Ordinary Time Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 13 

Old Testament: Genesis 22:1-14 

Gospel: Matthew 10:40-42 

Epistle: Romans 6:12-23

There are certain passages in the Scriptures that when you stop to think about them, they are a bit disturbing; Genesis 22 is one of those passages. The first verse says that God “tested Abraham.” God challenges Abraham to sacrifice his only son and lets him get so far as to have the knife raised above Isaac before he finally stops Abraham. It is disturbing to me not only that God is testing Abraham, a man who had moved his family to follow God and then waited until he was 99 years old to finally have the Promised Child, but that he did it through almost having a father kill his son. Imagine the strain that episode puts between Abraham and Issac for the rest of their lives together. No doubt neither of them could ever forget that moment, and I’m sure they didn’t sit around the tent years later and say, “Remember that time you almost killed me, Dad? That was a good one.”

We know the rest of the story and that God provides a ram. The episode ends with Abraham naming that place “the Lord will provide.” Everything seems to turn out fine and Abraham is shown to be faithful. But still, the story should cause us to pause and ask, What does this tell us about God and humanity?

The notion of God testing humanity is found in other passages as well like Deuteronomy 8:2, Isaiah 48:10, Psalm 66:10, Zechariah 13:9, and Malachi 3:2-3. It seems to me like we have enough in this world to challenge us and lead us astray. Sin, death, disease, and other people's behavior all cause us challenges and allow us to show what our character is. We also have to contend with the devil, who is pictured as a roaring lion, prowling around trying to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). Then we have passages like James 1:13 which says God does not tempt anyone. So, on the one hand God tests us, but on the other he doesn’t tempt us into sin. This is more than a little confusing because if we disobey or fail the test, then aren’t we sinning?

Let me just muddy the waters a little more and really get to the heart of the issue. The question is, "To what extent does God cause things to happen in our lives?" Does God make things happen or does he allow them to? Maybe some of both? Is God the mythical watchmaker who sits back while the hands tick? The Christian answer to this last one at least, is no, since God showed himself to be involved throughout the Old Testament and, in the incarnation of Jesus, has fully entered into creation. So God is involved with and in creation even if he is not causing things to happen. God is also leading all creation towards His ultimate end when Jesus returns, and that event will definitely be direct involvement in creation.

Issues like these do not have complete satisfactory answers to me. It is one of the reasons why we have systematic theology and debates between Calvinists and Wesleyans have been waged for centuries. The scriptures are complicated and we have to decide which ideas and passages will inform us as we interpret other parts of Scripture. Wesleyans, following Jacobus Arminius, generally believe that humanity has more freewill and when things happen to us, good or bad, they are not caused by God. Rather, God is able to use them to his purposes. Others believe that God causes things to happen to us, both good and bad. (This discussion hasn’t even gotten into the issue of prayer, and what prayer does to allow God to work in our lives and the lives of others. Again, Wesleyans would tend to believe that God still doesn’t force his way on us.)

I wish I could delve into the Romans passage this week. It is an interesting idea that that we are basically slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. We are either under God or under sin. In our culture, it is assumed we can be individual free agents able to make objective decisions. But that is not what Paul seems to be saying. The only way we are truly free is by placing ourselves under the Lordship of Christ, submitting to his Kingdom. Counter-intuitively, this is what sets us free.

Well, this was heavier week than some, but sometimes it is helpful to read familiar passages of Scripture and think about what is really happening here. Be open this week to how God is trying to guide and direct your life. May we live faithful to his calling.

Grace and Peace.