First Sunday in Lent (B), March 5, 2006

Text: Genesis 22:1-18

Our Lenten Journey to the Mountain of the Lord

One of the first things we consider when planning a trip is where we are going — our destination. The season of Lent that began last week with Ash Wednesday is also a kind of special trip. It is a holy pilgrimage, which if understood and planned properly, can lead us to the very heart of God. It can lead us to a fuller experience of the mystery of God's mighty act of sacrificial love and glory in Christ. Lent will take us to Calvary where the Lord Jesus redeemed us from the bondage of sin, death, and Satan himself, by His death upon the cross. But our destination is the Lord's glorious resurrection by which everlasting life in God's Kingdom has been assured to those who in faith and love follow Him.

The significance of this spiritual pilgrimage is that it affords us the opportunity to renew experientially both the death and the newness of life that the Lord's saving act makes real for our lives in Baptism. People who take trips to distant places usually do so because they can afford it. The People of God who participate in Lent do so because they know that they cannot afford not to. The Fathers of the early Church determined that there are three indispensable means of participating in Lent. They are fasting, spiritual vigilance and prayer. We will examine these in more detail in the upcoming Sundays. For today we will focus our attention on the idea of sacrifice, of "giving something up," as it is customary during Lent. I pray that God would instruct us today to more fully understand the significance and purpose of this practice.

In our Old Testament reading, we encountered the great sacrifice; the sacrifice which puts all our sacrifices into perspective. Here the Lord asked Abraham "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (Gen. 22:3, 4) Don't you find it unusual how readily Abraham accepts this most difficult of all assignments. He gets ready early the next morning; he does not argue with God, nor does he delay.

I believe Abraham realized that this was a spiritual test of utmost importance, one he could not afford to fail. Perhaps he realized that his love and devotion to his son was becoming a problem. Was his son becoming more important to him than God? Abraham realized that this would be idolatry, for was it not the Lord who had given him his son? Therefore, Abraham was willing to part with the one thing on earth which he loved most if it was getting between God and him.

This is indeed the most difficult test anyone can face: to lose a child, a loved one, or some valued possession, and be able to accept that as part of God's good and gracious will. Perhaps the reason Abraham was able to embark on that journey was his faith that "the Lord will provide," as he explained to Isaac.

Abraham had experienced the Lord's provision in the past. And now the Lord was sending him to the region of Moriah. It was there that thirty years before the king of Salem came out to meet him after he returned from his victory over a confederation of kings who had kidnapped his nephew Lot. There the king of Salem brought out bread and wine to refresh Abraham's men and he blessed Abraham. Perhaps Abraham expected God to provide for him again as he was being asked to sacrifice his only son whom he loved.

Abraham's faith proved itself true in the end. For indeed God provided a ram to be sacrificed in place of his son. God provided a substitute. What I find most amazing about this story are the words God then said to Abraham:
I swear by myself, …that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you …Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me. (Genesis 22:16, 18)
"You have not withheld your son, your only son." Next Sunday we will hear these words echoed in our Gospel reading, where Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Do you see the similarity? Do you understand why God was so pleased with Abraham? Abraham was willing to do what God Himself had in mind to do. Of all people, in Abraham God found a person whose heart was closest to His own. That is why God was pleased to choose him to be the one from whose lineage a woman would be found whose womb would bring forth His own Son in human form. God chose Abraham as the one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

More than 2000 years later, on this very same mountain, upon which was built the city of Jerusalem, God would Himself make the greatest sacrifice; there He would offer up His own Son on a cross. There He would provide salvation for all nations. There He paid the price for all of our sins.

And this brings us back to Lent. As we begin the season of Lent, we are challenged to remember our own Baptism, because there our sins were buried with Christ and there we were adopted into God's family. We are to remember who we really are: no longer children of this world which is passing away, but children of God Most High, of the heavenly Father who gave us His beloved Son and who promises us an eternal inheritance.

As His children God now challenges us to offer up our own lives for each other. Hear how the Apostle Paul challenges the Philippian Christians:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who … humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! (2:3-5, 8)

During Lent consider this: the sacrifice God made for you. And consider your life: Ask yourself, "What is there in my life which is crowding out God?” “What is making it difficult for me to spend time with God and to listen to his voice?” “What do I need to change or give up in order that I may be prepared to receive the blessings God has for me?”

Yes! God has something very beautiful to give me and to give you. God wants to come and make His home with you. So let us repent of those things which make our Lord sad and prepare our hearts to receive Him. Preparing ourselves to receive Christ is what Lent is about.

In our Lenten journey we follow Christ to Jerusalem, to the upper room, to the judgment court of Pilate, to the cross and to the tomb. From there our Lenten journey is transformed into a joyful Easter celebration as Jesus bursts out of the tomb in victory over the power of death and the Devil.

This victory of Jesus was meant for you and for me. And may this be our goal this Lenten season, to be well-prepared to experience the victory of our Lord in a new and more meaningful way.

May God our heavenly Father now guard and keep your hearts in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.