The Grand Gesture

       One of the small perks of sitting in one of the emergency rows of an airplane is that you get some extra room to sit.  The flip side of that perk is that in the event of an emergency, you have agreed to be called into action. You are asked if you are willing and able to perform certain duties and if you say yes, you are expected to do them. Rarely, I assume in percentages approaching 100%, are you ever called upon to actually do anything except enjoy the extra room.  

        Abraham was asked to do something as a condition of his faith in God.  He was asked to sacrifice his own son.  As my own son turns 36 soon, I can't imagine even entertaining the thought of sacrificing him for God. I would sooner sacrifice myself. Abraham was never called to carry out that plan even though he showed his willingness to cooperate with God and exercise his faith in God.  It seems to me sometimes God is agreeable when we make a legitimate and heartfelt offer, an attempt to comply, a willingness to cooperate.

          I found myself in a somewhat related situation many years ago.  I was to be ordained into the Roman Catholic church.  This was an agreement for a life of service and holiness. At the time I was having a dickens of a time with what I presumed was 'the devil' trying to persuade me to act differently. Don't do it! Say no!   I imagine that Abraham also heard similar voices. In spite of doubts and emotional upheavals I said yes and was ordained. I still believe that ordination to be valid even though my 'ministry' is quite different and not aligned with the Roman Church. I said yes but God had other ideas, rewards if you will. I have been graced in enormous ways, unforeseen at the time I offered my life up to God on that altar so many years ago.

       I don't believe that God asks us to make such grand gestures or offers of cooperation as offering one's son on a routine basis. Still, we have to make that decision to cooperate with God's plan. Perhaps it does come down to offering our entire life when, if we come to realize that God made us so uniquely, precious and with such individuality that no one else really possesses. God envisioned that what the world needed was a YOU, then you were conceived and came into the world as the precious and unique gift that you are. Our lives are really a journey to saying yes to our gifts, talents and precisely who we are. Maybe that really is quite a grand gesture.

      God in her wisdom does not always make what man appreciates however.  Being the best gay person that I can be is not always appreciated by society but then society does not always mirror the love and sanctity of God's word. We like to build our own creations and not always in concert with God's plan.  We often try to find fulfillment of ourselves in things outside ourselves.  All one has to do is see the position and goals of some Evangelicals in society and the horrors they perpetuate and foster in God's name. They have said no to God's agenda, eschewing that for their own selfish and ungodly agenda. Hardly, if at all, even Christian.

       Perhaps it is a grand gesture of Abrahamic proportions to say yes to God in living our lives. So often people say they will act as the emergency exit captain and when the need arises they simply back away. Are we willing to say yes to God? Are we willing to be all that God created us to be, accepting all our gifts, fostering them, revelling in them and using them to foster God's agenda of love and peace in the world? Quite a grand gesture of we say yes.  Grand indeed. Keep living and loving as you are called to do.

Hebrews 11:13-22

 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ‘bowing in worship over the top of his staff.’ By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.