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One of my favorite tv shows began in 2003, as reality TV was starting to take hold in mainstream culture. Don’t worry, it’s not The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, or Real Housewives; it is Dirty Jobs, hosted by Mike Rowe. Over the course of nearly 200 episodes, Rowe highlights the many thankless blue collar jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us and serves as a fully involved assistant for a typical work day, trying to complete every task despite discomfort, hazards, and repulsive situations. Over the years, Mike Rowe has become an advocate for the trades, promoting scholarships for a solid work ethic, and reminding others of the value of earning a living with one’s hands. Currently, he continues his commentary and advocacy through a weekly podcast called, “The way I heard it.” I highly recommend it and I look forward to the new episode each week.
During one interview, Mike Rowe was asked for the best piece of advice he received. He replied, “the best practical advice came from my dad when he told me to duck. We were playing horseshoes out back in somebody’s yard and someone threw a horseshoe and it got away from them, and my father was on the little balcony looking down. I recognized his voice, and I didn’t even know who he was talking to, but it didn’t matter, because it was loud and I knew it was him, and so I put my head down and I felt the horseshoe whiz right over my head. And it hit a friend of mine right in the face. He was two feet on the other side of me. Knocked his teeth out, but it just as easily could have knocked my head off. Anyway that was great advice, and when I think back on it, it had everything that all great advice needs to have: it was brief, it was loud, it was familiar, and it was compelling. And I took it, and I’m glad I did.” One other observation about Mike Rowe’s experience of following his dad’s advice; the key was in the timing. Understanding why his father was telling him to do something came later; the need for obedience came first and that obedience was based in the trust he placed in his father who would not tell him to do something if it wasn’t important and in his best interest. If he had instead paused and asked why the need to duck, he would have ended up with a horseshoe to the head.
This underrated quality of trusting obedience is on full display in our first reading. While it seems shocking and wrong for God to ask Abraham to sacrifice his only, beloved son, by this time the Patriarch would have had nearly 70 years of experience trusting and obeying the Lord. He would have known by now that God kept every promise. Abraham had learned, over and over again, that trusting and obeying God came first; understanding why and what God was doing came later with time. God never took something away without replacing it with something even bigger and better. Faced with that evidence, only a fool would question any command from God, even something so extreme as the sacrifice of his son Isaac.
Some scholars think Abraham believed God would raise his son after the sacrifice. We will never know exactly what he thought but it is clear he knew God would not let him down. He had second-guessed God’s plans enough to realize it never went well. God always came through, even when the situations were absolutely unsolvable with human solutions.
In our story today, the transformation of Abraham is complete. When he leads Issac up the mountain, he has finally trusted God with his past, his present, and his future. He gives God everything in his life. Even if he does not fully understand the “why” of what God is asking, he knows that whatever he is being told to do will be what is best for him and those he loves. And now God can return the favor. He provides the victim for sacrifice to spare Isaac, not only on Mount Moriah but also on Calvary which will redeem both the descendants of Abraham and all who trust in God for salvation and protection in the name of Jesus.
Through faith, you and I have been adopted into the family and promises of Abraham. We have the opportunity to receive the blessings given to him but we must live in the same way, trusting God with our past, present, and future and obeying him in whatever he asks, no matter how confusing or mysterious it seems. Obedience comes first; understanding will follow later. If we pause to question God or delay our “yes”, we might not hear his urgent advice to duck and avoid the spiritual horseshoes headed our our way! We cannot do this without the gift of faith. Good intentions are not enough. Using our own wisdom alone, we will always want to hold something back or try to revise God’s plan to fit our own. We should ask Abraham to help us see, as he did, that God never takes something away as a sort of cruel penalty or price. Instead, God asks us to open our hands, to free our grip from the things we hold onto, so he can place something even greater within our grasp. God is utterly trustworthy and we follow him by listening to his beloved Son through the Scriptures and the teachings of the Catholic Church which he instituted.
The book of Genesis goes on to tell us that Abraham died at the age of 175! When he passed, he had everything and more than when he first met God and was invited to go on the journey of faithful obedience. God kept each and every promise! You and I are still reaping the spiritual benefits of Abraham’s faith and God’s generosity to this very day. Take some time this week to reflect on God’s invitation to trust him more deeply and follow his plan more urgently. Be honest about the parts of your past, present, and future that God is not allowed to touch. Consider the teachings of the Church you struggle to obey or understand and approach them with humble openness. God and his truth doesn’t change but we must! He is dependable, he will keep his promises of mercy, blessing, and redemption made in the name of his Son, Jesus. May we open our hands, our hearts, and our lives towards a spirit of obedient trust so God can lead us to a future of joy, peace, and eternal life!
