To Kill the One You Love
Genesis 22:1-19 Sacrifice of Isaac

Reading time – about five minutes

Reader one: Today’s story is troubling. It’s not an easy story to hear.

Reader two: Those who have suffered abuse at the hands of a parent may find it particularly upsetting. Those who have seen terrible things done in the name of God will find this legend troubling.

Reader one: It’s the story about Abraham, how he hears a command from God to kill his own child as a human sacrifice. This is the child that Abraham and Sarah prayed for, yearned for, waited so long for. This is Isaac, the child called “Laughter” And God tells Abraham to take this child and kill him. A human sacrifice.

Reader two: What kind of a God would ask a parent to do a thing like that?

Reader one: When the ancient Hebrews wanted to express their religious convictions, they didn’t say, “I believe this….” or “I believe that….” They told a story.

Reader two: This legend is intended the express two things.

Reader one: God does not demand human sacrifice. Several thousand years ago, when this story was told by one generation to the next one, human sacrifice was very much a reality. Many of the tribes that lived in the same area as Sarah and Abraham practiced human sacrifice. Their gods demanded that the youngest and brightest and best children be killed on an altar as an offering to the gods.

Reader two: This legend says, “no!” Your God does not want human sacrifice. Animal sacrifice is what the Hebrew God wants.

Reader one: And the legend is told as an example of obedience. How obedient was Abraham? Well, he was prepared to sacrifice the son he loved so dearly. Abraham was prepared to obey God, no matter what.

Reader two: There are things this story doesn’t tell. It says nothing about Sarah, Isaac’s mother? Did she know what Abraham felt called to do?

Reader one: And it says nothing about how Abraham felt. Not a word about the agony that would have broken a parent’s heart.

Reader two: And this story is about us too. You and me. How far are we prepared to go? Do we admire those who devote their lives to serving God? What does it mean to be faithful to God’s call.

Reader one: So here is the story, as it is told in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. It’s a legend that comes to us out of the mists of time. It’s a legend that speaks of then and it is a story that speaks of now.

(SLIGHT PAUSE)

Reader two: After these things God tested Abraham. “Abraham!”

Reader one: “Here I am.”

Reader two: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

Reader one: So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. He cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.

Reader two: On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men. . .

Reader one: “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”

Reader two: Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

Reader one: “Father!”

Reader two: “Here I am, my son.”

Reader one: “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

Reader two: “God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

Reader one: So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. “Abraham, Abraham!”

Reader two: “Here I am.”

Reader one: “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

Reader two: Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Reader one: “Abraham, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

NOTE: The above is written in the style of “Reader’s Theatre,” a very simple but effective way of presenting the biblical story that can be done in any church, large or small. For more information about how to do Reader’s Theatre, click on this link.

Note: You have permission to use this in any worship service. No credit line is required, though it would be nice if you put in something like, “A Readers’ Theatre presentation of the Story-Lectionary.com project.”

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