Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Old Testament lesson (Genesis 22: 1-18).

Have you ever seen the poster that says?: "Life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been a real life you would have been instructed where to go and what to do." (from Dr. Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small Stuff, New York, 1997). Perhaps you are faced with many tests in this life. What are your greatest tests? A difficult boss? Government officials that seem to treat you unfairly? Children who aren't model children? Parents who are difficult and demanding? A business or family income that is struggling to make ends meet? Friends or family members who are being sent overseas with the Army? A physical condition that is painful or debilitating? Now normally we define such tests as problems or struggles or issues. But how would they change, how would your perception of them change if you stopped defining them as "problems" and started defining them as "tests?" Perhaps that redefinition wouldn't help for most people since many of us define tests as problems. Few of us looked forward to test days in high school or college. They were normally seen as a necessary evil to get past. But if we could consider tests more positively, as a positive means to show our abilities, or how faithfully we had prepared, then the redefinition works. Think back to some test that you performed really well at, either in school or in sports or on the job. Even if the test was difficult, when you performed well, did it not strengthen your faith in being able to perform well the next time? I can honestly say, as a teacher who has given literally 1000's, perhaps over 10,000 academic tests in my lifetime, I can honestly say that I gave each test with the hope and expectation that each student would perform well, that each would "pass" the test. If I could have been omniscient, that is all-knowing, enough to only give tests to those who would pass, and to wait a day or two until the others were ready to pass, I would have done so. But because we human teachers are limited by time and issues of fairness to others, we simply have to set a date for a test and let the "chips fall where they may." God is not limited either in knowing who will pass, or when, or why. He can give tests, even very hard ones with the full knowledge of how the student will perform.

Abraham in our text, the faithful patriarch of the Hebrew people, is faced with the ultimate test God ever imposed on anyone. Abraham had been the recipient of wondrous promises of God. "Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." � In this earlier promise Abraham was tested, told to leave his past and journey into an unknown future with God. When Abraham was very old (99), the LORD promised to give him a future, a son, and through that son he would be a blessing to the world (Genesis 17). When Abraham tried to help God out and had a son by a younger concubine, God came back and told him "I don't need your help. You will have a son by your wife Sarah, even though she is old, and through that son, Isaac, you will be a blessing to the world. Isaac was born, miraculously, and was growing into the young man that Abraham had built his hopes. He was the son that Abraham loved dearly.

But then the Lord puts him to the test (22: 1). Nowhere else did the LORD put anyone to this kind of test. In fact by the time of Moses, the LORD specifically forbade human sacrifice by His people (Leviticus 20: 1-5, Deuteronomy 18: 9-13). This test of Abraham has troubled more people than perhaps any story in Scripture.

Katie Luther, Martin Luther's wife, once objected to this Scripture. "Martin" she said, "I don't believe God would ask anyone to sacrifice his son." (quoted from Achtemeier). While we may have the same feelings as Katie, we must always remember that "If we have some problem with a passage in the Old Testament, it is not the Bible's problem � it is ours." (from E. Achtemeier in the book Preaching Hard Texts of the Old Testament). We, in our human nature, are prone to dismissing the places in the Bible that seem difficult for us to understand, the hard tests for our minds. God must somehow always be understandable, controllable in our minds, neat and simple. We don't want a perplexing God. The Lord reveals himself throughout Scripture as loving and compassionate, slow to anger and exceedingly merciful. But in this text He seems capricious, fickle. He seems to us to be simply playing with Abraham. We know this must not be true, but yet we are never given an "answer" to our dissonance. We are left to struggle with the meaning of this test. Prior to this test Abraham had not been a paragon of faithfulness. Both Abraham and Sarah had been spasmodic believers, sometimes following what they heard from God, but sometimes failing miserably. Twice Abraham told more powerful men that beautiful Sarah was his sister because he feared they would kill him if they learned she was his wife. Sarah actually laughed at the angels of the Lord when she heard that she was to bear a child at the age of 90. But in this situation, the Lord tested Abraham and he passed. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews commends Abraham for his faithfulness, and gives us an important clue about the trust he had in God's promise.

"17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. "

God had made specific promises to Abraham about Isaac and how God would fulfill His promises through Isaac. The Lord tested Abraham to determine if he trusted the promises more than the earthly son God had given as the fulfillment. Abraham loved this son Isaac, but yet trusted in his Lord more.

Remember Katie Luther's objection. "Martin" she said, "I don't believe God would ask anyone to sacrifice his son." Luther responded "But Katie, God did" (quoted from Achtemeier). Some theologians have speculated the reason Abraham was put to this test with Isaac was because he asked the Lord how He was going to fulfill his promises in the long run. Jesus actually said (John 8: 56): "Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." Whether or not Abraham specifically asked to see the process by which the LORD would bless and ransom His people, the Lord did show it in this story. 2000 years later Jesus stood on the same mountain, where the temple of sacrifice was to stand later. Jesus was proclaimed to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1). God the Father loved and loves his Son even more than Abraham loved Isaac. Yet He "did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all." "Life is a test. It is only a test. Had this been a real life you would have been instructed where to go and what to do." In a very real sense, life is a test, but in our real life with the Lord, we have been instructed where to go and what to do. We turn again and again to the ultimate test God administered to Himself in giving up the life of his son for us. We will be tested in this life, most surely. But in each test we can confidently say with Paul "If God is for us, who can be against us?� Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" We will all be tested in this life, and just like in school we may not enjoy the tests. But trust the test giver. Know that He wishes you to pass every test. Know that He was willing to take the hardest test of all time. Trust him because He was willing to give up the very life of his only Son for you.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)