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Brueggemann pgs. 105-125
One thing that really caught my attention in Brueggemann’s commentary on the story of Abraham and Sara was his analysis on the choice that they were forced to make when the promise was offered to them from God. He said that they had to decide to live either “for the promise” or “against the promise.” He wrote that by choosing to live “against the promise” they would basically be clinging to a pretty miserable life. When it is put in this perspective it seems that the choice really should not have been that hard. I couldn’t help but wonder “What did they have to lose?” Yet Brueggemann points out that despite Abraham’s incredible showings of faith he still has moments where he doubts God such as when he has Sara act as if she was his sister and when he clings to Ishmael and wonders out loud why God couldn’t pour out the blessings He had reserved for Isaac on Ishmael.
Another aspect of Brueggemann’s commentary that I found interesting was the meaning that he applied to the barrenness of Sara. I have always been able to understand the symbolic significance of Sara and Abraham being chosen to re-form creation. But I always saw the significance in the fact that they were so old and had never had children. To me that was always what was so amazing about the choice of Abraham and Sara. To me it was what drove home the message of the power of God’s grace. I guess I just always saw Sara’s barrenness as a part of her old age.
Brueggemann very skillfully contrasts modern world views with the “alternative reality” that is presented in the calling of Abraham and Sara. He points out the irony in the fact that the modern world claims to embrace freedom yet they also believe that the “present life is closed and self-contained.” Brueggemann then theorizes that the narrative confirms that the “world has not been entrusted to humanity.” I’m not so sure I agree with this. To be sure, we cannot claim any sort of authoritative ownership, yet we do have free-will which seems to me that the world, or at least the earth has been entrusted to us until Christ comes back. Does this mean that we are nothing more than glorified house sitters? I hope not.