Genesis 22, 1-14

Dear congregation,

Sometimes it's imperative to say "no."

God, or rather one of his angels, takes on this task in this powerful story: "Do not lay your hand on the boy."

That was a close call. Isaac would have been dead shortly.

There are currently approximately 250,000 child soldiers in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

In addition, there are approximately 160 million children who are victims of child labor. They pick tea and roll tea leaves. They harvest cocoa so that chocolate can be produced cheaply. Between 2018 and 2023, approximately 47 million children were born as refugees each year.

Sometimes it's urgent to say "no."

God interrupts Abraham in his insane actions. God had promised Abraham a good future. As a pledge, he had given him and Sarah a son, Isaac.

Abraham is ready to sacrifice this son. Abraham is convinced that God willed it this way.

Abraham was certain he was doing the right thing.

It isn't easy for him. You can sense from the story that Abraham is trembling inside. He certainly doesn't want witnesses. But he is ready to kill his son and thinks it's okay. Even worse, he assumes that God wants it this way.

After all, God always has a plan. God will know what it's good for. Abraham shirks responsibility. "I can't do anything else!" Abraham tells himself. The responsibility for what happens lies with God.

I am horrified by people who surrender their responsibility to God. This story shows me what people are willing to do. They don't stop.

No, people don't stop waging wars.

People don't stop sacrificing their sons, forcing their children to flee, and taking their homes away from them.

Sometimes it's too late to say "no." That's what history teaches us.

What a stark contrast to this peaceful service in which we baptized Matthias and Finn. They are showered with good wishes. They have parents who want to watch over and protect them.

What mother doesn't want that? What father would have other plans for his child? Abraham and Sarah were probably happy too when they first touched Isaac and held him in their arms.

But unfortunately, we live in a world where that first moment hardly plays a role later. To be so touched, so directly confronted with birth – the miracle of a new life – this can surpass ourcomprehension. An experience that amazes us and transforms us into a different person: a father and a mother.

We can see from Abraham that this birth experience can be lost. The temptation is great. The wellbeing of our children is not always in mind when we adults make decisions.

What child would wage war?

What child naturally sees another as an enemy?

Jesus later says in his great peace speech: Become like children!

Abraham has lost all childlike qualities. And where such childlikeness is lost, the close connection with life, it can happen that children are sacrificed. Even in the name of God.

This story warns me! Can I really assume that God is tempting me to obey blindly?

How far does blind obedience go? It is never good, neither for man nor for God.

God intervenes. As much as God desires trust from his people and as much as God wants to be first in every person's life. God does not want sacrifices.

God intervenes and interrupts Abraham's insane actions.

I want God to do this every time. To send angels! We need angels to remind and help us to say "no."

So that Finn and Matthias and all other children in the world can be children—so that they can live in peace and not be confronted with killing and sacrifice—that's why it's time to say "no!"

God has repeatedly called angels: people who intervene when absolute and blind obedience is required.

They are the courageous women and men who have said "no" and in this way have shown how inhumane human actions can be.

God is given different roles in the Bible, in the Old and New Testaments. More than once, God frees himself from these roles and reveals himself directly to free people from their inhumanity. Even from the inhumanity that is done in God's name.

I am grateful that God was strong enough to interrupt Abraham. And I pray that God will show himself and interrupt us — Let us hear clearly and distinctly what God wants: "Thou shalt not kill!"

Let us listen to a song by a German singer-songwriter about a father who says "no." I wish for such fathers and mothers in this world – for Matthias and Finn and all other children.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen