Have you ever come across a passage in the Bible which is hard to understand? Sometimes there are texts which are hard to swallow, or grasp. We don’t know what to do with them. They don’t fit into our box. They don’t speak to the realities we want God to work within.
Today’s Old Testament text is from Genesis 22:1-14 – and for me it’s always been one of those: “Really – that happened in our Bible?” kind of stories. It’s the story of Abraham and Isaac – and the sacrificial offering to God.
Our Gospel text from Matthew 10:40-42 is also one which I have to read, and re-read and place it within its larger context. If I simply read it I seem to struggle with its concepts. As I read each text this week and reread them and reread them, I had to look at them within the larger story of God.
For me, certain words or aspects of the Scripture sometimes stand out and I get stuck on them – but really what we need to do is read them within the larger narrative. We have to understand them within the larger context of God’s story!
As I read Matthew 10:40-42 this week I found myself struggling with the term and concept of rewards from God. In regards to our faith, I’m not a huge rewards kind of guy. I don’t believe we are to do what God has asked simply for a reward. As I read this passage, I kind of cringed as I immediately thought of the Prosperity Gospel. The simple message of the Prosperity Gospel is that God will fiscally reward and bless those who believe in him. So, I was stuck on this word reward and my mind was connecting it to this view of the Gospel that doesn’t resonate with me.
But as I read the other passages of Scripture we have before us today, my heart was warmed as God reminded me of the whole of his story. I believe there is a reason why we have the entire cannon we call Scripture. There’s a reason why we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. There’s a reason why we still read the stories of the Old Testament. There’s a reason why we spend time reading the Gospels and the letters from Paul and the other New Testament writers.
The entirety of Scripture along with our traditions and experiences shape the larger frame work for understanding God and his story. When we look at a particular piece of Scripture on its own we short-circuit something vital – We run the risk of short-circuiting the primary message God is inviting us into.
In many ways we have a choice to make. Will we focus on one passage and run the risk of misunderstanding it within the larger framework or will we look at the different pieces of the story and how they connect and speak of the truth before us?
We have four (Genesis 22:1-18, Psalm 13, Romans 6:12-23, Matthew 10:40-42) Lectionary texts today and we’ve already read the Gospel of Matthew. I would like us to look at two more which I believe will shed light on our Gospel text and help us look at and see one of God’s major over-arching themes.
Let’s look at Genesis 22. Here we find the story of Abraham and Isaac. It’s the story where God tells Abraham to load up and head out to a mountain and Sacrifice his son there as a burnt offering. Without questioning God, Abraham gets up the next morning and heads out with wood, tools, and his son. They climb the mountain, set the stage, and prepare the altar. An angel comes, calls out to Abraham and tells him not to lay a hand on his son, his only son. I’m sure Isaac was relieved – and I know Abraham was!
This story is one in many ways I’d like to skip over. It’s awkward! I don’t like to think of God testing us. I don’t like to think of God putting us in harm’s way. I don’t like to think of these aspects of God. Yet here they are in our Holy Scriptures.
Well, thankfully the angel comes and tells Abraham not to touch the child and as he looks up – he sees a Ram caught in the bushes. God provided. God provided Isaac, and then God provided the scapegoat.
The beauty is the story doesn’t even finish there. Again, we have to read on. Let’s look at the next paragraph where God blesses Abraham for his obedience:
“The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
(In this story, what stands out to you? What do you see God’s actions here saying?)
In this story God not only provides a way out for Abraham from sacrificing his only son up as a burnt offering, but He goes on to bless Abraham for his obedience. Abraham receives a reward beyond the joy of not losing his son, beyond the joy of having Isaac with him for the rest of his days, beyond all these – God blesses Abraham.
In my own preference to negate the reward spoken of in the Matthew text, God pulls our attention to the many blessings, rewards, and grace God bestows upon Abraham and his descendants. Here we have this amazingly awkward story of Abraham willingly heading off to sacrifice his son to his God. And God turns around and thanks him for being obedient, and provides another avenue. He goes on to bless Abraham telling him his descendants will be as numerous as the stars and the sand and they will be a blessing to all nations.
God’s grace is sufficient. God’s grace is amazing!
I love how God’s grace flows through this story. God’s grace, his spontaneous, unmerited gift to Abraham is amazing. It touches not only Abraham’s life, but his sons, his neighbors, the nations, and it even trickles down to us. Abraham’s life reminds us that God’s grace in itself is a reward. Abraham reminds us that we have a choice to make in response to God’s grace. Abraham was obedient to God and his grace flowed out.
The first two texts we’ve looked at, in many ways are difficult texts for me. I want to just skip over them. They’re awkward. They draw us in to the story in weird ways that we don’t always want God to work in. Yet they are in our Bible. And they are paired with a passage from Romans chapter 6.
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is jam-packed with great illustrations and is brimming with the good news of God’s grace. Earlier in Chapter 3 he reminds us that we all have sinned and we all fall short. We all fail. We all miss the mark.
Then just a few chapters later, he asks the question… Shall we go on sinning? No! We have experienced the great gift of God’s grace. Can we remain in our life of death? No! Is it reasonable to assume we can continue to sin that God’s grace may over and over and over again reign true? The answer is no!
We all have sinned and we all fall short. We all fail. We all have missed the mark. But! There’s a but there! We have all sinned, but in God’s goodness, in his graciousness - HE sent his son and ALL are justified freely by his grace. It is through our redemption that came through Jesus Christ that we are set free. We are set free to live. We are set free to love. We are set free to choose life over death!
Shall we go on sinning and assume God’s grace will once again wash over us? Shall we ignore the grace and submit ourselves to the trappings of this world? Of course the answer is NO!
For me, certain words or aspects of the Scripture sometimes stand out and I get stuck on them – but really what we need to do is read them within the larger narrative. We have to understand them within the larger context of God’s story!
I love the section of this chapter in Romans where Paul brings our attention to who we are and how we function in this world. I love it when he pulls us into the metaphor of being instruments. I’ve kind of been stuck in on this word; instruments.
In Verse 13, Paul says: Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather… offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
When I hear Paul’s reference to us about being an instrument - my first inclination is to think of musical instruments. I think about how we are to sing a beautiful song of righteousness. I think about how God doesn’t want us to play the music of wickedness. I think about the guitar, the drums, the violin, keyboard, and tuba. I think about the beautiful symphony of God’s love!
For sure this is true. God wants us to participate in the creation of the beautiful symphony of his love. But my mind has also been drawn to thinking about the instrument not so much as just a musical instrument but also as a tool – something like a doctor’s instrument.
Perhaps like me, this might serve as a beautiful metaphor of how God wants to see you!
Perhaps like me, this might serve as a beautiful metaphor of how God wants to see you!
This passage reminds us, like Jesus did when he told us we can’t serve both God & money, that we cannot serve both God and Sin. We will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot be slave to both. We cannot have a split personality and divide our time between the two. We will need to make a decision. We must choose. We must decide. We have the opportunity to freely choose what our life song will be.
We must freely choose how our gifts and resources – how our lives – will be used. We have to decide who our lives play for? The scriptures remind us that we have to decide. Our lives will play for someone. Our lives are made to be active. Will your life speak of God’s love, or will you sing the song of death?
I love the visual concept Paul uses when referring to us as instruments. I love the illustration because instruments are active. They are engaging. The purpose of a tool or even a musical instrument is not for it to sit untouched beautifully on the shelf. The purpose of a Doctor’s stethoscope is not to hang delicately around the neck like a tie – but rather to be used. The stethoscope has a purpose. It was designed and manufactured for a valuable reason.
We too have been designed and crafted for a unique and quite beautiful purpose. We have a decision to make. We have been crafted to be beautiful instruments, but who will we play for? Will we be instruments of wickedness or instruments of peace, joy, righteousness and love?
I referenced earlier how I struggled with the concept of receiving a reward from God. And Paul in this passage again draws our attention to it. As I read the texts this week, I literally had to laugh as I realized the beauty of the larger picture and its context. Starting in verse 20 Paul says:
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
The last verse there – verse 22, is really quite beautiful isn’t it! “You have been set free from sin. You have become slaves of God. The benefit you reap – leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life!
In our society which strives for prosperity around every available corner, what an amazing story of redemption we have in our Scriptures. What a beautiful depiction of God’s upside down Kingdom where our reward is found in the Salvation offered upon a tree; where our reward is in the ram caught in the thicket; where our reward is based on our decision to allow our lives to be instruments of peace, joy, righteousness and love!
One of my favorite songs in the Christian faith is an old prayer from St. Francis of Assisi – the song is titled Instruments of Peace. And I’d like to share it with you:
“Lord, Make us instruments of your peace, Where there is hatred, let your love increase Lord, make us instruments of your peace, Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease, When we are your instruments of peace.
Where there is hatred, we will show his love Where there is injury, we will never judge Where there is striving, we will speak his peace To the millions crying for release, We will be his instruments of peace
Lord, Make us instruments of your peace, Where there is hatred, let your love increase Lord, make us instruments of your peace, Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease When we are your instruments of peace.
Where there is hatred, we will show his love Where there is injury, we will never judge Where there is striving, we will speak his peace To the millions crying for release, We will be his instruments of peace
Lord, Make us instruments of your peace, Where there is hatred, let your love increase Lord, make us instruments of your peace, Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease When we are your instruments of peace.
Where there is blindness, we will pray for sight. Where there is darkness, we will shine his light. Where there is sadness, we will bear their grief To the millions crying for relief, We will be your instruments of peace.”
Lord, make us instruments of peace. Lord, make us instruments of Righteousness. As the Apostle Paul reminds us: May our lives be instruments of Righteousness and may our reward be found in the great story of our God!
May we, as instruments of righteousness, shine your light to this dark and lonesome world – and to the millions crying for release, may we be Christ’s, your Instruments of peace.
As you go – May your life be an instrument of righteousness – and your reward be found in the story of God. Go and Love!
No comments:
Post a Comment