What do you value more than anything in the world? Is it a person? Or a possession? Or an achievement? If God asked you to give it up, could you do it? Welcome to Abraham’s story.
Things were going exceedingly well for Abraham. He was raising Isaac, the son God gave to him and Sarah. God had established his material success with herds of animals. A large community had gathered around him as part of his household. He was at peace with his neighbors, which is no small thing. Best of all, it was well with his soul. He called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal One.
Not only did Abraham call on the Lord, but periodically, the Lord called on Abraham. If God called our names, how would we answer? Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me.” Jonah said, “There I was. Send somebody else.” When Yahweh, “I am” called Abraham, he recognized his voice. “Here I am,” he answered. “At your service,” characters on television used to say. When Abraham answered, God continued. What he asked was unthinkable.
“Take your son, your only son, the son whom you love . . . and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.” I would have been tempted to go full Jonah at this point. “Catch me if you can,” I might have said. On my desk is a button that speaks, “For the last time, no!” Are we surprised that Abraham loaded his donkey, took two of his servants and Isaac? They cut the wood for the burnt offering. Then they saw Mt. Moriah in the distance. Abraham left his servants and said, “We will worship and we will come back to you.”
We asked on Sunday, “How do we know if we have really worshiped?” We came to the building. We sang songs. We prayed. We studied the Bible. In these acts and activities, did we present ourselves as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God? We cannot go with God and stay where we are. God is on the move. Singing our favorite song loudly does not mean we have worshiped. Have we obeyed God? Is there anything God is asking of us today that we are answering with, “For the last time, no!” Saying yes to God is the beginning of our worship.
