The spectrum of Sacrifice
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What do you do when you get exactly what you have prayed for, and then it is taken away from you?
I imagine this may have been a feeling Abraham was dealing with as recounted in Genesis 22 when God gives him the most unusual and out of character command. God told Abraham to go with his son Isaac. The one who had been prayed for. The one who had been promised, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord.
It doesn’t seem fair does it. It seems immoral. Why would God ask Abraham such a request?
Abraham was far from a perfect man. He had taken matters into his hands multiple times. But even in his failures his walk with God had been one of faith, in leaving his homeland to follow God, from being a noble leader. But in life’s latter most point God throws him a curveball request. The most difficult of all his tests was now in front of him.
Maybe it comes natural to think that a track record of obedience to God buys the reward of not having to withstand certain trials and misfortune. That is certainly a dangerous and a biblically flawed line of thinking. Prosperity gospel is not the gospel.
What’s different here is that this is not just misfortune. Verse 1 of Genesis 22 says “God tested Abraham.” change slide
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
There is nothing recorded in scripture indication Abraham’s response to God except that, he obeyed by taking his son to Mount Moriah, and prepared for the sacrifice.
Typically when we make a sacrifice for God, maybe with our giving, or with our time there is as Ephesians 5:2 puts it there is a “sweet smelling aroma.” There is a good feeling that comes with. You go on a mission trip, you pour both financial and sweat equity for other human beings. Theres going to be a good feeling at the end of it likely, knowing you made a difference.
But what about personal sacrifices that leave us feeling bitter, leaving us feeling what was it all for? As Abraham is climbing the mountain with his son, who has full faith in confidence in him. Does Abraham experience bitterness, confusion, frustration in his life’s final test before God?
In sacrificial living, I believe there is certainly a spectrum of highs and lows. Parents who have witnessed their kids grow up likely understand this the most. Putting forth all the sacrifice they can muster for their children, not knowing if their children will eventually grow to make good choices or possibly see them squander opportunities given.
Today, briefly as we have had another full service, I want to scratch the surface of the spectrum of sacrifice.
Before we go further, lets pray.
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When I was a junior in academy, I had the chance to go to the country of Panama for a 2 week mission trip.
Its interesting, what made me want to go on the trip, was there would be a zipline tour, a beach day, panama canal, and I had never been out of the U.S. before.
I hadn’t thought, we are building a church where people will worship at. We are participating in evangelistic effort in the city of Daveed.
When we arrived it was 100 degrees every day, and no air conditioning. We like spoiled teens began to grumble. Fortunately we had good leaders. They led by example. They worked a long side us, they didn’t go stay in some hotel somewhere, they slept in the same quarters. They helped us understand we were not there for ourselves, but were there to serve.
The interesting thing about this is, when our attitudes flipped, we ourselves gained a lot more. We had an absolute blast. Our pleasure wasn’t in the rewards or the days off working, it was in the impact of what we were doing. We thought we were making some grand sacrifice by going without some of our normal amenities. The truth is by giving up time, money, and a/c for a couple weeks, we became changed for the better.
As touched on earlier, Abraham was no stranger to tests, trials, and sacrifice. He wasn’t a spoiled teenager throwing a tantrum over lack of air conditioning. He had learned lessons with each test.
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In the obedience of faith, Abraham had forsaken his native country—had turned away from the graves of his fathers and the home of his kindred. He had wandered as a stranger in the land of his inheritance. He had waited long for the birth of the promised heir. At the command of God he had sent away his son Ishmael. And now, when the child so long desired was entering upon manhood, and the patriarch seemed able to discern the fruition of his hopes, a trial greater than all others was before him.
White, E. G. (1890). The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets as Illustrated in the Lives of Holy Men of Old (Vol. 1, p. 148). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
Here is the reality, when we enter into covenant with God, we should not expect the absence of great hardship or difficulty. However, lets not miss the point that we are not the only ones who experience suffering, and by comparison, I would suggest we experience FAR less hardship in the covenant relationship.
If you turn the pages backward a few chapters in Genesis to chapter 15, you’ll find a very odd instruction by God to Abraham.
Get three animals, cut each of them straight down the middle, lay pieces across from one another to form a pathway between the three sets of severed pieces.
Odd and strange request to say the least. But there is context. God had recently made a great promise, the essence of which was that Abraham and Sarah, his wife would have a son, who would have a son, who would have a son, generation after generation, until finally a son would be born through whom all the people of the world would be blessed.
Abraham, or Abram as it is written, has asked God how he could be sure the promise would be fulfilled.
With this symbolic cutting ritual God was answering the question.
After following through on God’s command and even having to drive away some birds of prey from the carcasses, a tiresome Abram falls asleep in the midst of great darkness. Abram knows God is communicating something to him, but what exactly.
verse 12 can be translated as feelings of “horror and great darkness fell upon him.”
Similar to the future prophets of the OT such as Daniel and Jeremiah, what God is communicating, is met with fear and misunderstanding.
Abram was afraid of the future and was struggling to believe God’s promise. change slide
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
Adventist theologian and pastor, Ty Gibson, notes in his book, “The Sonship of Christ”
The hebrew word translated “made” is karat, which means “cut.” The word “covenant” is berith, which means to “bond.” When the text says, the Lord made a covenant with Abram,” It literally means that God cut a bond or covenant.
Strong’s exhaustive concordance of the Bible explains, “berith” is the word for covenant here, because it was the custom in making solemn covenants to pass between the divided parts of victims” The ritual of of cutting an animal in two and walking between the severed pieces communicated that a person was pledging their very life to fulfill the promise.
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Ty writes, “Astonishingly, none other than God, in the form of burning torch, walked the path between the severed pieces. God had a made a promise to Abram, and now with this ritual, He was telling the terrified man, I pledge my life for the keeping of this promise. I am willing to suffer and die in order to follow through with my love for all mankind. I keep my covenants. There will be a great cutting Abram, and it is God who will be cut!
According to the covenant promise, all three members of the Godhead would endure the cutting necessary in order to maintain the covenantal faithfulness toward fallen humanity.
Long after the days of Abraham being guided through this cutting ritual, the prophet Daniel was shown more clearly the symbolism would become reality when the Messiah would be, and pay attention to the language, “cut off” in order to confirm the covenant. (referencing Daniel 9:26-27)
The covenant God made through Abram with the entire human race was fully kept in Christ, when he was voluntarily cut off from the Godhead. God’s faithful love was confirmed when Christ was severed from the intimate fellowship that had defined Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the with the three living members of the trinity.
When God requests faithful sacrifice from his people, it is not a request God isn’t willing to make a trifle further himself.
It helps bring into context more strongly Jesus’ own observation with his disciples, in Mark 12. change slide
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
God knows our ability to give. He knows our ability to live and love sacrificially. He’s moved by the widow’s capacity of faithfulness. In today’s world giving even out of abundance is a rare sight, but those with less who give. God sees it all. Thats the point, he sees it all. Your sacrifice, your pain, your plight is not lost on his eyes.
Lets return to Genesis 22. change slide
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Patriarchs and Prophets comments: change slide
Yet none but God could understand how great was the father’s sacrifice in yielding up his son to death;
White, E. G. (1890). The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets as Illustrated in the Lives of Holy Men of Old (Vol. 1, p. 152). Pacific Press Publishing Association.
Abraham had been made no such promise that this was merely a test and was prepared to do the awful task that was asked of him, trusting God without understanding, but obeying out of trust.
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Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
My friends! God is faithful. If you have missed every detail of todays message hear this. God is faithful is in covenant agreements to his people. He never comes up short on his end of the deal. A saviour was promised. The innocent lamb was slaughtered before the men of this world. The cut sunk deep. And God’s love for the people of this planet held true.
Abraham’s willingness to obey God without hope of a provided ram in his son’s place speaks to spectrum to of what we’ve been asked to sacrifice. I don’t say that to minimize our sacrifices made. I say that to say, if God has called us to sacrifice, by his supernatural power and capacity for grace, he will endure our pain and hardship alongside.
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We know the ask that has been made with this ARC covenant. Its going to take people willing to live sacrificially. But I also believe its worth it. This is reminder that a covenant was already made between this church and the Lord. We do so each time we enter into a capital improvement campaign, evangelistic campaign, progressing our school.
Because of having the luxury the erected building we call the ARC, there have been countless decisions made for Jesus from our school, and pathfinder club. We have witnessed our school have the ability to expand from numbers in the 20’s and 30’s to currently 140. We’ve seen community engagement, through ministries like God’s closet, basketball, as well as other events designated for church and community relations. We are a 7 day campus because God saw fit to bless our established church in the efforts to reach others outside these doors. As God has sacrificed for us. Let us open our hearts and at the very least ask God, are you calling me to partner. Are you reminding me to enter into the covenant that has already been established, or are you calling me join this covenant relationship for the first time. It doesn’t matter if you can yet see the payoff. God in this moment is asking our church to obey and have even a glimmer of the faith of Abraham.
However, that is not today’s ultimate and only challenge by any means. God at times will call us to make sacrifices further than we believe we have the ability to perform. If God has called you to something, understand like with Abraham…He’s not entered you into a prosperity gospel, but we can have assurance. He will provide. As verse 14 tells us, before Abraham and Isaac, left that mount, he named it, “The Lord will provide.” as it is said on this day, “on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
On the spectrum of sacrifice, I’d say Abraham was asked a quite painful task, and you and I have faced trials and tests of degrees of magnitude. But no matter where you have been on the spectrum. Understand our reward may not be seen even on this earth. But God will reward the faithful. May we be known as a people with the faith of Abraham.