Scripture: Genesis 22:2
God said [to Abraham], “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.”
Thought for the Day: There are stories we can read and entirely miss the seismic contextual shift that is occurring. This story is one of them. Try to put yourself in a time when so many cultures and religions of the day saw sacrifice as a way of placating or schmoozing the gods. You wanted a good crop, so you sacrifice a certain animal. The following year you got a mediocre crop, so you figured you should sacrifice two or three of those animals. For a few years, your crops are abundant, but then your crops are destroyed by drought. Does the god (or gods) want more from me? Over time, it appeared in the minds of certain cultures that god (or gods) demanded something much more precious… the life of the family’s firstborn. Within the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), there is a clear shift that occurs in regard to this thinking, and this passage is a marker of that shift. The God who called forth Abraham and Sarah is not a God who, as the story will show, requires the sacrifice of a child. Sacrifice will become, not a way of placating or schmoozing God, but as symbol of gratitude and a symbolic gesture of remorse. Christianity, sadly, completely ignored this transformative moment in the history of religion and suddenly turned the God revealed in Jesus Christ into a God who requires the blood of a firstborn. It is surprising that many within the Christian faith didn’t notice how their understanding of God was a leap three millennium back for the purpose of borrowing an ancient culture’s misguided understanding of sacrifice.
Prayer: O God, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. Your mercy is eternal and your love immeasurable. Let all my gifts – time, money, resources, sweat – be an expression of gratitude to you for all you have done and all you continue to do. Amen.
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