Why Me

May God's grace, mercy and peace be yours, in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. So you heard - which I trust was not a first time hearing - of such a powerful, profound story, storyline: that of Abraham and Isaac from Genesis 22. Every time that I get the privilege to share it, to read it, to hear it again, just it's just a moving, moving account in scripture. But then, considering it here recently, wouldn't it make more sense of the Abraham, Isaac storyline, if it went like this: "Sometime later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham." "Here I am," he replied. Then, God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah, sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." So early, the next morning, Abraham got up and said, "Why me?"

Yeah. Don't you think that this would make more sense than the way that it actually is recorded for us in scripture? I mean, think of it: what kind of God, what kind of God would ask a father to sacrifice his beloved son? Now, to appreciate what, you know, how I'm challenged by this, is you got to know other aspects of the Abraham, Isaac story. And how it was that God, early on, came to Abraham and and Sarah and said, "You're going to have a child someday," and well, okay. And they waited, and they waited, and they waited, and they got way beyond their years of being able to conceive a child. And then, finally, when they were quite elderly, God gives them this child. Their only child. And if you might be a parent or a grandparent or great-grandparent with only one child, you can appreciate, I think, more than I can, what Abraham was faced with. But what kind of God would do such a thing, after being good on his promise? And then to come to those parents - in this case, the father - and say, "Okay, I want you to take your son's life." No wonder there are people who question what Christianity is all about, and then conclude, "I don't have anything to do with that. What kind of God is that, that would would ask such a thing?" Well, to me, this makes more sense, but it turns out that this is an account, a storyline that's less about sense, and it's much more about faith. Faith over sense. Common Sense. Faith is going to determine how the storyline plays itself out with - then as it goes on, Abraham gets up early in the morning, takes his donkey, saddles it, then takes his only son. And then they had - dad and son - to this region, which God had indicated them to go toward, known as Moriah. Mount Moriah. I don't know what you know about Mount Mariah, but Mount Moriah today is where Jerusalem is. Now, think about that. Mount Moriah. The region of Moriah became where Jerusalem was established. And I think you know something about Jerusalem, when it comes to Lent and Holy Week and Easter. Don't lose that thought - where God's only Son would be the sacrifice for all of us who have fallen into the "Why Me's." Why Me?

So, here stands Abraham and Isaac. And together, on this future site of Jerusalem, which by the way, is built on a mount. I've been to Jerusalem before, and it's up on a hill. It's incredible. And their son, Isaac asks his dad: "So, Dad, we've got everything else that we need to worship properly and to make for the sacrifice. But where's the lamb for the sacrifice?" And Abraham, against whatever thoughts were spinning in his head about how was he going to spare his son, I mean, in light of what God was asking him to do. I don't know how he could not have still had those common sense, if you will, thoughts creeping in, challenging those other thoughts. Thoughts that would have been provided by the Promise Keeper referring to, of course, God. By the way, men, have you ever heard of Promise Keepers before, years ago? It was a movement among Christian men. I participated in Promise Keepers, and then, at one point through that whole experience, it kind of you know, it kind of dawned on me, Promise Keepers, well wait a minute. What kind of promise keeper am I? I'd like to be a better promise keeper than I have been. I've got my wife to vouch, you know, for the kind of promise keeper, I am. There really is only one Promise Keeper. The Promise Keeper that came to Abraham, and said - before this all took place before Isaac ever entered Abraham's life and Sarah's - when God said, "Abraham, I've got three promises I'm going to make to you. One is: you are going to have descendants as many as the stars you see in the sky. Secondly, I'm going to give you a land that you're going to be able to call your own, and thirdly, from from you, there will be a blessing. There will be a blessing for all the nations, for all the people." So, Abraham, how could he not be struggling and wrestling with, "Okay. God is asking me to do this, to sacrifice my son. Is this something I really want to follow through?" Well, and then as we know, as the storyline continues, we know that faith wins out, because it's then that Abraham answers his son, Isaac, by saying, "Son, God will Himself provide the lamb for the sacrifice." By the way, I don't know if you caught it in Genesis 22, there's Abraham's servants, and he tells them, "You stay here. My son and I are going to go forward." And did you catch it where Abraham, there says, "And me and my son will come back later." Think about that. What's that tell you about where Abraham was in terms of faith? Again, common sense would say, I'm going to be the only one coming back, because I know what God's asking me to do. But then, faith bursts forth the way that we tend to think. So, the two of them, then, continue on. And this, you know, there are been so many artists that have so powerfully depicted this, but he bound his son. Why did he have to do that? The father binding his only son. This is his beloved. This is the only flesh and blood that he has. And lays upon the altar, on top of the wood. The son, alter, wood, stone. And then, Abraham with a knife in hand. My goodness, how can you not be drawn to - if you could at all put yourself in Abraham's shoes, at that point, and this war within. You know, the war in your mind - that is between your thoughts and what God is saying. How your heart is with regards to what you're feeling. The war between feelings and faith, at which point, the story line goes: God steps in and says "Abraham! Abraham! Hold on, here. You will not. But I will." You will not. You will spare your son. But I will not.

And God follows through, because then Abraham looks help - you know how the story goes - there's a ram caught in the thicket that becomes the sacrifice. And to this day, it is said "On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided." Okay. What's that mountain again? Mariah, which is today what? Jerusalem. Jerusalem. On what was once known as the place where a father could have asked of the Lord, "Why me?" has become the place where another Father has let the world know, "I, Myself will provide the sacrifice." And then, Jerusalem, around Jerusalem, outside Jerusalem, Golgotha - the place of the skull - He then proceeds to do what? Slay His Son. This one and only begotten Son of God. Placed on an altar, place made of wood. The shape of a cross.

I love this. Can you see the lamb, there? But can you see the shadow? It's the cross. So, whatever causes you and me to think, when situations happen, trials, when we find ourselves tested by whatever life is dishing out, and we feel, and we start thinking, why me. Boy, as a chaplain, I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that. Why me? What have I done? Why has God let this happen? Well, I think those people know what Abraham was was feeling and thinking. And now, of course, I want to believe that God is my Provider. He provides me with everything I need to support this body in this life. You know, house and home, shoes, clothing, a family, an extended family, good government, a good reputation, a place where I can worship freely, just all kinds of things come together. And I want to believe that, with that then, whatever the challenges of life, whatever the trials, whatever the tests that will come - whether God allows it or not - that God will keep providing or protecting me from all harm and danger, right? Yeah. But there's something much more than that. I certainly would hope you and I would not just reduce the faith to that. Because there's way more that God has promised when His Son taught us to pray, "and give us this day, our daily bread." Especially in light of all the thoughts you and I have, and we have to be honest about it when we are challenged, and when the going gets tough, and we're "Why? Why me?" And for all those times that we have not held to the promises God has made, and instead thought that, you know what? I got something better than that. I've got my word. I've got the word of someone else. That above it all, it still holds true: God will Himself. God provided the Lamb. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. God will Himself, and has. The Lamb of God, who takes away the guilt of the world. The Lamb of God, provided by God Himself, in the person of His Son, takes away unbelief and provides faith. The Lamb of God who takes away the "Why me's" in this world and of this world.

Or you could think of it this way: Why me, Lord? In other words, in light of how I have not held to Your word, in light of how I have insisted on getting an answer to the "Why Me's," why on earth would you spare me? Why me? And not spare Your Son? Why would You do that? Why would You do that? And spare me, at the expense of Your only Son? I love the answer that Paul gives to Timothy, that I think fits right in to an answer to the "because" of that. And it goes like this, read it with me: if we are faithless, He remains faithful. For God can not disown Himself. He knows what He has said. He knows what He has promised - and what a promise - I, Myself. I will Myself. I'm willing Myself for you, to spare you, by not sparing Myself, My Son. We, faithless? Oh my goodness, yeah. But God owns and can never let go of what He has promised. "I will provide Myself for you, and you will call Him and know Him as Jesus." And there's also this, then, with this great story of Abraham and Isaac that surfaces. It's how God, in having kept His promise by providing you the One sacrificed, so that you wouldn't become the sacrificed. And again, think back to the "Why Me's." Isn't the thing behind the "Why Me's," Lord, why are you making me the sacrifice? Why are you taking from me? Why am I being sacrificed, here? But knowing what this is all about, God also makes sure that He provides, with the sacrifice of His Son, His Spirit. You and I have His Spirit. And the Spirit is all about reminding us about who Jesus is and why He came, and the sacrifice of God that He was for us and for the world, in order to keep us in the faith, and keep us in relationship with Him, so that we could continue on this path, this journey, for which He has created you and me. To be of service to God and to others. To provide for the needs of others. That God can do so through us. And sometimes, that happens how? Through the trials and tribulations and the things that happened.

In other words, have you ever had someone going through a trial and a challenge, and you found yourself blessed by and through that person? And it can work the other way, too, can't it? Where you're the one going through it. And whether you come to realize it or not, you ended up, by God's doing, gifting someone else. Luther, he sums it better better than I can. It goes like this: "One Christian who has been tried is worth a hundred who have not been tried, for the blessing of God grows in trials. He who has experienced them can teach, comfort and advise many in bodily and spiritual matters." Wow. What a profound statement of faith. You know, it was 5:47 a.m. yesterday morning, and the pager went off. I was the on-call chaplain both Friday night and Saturday night. Last night. Thank you, Lord, the pager did not go off. But it did very early Saturday morning at 5:47 a.m. I was in a deep sleep. Woke me up. And then I looked, you know, it indicates - a long-range pager - this is who you need to call. I called the RN on 3 North and she says, there's been a death, Chaplain. And the the mother is asking for a few words. Well, you know what I'm thinking right away - a mother? This is somebody young. But I don't know anything else at that point. So get my clothes on, drive to Marshfield and arrived, and sure enough, it was somebody young, 33 years old. And then, learned by my meeting with the family with this 33 year-old - just just her body remains, now - the family gathered around her, grieving terribly. Turns out this this 33-year-old had a brain tumor for 22 years. Several brain tumors. At 11 years old, she was first diagnosed. And so, she went through numerous brain surgeries that bought her more time, but of course, not enough to live beyond 33 years of age. So, after I said a few words, which of course, I thought it was interesting - the mother wanted a few words. It was a prayer to God for peace and hope. That God would provide peace and hope to this grieving family. It was then that the father of this 33-year-old took me out into the hall, out from the room, and said to me, Chaplain, I found out fairly recently, here, that our daughter - you know during COVID, she had to be cared for in an assisted living facility during the pandemic - and I had the caregivers there, a number of them share with me and share with us as a family, that during COVID, while they were busy caring for this 33-year-old with all these brain tumors and everybody else - you know, if you know anything about what was going on then, hospitals could not divert patients to living assisted facilities, because living assisted facilities couldn't take anymore on because they were short-staffed, and if you have any empathy for a nurse, or caregiver, or a CNA, when they are in that kind of position with people that are suffering from this, that and the other thing, that this father said these care workers found - sometimes, they were down to the point of tears - they found their source of hope and perseverance from his daughter. Bedridden. Because of the perseverance and the fight that she had through it all. Though, she was not provided any more breath, come early yesterday.

For the blessing of God grows where? In trials. And challenges when we're tested.

And sometimes, we are the ones blessed through the trials of others. And sometimes, it's our trials that we're put through, or that God allows - we may never know why - that provides a blessing of the gift of God to someone who needs it. That's what Luther's at. And that's what this story of Abraham and Isaac also surfaces for us, to embrace and take hold of, as a matter of faith. And as a witness to God also giving us His Spirit to be able to be as that young gal. You know, all this is meant to - by God - to remind us that, if - think of it this way: if you cannot be grateful for what you have, can you be grateful that you have been spared? I'm going to repeat that. If you can't be grateful for what you have, can you be grateful that you have been spared? Boy, I am. I'm grateful that God has spared me. I still scratch my head. That's why I'm so bald. I've scratched my head so many times over: God, why do You keep providing for me as You do? And above all, why do You keep me assured that You have provided me, You have not spared Your Son? So that I could have the insurance, no matter what's going on in my life, even when I fall into sin, why me? That then You keep coming back at me and providing me with Your promise: Chris, you're forgiven. And with that forgiveness, because of my not sparing my son, you've got land, and it's yours, and it's yours eternally. Sin, death and the grave? Nothing to fear there. You've been spared from your "Why Me?"

So, instead of asking, "why me?" when God allows the going to get tough, right? We could say "Here I am, Lord, here I am." Just like Abraham said, here, I am, use me to provide for others, or to others what they need as much as I know I need. And that's the Lamb. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world: Jesus. And now, may the peace of God, which transcends all our understanding, keep your hearts and minds firmly in the Lamb. Jesus. Amen.