As Abraham becomes a father for the first time at 86 and again at age 100, I figure this Bible story is apropos for an audience of seniors, age 65-100. We laugh at the idea of someone our age giving birth to a child. Abraham and Sarah laugh at the time, too, but God gets the last laugh. Oops, I am getting ahead of the story….
Abraham’s story is, first of all, central to our very faith. Justification by faith—a doctrine that all Christians, Protestant and Catholic alike, affirm—is based on Abraham’s initial and continuing act of trust and obedience. “By faith” we are reckoned “righteous” or right with God.
As recorded in Genesis, the father of our faith trusts One who perfectly provides and mercifully fulfills God’s end of the Promise. But Abraham often falters in his faith and fails to promptly stake out the Promised Land for God’s purposes. Several parental concerns keep him from fully obeying or trusting the Promise.
I’m sure you can identify with Abram’s concerns for a dying dad (Terah). Or his concern about providing for family in hard times (a nationwide famine). Or his concern about saving his own skin with a self-serving lie to a boss (Abram passed off Sarai as his sister to the Egyptian Pharaoh). And what uncle or wannabe father hasn’t chased down or rescued a wayward nephew as their “Lot” in life?
But the overriding concern of this elderly couple is getting pregnant. How laughable! Given their advanced age, it would take a miracle to become Dad and Mom to a son, much less to a nation, and thus pass along faith for generations to come.
But in trying to fulfill God’s promise of a son, Abram tries various short-cuts, eager to help out God with creative alternatives.
Who of us hasn’t countered God with a Plan B (in Abram’s case, involving his manservant Eliezer as an heir)? or Plan C (in Abram’s case, involving his maidservant Hagar as a surrogate mom)? Fourteen years later, Abram would get back to Plan A (involving his wife Sarai, resulting in the birth of Isaac). Do such workarounds sound familiar?
And who of us hasn’t considered sacrificing a life-long dream on the altar of changing circumstances that test our faith? That Abraham surrenders his beloved son to God is an ultimate test of faith (involving a ram substitute instead of Isaac).
For 25 minutes I thus cover 25 years in the eventful and faithful life of these two wannabe parents. Yet they persist through many trials and tests to become the father and mother of our faith. We now see with 20/20 biblical hindsight; but in real time, Abraham could not have seen countless offspring to come, nor imagined taking over the enemy-held cities of Canaan. Still, they believe. Thus Abraham is one of those “ancient” promise-keepers “commended” by God for believing “what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1-2).
“By faith Abraham was able to become a father” (11:11). I see several ways that faith and parenting are related in Abraham and other wannabe parents who suffer a long period of childlessness. Seeing the miracle of life makes a believer out of us. Late-in-the-game parents may even laugh with God at the prospect of parenting a child well beyond the normal child-bearing, child-rearing years.
Having all those responsibilities for a child often increases our faith and prayer life; it did mine. Surrendering my offspring for God to use their lives for divine purpose has stretched my faith. When doubts (divorce, unemployment, death in the family) become as dark and insufferable as midnight blackness, we may then see countless stars piercing that darkness and reminding us of God’s sure promise to Abraham and his descendants. In the mysterious ways of God, the life given can also be taken away: in my case, we suffer three miscarriages (in the 1990s), while other grieving parents are forced to bury an adult child.
I ask my captive audience of wheel-bound seniors at St. Mary’s Care Center to consider their role as a parent and/or grandparent in light of Abraham’s story. But I am not prepared for the pushback I get. I expect people to share parenting stories that are either “laughable” or “fruitful.” What I hear instead are doubts, fears and grief. One who lost her adult son wants to know, Where was God then? Where’s the ram substitute, when my son is dying?
I also hear the sad story of God choosing for a particular couple to not have children of their own. Another resident tells me of losing his high-achieving, ministry-bound firstborn at age 23, tragically, to a deadly auto accident.
I allow for such hard questions whenever I preach, and this uninhibited audience freely chimes in. With my fellow seniors and justice-minded friends, we question whether Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac, if it happened today, would get him tried for attempted manslaughter. Certainly the modern media would try him with accusations of religious extremism, child abuse, or fanaticism.
In the end (Hebrews 11:17-19), we are told the entire episode in Genesis is intended to test Abraham’s faith and to demonstrate God’s faithfulness. The same God who promises Abraham that he would become the father of a great nation would also protect Abraham’s son from death—or even raise him from the dead. So we left asking, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
Abraham is confident that God would make a provision for him, even the necessary sacrifice. Just in time, God provides a ram. Christians know that this ram represents Christ.
Yet that’s all I know. The controversy surrounding Abraham, as represented by the pain this chaplain uncovers in Chapel and attends while wheeling residents back to their respective rooms, keeps me humble. I do not know the pain of other parents, but I do know the One who bears all our sorrows.
“Happy” Father’s Day, a week late and a few explanations short.