We Will Come Back to You

One day, a chicken and a pig were taking a stroll down a country road, and they passed by a church. There was a sign outside the church that said, “Charity meals for the poor. Contributions gladly accepted.” The chicken told the pig, “Now that’s a nice thought and I think we should contribute. How about we provide eggs and ham for their meals?” The pig squealed, “I don’t think so, ma’am. For you, it would be a contribution, but for me it would be a complete commitment.”

Commitment. It’s a concept that for me has sometimes caused uneasiness. Although there are some things that have been easier to commit to than others. Earlier in life I committed myself to baseball. Then I committed my self to playing music in different kinds of bands. I committed myself to my fire and emergency medical service career, and to my son. I committed pretty easily to Carola, and later to building our farm to retire to. But, there have been times I was reluctant to completely commit myself. For several years, my faith life was a victim of that reluctance. And it wasn’t until a tragedy struck Carola and me many years ago that I was able to see my need to commit to God. Still, it has been a relatively slow process giving myself completely over to God. I don’t know that I am completely there yet, or if I’ll ever get there. Although I have felt the call of God on my life, I think I may still be holding back in some ways. Complete commitment is not easy for anybody when there is no tangible or visible goal in site. And for me, the ultimate goal of a life committed to God was not that visible.

This story is told of Florence Chadwick.

“When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.

Already she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. She had managed to finish that swim in a record time, 16 hours and 22 minutes on August 8, 1950. Now, at age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to Palos Verde on the California coast.

On that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense she could hardly see her support boats. Sharks cruised toward her lone figure, only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the frigid grip of the sea, she struggled on – hour after hour – while millions watched on national television.

Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had . . . until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.

Still thawing her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it.” It was not fatigue or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal.

Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Catalina, eclipsing the men’s record by two hours!

One of the greatest stories about commitment is told in Genesis 22:1-14. It’s a story we are all familiar with. The ancient unknown author wrote:

The New Revised Standard Version The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 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 that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Previous to this command of God, Abraham already had to give up his only other son, Ishmael, whom he had fathered with his wife’s servant, Hagar. His wife, Sarah, had become jealous and concerned that Ishmael, an adolescent by then, may share in any inheritance from Abraham upon his death. But, she wanted only her son, Isaac, to receive Abraham’s blessing and inheritance. So, after hearing from God to send them away, Abraham sent them out into the wilderness with a little food and water. He truly missed Ishmael when he was gone. But, Abraham grew very fond of Isaac, who names meant, “He laughs.” And now a few years later, God has commanded him to give his only son, Isaac, whom he dearly loved, as a burnt sacrifice. Don’t you know Abraham’s heart sank when he heard what he must do?

Still, in a demonstration of the readiness he felt to do God’s will, he arose early, cut and split some firewood, loaded a donkey, got two of his servant boys, as well as Isaac, who had grown into his adolescence by now, and proceeded to go to the mountain that God said was in the district of Moriah. No one really knows exactly where Moriah was. Some have said it was a Mt. Moriah, but the scripture said it was in the district of Moriah, perhaps a mountain range. Church tradition has this mountain near Jerusalem, where the Islamic temple, the golden topped, Dome of the Rock was built. But, all we know is the scripture says it was a three day journey from Beer-Sheba which is about 40 miles southwest of Jerusalem. So for three days they trekked toward Moriah. I wonder how many times Abraham may have thought about turning around and going home. God, after all had promised that through Isaac he would have descendants numbering as many as the stars in heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore. And now he was too old to have any more children with Sarah, who was also far past her child bearing years. In the past, Abraham had argued, or bargained with God, before the destruction at Sodom and Gomorrah, and he dealt with God hesitantly when told to send out Hagar and Ishmael. But, God was now putting him to the ultimate test, and he didn’t argue this time. It could be said that it’s not the ultimate test, because Abraham was not asked to give his own life. But, considering that Abraham was reportedly 100 years old, and Isaac was the most precious thing in the world to him, sacrificing Isaac was indeed the worst of the two scenarios . I can put myself in his sandals at this point, and know that my son’s death would be much harder than my own to accept.

So now, after three days of hiking to Moriah, they reached the base of the mountain where Abraham was to carry out God’s command. Then Abraham tells his servants something that may reveal the deep abiding faith that he had in God. He told his servant boys, to wait there, that he and Isaac would go to the mountain and worship, and “they” would return to them. He used the plural “they” when he instructed the servants to wait for them. Abraham was not only committed to the command of God, but he was committed to trusting in the faith of God’s promise to him that through Isaac, he would have a world full of descendants. That couldn’t happen if Isaac was killed and offered up in smoke to God.

Abraham put the wood on Isaac’s back to haul up the mountain, and he himself carried the fire, and the knife. Then Isaac got curious, and perhaps a little suspicious, when he asked his father where the lamb for burning was. His father told him that God himself would provide the lamb. He continued in his obligation to God’s command, when at the top of the mountain, he built an altar of rocks, and laid the firewood in it in the order for sacrificial burning. Then a curious thing happens. The story says that Abraham bound Isaac, and laid him on the wood at the altar. Now, Abraham was an old man. Isaac was young enough and strong enough to carry all the wood up the mountain, and if he took off running he would likely leave Abraham in his dust. We don’t have any descriptions of any emotions throughout the story. Just the command of God, and the completely committed acts of a covenantal devotee. I ask myself, did Abraham finally explain to Isaac what he was to do? Did he hit Isaac in the head? Abraham had told Isaac that God would provide the sacrificial animal. Was Isaac then drawn into the trust in God’s word? Did he also become so committed to not only his father, but to God that he willingly submitted to being bound, killed and burned in an act of worship? Don’t we wish we had those answers? In ancient Hebrew writing, the emotions were not important to the story, just the act of obedience and commitment to God’s will.

Even though we have probably heard this story numerous times in our lives, we still hold our breath when Abraham is ready to fulfill God’s command. The story drama has slowed down from a three day journey to the specific movements of Abraham’s hands, “he reached out his hand... and took the knife... to kill his son.” You can just see it, can't you? Were there drops of sweat on his forehead, were there tears in his eyes, was there a cry in his voice, was his heart ready to burst? He was at the moment of full commitment to his God. Was there any love greater than that of his son? Yes, the love for his God. And in that moment, he heard, “Abraham, Abraham!” Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; …for now I know you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.”

He looked around and saw a ram caught in a thicket, and he took the ram and sacrificed it to God in the place that Isaac was nearly given up. Abraham had met the test of God. We may ask why did God do this sort of thing? It seems so cruel to put a father through this torture. Not only did God see the commitment that Abraham had toward him, but he also demonstrated his commitment to the promises he made to Abraham and his descendants. The covenant between God and Abraham’s people had been made and now it was sealed.

John L. Gibson wrote the following explanation of the Christian perspective about this passage. He wrote:

“Sometimes in reading Old Testament passages, we as Christians see a future reference. Not in a way that seems a prediction of things to come, not in a way that reads back prophecies of Christ or the Church, which would mean nothing to the Hebrews for whom it was first composed. Making the Old Testament a slave of Christianity, in effect, regards the Old Testament's first audiences as irrelevant. But, it is in how for the Christian, things of Christ sometimes emerge from the Old Testament passages to remind us that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are one and the same. The original passage had significant meaning for the Hebrews, but it takes on a new life in the light of the Gospel.

With this chapter to guide us, we can see Jesus, “as man”, offering himself completely to God, ‘going into death’s darkness alone with that awful cry of dereliction on his lips, all his human hopes…in ruins, with only his faith in God to sustain him.’ His cross revealed one man making the commitment and sacrifice which we all, as God’s creations, owe to him, but which none of us, not even Abraham, has ever been able to make.”

But, when we understand Jesus as God, we see that “as God” he also offered himself wholly to humankind. That’s the other side of God’s command to us to commit completely to him. He, in love, is ready to give his all to us.

I ask you now, to consider what you are ready to commit to in God’s name? Can you give yourself completely to God, and listen for what he wants for you to do? We know that we can trust in God’s wisdom, and God’s commitment, and God’s love for us when we choose to serve him completely? And in that commitment is the reward of everlasting life in God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen