Perspective: Child Sacrifice

Originally delivered as a Sunday school lesson at Bethel United Methodist Church in West Greenville, South Carolina on December 11, 2011.

I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to someone else.

Child Sacrifice

Scripture:

After these events, God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!"

Abraham answered, "I'm here."

God said, "Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him up as an entirely burned offering there on one of the mountains that I will show you." Abraham got up early in the morning, harnessed his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with his son Isaac. He split the wood for the entirely burned offering, set out, and went to the place God had described to him.

On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place at a distance. Abraham said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the entirely burned offering and laid it on his son Isaac. He took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father?"

Abraham said, "I'm here, my son."

Isaac said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the entirely burned offering?"

Abraham said, "The lamb for the entirely burned offering? God will see to it, my son." The two of them walked on together.

They arrived at the place God had described to him. Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. But the LORD's messenger called out to Abraham from heaven, "Abraham? Abraham?"

Abraham said, "I'm here."

The messenger said, "Don't stretch out your hand against the young man, and don't do anything to him. I now know that you revere God and didn't hold back your son, your only son, from me." Abraham looked up and saw a single ram caught by its horns in the dense underbrush. Abraham went over, took the ram, and offered it as an entirely burned offering instead of his son. Abraham named that place "the LORD sees. That is the reason people today say, "On this mountain the LORD is seen."

The LORD's messenger called out to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I give my word as the LORD that because you did this and didn't hold back your son, your only son, I will bless you richly and I will give you countless descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will conquer their enemies' cities. All the nations of the earth will be blessed because of your descendants, because you obeyed me." After Abraham returned to the young men, they got up and went to Beer-sheba where Abraham lived.

Genesis 22:1-19 (CEB)

Ruin my life - the plans that I made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place
'Til it's You alone I live for
You alone I live for

From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson

Central to the religious narratives of the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims is a man named Abraham, a man whom God found righteous. Nearly four thousand years ago, God called Abraham to leave his homeland and to travel to the land of Canaan. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising him that he would be the "ancestor of many nations" and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. God promised him that his descendants would live in the land of Canaan and that ultimately all people would be blessed because of him.

There was one small obstacle to this promise being fulfilled: Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children. How could Abraham be the father of nations if he had no children? God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, but they had trouble believing God in this matter because they were both elderly. Eventually the day they awaited came, and Sarah gave birth to a son whom they named Isaac, just as God had promised.¹

One day, years later, God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac to a mountain and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham tells Isaac that they are going to make a sacrifice to God, but he does not tell Isaac that he is to be the sacrifice. As they ascend the mountain, Isaac senses that something is amiss. He notices that they have everything they need to make the sacrifice except the sacrifice itself. Isaac asks his father where the sacrifice is, and Abraham replies that God will provide them a sacrifice.

Once they reach their destination, Abraham builds an altar, ties up his son, and places him on the altar. Just as Abraham lifts up his knife to kill his son, an angel stops him and tells him that the entire ordeal was simply a test from God. The angel then blesses Abraham for his dedication to God and his for his faith.

Whether or not this is the first time you have ever read about this story, perhaps the story has brought to your to mind some very uncomfortable questions. Perhaps you are asking yourself, "What kind of story is this, and what kind of God do we worship?"

One potential danger in the story is that someone - a religious yet delusional person - might read it and think that God is actually calling him to kill his children. Over ten years ago, for example, a woman suffering from severe depression and psychosis killed her five children to ensure that they went to heaven, lest they grow up, become lost souls, and ultimately go to hell.² I do not know whether or not the story of Abraham and Isaac played a part in her decision to kill her children, but I can imagine that the story could have such an affect.

I take a lot of comfort in the fact that God has since made the sixth of the ten commandments, "Do not kill."³

One interpretation of the story is that God was teaching Abraham that God was different from the deities of Abraham's culture who demanded human sacrifices - even sacrifices of one's own children. After all, God did not really want Abraham to sacrifice his son, as proven by the end of the story.⁴ Even if this interpretation is true, I wonder if the story perhaps has something else to teach us. I believe that the story of Abraham and Isaac, like all stories in the Bible, has something to teach us in our own time and place.

I believe that this story teaches us that, at some point, all parents must sacrifice their children to God.

Now that I have made that shocking statement, I hope you will allow me the opportunity to explain what I mean. First, I want to present to you a second, very different story of child sacrifice found in the Bible.

Hannah is the favorite of her husband's two wives. Unlike her sister-wife, she has no children, and what she wants more than anything else was to have a child of her own. Her sister-wife, jealous of their husband's affection toward Hannah, often taunts her.

One year, when Hannah goes with her family to Shiloh to make an offering to God, she becomes so distraught because of her infertility that she is unable to eat. She leaves her family and goes to the temple. She prays, "LORD of heavenly forces, just look at Your servant's pain and remember me! Don't forget Your servant! Give her a boy! Then I'll give him to the LORD for his entire life. No razor will ever touch his head."⁵ Though her lips are moving, no sound is coming out of her mouth, so Eli, the priest on duty, thinks she is drunk. Hannah explains her predicament to Eli, and he blesses her, saying "May the God of Israel give you what you've asked from Him."

Shortly afterward, Hannah becomes pregnant. She gives birth to a baby boy whom she names Samuel, meaning "I asked the LORD for him." Once the boy is weaned, the family returns to Shiloh, and Hannah gives him back to God, just as she promised. She leaves Samuel at the temple to be raised by Eli. Samuel will go on to become a prophet of God and a leader of Israel.⁶

It has been said, "Man plans, and God laughs." We often make plans for ourselves, but sometimes these plans are contrary to what God, in His infinite wisdom, has planned for us. Sometimes parents make plans for their children, and sometimes parents try to live vicariously through their children.

"My child is going to have all the opportunities I never had."

"My child is going to college."

"My child is going to be rich."

"My child is going to carry on the family business."

"My child is going to be the president of the United States."

Sometimes the hopes, dreams, and expectations that parents have for their children are contrary to the purpose that God has created for their children. Sometimes the parents' wishes go against the children's nature: they are not compatible with the people God created the children to be.

I feel as though I experienced a mild form of this in my childhood. When I was a child, my dad, like a lot of parents, tried to get me interested in things that interested him but meant nothing to me. For the longest, he tried to get me to play sports, particularly baseball. The problem was that I simply had no interest in sports. I had no skill in sports, and I simply didn't enjoy playing them. An athlete is not who I believe God created me to be.

I think that my dad eventually came to a better understanding of the person I really was. Though he tried to get me interested in a lot of things I didn't like, he is also the person who got me interested in computers. In fact, he even gave me my first two computers as Christmas presents. My interest in computers when I was young led to my decision to study computer science in college and ultimately to a career as a computer programmer.

At some point, my dad had to build an altar and sacrifice his hopes for an athletic son.

Abraham was a man who probably had a lot of plans that God disrupted. He probably intended to enjoy his golden years in his homeland when God called him to journey to Canaan. He and Sarah had probably wanted a child for a long time, so it is possible that they, like a lot of parents, had plans for their child. Perhaps, at some point, God had to say, "I know that you have a lot of hopes and dreams for your child, but Isaac belongs to Me. I have a purpose for his life."

I believe that God has a purpose and a plan for each of us and that we must surrender ourselves to God's will if we want to live our lives to the absolute fullest. For parents, there is an added dimension to surrendering to God. For them, it means acknowledging that God has a purpose and a plan for their children. Perhaps a father wants his son to follow in his footsteps, but maybe God has a completely different vocation in mind for the son. Perhaps a mother wants her daughter to be financially successful, but maybe God wants the daughter to minister to the impoverished in a faraway land.

At some point, all parents must surrender their children to God. Parents must put their children's future and their children's safety in the hands of God, knowing that God knows what is best for each and every one of us.

Is there something - or someone - you need to surrender to God?


Notes:
1 - For Abraham's backstory, see Genesis 12-21.
2 - Wikipedia Article
3 - Exodus 20:15 (CEB)
4 - Erik Swenson, "How to Read the Bible the Wrong Way." RELEVANT Magazine Deeper Walk, January 18, 2012.
5 - At that time, long hair was a sign of dedication to God. This is my justification for having a ponytail.
6 - For more about the stories of Hannah and Samuel, see the book of 1 Samuel.

Abraham and Isaac, the painting featured in this perspective, was painted by Rembrandt in 1634.


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.

Introspection: For Better or For Worse

I share these thoughts, hoping they are of help to someone else.

For Better or For Worse

Scripture:

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7,11 (NRSV)

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

From "Love Me" by JJ Heller

For a time, I prayed for a companion, as I have mentioned in a number of previous introspections. Since then, I have realized a few things about love. In December of last year, I wrote a perspective on a subject about which I have no personal experience, namely marriage.¹ It was around that time that I came to some important realizations about my own search for "love." I realized that, contrasted with the true sacrificial nature of marital love, my search for a companion has been largely selfish.

For a time, I prayed for a companion, and, though I tried to surrender to God, vocally praying that He would bring into my life the woman whom He would choose for me, in the back of my mind I still had a wish list. Like many people who seek companionship, I had a list of requirements. Still, at the same time, I realized that, if I were ever to meet the mythical woman who was "perfect for me," then it is not very likely that I would be the "perfect man" for her. Odds are, I would probably fall far short of meeting her own list of requirements for a mate.

Another problem with my search for a relationship is that I was... well... searching for a relationship. I really hate to admit this, but there were times in the past that I sought a relationship, a status, a milestone more than I sought an actual person. There were times that I wanted a girlfriend more than I wanted the girl. Perhaps I just wanted what I thought everyone else had. Perhaps I wanted some sort of personal fulfillment or validation. Perhaps I just wanted to know I wasn't defective or unlovable. Perhaps I was just chasing after pretty faces.

In short, I got it all wrong...

very, very wrong.

In the midst of my pursuit for a relationship, there was also a deep sense of fear. There are some qualities about myself that don't make me very endearing. In fact, there are times that I have been a world-class jackass. There are things about me that don't exactly make me proud of myself. I have this lingering fear that, even if I were to fall in love with someone who fell in love with me, she would inevitably see too much of me and leave me. Sometimes I wonder if this fear even leads me to sabotage my own relationships. Maybe this is just my perfectionism talking.

One of my favorite thinkers these days is an Irish philosopher named Peter Rollins. Through the magic of the podcast, I have heard him say a number of profound things about love.

I have been told by a number of people that I would be more likely to find a girlfriend if I wasn't looking for one. Rollins pointed out the reason when he was interviewed by Rob Bell at Mars Hill Bible Church. He said that, when a person is not desperately seeking fulfillment through a mate, the person able to encounter somebody on a deeper level: he or she is open to truly getting to know somebody. It is only when one truly gets to know somebody that he or she can say, "I never needed you until I met you, but when I met you I now realize I always needed you." True desire for another person is retroactive.²

For a time, I prayed for a companion, but the truth is that I cannot truly want a companion until I have already gotten to know her.

Rollins, when he took his Insurrection tour to Revolution Church in New York City, somewhat facetiously said that marriage is "one of the worst things you can do," and that a marriage proposal "is one of the most horrific things you can do to a person." He goes on to explain that many married couples break up over infidelity or other various problems and that many other couples stay together in a state of lovelessness. He then implies that maybe the true romantics are the ones who are aware of all the potential horrors and pitfalls of marriage but are still compelled to give themselves to someone else.³

I live a relatively easy life. Having a wife or even a girlfriend would not make my life any easier. In fact, having a companion would make my life more complicated. Furthermore, if I got married, my wife would see the many sides of my personality - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is certain that my wife would learn things about me that she doesn't like. The truth of the matter is that I would also see the many sides of my wife's character and that I would also learn things about her that I don't like.

But maybe that is what love is all about.

St. Paul wrote that love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I am convinced that true love is not a feeling. Feelings change, but, if love truly "bears all things" and "endures all things" as Paul wrote, then true love must be something deeper and stronger than feelings. True love must then be greater and more powerful than a person's mistakes, faults, shortcomings, quirks, hangups, and emotional baggage.

In the traditional marriage service found in the Book of Common Prayer, the bride and the groom take each other "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death [them] do part..." Maybe true love shines through, not in the "better," in the "richer," and in the "health," but rather in the "worse," in the "poorer," and in the "sickness." Maybe true love shines through when two people have been married for years, and one is concerned about losing a job, and one of their cars has just broken down, and one of their children has just been expelled from school, and they both keep seeing cockroaches in the house, but somehow they resolve to come through it all together.

Some of you readers might disagree with me, but I believe that there is no such thing as "love at first sight." I believe there is such a thing as attraction at first sight, lust at first sight, and maybe even infatuation at first sight - I'm familiar with those. True love, I believe, takes time to bloom and to grow.

My lack of understanding about the true nature of love is why my pursuit of a romantic relationship has failed. Objectifying members of the opposite sex is a lot easier and a lot more subtle than one might think. It is wrong for me to desire a relationship for the sake of having a relationship. I must instead desire a relationship because I desire the person with whom I want the relationship. It has been said that "each mind is a world." I must not look at a woman as merely a potential mate. I must look at her as a world of feelings, thoughts, experiences, hopes, and dreams - a world like my own. For the two of us to truly get to know and to love each other I must see into her world and allow her to see into mine.

For a time, I prayed for a companion, and I desperately needed for God to intercede for me, though not in the way I originally thought. I needed God to help me move beyond things in my past and to teach me more about what it means to love somebody. It has been a while since I last prayed for a girlfriend. Lately I have been praying for something else. When I go out to spend time with my peers, I pray that I will become better friends with someone. I usually find that when I pray this way, I become more open to other people and engage in more meaningful conversations.

In the Bible, the Greek word translated as "repentance" is metanoia which means "to change one's mind."⁴ I have decided to repent of my pursuits for a relationship. Instead, I will simply seek to get to know people better - to see their worlds and to let them see mine - with no expectations and no pretensions. Only if I truly get to know people and allow them to get to know me will I ever find love of any kind, romantic or otherwise.


Notes:
1 - See my perspective "Sacrificial Love"
2 - Rob Bell and Peter Rollins, "Peter Rollins and the Power of Story." Mars Hill Bible Church podcast, 08/29/10.
3 - Peter Rollins and Padraig O Tuama, "The Insurrection Tour." Revolution NYC podcast, 04/11/10.
4 - Wikipedia: "Metanoia (theology)"


If you have any feedback, thoughts, stories, or even arguments to contribute, please leave comments.