It is God who calls
(2nd Week of Lent, Year B) God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham! Take Isaac, your only beloved son and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a burnt offering on a height that I will point out to you.
God called to Abraham.
Pull up out of the trees with me, and let’s look at the forest together. I want to look at Lent, and what God is telling us.
- On Ash Wednesday, God calls to us, saying “Return to me with your whole heart.” Repent, and be faithful to the Gospel.”
- 1st Sunday : God established a covenant with Noah
- Rite of Election: God called Samuel – repeatedly
- Midweek: God sent Jonah to Ninevah
- This 2nd Sunday: God called Abraham.
- Midweek: God calls the princes of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah to repent.
- Next Sunday, God will remind us that he lead us out of slavery
- 4th Sunday: Early and often the Lord sent prophets to his people
- 5th Sunday: God offers a new covenant, because we broke the 1st
- And then it is Holy Week
It is God who calls. It is God who takes the initiative. Our salvation is the work of God. Everything we do is a response to the work of God.
Karen and I are listening to a few devotional podcasts this Lent in addition to listening to the daily readings. Formed, Hallow, and Amen all have good options, and I encourage you to consider adding this to your life. There are some purple sheets and bookmarks by the doors that give the details. Or, Pat mentioned that she and Jennifer went to watch the Chosen in the theater. I get it – many people struggle to force themselves to read – consider listening or watching. God is calling, if we will just listen.
Anyway, Karen and I were listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz on Hallow. He shared the story of Father Walter Ciszek (Chishek) who spent 23 years in Siberian prison camps. Fr. Ciszek was frustrated and disappointed with God, because here he was, trying to be a missionary to Communist Russia, and when he was put on trial for false charges… God didn’t show up for him. Fr. Ciszek totally failed. He didn’t have the right words, he confessed to the false charges, and felt like God totally let him down by letting him let God down – he expected that God would make good on the promise Jesus gave that, when we are brought before religious and civil rulers, and put on trial, we should not worry about what we should say, or how we should defend ourselves, because the Holy Spirit will give us words.
He understands later, but at the time he feels like God let him down.
Do you ever feel that way? I do. I realized as I was listening to Fr. Ciszek’s words that I sometimes have this whole relationship with God backwards.
Sometimes, I expect God to serve me. I expect God to make my life better, or easier, or help me get through the tough times. I expect God to comfort me. Mostly, I expect God to come when I call. I catch myself “praying that” God will do something for someone, instead of simply “praying for” them.
Now, that’s understandable, because God so often does all of those things. But – God isn’t a vending machine. We don’t put in our mass attendance and prayers, alms, or fasting and then have some sort of authority over God, who will dispense what we want. That’s not how it works.
We don’t lead God. We follow God. We don’t command God, though certainly implore and call upon him. It is God who calls us. It is God who leads us. In fact, that is the title of Fr. Ciszek’s book – He Leadeth Me.
So, God called Abraham. And, where did he call him? He called him to make a journey to Mount Moriah, where later they built the temple. And the journey was the hard part. They were barely at the destination before God intervened, but I can’t imagine making that hike, carrying the wood, and thinking about the sacrifice they were about to make.
Moriah is an interesting name for a place. It might be helpful to remember the name by thinking of Mariah Carrey – Abraham carried the knife, and Isaac carried all the wood, and they went to the mountain. There, they learned that the only gift, the only sacrifice God wants is Abraham’s love. Or, maybe that’s a terrible and scandalous way to remember the name.
The name Moriah is related to the word Myrrh, or bitterness. It alludes to the early rain that comes before the plants sprout, and symbolizes the teacher of the young. It points to Yah, to God, and to the fear of the Lord.
So, God called Abraham and said: Go to the land where you will experience bitterness, where you will learn the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of Wisdom. Sacrifice your son there on the wood of a tree. (like me)
Today’s responsorial Psalm begins in the middle of a psalm of thanksgiving, of Todah, of Eucharistia because God saved the psalmist, and heard his cry in a bitter and dark place – I am not dead – I walk before the Lord in the land of the living. You led me through darkness, saved me, and set me free, so I offer thanksgiving, and I walk in the light of the face of God.
Thanksgiving is the result of passing the test, trial, and tribulation, but comes after we have walked through bitterness, after we learn to follow God through the dark valley of the shadow of death, so he can spread a banquet of joy and before us, and give us rest.
As we continue through Lent, I encourage you to listen for and to the call of God. Can you embrace the difficulty, the cross God has given you, even as Christ embraced his cross? Carrying it through bitter and dark times is how our faith is strengthened. It is how we learn that we are beloved children of Mary, the handmaid of the Lord who is praying for us. It is how we come to understand the love of God, so we can offer praise and thanksgiving.
