the sacrifice of his son Isaac. Again the double emphasis of the son, his only son is noted (v. 12) A substitute offering was made available through the provision of a ram caught in the bush. Abraham unbounded Isaac and the ram was sacrifice as a burnt offering (v. 13).

The crux of the story is God testing Abraham by demands that went clean contrary both to human reason and to the divine promise. My thoughts when I read this account was all blessing from God’s grace are given as a gift to us in custody and care to fulfils his plans. The blessing remains God and can be called upon by God. This is clearly demonstrated with Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. The thought of ownership of God’s blessing remains with God in the same manner the earth is God and we are custodian and caretakers while we are journeying to the future.

Note that it was a personal test for Abraham, he was call by name. It was a lonely test; Sarah was not part of the test. How often as a couple, do we find yourself in similar situation of being tested alone?

In closing, Abraham faith was in a God who provides and commonly referred to Jehovah-Jireh, has become part of the church’s heritage. Two recent modern people, George Muller and Hudson Taylor are classic example of trust in God as the Provider. “So sure was George Muller of the call of God to the work of looking after orphans, and in the case of Hudson Taylor of extending the church of God in China to the inland provinces, they staked everything on the promise of God, the Lord will provide.” (Baldwin, 1986, p. 92)

Amen

Kempsey Uniting Church - Earthly Living and Spirit Life

Kempsey Uniting Church

Sunday 16 July 2017

Bible Readings in the Good News

Psalm – Psalm 119:105-112

1st Reading – Genesis 25:19-34

2nd Reading – Romans 8:1-11

Background

Genesis 25:1-18 deals with the death of Abraham and then describes the 12 sons of Ismael as tribes with the territory that they dwell.

Genesis 25:19-34 looks at the family of Isaac with special mention of his wife Rebekah, she experiences childless and eventually the birth of twins Esau and Jacob. The birth of Edom and Israel nations.

This is the earthly living of the birth of two sons of Abraham, Ismael and Isaac into nations but set against the Old Testament text is the New Testament text of Romans 8:1-11, life of the Spirit. The life of Isaac shows signs of a spiritual filled life in an earthly living, where he confronts the natural and petitions Yahweh the Lord for divine blessing.

In the background, I will be sharing four earthly living event, the first is the story about the board game Monopoly, a Prison Chaplain, Muslim’s demonstration of faith and recently G20 meeting.

Introduction

The game that has become Monopoly, was originally “The Landlord’s Game”, patented in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie (1). The game was designed with two sets of rules: one set similar to the rules by which we currently play, in which the idea is to buy as much as possible to defeat your opponent. The other rules were anti-monopolist, in which all players were rewarded when wealth was created. The game was planned as a teaching tool to show the moral superiority of, and common benefit received by, all in an anti-monopolist system. In 1902, Elizabeth wrote of her game, “It is a practical demonstration of the present system of land-grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences. It might well have been called the ‘Game of Life,’ as it contains all the elements of success and failure in the real world, and the object is the same as the human race in general seem to have, i.e., the accumulation of wealth.” Elizabeth’s own history reinforces the lesson. The game was repackaged (and “invented”) by Charles Darrow in the 1930s, with only the monopolist set of rules. “Monopoly” earned Darrow, and Parker Brothers, the company that bought it, millions. Elizabeth Magie, a pioneer of women’s rights and political activist, reportedly only earned $500 from her invention.

1 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/business/behind-monopoly-an-inventor-who-didnt-pass-go.htmle Monopoly, was originally “The Landlord’s Game”, patented in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie.

The game was designed with two sets of rules: one set similar to the rules by which we currently play, in which the

idea is to buy as much as possible to defeat your opponent. The other rules were anti-monopolist, in which all players

were rewarded when wealth was created. The game was planned as a teaching tool to show the moral superiority

An example of an earthly living and living in the Spirit is the faith of the Reverend (Aunty) Alexandra Gater, an Anglican priest, prison chaplain, and elder in the Murri Magistrate Court. Based in Brisbane. (Read article, No More Band-Aid Solutions p.21 Target – Inequality Issue 2/2017)

There has been a bit of speculation this week about suicide bombers and their faith. They believe in a reward system that is based on the works of faith or as we called the deed, the action to be saved for paradise.

The vast majority of Muslims do not condone terrorism, including suicide attacks. However, tiny minorities - essentially cults and sects of Islam - believe they have found a way to make the Koran support their evil actions.

''Suicide is a major sin in Islam,'' Maher Hathout, imam of the Islamic Center in Los Angeles, explained. Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations pronounced that suicide ''would not be in accord with Islamic beliefs and practices.''

Well, sort of. The Koran does tell Muslims, ''Do not kill yourselves'' and warns that those who disobey will be ''cast into the fire.'' The Prophet Mohammed is reported to have said that a suicide cannot go to paradise.

Islamic laws oppose the practice.

This religious prohibition has had the intended effect. According to Franz Rosenthal, a scholar of the subject, ''suicide was of comparatively rare occurrence'' in traditional Muslim society. In contemporary Egypt, statistics bear out that suicide is exceedingly rare.

But those spokesmen are not telling the whole story, for Islamists consider suicide as not just legitimate, but highly commendable when undertaken for reasons of jihad (holy war). Going into war knowing with the certainty that one will die, they argue, is not suicide (intihar) but martyrdom (istishhad), a much-praised form of self-sacrifice in the path of God, a way to win the eternal affection of the hour is in paradise.

A leading Islamist authority, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, recently explained the distinction this way: attacks on enemies are not suicide operations, but ''heroic martyrdom operations'' in which the kamikazes act not ''out of hopelessness and despair, but are driven by an overwhelming desire to cast terror and fear into the hearts of the oppressors.''

In other words, Islamists find suicide for personal reasons abominable, suicide for jihad admirable.

The jihad menace, Jerusalem Post (Israel), July 30, 2001. Guest Column by Daniel Pipes , director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s37.html

We place our faith in many things, at the global setting, we place our faith in the leaders at the G20 this week.

The G20 (or G-20 or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. Currently, these are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union. Founded in 1999, the G20 aims to discuss policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G20

The Journey

We live in a world that demonstrates the outworking of faith in practical matters to assist our lives. We place our trust in legacy and institutions that we are accustom to around us. Our earthly life is infused to get a good outcome and we are imbedded to achieved a blessing for our life. I can remember my foster parents advising as I took a step in adult life with work and education. This was a fundamental to a life blessing, you’re the captain of your destiny.

Isaac had an inheritance and a legacy from his father Abraham but one important aspect of the covenantal blessing was not being fulfilled. Isaac was heir to the blessing that God had promised to his father Abraham. He was on the road to fulfil the promise.

Let us follow the story of Isaac in the Bible, we are introduced to the descendants of Isaac, who was Abraham’s son. The writer wanted us to be absolutely clear that Abraham was Isaac’s father, the scripture carries this emphasis of the importance to the story.

The story introduces Isaac’s wife Rebekah and he married her when he was forty years old. As was the custom of the day, we are told who were Rebekah’s family was, daughter of Bethuel and the location that she came from. We carry this on in our birth certificate, parent’s detail and where they lived.

We know who Isaac and Rebekah are and where they came form but something is not happening and this goes on today frequently. Isaac and Rebekah remain childless and the way the passage read, the problem could be with either of them. There were no testing facilities to decide who was dysfunctional, they were remaining faithful to the promise of Abraham with the blessing of God. Isaac would be fully aware of the story of Ishmael family growing in numbers and the writer reminded us at the beginning of the chapter, a nation was being populated with twelve sons.

Earthly living is motoring on, living each day on the hope of the promise of God, everything is in place for the blessing to occur with Isaac and Rebekah but they were childless. The scripture tells us that Isaac remember Rebekah before the Lord and we are not told the specific details except Isaac concern for Rebekah was barren. All normal processes did not work but we are told after the prayer, Rebekah conceived. Did they stop the normal process; the scripture doesn’t elaborate but I would say no. What an impossible situation that Isaac faced and turned to the Lord in prayer, this is a demonstration of life in the Spirit.

The story continues with the pregnancy that Rebekah was experiencing. A struggle within was going on, does this talk about life before birth of a child into the world. According to this teaching, the writer is advocating there is life before birth in these verses but to nurture a struggle. This is an issue that is prevalent in our society and is part of earthly living.

We are given a strange details of the birth of the children, who was who and what they were doing. The first was red and hairy named Esau and the second was gripping Esau’s heel and was named Jacob. The writer throws in how old Isaac was 60 years old and early it was noted he was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as his wife. So for 20 years they remain childless. Part of the story of the children Esau and Jacob is the calling in their earthly living, Esau as a hunter and Jacob was a mild man who stayed in the camp.

In the closing versing of the Genesis reading, we see an alignment of children to parents, Isaac favoured Esau because of his outdoor skills as a hunter and Rebekah favoured Jacob. I believe this has been recorded by the writer because it is natural for parents to adore their children and tend to favour them differently. Intertwine in this domicile story of home life is the birthrights. Jacob was the cooker and was making a stew for the household. With Esau being famished from his activity and desire food to satisfy his hungry. Not only do emotions come into play but his physical need is playing an immensely upon him in controlling his action whether for right or wrong, he was hungry and Jacob displayed an element on craftiness. The interchange conversation happens between Esau and Jacob over birthrights. Out of a present physical need of Esau, being hungry, his future inheritance was offered to satisfy his physical need. Esau become the father of Edom as a nation, while Jacob becomes Israel, the chosen nation of God.

These verses describe the earthly life with the struggles but also this they cherish naturally. The first struggle is the childless situation of twenty years as a couple, the natural earthly life was not fulfilling the promise given to Isaac’s father. We witness Isaac coming to the Lord in prayer about their natural situation and was being experience as an impossible event for them. They haven’t done anything wrong, just living normal. How often do we make excuse for normal earthly life experiences and justify within our own understanding without making petition to our God? God work through the impossible situation to make it possible but what happen with the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob. The pregnancy opened up about life before birth were noted and the way the birth occurred was particularly recorded. The favouritism of Isaac and Rebekah with the twins were noted and the twins’ occupation was particularly observed, one was outdoor and the other regarded as indoor. The craftiness of Jacob outweighs the physical need of Esau with the birthright, dealing with the custom of the day – first male child out had the birthright.

We are not called to live a super-normal life but an earthly life with the live of the Spirit to assist us as Isaac prayed to the Lord to turn impossible situation into positive outcome in fulfilling the promises of God.

This is the message, amen.