|
|
A Faltering Father , Father's Day |
Genesis 21: 8-21
|
© John Ewing Roberts |
 |
|
|
|
INTRODUCTION Father's Day, like Mother's Day, can be difficult. It can be a hard day for those who mourn for their fathers even when their memories are good. It is a hard day if your father is seriously ill. It is very hard day if your father was not a good father. And for all us fathers, they day is slightly suspect because we sense that to a certain extent the entire event is a creation of the greeting card industry's desire to capitalize on what they promote so well for Mother's Day. To top off these difficulties the ecumenical lectionary presents us today with Genesis 21, the story of Father Abraham. I call him "a faltering father" because to our eyes he sure looks like a polygamist; the two women who are the mothers of his sons seem to push him around; under pressure from his wife, he throws out a pregnant woman and later expels her and his first born son, saying "God told me to do it;" twice to save his own neck he allows rulers to take his wife into their harems; he wanders all over the ancient near east before settling down in a neighborhood where revenge and retaliation are a way of life. "Father" Abraham? Happy Father's Day! And yet, warts and all, Abraham is man of faith and faithfulness, which is why God is willing to be called "The God of Abraham." Let's take a closer look at this faltering but finally faithful father. Picture No. 1, Sarai and Slave Girl (Hagar?) in Market at Mari, painting by Tom Lovell, Everyday Life in Bible Times, Merle Severy, editor [Washington: National Geographic Society] 1967, p. 82 Here we see how one artist appreciated the remarkable beauty of Sarai, later called Sarah.[1] According to biblical chronology she was so lovely at 65 that Pharaoh wanted her in his harem, and still beautiful enough in her 90's to create similar feelings in King Abimelech![2] A review of Abraham's life shows that he went from crisis to crisis, and that most of them involved the women and children of his immediate family. Again we can only wonder about Father Abraham on Father's Day. One scholar discerned eight crises in Abraham's life, indicating how he lived in the gulf between promise and fulfillment, despair and hope, experiencing at best only partial fulfillment.[3] 1. A drought drives him from the Promised Land to Egypt where Sarah ends up in Pharaoh's harem; 2. An issue with his nephew Lot over grazing rights leads to a division of land in which his "heir" of the moment fails to choose turf in the Promised Land; 3. In a Middle Eastern war Lot is captured and then rescued by Abraham. In do so, Abraham falls into the regional cycle of revenge and retaliation, which continues to this day. 4. Hagar, his wife's servant (is that her in the bottom right of the National Geographic painting?) provides an heir, but while pregnant, belittles her barren mistress and is banished. 5. Sarah again finds herself in another man's harem in the incident with King Abimelech. 6. Sarah and God (!) lead Abraham to throw Ishmael and Hagar into the wilderness; Ishmael nearly dies. 7. God sends Abraham off for the binding of Isaac on an altar of sacrifice; like his half-brother, Ishmael, Isaac nearly dies. 8. Where will Abraham find a wife for Isaac, this son who is traumatized by his near sacrifice and the death of his beloved mother? Picture No. 2, Sir Leonard Woolley, excavating at Ur (1922-1934) We know a lot about Abraham and his culture, partly because of the work of archaeologists such as Sir Leonard Woolley. Note his wonderful bermuda shorts and knee stockings, a perfect compliment to his jacket, just the right outfit for a working, field archaeologist uncovering a long buried statuette of a goddess! Picture No. 3, The Great Trench at Ur, excavated in the Royal Cemetery (Woolley on floor of pit, second from left) Woolley excavated at Ur, the traditional place from which Abraham departed. By studying what Wooley uncovered there, we can understand Abraham's context at the beginning of 2nd millennium B. C. E. Abraham may have left because according to Genesis 11, very few people in his family had died since Noah's flood, and the place was surely getting a bit crowded. Besides who would want to stay around and listen to Noah tell one more of his old flood stories? But there may have been more substantial reasons to leave Ur. It could be a very violent place. Sir Leonard excavated what is sometimes called "the Royal Death Pit of Ur." The closest contemporary parallel took place in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Picture No. 4, Jonestown Massacre, November 1978 California Congressman Leo Ryan went to Jonestown, Guyana, to investigate the cult led by the Reverend Jim Jones, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus and Lenin. Ryan and four others in his party were murdered; then Jones called for the suicide or murder of some 900 of his followers. They lined up to receive a cyanide-laced fruit drink; some took it willingly; others at gunpoint.[4] In the Royal Death Pit of Ur Sir Leonard found 74 bodies of members of the royal household. They followed their funeral procession of their late king into the tomb "to perform a final religious ritual and then took poison, following their dead ruler to the afterlife."[5] Picture No. 5, A Maidservant to the Queen, ca.2500 B. C. E. The head and face are of course reconstructions, but the spectacular adornments are genuine. They were found in 1927 by Sir Leonard Woolley and are made of gold with lapis and carnelian beads. The culture Abraham left was clearly a wealthy one and able to afford brilliant arts and craftsmen. Picture No. 6, Gold bull on lyre You are looking at one of four lyres found in the Royal Death Pit of Ur. Musicians strummed and sang as they followed their king to his and their graves. The lyre is four feet high and was covered with hammered gold. The culture Abraham left was artistically sophisticated. Picture No. 7, Standard of Ur The scene here is of king and his court celebrating victory, receiving booty, enjoying food and wine at a lavish banquet. The culture Abraham left was affluent and enjoyed "the good life." Why did he leave such a place? The obvious and correct answer comes from Genesis 12, the text the youth read last Sunday in their wonderful service - God called him. But in some ways it was not hard for him to leave this pagan and deathly environment. A Jewish Midrash tells us that young Abraham was an assistant to his father, a dealer in idols. Abraham tried to convince customers that there was only one true God - obviously this was bad for business. Not only that, young Abraham smashed the clay idols one day. When his father Terah discovered the broken idols, he asked, "Who smashed the gods?" Abraham answered, "The chief god there." Terah countered, "You know perfectly well that clay idols don't move." Abraham came back with, "Then why do you adore them?"[6] These next two objects we see provide transition to the story of Abraham and the near sacrifice of Isaac. Picture No. 8, Ram standing on hind legs When Sir Leonard found this object and another similar one, he fancied that this ram or goat nibbling at a bush was "an echo of the Biblical `ram caught in a thicket' associated with Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac (Genesis 22).[7] Since his excavations were a joint project of the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, you can see these objects from our pictures in Philadelphia and London. Picture No. 9, Dagger and sheath No, this dagger and sheath are not the ones Abraham nearly used on Isaac, but they do indicate the wealth, the craftsmanship and perhaps the violence of the culture of Ur. Picture No. 10, Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)[8] The near-sacrifice of Isaac is often reproduced in Jewish and Christian art. One can find it depicted in a 6th century C. E. mosaic in a synagogue in Beth Alpha in Israel's Jezreel Valley. It appears in a 3rd century C. E., wall painting in the catacomb of Priscilla in Rome where Isaac carrying the firewood is understood as a precursor of Jesus carrying the cross. Picture No. 11, Marc Chagall, "Sacrifice of Isaac"[9] There is a lot to think about in this contemporary painting by Marc Chagall done for an interfaith chapel in France. Isaac has one eye closed; he's as good as dead; he has one eye open, hoping for a last minute "stay of execution." The ram and Sarah are behind trees. No, Sarah was not present in Genesis but a midrash says that the devil showed her events and thus caused her death, reported immediately after the events on Mt. Moriah. We see Isaac on a yellow field; yellow, the color of the sun, the color of all our tomorrows, the color of the future, representing the generations to come through him and his descendants. But yellow is also the color of the star of David Jews were made to wear by Nazis during the Holocaust. The future will hold great suffering. Abraham appears against a field of red because this man of passion (ask Sarah and Hagar) is about to perform a bloody deed. From out of the blue comes the angel to rescue Isaac, who will help keep the covenant. God is true to his covenant, "true blue." But look carefully in the upper right corner where all three colors appear, showing how covenant and sacrifice and the future converge that "all the nations of the earth will be blessed."[10] The artist presents two children of Abraham in particular - a Jew carrying the Torah and a Jew named Jesus on a cross. Both will suffer, but both will bless. Picture No. 12, Caravaggio, "Sacrifice of Abraham," Uffizi, Florence, 1603[11] This powerful painting has an astonishing title, "The Sacrifice of Abraham!" Isaac is the one to be sacrificed, but in a sense Abraham himself is making a terrible sacrifice. Look at that wonderful diagonal line from upper left to lower right, with the focus on Abraham's right hand holding the knife. The hands of the angel and of Abraham hold the power of life and death. We cannot see the hands of Isaac; they are concealed hands, indicating his helplessness. Those who speak carelessly of "biblical family values" should take a look at this painting! Picture No. 13, Adrien van der Werfft (1659-1722), "The Expulsion of Hagar," Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden[12] Sarah lurks in the shadows, prompting Abraham to "cast out this slave woman with her son." Ishmael drags his feet, unwilling to leave father and half-brother behind. As a male, I have been focusing on Abraham, torn between these two women. But we should note that the two women, Hagar and Sarah, were trapped in patriarchy. As Phyllis Trible points out, in that setting there were only two places for women - on a pedestal, or as a doormat and in a gutter.[13] Years later the two brothers would bury Abraham in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron. Frederick Buechner speculates about the moment - there is no record of what they said as the two old men leaned on their shovels, out of breath, with the old man who had nearly been the death of both of them, lying six feet deep beneath their aching feet.[14] Again I can only sigh and say, "Happy Father's Day!" Picture no. 14, Sarai and Slave Girl (Hagar?) in Market at Mari, painting by Tom Lovell We are back where we started, looking at the women who surrounded and often controlled a man I continue to call "a faltering father." Remember why: to our eyes he sure looks like a polygamist; the two women who are the mothers of his sons seem to push him around; under pressure from his wife he throws out a pregnant woman and later expels her and his first born son, saying "God told me to do it;" twice to save his own neck he allows rulers to take his wife into their harems; he wanders all over the ancient near east before settling down in a neighborhood where revenge and retaliation are a way of life. And yet, warts and all, Abraham is man of faith and faithfulness, which is why God is willing to be called "The God of Abraham." What a wonderful forgiving and powerful God we worship. Our Lord is not only willing to be called the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Isaac is such a silent, passive man. You would be too if your father had nearly killed you and then your mother had died! And then there's Jacob, the trickster. Our God is not a God of perfect patriarchs but of a faltering father, a wimp, and a trickster. But look what great things he does through them! Understand me! I'm not trying to make the patriarchs look bad. I'm trying to praise God who does great things through such people, the same God who can do great things through the likes of you and me, people who falter, stand silent and passive, or take matters into our own hands and try to fake our way through life, people who are not that different from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God can use us, warts and all, faltering fathers, if we will be people of faith and faithfulness. God can raise up "children of Abraham" (women as well as men).[15] We all can be children of the covenant, children of risk, children of laughter, children of reward, children of belief. Hebrews 11: 8ff. praises Abraham and Sarah for being people of faith, people who responded to the call to go out, not knowing where they were to go. Hebrews 11: 8-11 puts it this way: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. At this point preachers usually quote Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken, 1916): "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I prefer the quote attributed to Yogi Berra: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"[16]No less a theologian than John Wayne once said, "Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."[17] Abraham would understand Frost, Yogi, and the Duke. He went and he went and he went, even though he never really saw home, a kind of patriarchal Energizer Bunny, "still going!" I like to compare Abraham to an old Oriole, Willie Miranda - a comment that needs explaining. Before there was Cal Ripken, there was Mark Belanger; before there was Mark Belanger, there was Luis Aparicio, all great shortstops. But even further back there was Willie Miranda, a shortstop for the early Orioles . In 1955, Willie Miranda's best year, he led the American League in total chances, putouts, assists, double plays and errors. His fielding percentage was only .958. But he was after every ball - the manager had to tell him to stop taking bunts away from the third baseman; outfielders had to call him off high fly balls. But because he took a chance of catching any ball remotely near him, he often got a glove a ball, but that was all. Naturally he was charged with many errors. Who led the American League shortstops in fielding in 1955? Not Willie Miranda! He led in errors. Someone named George Strickland led in fielding, but he was among the lowest in the league in chances and assists. He didn't take chances on difficult ground balls in his vicinity - he let them go on through the infield. Willie Miranda took risks - he was exciting, and we remember him. Believe me, no disrespect intended, but no minister has ever used George Strickland as a sermon illustration.[18] CONCLUSION When Thomas Wolfe, the author of Look Howard Angel and You Can't Go Home Again, lay dying at the age of thirty-eight, he wrote: Something has spoken to me in the night, When Abraham left Ur with all its wealth, art, craftsmanship, culture, and cult of death, he lost nothing compared to what he gained. Faltering though he may have been, he was the vessel through whom our Lord could begin to bless all the nations of the earth. My prayer on Father's Day is that all of us, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, faltering though we may be, will finally be like Abraham and Sarah, firm and faithful, pillars on which eternal values may be founded. Notes: [1] For sake of convenience I will refer to Abraham and Sarah, and sort out when in their lives they were called Abram and Sarai versus Abraham and Sarah. Cf. Genesis 17: 5, 15 [2] Genesis 12: 10-17, according to Genesis 12: 4, Abraham was 75 at the time; according to Genesis 17:17, Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham; the Abimelech incident occurs in Genesis 20; in Genesis 21: 5, Abraham is 100 years old. [3] Larry R. Heyler, "Abraham's Eight Crises: The Bumpy Road to Fulfilling God's Promise of an Heir," Bible Review, Vol. XI, No. 5, October 1995, pp. 20-27 [4] Our Times: The Illustrated History of the 20th Century, Lorraine Glennon, editor in chief [Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc.] 1995, p. 564 [5] Marie-Henriette Gates, Mesopotamian Archaeology Slide Set [Washington, DC: Biblical Archeology Society] 1993, pp. 13-14; Richard L. Zettler, "Woolley's Ur Revisited," Biblical Archaeological Review, Vol. X, No. 5, September/October 1984, pp. 58-60 [6] The Torah: A Modern Commentary, edited by W. Gunther Plaut [New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations] 1981, p. 94 [7] Magnus Magnusson, Archaeology of the Bible [New York: Simon and Schuster] 1977, p. 33 [8] Lippman Bodoff, "God Tests Abraham - Abraham Tests God," Bible Review, October 1993, Vol. IX, No. 3 p. 52 [9] Bodoff, op. cit., p. 54 [10] Genesis 12: 3 [11] Carlo Ludovico Raggianti, editorial director, Uffizi/Florence [New York: Newsweek, Inc.] 1968, p. 129 [12] Helyer, op. cit., p. 24 [13] Bill Moyers, Genesis - A Living Conversation [New York: Doubleday] 1996, p. 238 [14] Frederick Buechner, "Isaac," Peculiar Treasures [New York: Harper and Row] 1979, p. 53 [15] Matthew 3: 9 [16] Talking About Genesis, introduction by Bill Moyers, Public Affairs Television [New York: Doubleday] 1996, pp. 90, 91 [17] Lectionary Homiletics, Vol. 8, No. 1, January-March 1996, "The Family Ideal, No Idol," p. 38 [18] Michael Hilton, "Going for It - and Failing," Harvard Magazine, September-October 1988, p. 13 [19] J. Harold McKeithen, Jr., "On Leaving Home," Lectionary Homiletics, March 1996, Vol. VII, No. 4, p. 8 |