Have you ever been tempted to make a deal with God?  “Please God I promise if you get me out of this one I’ll never hurt any one again.  I’ll never lie, cheat, drink, stay out late, disobey.”  This kind of dealing with God seems to go back a long way.  Today we find ourselves in the world of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis with Abraham, maybe some 3,000 years ago.  Abraham lived in a world where human sacrifice was common.  It was common for the first fruits of the harvest to be offered to God – and it was not uncommon for a first born child to be sacrificed to the gods – to appease them; make them happy with us, that they may look kindly on us, protect us and keep us in favour. This can be shocking for us to think about.  This is why these Biblical stories are told and re-told.  They take us into another world in order to discover what God is revealing to humanity about himself. 

So Abraham is doing what any good man or father would do.  Then in the story we have the entry of the Angel of the Lord – God’s messenger of mediator.  “Do not raise your hand against the boy.  Do not harm him.”  All of a sudden the story is about God not about us.  God does not want or need our sacrifice.  God is not an angry God in need of appeasement.  Instead, God invites Abraham on a journey of discovery.  He will learn that he does not need to have deals exacted from us, on the contrary he promises a future of hope with descendants as many as the stars.  

This discovery of the nature of God reaches a climax with the entry of Jesus into human history.  We hear about this in the Gospel of Mark today.  Mark’s community finds themselves coming out of a culture overwhelmed by religious ritual, law and social obligation.  The transfiguration story is a text that speaks of God breaking through into our world once again just, as he did in Abraham’s world.  This time the message is clear – this is my son, the beloved, listen to him.  Something new is happening in Jesus.  Follow him and discover who God is and to what you are called to be.

The Lenten readings tell us this is the time God will break into our lives and show us who he is.  Prayer, fasting and works of charity are put before us as ways to enter into that discovery.  God does not want sacrifice.  God does not want empty ritualism or legalism.  No deals.  No earning God’s love.  God loves and calls us despite ourselves.  If we can let go of our preconceived ideas perhaps an angel may visit us this Lent and reveal something new about God to us.

Fr Brendan