Our text for this Sunday is from the Book of Genesis, the story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son, Isaac. It is one of the most powerful, profound, and disturbing stories in all of the Bible, and all of literature, for that matter.

It is the conclusion of the story of Abraham, and therefore it cannot be understood apart from the whole story of Abraham. The story of Abraham is the story of a promise. The promise was given to Abraham, and to Sarah, this childless couple, that they would be given a child, and that their descendants from this child would be as numerous as the stars. And the promise was also that they would be given a land, and the land would be inhabited by their descendants. That land came to be called the Promised Land, because it was based on the promise that was given to …