Fidelity - No Easy Task

 

SERMON

July 2, 2003

Matthew 10:40-42

When I was 16 God came into my life. I was sitting in my boarding school chapel on one of the hard wooden pews. I was the only person there and it was so very quiet. As I remember it, I was feeling quite lonely and lost. And then, God was there. It was an absolutely stunning moment. There are no words to describe it. It just happened. All of a sudden, I experienced God within my very being and peace filled my soul.

Despite this absolutely mystical experience and the peace that it brought me the journey from my adolescence through the many years and stages of my life has not been smooth sailing. It has been bumpy. Quite bumpy. With both glorious and exciting highs and lows that quite frequently have filled me with despair and left me wondering “How will I go forward. I am quite lost and very scared.”

Yet, somehow, be the moment, high or low, since that afternoon in the chapel, many years ago, I have always sensed God with me. I have always believed that if I just kept going the next steps would come; the way would be made clear. I would go forward, and all would be well.

Now, as I look back, I realize that in essence I was continually saying, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, “Yes” to God and “No” to, at times, some quite self-destructive, temptations. And it is only recently as a result of my many spiritual experiences and studies that I have gained a deeper understanding of how important God has been in my life. How blessed I have been to have him present within me all this time. And now, as I write this sermon, I wonder did God put me in that chapel pew all those years ago intentionally?

These long-ago memories came to mind as I read today’s passage that tells the story of the binding of Isaac. As I studied several commentaries on the meaning of why God would test Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, I became intrigued by the concept of fidelity to God. What does fidelity to God entail? What does the concept of fidelity to God mean for us in today’s chaotic world? How can we know if we are being faithful to God?

“God tested Abraham, He said to him, Abraham!” And he said “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut wood out for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.”

As you can well imagine there are many, many interpretations attached to this rather shocking story. But in the end, there is a consensus that the goal is to demonstrate God’s testing of Abraham’s faith. Walter Brueggemann calls the story one of anguished faith. And a story which provides an account of the tangible movement in the relationship between God and Abraham.

Brueggemann explains that in verse 1 we hear God’s testing of Abraham’s faith.  “God tested Abraham, He said “Take your son, your only son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” Brueggemann goes on to point out that by Verse 12 we learn that God now knows the depth of Abraham’s faith. God says “…for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son.”

And how did God get from “not knowing” to “knowing?” The answer is found in verse 8 when Abraham says, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So, the two of them walked on together.” Abraham trusts that God will provide. He does not know the outcome of this incredible challenge, but his trust in God is unreserved and he is willing to commit his way to God’s command.

Brueggemann concludes this particular exegesis by saying, “God is God. He insists on being trusted, totally. God commands us, ‘You shall have no other Gods before me.’ God insists upon fidelity.” 

For Brueggemann fidelity and infidelity are the two fundamental categories of faith. In a separate commentary he writes, “If we are going to live inside the narrative of the Bible, rather than some other narrative, that seems to be what we are either blessed with or stuck with.”

In our chaotic and confusing world, a world which is increasingly politized and dangerously polarized the concepts of fidelity or infidelity to God as understood in the Christian faith through scripture, tradition, and reason must be the essential norms by which we measure our way. The binding of Isaac presents a narrative for life that is consistent with all our lives throughout the ages. As heirs of Abraham, we are all tested by times when it is quite tempting to find an easier, less demanding response to God’s way. These are the times that force us to determine whether or not we mean what we say about our faith being grounded solely in the gospel. 

Do we live within the narrative of scripture? Or do we live within some other narrative?

In Genesis God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only son. The son he loved. In the Gospel according to Mark Jesus says to his followers, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”  And a bit later in his gospel Mark tells us “Peter began to say to him, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

“We have left everything and followed you.” Radical obedience to God’s commands.

I do not believe that I am unique in my boarding school experience of sensing God within me and God with me. I imagine that it is an experience that we all have had, and probably more that once. The critical question is do we acknowledge that presence. Do we listen to that elusive but distinct voice that always, always points us in the direction of fidelity? Or do we shy away from what is being whispered in our ear and take the easier and perhaps more tempting road that leads to infidelity?

Fidelity to God is no easy task. It is a task that requires a lot of effort, and it is a task that cannot – cannot - be done in isolation.  Desmond Tutu wrote “Christian spirituality articulates our image of God as diverse persons in a unified nature. Christian spirituality immediately becomes problematic when it is conceived out of community because community is the very image of God. Salvation comes in the turning toward God in community.”

“Salvation comes in the turning toward God in community.” 

How does the story of Abraham impact us today? What is it relevance for the people of St. Simon’s? Why do we even bother with such a grim story told thousands upon thousands of years ago?

We bother with it because it is a story that presents in bold relief the critical issue of fidelity vs. infidelity to God. 

The binding of Isaac is a story of fidelity in which Abraham says “Here I am” to God in the direst of all circumstances, the sacrifice of his only and beloved son Isaac. A story which points to the depth of Abraham’s faith when he says to his terrified son, “God will provide”. A story through which we understand the challenges that God quite frequently places before us. Challenges that strain the bounds of our faith; that force us to chose between fidelity or infidelity – God’s bottom line.

We at St. Simon’s currently face a big challenge as together we comprehensively explore the multiple issues that must be addressed in order to ensure our way forward and the integrity of our presence in Ft. Walton Beach and beyond. Hard decisions must and will be made and implemented. Love must fill our hearts and our minds as with integrity, courage, and patience we make the changes necessary to the well-being of our life together. Fidelity to God’s call must at all times be uppermost in our minds.

As Archbishop Tutu correctly pointed out “Christian spirituality immediately becomes problematic when it is conceived out of community because community is the very image of God. Salvation comes in the turning toward God in community.”

Fidelity to God’s call for St. Simon’s can only be attained in community. In the diversity of our community, we will experience God among us, and we will be better able to hear his voice as it calls to us, “People of St. Simon’s.” We will be better prepared to respond, “Here I am. “Here we are.”

However, if we are to accomplish this challenging goal we must work together as a beloved community. A community of faith that follows Tutu’s ubuntu theology and the more recent advice that Martin Luther Kings, Jr gave to his congregation in one of his final sermons, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”