Radical Faith

Introduction

Happy Father’s Day!

Let’s turn to Scripture in Genesis 22:1-24, our text today

Prayer of illumination

Some years ago, two books came out from evangelical Christianity

Radical (Platt): taking back your faith from the American Dream

Ordinary (Horton): sustainable faith in a radical, restless world

There are some good points from both books - for us to understand how Christians view their faith

But both agree that the very nature of our faith is radical - it is extreme

Maybe you’d say - I don’t think my faith is extreme; because I don’t go out to protest, or maybe I’ve seen people who would evangelize on campus, standing on the street and preaching Jesus, I don’t do that

But the Bible thinks otherwise about our faith: it describes faith in VERY extreme terms

Think about it: what is the opposite of life? Death. When we talk about anything that’s extreme, death is probably the limit we will go (extreme sport)

What does the Bible describe faith as? The extremes of death and life

Eph. 2: we were DEAD in trespasses; 1 Jn. 3.14: we have passed out of death into life - pretty extreme

No doubt our faith is an extreme faith; it is as extreme as something essential between a living and a dead person.

Admittedly, our faith DON’T always appear extreme; there are passages that talk about the ordinary characteristics of our faith (church life, Christian rhythm etc.), but today’s passage we read intends to highlight the very radical nature of our faith.

In our passage, Abraham has come a long journey - it is the climax of his life

In Gen. 12, he received a radical call to uproot and move from his place of origin to an unknown place. A lot has happened between then and now.

Gen. 22:20-24 forms an inclusion with Gen. 11.27-32

So in Gen. 22 Abraham now receives another radical call - as a father to sacrifice his one and only son to God. Abraham’s faith is OUR faith. (Gal. 3.9)

On this father’s day, I want us to look at this extreme faith of our forefather, Abraham, and in turn understand that our faith is as radical as his

BIG IDEA: Because our faith is radical, we ought to obey the radical God.

The narrative this morning is separated by three very distinctive sayings of Abraham, which only appeared here in the entire Genesis

What is it? “Here am I” (v.1, 7, 11). Repetition in Hebrew literature is used as an emphasis on the importance of the theme

Following this structure, we will look at “Radical Faith” from three aspects as the story progresses

Our Sight is Not Necessary

In verse 1, Moses, the author of Genesis, clearly mentions that God “tested” Abraham - this is for the reader, because it’s to prepare them for the seemingly irrational request of God

Abraham doesn’t know that it’s a test, but his posture is one of complete obedience - “Here I am,” he said, because his faith is radical

Then the dreaded request came - v.2: take your son, your ONLY son… offer him as a burnt offering

To be sure, child sacrifice during Abraham’s time wasn’t uncommon to deities such as Molech, but he believed that his God is precisely different because he condemns such practices (Lev. 18.21, Ex. 20.13)

So then, this becomes a huge problem for Abraham - should he follow God’s command when it appears to be so irrational?

But there was one thing that he was sure - he knows that God spoke to him in such clear terms that there was no doubt God wanted him to sacrifice his son

There is what John Calvin call an “internal testimony” of hearing God’s word spoken to him, it must be the work of the Spirit

And convinced that it was so, he places his faith firmly in God instead of his own sight

We may not hear voices from God - I’m reformed - but we have his Word; and his word today speaks to us with the same “internal testimony” that the Spirit is working in our hearts

What does that mean to us? Surely on this Father’s day, we’re not called to sacrifice our son on some mountain

What it means to us is that just as Abraham is tested, there will be times when God tests our faith

Isaac was by all means the miracle child. And as humans, we tend to place our faith on tangible, see-able things - Abraham can now SEE the promises of God coming through: blessings for all nations

God however, wants Abraham to believe not in the tangible things, but in Him alone as the sovereign Lord and Provider

In the same way, we’re called to believe God in the same way too: maybe you’re stuck in a place where it seems irrational to follow God

E.g. God, do you really WANT me to go to church on Sunday? Do you know how much more I can earn and then I can give to you?

E.g. God do you really WANT me to give that much? Are you sure you can provide for me and my family if we do that?

The most necessary ingredient for us to trust God is his Word alone (2 Cor. 5.7), and so we live by faith and not by sight!

Our Hope is Projected

The story moves on - from vv.3-10, we see a sandwich structure: in Hebrew literature, the important part is always the middle, kinda like a sandwich, where you put the best part - the meat - in the middle

vv.3-6 we see a lot of actions - Abraham rose, saddled donkey, took young men, cut wood, arose, went to the place, lifted up his eyes, saw the place, said to the young men

And then in v.8-10 we also see a lot of actions: built altar, laid the wood, bound Isaac, laid him on altar, reached out his hand, took the knife.

In a way, these actions showed us that Abraham’s faith is one that is genuinely accompanied by actions - it’s not empty (James 2.21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?”

But sandwiched between these actions is another one of our key phrases: “here am I” in v.7. This time, it’s not God who is speaking to Abraham, but his son.

Here, Isaac asked an honest question to his dad:

Where is the sacrifice? We travelled so far we have the fire, knife, wood, but where is the main protagonist?

It’s probably hard to imagine the tone of Abraham’s answer, but it reveals the radical nature of his faith

Gen. 22.8 “Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.”

There is a hope in his word - our faith is not a blind leap into the dark, it has a definite object - in God, even if it means we’re unsure of what he would do or what he’d asked us to do

So here we see the reason for Abraham’s actions: his radical faith gives him a hope

Our Finale is Vindicated

Conclusion