Pastoral Letter 17
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
it was strange to celebrate the 43rd Anniversary of the Uniting Church in an unusual way. Some churches opened their doors last Sunday, but very cautiously and with small numbers. As I have mentioned in my last week’s Pastoral Letter, in the coming two weeks a few more churches from the Lower North Shore will open their doors. Here, at St. Andrew’s, we are still waiting for our Elders and Church Council meeting to be held on July 8 to decide if we are ready. In the meantime, we will continue what we have been doing.
These last several months have been like a test for us. A test to prove that we are still hopeful, confident and sure that God is with us in every step we take, and He will take us through the turbulent waters, to bring us out on the other side. We are confident and look forward with great hope that the day will come, when we come out victorious and celebrate God’s mercy, love and protection. Until that time, let us continue to pray and put our full trust in God. He is good and merciful.
I am sure that you heard about the West Lane Cove Public School being shut down on Thursday for having a new case of the virus. We do hope and pray that we don’t have a second wave of infections and things get better to allow us to start our services.
Until then, please again join the others tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service. The hymns are suggested by Mark, who misses playing for us, as we miss him and his music and our singing together.
Prayer points:
- Pray for the congregations, who have decided to reopen their doors this week and in the next few weeks. Pray for the safety of those who will attend and the leaders who have taken on board the responsibility of providing a safe space.
- Continue to pray for those countries who are still in the midst of the pandemic, where the number of cases of COVID-19 is still growing.
If you have any prayer points, please let me know and I will include them in the next week’s letter.
As we come to the end of June a final reminder:
– Please don’t forget to contribute to the Exodus Foundation June appeal before the end of the month. Help is needed.
– Please, contribute to the COVID-19 fundraising efforts of the Armenian Missionary Association of Australia. Your support will be greatly appreciated.
Krikor
Your Minister
Message Summary
Jehovah Jireh
The Lord Will Provide!
Genesis 22:1-19
Is this a true statement?
Does God really provide all our needs?
Is God with us all the time?
Is He taking care of us, leading us on the way, especially when we face challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic?
Is He with us to comfort when we are in pain and suffering?
Is He faithful to fulfil His promises?
And what if He asks for “all we have”? Like in the case of Abraham.
Our passage today reminds us of a familiar story, one of my favourite biblical passages from the Old Testament, where we read God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, who was the promised child to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, and through Isaac, Abraham was promised to be the father of nations. In other words, Isaac was “all Abraham had” and now God is asking him to take his son to the mountain and sacrifice him.
How is this supposed to happen? Is this logical? To give and fulfill a promise and then ask the one who was given the promise to give back. This does not add up.
But we should know that there is nothing wrong in God’s actions. The only difference is: “His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts”.
God is good. He his loving, caring, providing, faithful, patient with us, forgiving and compassionate. He gives the best to us and what He does is always good for us. But the actual, sometimes does not show this truth or seems not to show and makes us wonder and question.
And the simplest question we ask is: “Why?” “Why me O God?” “Why not someone else?” “Why bad things happen to good people?” “Why the bad and cruel people are not punished?”
We can go on with our questions. But let’s leave the trend of long questions and come back to this one important question.
What happens when God asks for “All in” faith?
What happens when He asks us to trust Him with the most precious priority in our life? Or He asks us to give all we have, “all in all”?
In light of today’s passage, we see two important things, which together become our litmus paper. I am sure you remember that red or blue paper that we used in school labs to do a test. The main use of litmus is to test whether a solution is acidic or basic/alkaline. Blue litmus paper turns red under acidic conditions and red litmus paper turns blue under basic or alkaline conditions.
We can say that God was testing Abraham’s faith in the same manner. To see to if his colour will be changed or he will keep his colour, identity and faith.
I am afraid to say that usually when people undergo tests of faith, they change their colour, depending on the circumstances and the situations they are in, which could be “Acidic” or “Alkaline” and so they change. But the true faith stays, regardless of what kind of trials, tests and challenges they face.
Let’s go back to Abraham’s test example.
- Are we willing to walk up the mountain?
God loves us and has to shape us into the image of His only son.
Where does that shaping take place?
Where does faith shine like polished silver?
When it’s tested… When it’s required to prove itself.
It’s when we are asked to walk up the mountain carrying the wood for sacrifice and the fire, and when it’s God asking us for what we love the most.
How often does God ask us to be “All in?” Not very often.
Abraham had learned to trust God’s provision over a lifetime of tests. Some he passed, some he failed. He left the Ur of the Chaldeans to go where God would lead him. He left his homeland and relatives. All in? Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife to protect himself and his stuff. He failed miserably. Abraham and Sarah were promised a child, but because it took too long, they tried through Hagar, Sarah’s maid.
Abraham was an old man, maybe 115-120, when God said to him: “Take your son, your only son Isaac to the region of Moriah and sacrifice him there”.
God has always been faithful. God has always honoured His promises. God has never lied; He has never broken the covenant.
It took him three days to get to the place of sacrifice, I wonder what the conversation was like, did Abraham sleep? When they arrived at the mountain, he told the servants to stay put while “I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you”.
Romans 4:21-22 says: “Abraham was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Fully is another way of saying “All in.”
Thankfully, there are very few times we’re asked to walk up the mountain, to step into the furnace or to enter the lion’s den.
God will allow us to be tested. And He tests us.
Sometimes, we will pass, sometimes we will fail. Hopefully, we will learn to trust God enough to grow into fully persuaded believers. All in.
Isaac’s sacrifice was supposed to be a burnt offering. Totally consumed by the flames. Nothing but ashes left. So, Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. All in. Fully persuaded.
And on top of this Mountain we see the shadow of Calvary. The image of God.
- The place where God Provides the lamb
Just as Abraham is about to bring the knife down into the breast of His son. Heaven intervenes. And when heaven intervenes, things change, and unexpected things happen. Like when Jesus was crucified and when the time came to give His last breath, heaven intervened, the skies were darkened, the earth was shaken, and the curtain of the temple was divided into two. Similar things happened when Paul and Silas were in the prison, singing and praising God in their chains, the earth shook, and their chains fell down. Also, on Pentecost, when the disciples were gathered in the upper room, as Jesus had commanded, and they were praying, the Spirit came down with wind and fire to baptise them.
That’s what happens, when heaven intervenes.
Isaac asked: “I see the wood and fire, but where’s the Lamb” And even before everything occurs Abraham said: “God Himself will provide the Lamb”.
Here, heaven intervenes, and scene is totally changed. Instead of Isaac being the sacrifice, God provides a lamb. Abraham names this place “Jehovah Jireh – The Lord Will Provide.”
God surely did. A substitute sacrifice in place of Isaac; an atoning Lamb.
The Old Covenant is just the shadow of the person of Jesus. In this sacrifice on Mt. Moriah where God intervenes. A place where Abraham becomes the Father of the Faithful.
Calvary should have been our cross. Golgotha should have been our punishment. It should have been our death.
Isaiah prophesied 800 years before Jesus. Chapter 53 is called, “The Suffering Servant” (Isaiah 53:5-10).
We all like sheep have gone astray. Therefore, He became the Lamb led to our slaughter. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. His punishment brought us peace. By His wounds we are healed.
Abraham would have never experienced the amazing grace of God if He had not obeyed God by walking up that mountain. But he walked with faith, trusting God. The Bible says that his action was considered for him to be a righteous man, who deserved God’s blessing for the years to come. He became the father of all nations.
Jehovah Jireh – The Lord will provide. God has provided the perfect, sinless, atoning sacrifice. He wasn’t caught by His horns in a thicket. He was nailed to a cross.
Let us look to the cross up on Calvary and see the blood of the Lamb, poured out for the sin of the world. The cross is where we find our way back to God. It’s where we find our way home.
God will provide, as He provided for Abraham many years ago, when he passed the test.
The question for us today is: “Are we ready if God wants to test us and our faith?”
The challenges that we are facing today are our challenges. In these unprecedented and extraordinary circumstances, the important matter is to stay put, keep the faith and continue the battle, being assured that God will provide all we need. He will be with us to help, support and care for us.
We need to trust Him and be ready to go through the test and come on the other side with a greater faith and believe that God is with us and He will provide all we need. He will go with us all the way through and we will be safe in His hands.
Amen!