Sermon preached by The Reverend Dr. Harold T. Lewis

SERMON PREACHED BY THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA ON THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 12 MARCH 2006


"Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?" (Genesis 22: 7)

The story of the Sacrifice of Isaac, or, more correctly, the Almost-Sacrifice of Isaac, is more tragic than it seems. And tragic it is. Imagine the scene: Abraham and Isaac trudge up Mount Moriah together, the father wracked with confusion and grief, the son traipsing along in all innocence, ignorant of the fact that the wood he is carrying on his little back was to be used to kindle the fire that would consume him. (This story, like other Old Testament stories, is called, in theological jargon, a "type," which means that it foreshadows an event in the New Testament. Thus, Isaac's carrying the wood corresponds to Jesus' carrying his cross; indeed Abraham's offering his only son presages God's offering of his only son, Jesus.)

It is bad enough that God puts Abraham to the test by asking him to kill his only son, but the story starts long before the 22nd chapter of Genesis. We must remember that Abraham and Sarah had long ago given up on the possibility of becoming parents, and then, out of the clear blue, when Sarah is about ninety years old, God informs her that she will conceive. Her reaction to the news was the only fitting response. She laughed out loud! Moreover, Abraham and Sarah are not some random couple in the desert. Abraham is the patriarch, the father of all nations. His descendants, through Isaac, were to be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. And now the same God who had made him that promise, now seems to be going back on his word, by forcing Abraham to snuff out the life of his son. Abraham was between a rock and a hard place ---- the rock of God's Promise, and the hard place of God's very clear, if inconsistent, demand. On top of this, although admittedly a secondary consideration, Abraham must have had some theological qualms. Only pagans sacrificed their children. Only the gods of Canaan, the idols worshipped by unbelievers --- would make such a request of their followers.

Arriving at the place of sacrifice, we can imagine Isaac doing something with which he was very familiar, getting everything ready for the sacrifice, an act of worship. Laying the stones, arranging the wood, preparing the altar. Imagine how Abraham's heart must have ached when his little boy looked up at him as father and son were going about this task, and innocently asked "Father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" The only answer that Abraham could muster up, which was more reflective of his hope than his belief was "God will provide the lamb." Hoping against hope, the obedient Abraham was holding out for a miracle. He wanted God to come through at the last minute, and be faithful to his promise. And it was at the very last minute that God, through his angel, intervened. When the knife is poised over Isaac's neck, (for the sacrifice had to be a blood sacrifice) the angel's voice commands: "Abraham, do not lay a hand on the boy! Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Isaac's question, "Where is the lamb?" is a deep one which speaks to us at the very depth of our being. This story is about sacrifice. It is about testing, dedication and devotion. It is about finding the level of commitment a person has to God. All of this converged on Abraham at this moment of testing. Isaac's innocent question challenges us as much as it challenged Abraham. "Where is the lamb?" Or, otherwise put, do we still believe in sacrifice? Are we willing to do without? Are we willing to give up something for a greater good? When we move from its religious connotation of offering something to a deity, we know that sacrifice means "the forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of something considered to have a greater value." It is "the relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value." Sacrifice sometimes means being selfless in order that somebody else can get the glory. And if I may venture into a topic about which I know little, when the batter hits a sacrifice fly in a baseball game, he is out as soon as the outfielder catches the ball, but his act enables a teammate to reach home plate. The one at bat has given up something for the good of the team.

Is sacrifice still part of our DNA? Does anyone, for example, sacrifice for country anymore? Is there such a thing as patriotism? I learned about patriotism when I saw "Saving Private Ryan." World War II was probably the last war in which our nation was involved in which our citizens, almost to a person, felt true patriotism, because there was a common belief that we were fighting for something worth making a sacrifice for. Wars aside, does anyone sacrifice for their fellow human beings anymore? Are we ever willing to deny ourselves something for the good of the whole? We live in a "me first," "look out for number one" generation in which the Golden Rule is translated "Do unto others before they do unto you."

Confession: I am a "Law and Order" devotee. I've seen most of the episodes more than once. Recently, there was one in which a young Wall Street trader had been murdered. The detectives were able to begin to crack the case when the leaked to his colleagues that his bonus had been $300,000. (Let us not consider for the moment the fact that twenty-somethings are racking up in bonuses more than their parents made after several years of hard work, and how this has shaped their view of the universe.) Owing to the co-workers' deeply entrenched greed, tinged with envy, they were so irate that their late colleague's bonus was so much more than theirs, that they started ratting on people. President Eisenhower once said that "a people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." It seems that Ike was prophetic. "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?"

A sense of sacrifice seems to be waning in family life. I know couples nowadays who believe that the most important aspect of marriage is equality --- absolute parity --- measured in income brought in or such things as seeing to it that each party carries out the garbage the same number of times. Somehow they didn't learn that a better way to go about marriage is through a system of give-and-take, of taking turns making sacrifices for each other. It will all balance out --- or not ---- in the end. Couples always want I Corinthians 13 to be read at their weddings, but do they listen to the words? "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way, or as one translation puts it, "love does not keep score of wrongs, it is not irritable or resentful." "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?"

Is there any sacrifice in our religion anymore? I remember reading a short story by John Updike in The New Yorker. He wrote that a century ago, churches held sway over their members; they could be excommunicated or drummed out of fellowship if they didn't measure up to certain agreed upon standards. Nowadays, Updike opines, churches are so eager to fill their pews that they are virtually indiscriminate in letting people in and allowing them to stay. Christians, it would seem, want to get away with as little as possible. There is a story about a man who happened into a small congregation during the service of Morning Prayer. He heard them saying, "We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done." The man dropped into the nearest pew and was heard to say, "Thank goodness. At last, I've found my kind of people."

Sometimes we dismiss the parable of the rich young ruler to whom Jesus said "Go and sell all you have and then come and follow me." Sometimes we ignore the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in which the rich man's sin was indifference. Sometimes we miss the point of the story of the widow's mite ---- that the expectation is that we should give sacrificially according to our ability. I have said it before, but it is worth repeating, that it is alleged that if all Episcopalians went on welfare and then tithed ---- gave 10% of their income to the support of the church, the receipts of every parish in the land would triple. If we were only to look at what we give compared to what we spend on other things that are important to us, it will prove quite instructive. There are two places to look, by the way, to find out what is important to us --- our calendars and our check book stubs. That for which we spend time and money on are the things that are important to us --- period, full stop. The fact remains that when it comes to support of the church, some people give annually, some monthly, and some weekly --- very weakly. "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?"

Where is the lamb? You and I are the lamb. We are the ones who must make the sacrifices for our society, for our families and for our church. And lest we forget, he who has called us to discipleship, he who has called us to follow after him, the cost of which is outlined in today's Gospel, does not leave us comfortless. Just as God was there with Abraham and Isaac, so Jesus walks with us every step of the way. He will give us both the courage and the strength we need to be truly sacrificial.

Let us pray: Before thy throne, O God, we kneel; give us a conscience quick to feel A ready mind to understand the meaning of thy chastening hand. Whate'er the pain and shame may be, bring us, O Father, nearer thee.
Search out our hearts and make us true; help us to give to all their due, From love of pleasure, lust of gold, from sins which make the heart grow cold, Wean us and train us with thy rod; teach us to know our faults, O God. William Boyd Carpenter, The Hymnal 1982, 574.

AMEN.