The story begins with Abraham

Howard Bess

I have many thought-provoking friends, none more than a very bright, young Jewish woman with a unique American history. Her family story is the stuff of a James Michener novel. She was raised by loving parents and under the influence of synagogue and Sabbath school. As a young professional person she married. Her husband is a Muslim. Recently, my wife and I received a birth announcement. This wonderful young couple now has a son. They named him Abraham.

I heard the news as more than an announcement. It was a witness, it was a promise; it was a declaration of hope. A new kind of America is being born. A new kind of a world family is being created. The name Abraham is the spark that ignites my enthusiasm.

Our newborn’s namesake is the beginning of the Bible story. In Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Old Testament, an early confession of faith calls Abraham a wandering Aramean. In ancient Mesopotamia, no one was lower than the wanderers. The wanderers were rootless and had no social standing or protections. Nevertheless, the three major faiths of the Western world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, trace their roots to this nobody. What happened?

The Bible portrayal of Abraham is the only witness to his existence. In all the research of ancient documents and evidences, there is never a mention of someone named Abraham. But in the Bible tradition, Abraham is the pivotal person of all western civilization. In the Bible material, this great fountainhead of faith is first called Abram. In Hebrew it means “great father.” Because of his encounters with God, he is given a new name, Abraham, which means “father of many nations.” According to the Bible tradition, God chose Abram to be his witness on earth. God’s directions were clear. Abram was to leave his home territory, his father and his clan. He was to go to a land that was unknown to Abram. And Abram went out not knowing where he was going. His journey with obedience to God had begun.

Many stories about Abraham, his wife and his sons have survived and we now read them in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. They were carried by his descendants for hundreds of years as oral traditions through years of slavery in Egypt and eventual settlement in Palestine. Among those stories, one became more important than any other. It is the story of the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as an act of obedience to the command of God.

Moral purists may question the integrity of a God who would give such a command to his chosen witness to the world. To do so misses the point of the story. Other stories about Abraham show him to be a man of flawed character, but in this one instance, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience.

Total commitment to his God! This is the legacy of this foundational person. His allegiance is very clear. If necessary, everything is to be offered to his God. Abraham’s commitment is the basis of the first of the 10 Commandments, you shall have no other gods before me. It is the dynamic in what Jesus called the first great commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with heart, mind and soul.

This call to complete commitment to God is at the heart of all faiths that trace their roots to Abraham. The great symbol of this commitment to God is a beloved child strapped to a crude altar. The message of Abraham cannot be understood without a believer envisioning everything dear to her/him strapped to an altar.

This complete commitment to God is fraught with danger. Such devotion and dedication can be used for all kinds of destructive behavior. This is the reason when Jesus recited the first great commandment, he quickly added the second, you shall love your neighbor as though he were a member of your own clan.

In the story of Abraham, his obedience to God is complete. But obedience is only a part of the story. God chose Abraham to be a blessing to all people. Abraham was not called by God to be a ruler or warrior. He was called to be a blessing. In the tradition of Abraham, obedience is the tool to bring God’s peace and justice to everyone around. This is the message that Jesus, the rabbi from Nazareth, understood with clarity.

Here in America we have struggled with diversity in every era of our national history. However, in the 21st century our diversity has become even more pronounced. It is a diversity that includes color, language, culture, nationality, economic and social status. At the same time, we live in a world in which distance has disappeared and we have become neighbors to the world. Diversity is at every turn. Will we serve, or will we demand to be served? Will we dominate, or will we join hands? Will we choose to be a blessing to all?

A very fine Muslim man married my wonderful Jewish lady friend. They named their son Abraham.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His e-mail is hdbss@mtaonline.net.