Sermon Recap (in case you missed it)
So our sermon time began with me asking the congregation what they thought of Genesis 21:1-3 and 22:1-14.
When the scriptures are as challenging as this one, I like to get a sense of what people are hearing in the story. Sometimes- if a story is really difficult, people can’t hear past their own personal perspectives if they can’t name what they’re thinking publicly.
The people weren’t shy about sharing their thoughts…..
“It’s disgusting.” Click >> below for more thoughts…
“Maybe this sets the stage for Jesus as the Lamb of God?”
“It’s child abuse. Call the C.A.S.”
“Abraham had a lot of faith. This shows it.”
“I don’t think God would ask that of anyone. God couldn’t have said that.”
“When you asked me to read this, I wondered where you were going with this.”
“What was Abraham thinking? As a parent, I felt for Abraham.”
“It’s just another violent story and there are lots of violent stories in the Bible.”
“But maybe this story meant something different to the people who heard it at the time.”
From there, we looked at how the Israelites in exile might have heard this story. Then we talked about how Abraham looked up: and saw the mountain God provided…the place to which he was called to take his son….and how he looked up later and saw the ram caught in the thicket.
We thought about those times in our own lives when tragedies confront us…and how we have looked up (looked around, looked in) and seen what God provides.
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