Blessing the nations -- a common cause for Abraham's Children
Published earlier --
Faith in the Public Square
March 5, 2006
Danish cartoons lampooning Muhammad give rise to deadly riots; the Iranian president announces a contest to disprove the Holocaust -- just a few examples of a lingering and violent family feud. Muslim, Jew, and Christian are, at least symbolically, children of Abraham. Yet, these children of Abraham's are major contributors to the wars, violence, hatred, mistrust, suspicion, and intolerance that tear at the social fabric of our world.
Abraham is the patriarch from whom Jews, Christians, and Muslims claim descent. They are cousins who have too often become bitter rivals. Though the biblical story is full of such rivalries - Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau - these rivalries need not go on forever.
There are also stories in scripture of family reconciliation.
Genesis tells of God's covenant with Abraham and the commission to bless the nations. Though the Koran states it differently, the idea is present within its pages (Surah 2:124-125). Each faith tradition sees itself as a conduit of blessing, but each finds it difficult to acknowledge the other's calling. But, by listening to each other's stories we may discover a common cause. If we put aside our anger, fear, and suspicion, we may find it possible to move beyond mere toleration to finding ways of blessing humanity, whom we each believe is created in the image of God. Indeed, if we examine carefully the scriptures of each faith, we find that this is specifically what we are called to do.
Bruce Feiler's book, Abraham, offers an inspiring and instructive vision of how Abraham could be a source of unity, though I was recently reminded that Abraham's story has very different meanings for each tradition. We may revere Abraham, but we also convert him to our own cause. This makes the conversation more difficult, but not impossible. It is worth remembering that for one Abraham is the follower of Torah before there was a Torah, for another he is the paradigm of faith in one not yet born, and for the third he is one who submits. He is Jew, Christian and Muslim, and yet he is none of them.
Still, in Abraham, each tradition draws inspiration and guidance. So, in a sense he remains our common father. In his offspring with Hagar and Sarah, the nations are to be blessed, which makes it imperative that we listen to each other instead of perpetuating the kind of mistrust that leads to violence.
Crusades, pogroms, jihads, genocide and holocaust, together with the ongoing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian are expressions of our inability to hear Abraham's voice calling us to be a blessing. The war torn Holy Land is a reminder of a common story that at least for Jews and Christians begins with Abraham's journey to Cana. It continues with a return under Moses of the children of Israel to the Promised Land. It is there that a Temple is built, destroyed, and rebuilt, and then destroyed. It is on its roads that Jesus walked, teaching the ways of God before dying on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem's walls. Here Muhammad received the Koran and ascended into heaven. Three religions lay claim to this holy land but are unable to share it peacefully. We are truly a dysfunctional family, but it isn't too late for the family to begin talking. The answer to the violence can be found in our recognition of the family resemblance, and in our recognition that as members of the human family we are all created in the image of the God.
We may tell different stories about our ancestor, but by listening to each other's stories we will learn of a common cause - a call to bless humanity. Before we start talking it might help to do some family research. According to Genesis, when Abraham was dying, his two estranged sons came together to bury their father. Each son received a blessing and commission from their father, who promised that they would be the fathers of many nations. The best way to honor Abraham's memory may be for those of us who share this common ancestry to join the two brothers in a pilgrimage of reconciliation and peace which would bless all of humanity.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (lompocdisciples.org).
March 5, 2006
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