Testing

A Homily for the 7th Sunday in Trinitytride

Gen. 22:1-18; Rom. 6:19; St. Mark 8:1.

Last Sunday, we read of God's mysterious visitation to Abraham, when three men appeared under an oak tree as he sat at the door of his tent. And it was there that the Lord made a specific and bold promise to Abraham and his wife, saying, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son" (Gen 18:10). This elicited Sarah's laughter of disbelief. Her husband is 99 years old, and she is well advanced in years. And, one year later, we read in Genesis Chapter twenty-one, that

"The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son, who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him" (Gen 21:1-5).

The greatest test in the long life of Abraham came AFTER he had finally received the promise of God.

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (22:1-2).

And this was the test: Abraham was to give his son, his only, whom he loved, back to God through sacrifice.

It was one thing for Abraham to trust the Lord while waiting for the promise of a son, through whom he would become the father of a great nation. However, it was entirely different to maintain that trust when the Lord asked him to do something that seemed completely unreasonable. Would Abraham cling to the child, his only son, that God had given him, the child on whom the promised future was based, or would Abraham continue to obey the Lord?

God was testing (nasa) Abraham. This test was about obedience to a clear command from the Lord: to what extent would Abraham follow God's word? Those who have faith in the Lord—who believe in and trust Him—often claim to obey His commands or at least agree to do so. But how far would they actually go in their obedience? What if God put you to the test? What if He asked you to make a costly sacrifice or undertake a task that seemed impossible or unreasonable? How willing would you or I be to obey Him?

There is an important lesson for us in God's dealing with Abraham. And that is that God, according to his great wisdom, will test his people. Perhaps you haven't conceived of God as the God who tests. But the testing of God is one of the most important means by which we are sanctified and conformed into the image of Christ. God has always tested his people. Consider how he tested the obedience of the Israelites when he rained manna down from heaven (Ex 16:4). God gave them strict instructions on how and when to gather the heavenly food. Why? To test whether or not they would listen to his commandments and do as he said.

His presence roared down from Mt. Sinai in great bursts of lightning and rolling thunder, in clouds of smoke and with trumpet blasts to see if his people would fear their awesome and mighty God. And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin" (Ex 20:20). The Divine test was for their sanctification, for their good.

In Deuteronomy chapter thirteen, Moses warned the people to stay clear of false prophets and dreamers, saying,

"you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him."

These deceivers were a test allowed by God to show where his people's allegiances truly lie; whether or not their hearts were with Him or seeking another.

God tests his people. But what we are considering this morning is the extent of the testing. Sometimes, God chooses to examine our faith by calling us to obey Him in ways that seem inexplicable. The seemingly inexplicable often tests our faithfulness by asking us to surrender to him the best and most treasured possessions. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, which must have been a sudden and shocking request— totally out of line and contrary to what he would have expected. The Lord was calling Abraham to do something unimaginable: not only to kill his son but also to completely disrupt and destroy God's promised plan of forming a nation through him that would bless the earth.

And yet, Abraham never questioned the Lord, nor delayed in obediently responding. Rather, he "rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." For three days, the patriarch struggled with the command of the Lord. Imagine knowing from the very beginning what he would have to do. Would it not have been kinder for God to tell him to go, and only after three days, when he arrived at the destination, to give him the tremendous command to sacrifice his son? But no. Abraham bore this heavy burden all the way to the mountaintop.

And there, on the mount of testing, he was prepared to offer his son, his only son, the son whom he loved, his most prized possession given by God, the child of promise. The greatest test asked Abraham to obediently and freely give his greatest possession to the Lord. That God demands costly sacrifices isn't merely an Old Testament reality.

"Teacher, I will follow you anywhere you go." But Jesus would tell us to count the cost in these words: "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head."

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14).

"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

My friends, and this is a hard word, if anyone truly desires to be a worshipper of the Lord, it requires a willingness to sacrifice what is most dear and treasured, even those things we view as gifts from God. Now might be a good time to examine our hearts and consider whether there are possessions or relationships we are clinging to—things we may be reluctant to let go of if the Lord were to ask us. Whatever those things might be, we must pray for faith, for strength, and his merciful grace to hold them loosely, or perhaps, to release them entirely.

"And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

You see, God's purpose was to apply the most important test, and that was whether or not Abraham would surrender to the will of God that which he held most dear; in this case, his son, the son of promise, in whom his seed should be called. The true essence of sacrifice in this story lies not with Isaac, but with Abraham.

While the Divine command focused on offering Isaac as a sacrifice, the true test was Abraham's willingness to sacrifice himself. He had to relinquish his own will in favor of the Divine will, setting aside his dreams and desires to fulfill God's command. This meant prioritizing God's wisdom over his own and letting go of his deep love for his only son in favor of a greater love and fear of God. "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

Those who fear the Lord believe and understand that compliance with His commands, no matter the cost, is a Christians first priority and primary responsibility. However, you have to trust Him. And you will only trust him to the degree that you love him. For be assured, he loves you and is with you in the place of testing, just as he was on the mountain with Abraham and Isaac.

"And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.”

Beloved, God sees you in your time of testing, and He is faithful to provide as we willingly and faithfully obey His Word. As St. Paul would remind us, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Amen+