The Ram in the Bush

June 28, 2026 Genesis 22:1-14 The Ram in the Bush 5th Sunday After Pentecost Year A Prelude Greeting Call to Worship When our way seems unclear, and we are surrounded by loud and conflicting voices… God will provide. When we, like Abraham, are trying to be faithful and seem to have no good choices available to us… God will provide. When we, like Isaac, are led by those we trust into unjust and harmful situations… God will provide. Family in Christ, we gather today to worship God, who meets us in places of fear, confusion, and despair. We gather to worship God, who provides a way toward abundant life when no way can be found. Thanks be to God! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, January 2026. Opening Prayer Lord, the hearts of all turn to You in hope; and You give them what they need. You open Your hand and satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. We, too, turn to You again, longing to be filled— to eat of the Bread of Life, to drink from Your life-giving streams, to taste Your goodness and live. May the time we spend together in Your presence nourish our hearts and minds; may it strengthen our relationship with You, and renew our commitment to live in this world as Your faithful disciples. For You alone are God, the Source and Sustainer of life. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Written by Christine Longhurst at the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/07/opening-prayer-feed-us-lord.html. Song Rock of Ages, Cleft for me UMH 361 A Sermon for all Ages Children's Sermon: "God Loves to Hear You Laugh" Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14 Object: A smiling face emoji, a toy that giggles, or simply your own laughter. Good morning, boys and girls! I have a question for you. What makes you laugh? (Let the children answer: funny jokes, tickling, pets, brothers and sisters, cartoons, etc.) I love hearing children laugh. When children laugh, everyone around them smiles too. Laughter is one of God's wonderful gifts. Today we heard a Bible story about Abraham and his son Isaac. It is a story that can sound a little scary, but it also reminds us of something very important. God loved Isaac very much, and God made sure that Isaac was safe. God never stopped caring for him. Do you know something else about Isaac? His name means "he laughs" or "laughter." Before Isaac was born, his mother Sarah laughed because she thought she was too old to have a baby. Then, when Isaac was finally born, that laughter became laughter of joy! Every time Abraham and Sarah called Isaac's name, it reminded them that God had brought happiness into their lives. So even in today's difficult story, we remember who Isaac is—a beloved child whose very name reminds us of joy and laughter. God wants children to be loved, protected, and encouraged. Every one of you is precious to God. God has given you parents, grandparents, teachers, church members, and friends to help you grow strong, kind, and faithful. You know what else encouragement does? It helps people laugh! When someone tells you, "Great job!" or "I'm proud of you!" or "You can do it!" it makes your heart feel lighter. It helps you smile. Can you think of someone who encourages you? (Allow a few responses.) Now here's another question. Can you encourage someone else? Maybe you can tell a friend, "You're doing great!" Maybe you can thank your parents. Maybe you can make someone who's feeling sad smile or laugh today. When we encourage one another, we share God's love. So every time you laugh this week, remember Isaac. His name means "laughter," and it reminds us that God loves children, delights in their joy, and surrounds them with people who care for them. Let's try something together. On the count of three, everyone give your biggest smile... and then your happiest laugh! (Count to three and laugh together.) That's a wonderful sound! I think God loves hearing children laugh. Let us pray. Dear God, thank You for loving every child. Thank You for giving us families, friends, and our church to encourage us. Help us to make others smile, to share kindness wherever we go, and to remember that Your love fills our hearts with joy. Thank You for the gift of laughter. In Jesus' name, Amen. Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas Give us O Lord, steadfast hearts, which no unworthy thought can drag downward, unconquered hearts, which no tribulation can wear out, upright hearts, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon us also, O Lord our God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Saint Thomas, Italy, 13th Century) Passing of the Peace Scripture Genesis 22:1-14 Sermon The Ram in the Bush Sarah went without a child for over 73 years. When her son was born she named him Isaac – meaning laughter. She wanted to celebrate the joy that he bought to her life. She also remembered her laughter, when God said that she would have a baby at 90. When she thought of the ways that God works and the surprises that come upon us – she couldn’t help but to name the baby Isaac. In your life, what is it that brings you joy? What is it that makes you laugh? We know that for Sarah, it was her baby boy. But we cannot be sure about Abraham. The scripture for last week and for this week- Genesis 21 and 22 are two parts of the 2nd most difficult story in the bible. These two chapters are the stories of how Abraham tried to kill both of his sons and blame it on God. Our scripture for today is the story of a promise given, a promise taken away and a promise restored. In the Hebrew understanding, this story is a sacred story – it called the binding of Isaac, it focuses on the faith of the son Isaac, not the father Abraham. Young Isaac travels with his father, carrying the wood. He asks his father where is the sacrifice. When he sees the knife pointed at him, I bet he also asks why his father is trying to kill him, and how will he ever be able to move on from this and still love his father. The story is important because in the midst of the trauma, it is a story of love – How God saved Isaac. We are Isaac in our lives during those times when our dreams are threatened and God pulls us through. It is our story of hope when the Lord provides. In the story, as Abraham prepares to sacrifice Isaac, he notices a ram in the bush. And he trusts that God will give him the strength to continue to listen and to follow. In spite of the important lessons, this is strange and confusing. It seems that the people that should have been protecting Isaac, are the people who put him in danger. His mother, his father, and even God cannot be trusted in parenting. Last week It is God who tells Abraham to banish his oldest son, Ishmael. It seems God would rather Ishmael be banished in the desert than put in the family will. And this week it is God who tells Abraham to take his heir, Isaac into the wilderness to be sacrificed. That is not the God that we know. Does God call us to do mean things to people? To hurt innocent children? There are still a lot of people who say that this story was a test of faith. God wanted to see if Abraham would be obedient to an order that he did not agree with. Would Abraham put God’s word above all else, including family. I am not convinced that this is a test, I think it was a moment of discernment. A time to think through what God was really saying. Years ago, Abraham heard to voice of God telling him to step out on faith. God calls us to new places – but very rarely does God give us a road map. We don’t have all of he answers, and we have no idea of what will happen along the way. Sometimes along the way, we may get a clear sign that we are in the right place, but we won’t get a step by step instruction manual. I think Abraham was following God, listening to God, but not always sure of what he heard. At the time, it was pretty common to sacrifice children to the gods. Many people in many cultures believed that sacrificing their children bought them special favor. Child sacrifices were a thing for over 5000 years. It was practiced widely until the 1500’s. I recently heard a sermon that in many ways we still sacrifice our children to a wayward world. Children are exposed to trauma, they are held captive with their parents, they don’t have access to food, shelter and education. In 1965, Bob Dylan wrote a song called Highway 61 – the first verse says Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61” In the bible, As Abraham raises a knife in Isaac’s face and angel grabs his hand and says that is not necessary. Isaac probably lived with the vision of that moment for the rest of his life. This story is known as the akedah in Jewish tradition, because this is the moment Abraham realized that God didn’t call parents to sacrifice their children. God did not call people to hurt people. The Hebrews were the first culture in that part of the world to realize that God was not a God of hatred and violence toward children. What could have been a tragedy turned into a moment of grace. The moment where the promise could have disappeared from the world became the moment that the promise lives on today. The promise still lives in the children who make us laugh. I said that this was the 2nd worse story in the whole bible. Can you guess what the worse story is? It is the story of God’s only son being killed on a cross. Isaac was spared, Jesus was killed. Abraham and Isaac travelled 3 days to Mount Moriah, Jesus spen 3 days in a grave. Isaac returned home to his mom and went on with his life. Jesus rose from the dead and changed the life of the whole world. On Friday, Carol Hall and I watched a movie called the Great Awakening. It was how the message that Liberty was a gift from God was spread throughout the colonies. The movie started with a young Benjamin Franklin talking with his dad. He dad explained that he was the tenth child – destined to be a servant of God. His dad didn’t call Benjamin Franklin a sacrifice, he called his a tithe. His dad wanted him to become a preacher, but was willing to support young Benjamin’s dream of becoming a journalist/printer. Andrew Young, former Ambassador to the UN, was talking about his daughter's decision to work in a very dangerous part of Africa. Young said something like, "When we brought her to church and Sunday school, when we had her baptized, we didn't really know that she was going to take all of this religion so seriously! It's sort of scary to realize that you are putting your own child at risk when you bring her to the Lord!" (4) God doesn’t give us a road map to live, but God does give us a glimpse of the future. It unfolds in the eyes of our young people. It unfolds in the moments of grace, it unfolds in the things that make us laugh. When we see God in the situation, we can relax, because we know that God will provide. For twenty-six years my wife was a public school teacher. The last eight years she taught kindergarten in a very tough classroom. She spent more time in social work than she did in school work. It is hard to study even as a little child when you come to school hungry. Her students said to her one day, “Mrs. Olds, you don’t know how lucky you are. You live in a brick house. Bullets won’t go through brick houses. You are a very fortunate person.” On the second day of kindergarten one year, a little boy came up to her and said out of the blue, “Mrs. Olds, why didn’t you come?” And she not knowing what on earth he was talking about, knelt down to him and said, “What do you mean, why didn’t I come?” He said, “Why didn’t you come when my mama died?” She said, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know your mother had died, how did it happen?” He looked up to her and with tears in his eyes said, “Well, everybody knew it, it was on the television. My daddy choked my mama to death. Why didn’t you come?” I can never quite forget the echo of that child’s question in my mind—“Why didn’t you come in my hour of need?” Whatever you do with this story from Genesis, it is no invitation to mistreat children. You see, Isaac trusted his father completely. Can you? Abraham takes all the questions of his young son and answers them with a profound ritual that is repeated throughout this old story. With every question there is this answer: THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. Have you enough faith to proclaim that to your children? The Lord will provide. God will provide faith for the journey. God and Abraham had climbed too many mountains already for him to stop now. And as impossible as it all seems, Abraham gets up early one morning and sets out for Mt. Moriah. Somebody once said that when things get difficult, don’t pray for smaller mountains, just ask for increased climbing ability, because the Lord will go with you when it is difficult. In the end of the story, God is the hero – because God provides. We can be grateful that our understanding of God has evolved over time, and that he sent his Son Jesus to help us to see the meaning of grace clearly. There is a lot that we can get from this story of the binding of Isaac – the promise continues, we can follow even when we don’t have all of the answers, God will provide. GOD WILL PROVIDE AS MUCH HELP AS YOU WILL RECEIVE. So listen carefully, look for grace, trust the God in the process. This is essentially the end of Abraham’s story. Genesis chapter 23 is about the death of Sarah, and chapter 24 is about the death of Abraham and the beginning of Isaac’s family. Before returning home from Mount Moriah, Abraham told his son that they would return to this place, he named the place God will provide. I think I spend most of my life in that place- trusting God to provide. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord Will Provide." Maybe not the way we want. Maybe not the way we desire. But the Lord will provide. The Lord will give life again. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you." But he also said, "Not as the world gives do I give to you." That means, the Lord will provide, but maybe not in the way that we anticipate. But he will provide at some time, and in some place, and in some manner, that we least expect. Maybe like this. James Angell, a Presbyterian minister, was awakened on Saturday night, in the middle of the night, with a phone call. It was the Saturday before Easter. The phone call was the Highway Patrol telling him that his twenty-one year old daughter, Susan, has been killed in an automobile accident. Susan was on her way home. She was going to spend Easter Sunday with her mother and father. She was killed on the way home. With courage and with faith that I can only marvel at, Jim Angell, just a few hours after receiving that news, entered his pulpit on that Sunday morning, and preached on the victory that Christ has given us over death through his Resurrection. Later he wrote a book about those days, a beautiful little book called, O Susan! It is a book that would be a help to other people as they try to make their way through that same dark valley. He said that there is a long period when the loss is almost more than you can bear. It is like you are at the end of the rope, and you have to tie a knot on the end of the rope so that you have something to hold on to. Then, he said, something happens. He warns that it will happen in different ways and at different times to different people. But for him it happened this way. A dear and trusted friend came into his study one day, and talked bluntly to him. He said, "Jim, you've got to face this. For the rest of your life this is a fact that you just have to live with. You can do two things about it. You can use it, use your fresh depth of feeling to make life finer, or you can let it crush you, and go through the rest of your life whimpering. Angell wrote that those words from his friend reminded him of the words of the hymn, "Shun not the struggle, face it. 'Tis God's gift." Not the accident. That's not God's gift. Not the tragedy. Not the sorrow. That's not God's gift. But the grace, the power to use those events to make life deeper and richer, that is the gift. When Jim Angell finally realized that, he let his daughter go, and found his life again. The end of sorrow comes when we can trust that no matter what happens to us, "The Lord will provide." ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Mark Trotte In recognizing God’s grace, we find God’s laughter. Let’s pray….. Song Faith of our Fathers UMH 710 Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Offertory Prayer Faithful Provider, we bring our gifts with trembling hands and trusting hearts. Like Abraham on the mountain, we don’t always understand the path ahead, but we believe in your promise: that you will provide. We offer these gifts, not as bargains or sacrifices to earn your love, but as signs of our trust in you. Use them, we pray, to bless others—to meet needs, to heal hurts, to build hope. And as you provide for the world through us, keep us faithful to your calling, even when the way is unclear. May our giving be our “Here I am,” ready and willing to serve. In Christ’s name, Amen. (Genesis 22:1-14) (United Methodist Board of Discipleship) Announcements Closing Prayer for YouTube Be confident that the Holy One will provide For the promise of God is trustworthy And the presence of God is enduring Therefore, show up in the world With boldness and clarity That justice and righteousness will prevail In the name of Holy Love and Everlasting Peace May it be so for you and through you. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction May God go with you, blessing you with divine provision, making paths where there were none before, and leading you into flourishing in the most impossible of places. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, January 2026. Additional Illustrations A man named Victor Fried, in an essay titled “Too Broken to Be Fixed,” tells of how he grew up as an angry child who lashed out at others. His family had taught him that “if something went wrong, it was always someone else’s fault.” He learned to distrust people. And this distrust resulted in anger and alienation and lashing out at the world. The situation only worsened as Victor became an adult. He says of his mindset at that time, “Finally, you ask yourself the question: Why are so many people out to get me? And the only logical answer is that even God hates you. So, if you were like me, you return the favor and hate God right back. My belief that God hated me grew as the years passed, and I perceived each setback as further evidence that my belief was correct.” One thing that gave his life meaning was his job building custom furniture in a wood shop. One day, Victor spotted a man walking down the street carrying an elegant Queen Anne chair. He recognized it instantly as a valuable antique, and he asked the man if he could have it. It only had a broken rung, and Victor knew he could fix it. The man said, “No.” Then he threw the chair into a Dumpster, permanently breaking its frame and ruining it. This moment reinforced Victor’s belief that people are no good and God didn’t care about him. A year later, Victor’s anger and sadness finally drove him to burn out. He drove down to the Missouri River one icy-cold day with the intent to throw himself into the water and either drown or freeze to death. But as he stood on the riverbank, he suddenly recalled the angry man who had thrown the Queen Anne chair into the Dumpster. And he heard a voice say to him, “If you’re going to throw that away, may I have it?” Victor says he knew it was the voice of God. His lifetime of anger and fighting and broken relationships came to mind. And yet, now he could see how God loved him in spite of all these things. He suddenly understood that God is unconditional love and had loved him throughout his life. And now God was asking Victor to turn his life over to Him. So instead of falling into the icy river, Victor fell to his knees on that riverbank and gave his life to God. This moment was the start of healing a lifetime of anger and loneliness. (2) “If you’re going to throw that away, may I have it?” What do we have to believe about God to commit our entire lives to Him? We have to believe, first of all, in His goodness, in God’s unconditional love for us. If God is love, then God doesn’t want appeasement from us. He wants a relationship with us. If God is love, then His goal is not to leave our wounds and heartbreaks and challenges unredeemed. God’s goal is to work all things together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to God’s purposes (Romans 8:28). But if that’s true, how do we explain the sacrifice God asked Abraham to make? God rarely provides us with a road map for our faith journey. When you commit your life to God, you are taking a leap of faith. You have no idea where God will lead you. You have no idea what sacrifices you may be called to make. Like Jimmy, you don’t have to know what to do; you just have to be ready to do it. What would it take for us to be ready like that? We have to trust in the goodness of God and that God is working out His eternal purposes through our obedience. We will never see the end result of our commitment in this lifetime. We may never see how God works through our sacrifices to bring about His kingdom. But we can trust, as Abraham did, that the Lord who Provides will provide what we need to remain faithful to Him until the day we see God face-to-face. Until then, we will keep our eyes fixed on the cross as our guarantee that God so loved us that He gave His Son, His only Son, that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Both of Abraham’s sons had to go through a “passing of age” ritual. In the chapter before, we read about Abraham’s firstborn son, Ishmael, through Sarah’s handmaid Hagar, and his desert “christening.” In that story, Abraham is pained for Hagar and Ishmael to be sent off into the desert, presumably to die. But God reassures Abraham and calls upon his faith. Abraham allows for them to be sent away, and God rescues both Hagar and Ishmael from the glaring heat, training Ishmael to be a “leader” of other nations. Ishmael today is known as the father of Arab nations. Abraham had to first sacrifice his son Ishmael to death by desert banishment in faith that God would take it from there. The scriptures tell us that “God dwelt with Ishmael from that time onward.” A farmer was out driving his tractor one day when he rolled onto a stretch of gopher mounds. The earth crumbled beneath one tire and the tractor rolled over on its side. Luckily, the farmer escaped the situation with only a few bruises. He went home and told his wife. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Honey, the Lord sure was with you." The farmer surveyed his bruises and answered, "Well, if He was, He sure got a rough ride." In 1958, America's first commercial jet air service began with the flight of the Boeing 707. A month after that first flight, a traveler on a piston-engine, propeller-driven DC-6 airliner struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger. The passenger happened to be a Boeing engineer. The traveler asked the engineer about the new jet aircraft. The engineer was wildly enthusiastic about this new, improved way to travel. He began speaking at length about the extensive testing Boeing had done on the jet engine before bringing it into commercial service. He recounted Boeing's experience with engines, from the B-17 to the B-52. When his traveling companion asked him if he himself had yet flown on the new 707 jet airliner, the engineer replied, "I think I'll wait until it's been in service awhile.'" Even enthusiastic talking about our faith doesn't mean much if we aren't also willing to put our lives where our mouth is. (3) The question for the day is: How much do you trust God? Abraham learned that behind the clouds of uncertainty God awaits. He placed his total trust in God and his trust was not misplaced. My guess is that Abraham was a different person when he descended from the mountain. From that moment on Abraham realized that God would take care of his son, Isaac. From that moment on he realized God would provide whatever was necessary for the fulfillment of His promises. Let us first of all consider this story through the eyes of Isaac. This dream child of Abraham and Sara is raised with love and unusual devotion. His name means laughter and he brings great joy to his parents. His mother even manages to excommunicate Isaac’s half-brother, Ishmael, into the wilderness so that there would be no sibling rivalry. Isaac had it all. When his daddy drags him out of bed before daylight to make this mysterious, frightful trip into the unknown, I can only imagine the kinds of questions that had to be on the young adolescent’s mind. The first question I would have asked is, “Where are we going? It is summer time. Years ago, about this time of the year, I remember loading our two boys into a borrowed station wagon and heading for Florida for a week’s stay in a loaned condominium. We were about 50 miles away from home when the questions started from the back seat. “Are we there yet? How much further? Can we stop now?” That is when our oldest son (back in the days before seat belts) leaned over the back seat and put his arms around my shoulders and said, “Dad, when we get to where we’re going, where will we be?” Inquiring children always want to know. “Is this a camping trip, Dad? Why isn’t Mother coming? How long will we be gone?” Questions like these had to come from Isaac’s lips. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.” [2] A pastor was making a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. As he was pounding away, he noticed that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn't say a word, so the preacher kept on working, thinking the boy would leave. But he didn't. Pleased at the thought that his work was being admired, the pastor finally said, "Well, son, trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?" "No," he replied. "I'm just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer." (1) That's a tricky position to be in, isn't it? Would you or I pass that test? I hope so. Sometimes, we don't even know when we're being tested. But that's not the case in today's Bible passage. Here is the second truth: The most important help he provides is for our greatest need—forgiveness and salvation. Because all of us are tainted by sin, there is no way we can spend eternity with a perfect God unless our sin problem is resolved. That requires someone able and willing to pay for our sin. That requires someone who has no sin problem of his own. That requires someone perfect and full of love for us. Indeed, that requires God himself. And so, Jesus, God in human form, went to a cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all believers. The saga of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah was a preview of the cross of Calvary. The eternal Christ-Spirit, probably said to God the Father, “Father, we will come back to this same mountain one day, won’t we?” And God the Father said, “Yes, Son, we will return here.” And the Christ-Spirit said, “And when we return, I will be the sacrifice on the altar, isn’t that true?” And God the Father, who would not allow Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, was willing to sacrifice his Son for us, so great is his love for us. And so, many centuries later when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) God not only provides forgiveness and salvation, but also grace sufficient for every need. To call on God is to make the ultimate 9-1-1 call. God is instantly available to all believers to help in wise and wonderful ways. As one stands to the West of the temple area in the old city of Jerusalem and gazes upon the remains of the Temple of Herod now spoken of as the "wailing wall," then looks beyond to the domineering Dome of the Rock, it is to recall the great epochs of history and tradition associated with the place called "Mount Moriah." How much of human history and the traditions of the "people of God" is linked to that spot! One of the most moving and poignant of those traditions is the story of Abraham’s ultimate temptation recorded in Genesis 22.