Monroe United Methodist Church



Sea TrialsGenesis 22:1-14Once upon a time, long, long ago, before Direct TV, satellite dishes, live streaming, and cable channels, there lived on the airways three great broadcast systems, NBC, ABC, and CBS. And on cloudless days when the weather was just right, you could get all three channels to come into your home, if you adjusted the rabbit ears of your antenna just right, or made your little sister hold one antenna while you put aluminum foil on the other. And then, if you held your breath and your little sister cooperated, you could watch your favorite show, THE LONE RANGER!And once upon a time, long, long ago, that’s exactly what happened. And then, just when the Lone Ranger told Tonto, “Tonto, looks like we’re going to have to fight our way out of this one!” to which Tonto replied, “Mmm, that right, Kemosabe,” just when the gun fight was about to happen, my favorite show of all was interrupted by a very loud, screeching noise, followed by these words: “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. If this had been an actual emergency...” bla bla bla la bla. It was created in 1963 by President Kennedy as a way to address Americans in the event of a national emergency in the days of the Cold War. After a couple of minutes, the announcement concluded with these reassuring words, “This is only a test.” Finally, the test was over and my favorite show resumed, after a dozen commercials and I managed to get my little sister to hold the antenna just right again, only to realize that the show was over.At which point I said something, I don’t remember what, but I wish I hadn’t, because it prompted my dad to come down the hallway and me out the back door. And that was not a test. So, you will understand why for the longest I have not appreciated the test of the Emergency Broadcast System. Except once, when as an adult, married, living in Shreveport, that same, irritating noise came on the TV, followed by the announcement that a tornado had just touched down within a mile of our home and to take cover immediately, which Kathy and I did. There was a loud roar that went over head. After the storm, we drove to the end of our street where the twister had just ripped up several hundred pine trees like toothpicks. Since then, I’ve learned to respect the test of the Emergency Broadcast System. In the book of Genesis, there was a test. It’s the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, or the near sacrifice, and in the beginning of the story, it is clear that it was a test. Verse one reads, “After these things God tested Abraham.” So that in the reading, we the reader have an insider’s knowledge that this is only a test. Isaac isn’t really going to be sacrificed. Everything is just fine. Only, tell that to Abraham. He didn’t know it was a test. All he knew was that God just told him to take his son Isaac, whom he loved, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering, to take the son through whom God had promised Abraham descendants numbering the stars, and slaughter him. Abraham must go on faith that what he is being commanded to do will not destroy God’s promise for him, when everything tells him that it will.One of the most profound stories in the Old Testament, God must know for sure if he can count on Abraham to trust him. Up to now, it had been more or less hit and miss. God promised Abraham descendants, and Abraham believed, but when God told him they would come through his wife Sarah, Abraham laughed because he was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. He didn’t believe it. Neither did Sarah. Seriously, would we? Hit and miss. For this and other reasons, God was not a hundred per cent certain that he could trust Abraham. So, God presents a test. But it wasn’t just a test. Stakes were high. This was no game. It wasn’t only God finding out if Abraham trusted God. God needed to know if he could trust Abraham. God had big plans. God’s promise to Abraham, descendants numbering the sands of the ocean, rested on knowing that Abraham completely trusted him, no matter what, because it would be through Abraham’s faith, and the faith of his descendants, that God would save the world. Apparently, tests from God are no small matter. I was struck by recent headlines where parents hired people to take the SAT for their children in order to be admitted into prestigious schools. Apparently, it’s considered acceptable to do whatever it takes to get ahead. Studies by Rutgers and other universities reveal how pervasive cheating and plagiarism is among high school students seeking admission.In 2010, the Josephson Institute for Ethics surveyed forty-three thousand high school students in public and private schools in America. Fifty-nine per cent of the students admitted to cheating on a test in the last year. Thirty-four per cent admitted to having done it two or more times. One out of three admitted to plagiarizing using the internet. But it’s only a test, right?In another survey of college students from 2002 to 2011, a Rutgers University researcher discovered that roughly seventeen per cent of college students admitted to cheating on tests, while a whopping forty per cent admitted cheating on written assignments. Folks, these are your future doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, engineers, and politicians, in whom we place a profound trust. “But it’s only a test.”In the Navy, whenever ships are commissioned, they must first undergo a test, known as sea trials. It’s a controlled methodical series of exercises, running the ship through all kinds of maneuvers to determine if it can do what it’s designed to do. It can last for weeks. Once a ship passes sea trials, the Navy accepts the ship as fully seaworthy. It’s not just a test. The defense of our nation is at stake. And all sorts of big and little discrepancies are discovered and corrected. Only then can the ship be fully declared sea worthy. Apparently, tests are important readiness tools. They are the means to discover if ships, or people are fully prepared for what is required of them. In one way or another, you and I are tested all through life. Will I always practice patience, or only when I feel like it? Will I always be faithful to my spouse, or frequently? Will I be professional, or finally give that irritating customer a piece of my mind? Today is Mother’s Day. Mothers don’t get a break. They have to prove themselves every day. Of course, that’s true for fathers too, but today’s Mother’s Day. What mother tells her child “I’m off the clock. Come back next week and I’ll take care of you.”? No, it’s twenty-four seven. Mothers always make sure their children are loved and taken care of, come rain or shine, runny nose or fever. And yes, it is a test, a test of patience, of stamina, of being consistent, and a test of reassuring them that no matter what they do, you’re going to love them with all your heart, even when they test you to the nth degree. Why? Because the stakes are high. It’s the future of a human being in your hands. In the story of Abraham, there is the dramatic moment when Abraham takes the knife to sacrifice his son, and he was about to kill his son. It is difficult for us to wrap our minds around the idea of a god that would take such drastic measures to see if Abraham truly trusts God. It gives the impression of a cruel command, and indeed, had Abraham followed through with it, it would have been an evil thing. The point to remember is that the God who commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son is the same God who prevented Abraham from following through with it. Still, I think all of us would agree that it was a hard test, and in several ways. On the one hand, Abraham doesn’t know if God will be true to his word to fulfill his promise. He had faith, but he didn’t know. On the other hand, God did not know if Abraham would obey him, otherwise why the test?And here’s the point. Abraham didn’t obey God simply because God commanded him. Abraham obeyed God because he trusted God, the God of goodness and mercy, the God who provides, the God who keeps promises, despite what things look like.The same is true for us. Children don’t obey their parents for the sake of obedience. That’s the last thing they want to do. They obey their parents because of the trust that has developed over the years until it becomes second nature. Spouses remain faithful to each other and change for the better not because it’s easy, but because they trust each other. They’ve been through hard times together. Over time, it’s what turns their relationship into a well-aged, mellow wine, or at least, a lemon into lemonade. As one couple said after two months of marriage, “But honey, you promised to take me for better or for worse.” To which the other replied, “I know, but you’re a lot worse than I took you for.” It’s not easy, and there are lots of tests. But we learn to panies trust to hire college graduates because graduates prove they know what they learned in school. Iowans trust their farmers because they’ve proven they’re the best at what they do, despite the test of rain, drought, flood, bugs, rot, the market, and a hundred other things.Of course, the trust we have with each other is rooted in our trust in God, and God’s promises, despite the tests, even when it seems that God’s promises aren’t going to happen. In time, you come to learn that you can trust God, even when your garden won’t grow, the marriage falls flat, your children don’t behave, your boss says your fired, your car breaks down, your hair turns gray, your church burns to the ground, and you slip on ice while going with gray hair to the church that burned to the ground in a broken down car…because your boss said you’re fired, among other things. Nevertheless, we trust God will provide.Picture this. Having completed four years of college and another four years of graduate school, I was ordained to preach the word and equip the saints for ministry. I had just received my first appointment as the newest pastor of Barksdale United Methodist Church, young, talented, full of a lot of things, I felt like a combination of Saint Peter and Batman. I mean, I was some kind of gift to the church. I could do anything and bullets bounced off me. Nothing could stop this clerical crusader.Everything was going well. Advent came along, and in this church, Sunday School classes had Christmas parties, so I decided it would be great for us to publish a small Advent brochure that listed all the calendar of activities and events happening in our beautiful church during this sacred season. If I do say so myself, it was a lovely brochure, complete with fitting words by the pastor, of course. Our church admin assistant mailed them out in plenty of time before the Advent season. The day they arrived in the mailboxes of all our parishioners, I received a phone call. It was from Grace, one of our Sunday School teachers.“O hello, Grace!” She had never called me before. “How are you?”“Pastor, I just wanted to let you know how embarrassed I was to have our Sunday School party mentioned in your letter. This is our Sunday School class, not yours. That is a private party in my home. Nobody else needed to know that. What I do for my Sunday School class during Christmas is my business, not yours, not the church’s. How dare you put that in the church letter. If I knew you were going to do that, I would have never had a party in the first place. Just who do you think you are, anyway? I’ve hosted this Sunday School party for the past five years and not once has a minister done such a rude, horrible, careless thing. The least you could have done was give me a call and ask me if you could do that. Instead, you just broadcasted it for everybody to see. I will never live this down. Don’t you ever do that again, pastor, do you understand me?” Click.And I said, “Lord, what have you gotten me into? Here I thought I was doing this for you. If people are going to treat me this way over a Sunday School party, how are they going to treat me over bigger things? Are you testing me? Did you do this?”It was as if the sky opened up, a ray of light came down, and a voice said to me, “Don’t blame me, I didn’t do it. But as long as she’s your parishioner, you better toughen up and deal with it. Be humble, because you need to learn how to love these people I’ve placed in your care, the easy and the ornery ones, including Grace…especially Grace. By the way, I’ll help you.” ClickGod needs to know, God needs to see if we will trust God in the hard times, or if we’re going to turn and run at the first sign of trouble. The good news is, God will provide. God doesn’t inflict evil on us, but we will be tested and when we are, God will provide. By the way, three months later, Grace gave me a strawberry pie. I did not ask why. I just ate the pie.On the night he was arrested, a later descendant of Abraham was tested. God had to trust him, even at the point of sacrifice. Jesus prayed that God would remove this cup, nevertheless, thy will, not mine be done. And because of this, God trusted Jesus. And God provided. God raised him up. God will provide for us too, in the worst of times, in the darkest of valleys, and in the most hopeless situation. God will provide, and as the supreme sign, he gives us his son. The book of Hebrews reads, “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” Through the fire, through the stormy seas, our God provides. May we trust him when we are tested. ................
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