The Rt Rev'd George Hearn
22 June 2008

Pentecost 6(a) St Aidan’s Box Hill

WHAT SORT OF GOD?

A segment of a movie whose title escapes remains in my memory. The main character was a middle aged business man who through either a blow to the head or a tumour became quite obsessional in his behaviour and religion.

In the climax of the movie he ties up his eight year old son like a sacrificial lamb and prepares to enact the Old Testament reading this morning. His pastor trying to reason with him said;" But God told Abraham not to lay his hand on his son but to let him go." To which the character replied;" But God was wrong.". - As an aside he was restrained in time and eventually an operation removed the pressure on his brain and all ended happily ever after.

One of the commentaries on the book of Genesis claims;

" This is a classic text. It has captivated the imagination of numerous interpreters, drawn by both its literary artistry and its religious depths. It has played a special role in both Jewish and Christian traditions. Before its depth and breadth one stands on holy ground. But this text also presents problems. It has occasioned deep concern, especially in a time when the abuse of children has screamed its way into the modern consciousness."

Psychoanalyst Alice Millar claims that this text may have contributed to an atmosphere that makes it possible to justify the abuse of children. She ground her reflections on some thirty artistic representations of this story over the centuries.

In two of Rembrandt's paintings, Abraham faces the heavens rather than Isaac, as if in blind obedience to God and oblivious to what he is about to do. Abraham 's hands cover Isaac's face, preventing him from seeing or raising a cry. Not only is Isaac silenced, but only his torso shows- his personal features are obscured. Isaac she writes" has been turned into an object." He has been dehumanised by being made a sacrifice; he no longer has a right to ask questions and will scarcely even be able to articulate them to himself, for there is no room in him for anything besides fear."

We cannot just simply dismiss the possible negative impact of this text, it would not be the first time that the bible has been used knowingly or unknowingly for such purposes. The passage itself can contribute to such an understanding, as God asks and then twice commends Abraham for not withholding his son. Abraham asks no questions, and God offers no qualifications.. The child can appear to be a 'pawn" in the hands of two adults who need to work out an issue between them."

This Scripture is not intended to describe a normative relationship or understanding of God for Christians living in the late twentieth century. It is one of the stories associated with Abraham and Isaac in Hebrew Scripture and religion.

The passage begins "After these things God tested Abraham." The word test can also be understood as temptation. Only this was a temptation from God to test

or probe Abraham's faith and faithfulness.

Rather than focus upon Abraham's role in this story I wish to consider the question What sort of God?

What sort of God is expressed in this Scripture and what meaning can it have for us today?

There are tensions in this story for God as well as Abraham.

(1) GOD'S TESTING.

As we read the story God and the reader know that this is a test; Abraham does not. God intends to test Abraham's faithfulness rather than to kill Isaac.

The test is doubly difficult because Isaac was a child of promise who appeared late on the scene for Abraham and Sarah well after the time of normal child bearing. Abraham would have experienced this test as a contradiction where God's promise fulfilled in the birth of Isaac stood in contradiction to God's command to sacrifice his child.

Brueggman in his commentary on Genesis notes that this

" test is not a game with God; God genuinely does not know.. The flow of the narrative accomplishes something in the awareness of God. He did not know --now he does know"

The test was not designed to teach Abraham something

-that he is too attached to Isaac or that he must learn that obedience to God can cause pain. Experiences in life always teach us something and Abraham certainly learns.

But nowhere does this passage indicate that Abraham has now learnt a painful lesson. Rather the test confirms a fact. Abraham trusts deeply that God has his best interests at heart so he will follow where God's command leads. The only one said to have learnt something from the test is God. " Now I know" In this incident God does not teach but rather God learns.

What sort of God does this passage proclaim. Quite different from the all knowing , all powerful God of later Hebrew Scripture and Christian theology. A God who is so mechanically perfect in wisdom, insight and power that sometimes he can make us appear to be robots or pawns on a chess board.

In recent years I have found comfort and help when I have faced severe tests in life - tests occasioned by the death of a loved one, severe illness or a significant personal disappointment. The help has not been received by those who have pointed me to God's perfect will or God's omniscience or all knowing nature. Rather it has been mediated to me by those who point to the self imposed limitations upon those traditional qualities of God. That God has intentionally limited his omnipotence or all powerfulness to enable humankind to be truly human. That the tests that we face are not imposed by God but allowed by him and are an expression of God's vulnerability rather than God's almighty nature.

Some New Testament words on testing may be helpful.

"Because he himself ( i.e. Jesus) was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

(Hebrews 2:18)

We are promised by I Corinthians 10:13) : God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may endure it."

This way out does not normally mean that God acts independently of the ordered world he has caused to evolve. Some Christians with incessant claims of miracles can trivialise God and human suffering.

Recently I heard a priest asserting that he always claimed God's care in providing a car parking space when he drove into the city on ministerial purposes. By this standard I am not sure what several car accidents over the years says either about the good Lord or myself. Such claims do not exalt but rather diminish God and raise even further questions concerning the horrors being continually uncovered in Darfur and many other places in the world.

Rather the way out or help is often experienced as we experience

(2) GOD'S VULNERABILITY

Some people read stories like the Old Testament reading as if they were a text of chemical or scientific equations.

In this early story of the Hebrew Scripture we can see an evolving or progressive understanding of God becoming revealed.

God is depicted as not just waiting to see if Abraham passes the test, but God is putting much at risk in the ordeal. The previous chapters of Genesis indicate that God had chosen Isaac to continue the line of promise for humankind, Although God does not intend Isaac to be killed, the test places God's promise at risk at least in the person of Isaac. This story presents a test not only of Abraham's faith in God, but of God's faith in Abraham as well, in the sense that the move that Abraham will make will affect the moves that God makes next. One cannot project what God would have done if Abraham had failed or actually killed Isaac, but God would have had to find another way into the future. Perhaps another way with Abraham.

That theme is not confined to Abraham but continues right through the Old and New Testament. In a sense God awaits our response to enable his purpose to be fulfilled.

I normally find more help from reflecting upon the vulnerability of God than upon God the potential magician.

Yes I pray that the Church - particularly this community of faith will be spiritually renewed and open to God's grace and strength and in that process continue to grow. But I recognise that this is not to be a cop out for us. If God wants new Christians to be formed in Christian discipleship there will be a need for members of this community to encourage others to make such a step and for team members who will become part of the Easter Journey. If we require income to pay for our mission as a parish it is primarily going to come from you and me.

There is an old legend that tells of the ascended Christ returning to the glory of heaven. He is asked by the angels what plans he had made to carry on his work upon earth. He simply replied that he had chosen Peter, James and John and a small group of men and women to take on that responsibility." What if they should give up or fail; what then?" To which the Lord replied;" I have made no other plans- I am counting upon them."

The same answer still stands; whether it is in the life of this Christian community or in our response to the desperate issues of poverty, refugees, drugs to mention but three in our contemporary society and world.

There is a deep vulnerability within God that is not ultimately weak and powerless. It is true power which seeks not to dominate or diminish but to empower us and all the children of God.

As we grapple with this Scripture we are led beyond the literal details to the essential truths of this story. Yes it is near the beginning of the Jewish and Christian understanding of a consistent, moral and graceful God. But we need to remember its truth of a God who allows us to be tested - not to teach us a lesson but rather to share with us in the journey. A God whose vulnerability is more powerful than all the cruise missiles and far far more accurate.