Genesis 22:1-14 “The Compass and the Cross”

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

! Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.

My name is Lance Cooper. I'm one of the elders here at Southwood. Don't worry, I'm not preaching.

I know some of you, like Alan Judge, are probably pretty nervous.

But Derek called me this week and asked if I would read Scripture before he preached today.

So I'd ask that you just kind of listen to one of these old, old stories.

A story that's thousands of years old that's been listened to and read generation after generation after generation of people who have hoped and trusted in God's providence.

And this is Genesis 22, verses 1 through 14.

Genesis 22:1–14

After these things, God tested Abraham and 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 of which I shall tell you.

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac.

And he cut wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son.

And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.

So they went both of them together.

And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father.

And he said, here I am, my son.

He said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they went both of them together.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there.

And laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham.

And he said, here I am.

He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.

For now I know that you fear God.

Seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked.

And behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide.

As it is said to this day, on the mount of the Lord, it shall be provided.

One of the most famous passages in scripture has a lot to take in.

There's a lot of different ways we could look at this.

But hopefully we can find encouragement today from this passage.

That's one of my jobs as a preacher is to encourage you from the word of God with what it says.

So before we jump in, looking at that passage and picking it apart, I want to start with a story of a guy named Luke Akins.

Has anybody ever heard of Luke Akins?

No?

I hadn't either.

But just a few years ago, he stepped into history as the first person ever to jump from an airplane at 25,000 feet without a parachute.

A 42-year-old skydiver has made history.

Luke Akins became the first person to jump from a plane without a parachute and land in a net on Saturday, falling 25,000 feet.

Here is Mireya Villarreal.

Doors open. Here we go.

You could call him Luke's sky jumper.

Luke Akins' death-defying leap unlike anything anyone seen in this galaxy.

Beginning at 25,000 feet, he soars through the air without a parachute for two minutes.

Other skydivers stay by his side before removing his oxygen mask for his final descent.

There goes the chutes.

Luke is on his own.

Seconds later, he hits his mark, a 100-by-100-foot net.

He's in!

His wife and teammates rush to greet him.

I'm almost levitating. It's incredible.

The words I want to say can't even get out of my mouth.

He and I have

Aikens has been jumping since he was 12 and has made more than 18,000 jumps with a parachute.

But as a father and husband, he says this stunt needed to be more than just a leap of faith.

There's an inherent risk with what I'm doing, but I feel like it's a calculated risk.

When you're out in the air after you exit, the feeling is awesome.

There's no going back. That's the feeling that I love. That's what I do this for.

Mireya Villarreal, CBS News, Los Angeles.

you could call him Luke's sky jumper did you hear that one unlike anyone seen in this galaxy

that was a lame line but for two full minutes he's falling he trained for two years I guess

you could say his whole life really but two years just for that jump and all he had no plan b

and all he was trusting was that everyone who had talked to him about it being safe and catching him

that that net would catch him trusting that they were telling the truth and that's a lot of what it

can feel like when God calls us to do something okay you don't get all the steps outlined up front

he had a few more you don't see every turn ahead but you do have just enough information to take

the first leap and you had to trust that you're going to land exactly where he promises in the

scriptures can you think of a time maybe in your life when God nudged you or called you somewhere

and did you have every single bit of information that you needed about every step of the way

I remember when I first was called into ministry I was painting houses I was out of college and it

was like this song stuck in my head go talk to so and so at this church and ask him if they have a job

and I knew he would say no but later that led to the call in ministry and I just knew I had to go do it

I can also recall vividly when God called us to leave Washington DC where we're serving in a church

for nine years it was an undeniable clear answer that it was time to go take a next step

at a new church and it was incredible I was like God's in this for about two years and then it was awful

and then confusion set in and then something wasn't right and little did I know we were entering into

some of the the more challenging years of our life and it didn't make sense and sometimes that's

exactly how God's call feels clear enough to step out but confusing enough to require faith beyond what

we can see ourselves because God's call can seem confusing it really can't we want a GPS right with

all of the details but so many times most all of the time actually God hands us a compass and he just

says go that way I saw this fun video on the internet that uh that kind of like captures I

think the heart of how confusing it could be my child this is God yes God quit your job you will

not miss any money you will get a check every week for ten thousand dollars and become a millionaire

okay yes God my child this is God yes God I need you to quit your job and then what

hello

you you ever been there

so Abraham had been there he'd been there many times okay and now we get to enter into another

one of those moments where God gives him a compass and not a GPS I'm going to read the first eight

verses again after these things God tested Abraham and 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 there's the compass

and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you

so Abraham rose early in the morning saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and his

son Isaac and he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told

him on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar then Abraham said to his

young men stay here with the donkey I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you

and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son and he took in his hand the

fire and the knife so they went both of them together and Isaac said to his father Abraham my father and he

said here I am my son he said behold the fire and the wood but where's the lamb for a burnt offering

Abraham said God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering my son so they went both of them

together

in this passage Abraham gets another compass and God's call can seem confusing but this call seems horrific

doesn't it

and it's even more horrific if you understand the backstory okay so in Genesis 12 Abraham was handed a compass

and he was told by God go to the land that I'll show you just head that way

and then in Genesis 15 God gives him a little more info he says hey look at all the stars

if you can count all those stars

that's how many your offspring will be

and then in Genesis 17

God makes the promise to Abraham that he will be a father of a multitude of nations

but how can he be father Abraham of a multitude of nations if he doesn't have a son

so he's got more info but he still doesn't have all of the information so Abraham and his wife Sarah they

try to have a baby and they wait and they wait and they trust and they trust and they grow older and they

grow older and then after 10 years of waiting

they get desperate

you ever been there

where you're waiting but you get desperate and you try to fix things yourself

I think that's where they were

okay

and they wanted to wait but they wanted the promise

and they believe the promise

so Sarah says I've got an idea

I think Abraham what God may have meant

was that you should have a child with our servant Hagar

maybe that's how he's going to provide the son

because I can't have a child for you

and so he did that

and they named the child Ishmael

but that shortcut only created more resentment

and more brokenness in the family

and just like in Eden

what followed

was shame

and broken relationships

there was sin involved

but God's plan was not undone

and his plan's not undone

in our brokenness either

you can take heart there

and the good news is he doesn't run away from broken people

this was a very messy family

you ever thought your family's too messy for God

well just take a little look here

dig a little deeper

you're not alone

okay

15 years later

25 years after Abraham and God had had that conversation

God's promise shows up

and Sarah

she has a son

at the youthful age of 90

and Abraham was the 100 year old dad

and they named him Isaac

and it's through Isaac

that God's promises to Abraham

and to us

would be fulfilled

the end

they lived happily ever after

let's pray

plot twist

the tension between Sarah and Hagar

got so bad

that Sarah

sends Hagar away

with Ishmael forever

boom

get out of here

right

this already broken family

becomes

more broken

except

for the joy over Isaac

the miracle baby

their only son

and now Isaac

the son that they've been waiting 25 years for

who they love with all their heart

the promised one

God says

Abraham

put him on the altar

kill the promise

this call seems horrific

now

what's happening here

and

was this horrific to Abraham

does it seem as horrific to him

as it does to us

I don't think so

I don't think it was as horrific to Abraham

as it seems to us reading this right now

because Abraham had seen God

keep his promise

all right

and provide him

and now he's trusting him to do it again

I think something developed there

even if it meant raising Isaac from the dead

if you look at Hebrews 11

it says

he considered that God was able

even to raise him from the dead

which figuratively speaking

he did receive him back

there it is

okay

that's what I want you to hang on today

resurrection faith

resurrection faith

he knew the God who made the promise

was trustworthy

and God's promise was Abraham's net

beneath him

always present

always secure

even when he couldn't see it

okay

remember he had wiggled in his faith

a little bit

when he took matters into his own hands

they had Ishmael

it didn't work out so well

and I think that he realized though

if God still loves me through this brokenness

he really loves me

and he always had that destination

in mind

which you read about earlier in the bulletin

that heavenly mountain

that house that God's building

so

why does this feel more horrific to us today

than I think it felt to Abraham

first would be this

we forget that this is a test

if you look at the text

it says it's a test

and even in Hebrews it says it's a test

you think about training

there's no

Navy SEAL that's going into training

thinking

man this is probably going to be pretty easy

now they get in there

and the tougher the mission

the tougher the test

this is father Abraham

and God's speaking a language

that makes sense to him

do you remember where there were

baby sacrifices on mountains

there's a God called Molech

this would have been all around

God's speaking a language that makes sense

and he's about to make a statement

that I'm different than these other gods

so it's a test first of all

I think Abraham would have seen this as a test

and he would have signed up for this

right

he knew that he was on a special mission

I think the other reason why this may seem so horrific to us

is because

we've been shaped by a lie

a little bit

we'll dig down on that just for a second

and that lie detours how we trust God

in America

what I mean by that

we don't really have a lot of room for God

to call us to uncomfortable things

in our lifestyles

so when we open a passage like Genesis 22

and we hear God say

lay your son on the altar

we flinch more

not just because it's heavy

which it is

but because it confronts the false heavens

that we are constantly trying to build here on earth

now in the west

we have crafted this version of Christianity

that is more about comfort

than it is about calling of God

and it's more about escaping reality

than it is about being transformed by it

it's more about control

than it is about surrender

and we don't leave any room for tough things to happen

in our plan

let me try to give you a little picture

of what this looks like

okay imagine this desktop is your life

okay

it's more than just clutter

it's the world we're trying to manage

missed promotion

will I ever retire

broken relationships

does anybody really like me

the folder of regrets

trying to be enough

things I worry about

shame I keep secret

pressure to be the cool mom or dad

parenting guilt

and somewhere off to the side

you're going to see this Jesus folder

we say

Jesus is the center of my life

but the live screen says completely otherwise

we spend most of our days

opening every other file

trying to manage everything ourselves

controlling it

and fixing everything

no margin

no surrender

just survival

but watch what happens

when we begin taking it all

the weight of managing it all

the mess

the pressure

the pain

into one place

into Jesus

it's surrender

and what happens

more space

space to breathe

space to rest

space to trust

space to be near Jesus

and somehow

the very things

that were holding us back

the clutter

and the fear

and the noise

they become the doorway

to Jesus

the doorway

to trust him

with everything

and that

that's the healthy rhythm

of the Christian life

not knowing every outcome

but every day

every moment

surrendering and saying

this

belongs to you

all of this

so freedom isn't found

in asking Jesus

to bless our kingdoms

that's where we get stuck

okay

it's found in surrendering

and sacrificing

our kingdoms

to his

that's why the scriptures say

to offer your bodies

as a living sacrifice

offer your lives

everything

because the truth is

any heaven

that we build

apart from Jesus

is eventually

going to end up

in the trash bin

deleted forever

you ever believe

this lie

I have

I love God

but I spend most of my time

building a life

that's free from need

or worry

or suffering

and it's focused

on never being bored

looking the best

all the time

having all the best things

I've ever dreamed of

avoiding and ignoring

suffering

or hard things

at all costs

that is the current

that we live in

in America

in American churches

and underneath

all of that

paradise building

is a longing

for a real paradise

and that's the destination

that God's compass

is always pointing toward

if you expect

paradise now

suffering

or heartache

or anything like that

that God calls us to

is always going to make you

feel like God's

betraying you

okay

Abraham did not expect

paradise now

and I don't think

he felt betrayed

by God's request

either

because he knew

that it was a test

a holy test

and he had room

in his world view

for hard things

and he knew

that God was going

to call him

to hard things

and he had seen

God provide

through all those

hard things

so to Abraham

when he walked

into this situation

Isaac was never

even truly lost

you see it in the text

he says

we'll come back

to you

when they go up there

we'll come back

we're going to go over there

and worship

and we'll be back

and the promise of God

was more real to him

than even the fear

of that unknown

so don't you want

faith like that

I want faith like that

the resurrection faith

and that's what it is

it's not the absence

of fear

or the absence

of bad things

or the absence

of suffering

or the absence

of discomfort

it's not having

all the answers

and knowing how

everything's going

to work out

but it's the presence

of a net

always underneath us

always sure

a net made

of God's

unbreakable promises

wherever you go

whatever you're going

through

so what about us

okay

what do we do

when God's call

doesn't match

our curated versions

of the good life

when the call

seems horrific

or even just

uncomfortable

what do we do

when the very thing

that we love the most

is placed on the altar

what if the thing

that you treasure

the most

becomes the thing

that God invites you

to surrender

I think that you

you keep the destination

in mind

that's what I think

we do in those moments

because for Abraham

and for us

it's the destination

that makes the difference

in everything else

okay

when they came

to the place

of which God

had told him

Abraham built

the altar there

and he laid the wood

in order

and bound Isaac

his son

and he laid him

on the altar

on top of the wood

then Abraham

reached out his hand

and took the knife

to slaughter his son

but the angel

of the Lord

called to him

from heaven

and said

Abraham

Abraham

and he said

here I am

he said

do not lay

your hand

on the boy

or do anything

to him

for now I know

that you fear God

seeing you've not

withheld your son

your only son

from me

and Abraham

lifted up his eyes

and looked

and behold

behind him

was a ram

caught in a thicket

by his thorns

his horns

and Abraham

went

and took

the ram

and offered

it up

as a burnt

offering

instead of his son

so Abraham

called the name

of that place

the Lord

will provide

as it is said

to this day

on the mount

of the Lord

it shall be

provided

the mountains

of Moriah

that's where he was

that was the

destination

the compass

that God

had given him

in this particular

text

and the destination

is the difference

in this story

and the destination

is the difference

in our story

God is always

always always

writing a much

bigger story

than we can see

and here we get

a glimpse

of all of it

right

this is where

the compass

is always pointing

the mount

of the Lord

that New Testament

reading earlier

you see it

it says

that by faith

he went to live

in a land

of promise

as in a foreign

land

living in tents

for he was

looking forward

to the city

that has

foundations

whose designer

and builder

is God

on the mount

of the Lord

it shall be

provided

the net

underneath us

when we can't

see and don't

know the next

steps

Abraham

wasn't walking

blind

okay

he was walking

toward a promise

and that's

what resurrection

faith does

and that's

what I want

us to have

that's what

I want to have

it sees beyond

the altar

and it hears

past the silence

and it knows

that even when

God's call

is confusing

his promises

are still true

and it says

this belongs

to you

so here's

the question

was it really

just about

Isaac

or was it

about something

bigger

and something

eternal

when Isaac

I remember

reading this

in Hebrew

when we took

Hebrew

and when

this part

particularly

stuck with me

when Isaac

looks at his

dad and he

says where's

the lamb

for the

offering

something about

the Hebrew

it like

really

guts you

and Abraham

says God

will provide

on the mount

of Moriah

he did

but it was

a ram

not a lamb

because the

lamb came

later

didn't it

this whole

story isn't

just about

Abraham

and Isaac

it's about

Jesus

and us

and it's a

preview

of the

destination

that makes

all the

difference

and here's

why that

matters

because Jesus

is the

difference

because Jesus

is the

resurrection

and the

resurrection

is the

destination

okay

centuries

later

on the

same

mountain

range

mind you

another

beloved

son

would

carry

wood

on his

back

he'd

ascend

alone

he'd cry

out my

God

my

God

why have

you

forsaken

me

and this

time the

knife

wouldn't

stop

would it

there

would be

no

ram

in the

thicket

either

because

he was

the

lamb

that

God

will

provide

and the

true

and the

better

Isaac

who

wouldn't

just be

spared

but

slain

with

Jesus

so that

we

the

guilty

ones

might

live

and think

if you

were able

to stand

at the

foot of

the cross

next to

Abraham

and look

up

I imagine

he would

say this

is the

lamb he

was talking

about

this is

how much

God loves

me

he doesn't

ask us

to sacrifice

our loved

ones like

the other

gods of

Abraham's

time

he gives

his own

so that

through faith

in him

we may

become

children

of promise

okay

that's what

this passage

is about

if you look

in Galatians

and Romans

Paul

exegetes

this passage

a bit

the son

of the

slave

woman

this is

talking

about

the

Ishmael

line

was born

according

to the

flesh

the son

of the

free

woman

born

through

promise

you

like

Isaac

are

children

of

promise

and

then

in

Romans

through

Isaac

shall

your

offspring

be

named

okay

says

that

not

all

who

are

descended

from

Israel

belong

to

Israel

not

all

are

children

of

Abraham

but

through

Isaac

your

offspring

shall

be

named

this

means

that

it's

not

the

children

of

the

flesh

who

are

the

children

of

God

but

the

children

of

the

promise

okay

Paul

is

teaching

us

what

everything

means

here

that

Israel's

line

Israel's

line

represents

the

flesh

what

we

do

in

our

own

strength

Isaac's

line

who

came

through

Isaac's

line

Jesus

represents

the

spirit

trusting

only

in what

God

has done

and

provided

okay

where

are

you

this

is

the

difference

okay

see

Paul's

contrast

isn't

just

theological

it's

very

personal

one

path

ends

in

chains

the

other

ends

in

joy

okay

death

entered

the world

through

one

man

and

that

death

is also

eternal

and

y'all

that's

what

we're

born

into

children

of

slavery

that's

what

it

means

to

be

a

slave

to

sin

okay

and

enslaved

by

the

fear

of

death

but

what's

the

difference

between

these

two

Jesus

he's

the

destination

that

makes

the

difference

Jesus

is

the

resurrection

and

the

resurrection

is

the

destination

for

those

who

move

from

that

chain

to

joy

and

so

how

do

you

move

from

chains

to

joy

we

have

to

altar

first

we

put

our

lives

there

not

as

victims

but

as

living

sacrifices

offered

to

the

one

who

gave

everything

for

us

through

faith

in

Jesus

then

you're

adopted

into

his

family

and

you

move

down

to

that

bottom

line

there

and

what

is

faith

the

assurance

of

the

things

hoped

for

the

certainty

of

the

things

not

seen

right

the

net's

not

going

to

break

it's

there

the

final

destination

is

no

in

that

direction

as

vessels

of

mercy

as

instruments

of

righteousness

on

the

mountain

of

the

Lord

it

shall

be

provided

Jesus

is

the

provision

Jesus

is

the

promise

the

joy

the

resurrection

and

the

destination

and

if

he's

the

destination

then

everything

belongs

to

him

okay

now

remember

earlier

I told

you

about

leaving

DC

and

stepping

out

into

what

felt

like

a

God

ordained

call

only

to

find

myself

in

one

of

the

hardest

seasons

of

my

life

ever

well

after

that

confusion

after

those

years

that

felt

like

it

was

a

wilderness

we

ended

up

here

washed

up

on

the

shores

of

Southwood

Presbyterian

Church

Will

Spink

came

out

of

his

house

with

his

broom

he

scooped

me

up

and

he

walked

over

and

he

said

preach

on

Abraham

and

Isaac

right

but

looking

back

now

I

see

what

I

couldn't

see

then

God

wasn't

punishing

me

he

didn't

abandon

me

his

compass

never

lost

its

destination

even

when

I

did

and

maybe

right

now

I

got to

think

some

of

you

are

in a

situation

that

could

be

like

that

right

where

God's

calling

you

to

put

your

kingdom

on

the

altar

or

something

that

you

love

on

the

altar

and

maybe

he's

been

nudging

you

towards

something

new

or

something

uncertain

or

confusing

or

stretching

and

you've

got only

a compass

in your

hand

and

knowing

that

you've

got to

take

the

first

step

I

want

you

to

remember

this

his

promises

are

underneath

every

step

that

you

take

he's

with

you

on

the

road

you

can

call

him

into

the

chaos

you

can

put

the

folders

away

and

you

can

go

be

with

Jesus

and

sit

at

his

feet

and

say

take

this

and

remember

that

the

path

underneath

your

feet

is

paved

with

God's

promises

and

that

the

end

of

your

journey

is

the

same

end

of

Abraham's

journey

it's

called

Mount

Zion

in

the

Old

Testament

but

it's

heaven

and

think

of

this

Abraham

looked

ahead

to

Jesus

his

faith

was

credited

to

him

as

righteousness

we

look

back

to

what

Jesus

did

and

ahead

to

the

Mount

Zion

so

we

unite

with

Abraham

in

the

destination

God

might

be

testing

us

too

right

he

might

be

testing

us

too

but

remember

he

loves

you

and

underneath

that

your

feet

are

a

path

paved

with

his

promises

and

one

day

we're

going to

be

together

in

heaven

if you

put your

faith

in

Christ

right

we're

going to

be able

to look

back

and talk

about

you remember

that time

we were

in church

and we

talked

about how

we were

going to

look

back

one

day

and talk

about

that time

in church

when you

talk

about it

we're

going to

do

that

in heaven

it's a

reality

and you're

going to

be able

to look

back

and you're

going to

see what

you can't

see now

that God

isn't punishing

you

okay

he's preparing

you

for

eternity

the life

that's way

bigger

than this

life

and he

hasn't

abandoned

you

he's

leading

you

home

his

compass

never

loses

its

destination

you can

be certain

of that

because

of Jesus

all

of this

belongs

to you

let's

pray

father

so much

in this

text

but may

we just

pause

for a

minute

and

remember

that

you're

in

control

and

wherever

we

are

Lord

Jesus

would

you

enter

into

the

space

enter

into

our

spaces

by

your

Holy

Spirit

and

people

here

don't

know

you

would

you

please

save

them

would

they

look

to

you

and

what

you

put

on

the

altar

to

give

them

eternal

life

Lord

Jesus

would

they

move

from

chains

to

joy

from

death

to

life

by

just

saying

adopt

all

this

belongs

to

you

father

to

those

of

us

who

have

done

it

and

getting

so

caught

up

in

managing

our

lives

and

the

good

life

and

getting

all

the

things

and

don't

ask

me

to

do

this

or

that

because

I've

got

a

big

life

to

live

may

we

stop

and

remember

the

real

life

is

the

one

ahead

and

the

one

we're

living

in

now

is

a

preparation

for

eternity

I pray

these

things

for

me

that

I

would

do

these

things

I

struggle

with

all

of

these

things

that

I'm

talking

about

so

we

give

it

to

you

Lord

Jesus

and

ask

you

to

bless

this

church

by

the

name

of

Jesus

Christ

we

offer

ourselves

to

you

as

living

sacrifices

would you

do

something

special

and give

us

that

resurrection

faith

would

you

be

the

difference

Lord

Jesus

it's

in

Christ's

name

I

miracle