When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven, "Abraham, Abraham!" "Here I am!" he answered.
"Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger. "Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son." As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing—all this because you obeyed my command." (Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18)
If God calls me, I will answer, “Here I am.” But, I won’t pick up knives to slaughter. Regrettably, many people of other faiths – especially ours – have done so. For example, Pope Urban II in 1095 started preaching the First Crusade (1096–99). He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims and free the eastern churches. This pardon would also apply to those that would fight the Muslims in Spain. Immense slaughter resulted. Thousands of Crusaders thought God had called them with Urban being God’s mouthpiece. Such a foul and self-serving mouth!
Many of us use the “knives” we call our mouths to slice open and wound those we love. Bad-mouthing, insults, and swears cut deep. We do not stay our “hands” – our mouths. We lay our hands – our mouths – on them with force and often with vengeance.
Do we hear the Lord’s messenger shout: “Do not lay your hand on that person! Shut your mouths and think of the harm you do and have done.” Let’s listen…listen…listen to that messenger we might call our conscience.
This reading from Genesis strikes our nerves. Why would Abaraham be willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac? Why do we hurt those we love and sacrifice and lose that love we have always cherished? Stupidity.
The message for all of us is to hear the Word of God – Jesus – and to never sacrifice our loved ones on an altar of anger, jealousy, pride, or self-serving need. Rather, let’s douse the fire we use to burn those we love. To do otherwise is an affront to God who is the One who always calls to us, "Here I am!"
Deacon David Pierce
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