Trinity Lutheran Church

(Text: Genesis 22:1-18)

 “Our God is not a monster.”

 This is, by any account, a bizarre story.

 A man and woman give up the life they were expecting to lead to follow an almost unknown God. A God promising them a land; that they would be a blessing to all nations, and descendants numbering like the sands of the beach or stars in the sky.

 Then finally, after years of waiting, through a conception that can only be termed miraculous, they have a son, a child of promise, and the promise seems complete.

  But then, just when it seems that the boy is on his way to adulthood and all is going well, God asks the impossible: “Sacrifice your son; your favored one; your Isaac; to me.”

 Bizarre as this story is…it is perhaps one of the two or three most important stories in the Bible. Because in it, we learn who God is…we learn that our God is not a monster.

 As we have heard from Isaac, child sacrifice occurred in the time of Abraham and Sarah. Many so-called “gods” asked it of their followers. It was part of the culture to which they belonged.

 Why? Well, it’s hard to say for sure. I’d guess the reasons went something like this…there were, as we’ve said, many, many “gods” being worshipped at this time. The worship of these gods probably began with good intentions—even our early church fathers speak of the idea that all people have been given, by God, some sense of the holy. But as the worship of these gods developed, a dangerous and often deadly thing began to happen. The “gods” began to resemble those worshipping them more than anything truly holy.

 And there is a part of all of us, as we all know, that’s pretty dark. And truthfully, that darkness was generally much more in play in the “good old days.” For while we often talk of, and even long for a return to the good old days, where people lived in peace and worshipped and were generally more pure and spiritual, those good old days are mostly myth. The further you go back, the more primitive the society, the more dangerous and violent it tends to be. For example, in primitive societies, one could expect constant violent scrimmages with other clans and, on average (according to experts who study these things), more than thirty percent of men were killed early in adulthood as a result of this reality. Over thirty percent!

 The times were violent and demanded, often, an eye for an eye and blood for blood. And, as the gods being worshipped began to look more and more like their worshippers, their demands were little different.

 Usually, of course, a god demanding sacrifice was content with the sacrifice of an animal. But occasionally, when the situation demanded it—perhaps when the enemy was at the door or when some sin had caused illness in the herd or damaged the harvest, the demand for blood could be seen as greater. And the cry could be for YOUR blood—for the blood of one of your own.

 God tested Abraham, that is true. But God taught Abraham much more in the process. God taught us, and taught Abraham who God is. God taught us that our God is not a monster. God taught us that our God is not like other gods because other gods reflect the blood lust and sin of people…our God is not a monster because the desire for blood is NOT of God.

 So…the sacrifice of children, which was prevented in the life of the Jews through this story, is really a story (I think) of people making “god” in their own image. Primitive people with an ax to grind basically wanted to use that ax. They expected no less from the gods they created; the gods that, in so many ways, reflected them. And they were wrong.

 But, you know, it still happens. It still even happens to us. Humanity’s greatest sin is probably making God in our own image, and it still happens all the time.

 And, unfortunately, the results—while perhaps not always as alarming as they were in the time of Abraham and Sarah—can get pretty monstrous.

 The thing is, whenever we start to make God in our image, we don’t tend to use our best attributes. We tend to make God partner to our baser desires—because (guess what?) that tends to then excuse those desires, or even better, makes them part of the “holy plan.”

 So we’ve got to watch this on two counts—one, when WE do it for ourselves, and TWO when we see others try to do it for us.

 Make no mistake, Abraham was surrounded by those who indulged in human sacrifice, those who said, “This is how the gods work,” our situation (while not involving human sacrifice) is much the same.

 So…a few things to remember—some examples of things that are evidence that someone—you, me, or another, is trying to remake God in their own image.

 When God becomes part of, or always favors one political party over another, someone has made God in their own image.

 When God is seen as singling out people for condemnation because of their race, their economic standing, culture, or sexual orientation, someone has made God in their own image.

 When God is seen as only accepting of one kind of liturgy or one kind of music, someone has made God in their own image.

 When God is seen as concerned with the world and the environment only inasmuch as it can provide for human need, someone has made God in their own image.

 When God is seen as championing one nation over others in any situation, someone has made God in their own image.

 When God is seen only as “MY GOD,” and not as father of all, someone has made God in their own image.

 Here’s the thing…you take any of those situations I just mentioned, and play them out, you don’t end up with God—you end up with a monster.

 Isaac, on the other end of the knife, doubtless thought he was going to a god who was a monster. Likewise all of those, in the situations I’ve described, who others would say are judged by God as inferior, would see such a god as a monster.

 Our God is not a monster—that’s the lesson of this story. And we need to learn it, so we avoid the great sin of making god in our own image…rather than seeing God simply in the image of GOD.

 Our God is not a monster. Our God is Love. Proclaim that. Live that. And, thank God for that!