Laughing At The Promise Transcript

Would you pray with me? Loving God, we thank you that you have gathered us as your people in this space, that you have called us together to hear your word read and proclaimed, to sing praises to your name, and that your spirit is moving among us. We ask that we be made especially aware of your presence, that we might hear your voice speaking to us, that our hearts might be opened, and that we learn to love you and others more. We ask this all in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Chapter 1: The Power of Hope and Waiting

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you couldn't contain yourself for wanting it? You had longed for years for it. You just thought if you had it, everything would be better, and if you had it, it was a sign that God was indeed blessing you. Have you ever wanted something so bad that in waiting for it, you became disheartened? You had to wait so long, and in that waiting, you thought it would never come about. Have you ever waited so long that you weren't sure if you were meant to have it or thought you were cursed because you didn't have it? This is the waiting of Sarah in today's Bible story. This is what Sarah had been waiting for. She and Abraham had been told 25 years prior that they would be the mother and father of nations, that through them their offspring would be great, the nations would be blessed, and God had promised us to them, and from that initial promise, Abraham that I'm sure he told Sarah about since she would be involved in the process they waited. They waited, and another time, God came, and God spoke to Abraham and said you would be a blessing that through your offspring, many nations would be born, and through them, the world would be blessed. And so it renewed this vigor within them. It renewed their excitement, even though a few years had passed, and it still didn't happen. And then they waited. Now, they got a little bit impatient, which caused some issues. That's the story of Hagar and Ishmael as they waited for the birth of Isaac. And we read over those passages. If you go to our website, you'll see a reading plan that includes some of these stories that we skipped over, so I hope you'll check that throughout the week. 

02:48

But here we are, 25 years after the initial promise after they heard God's voice saying you will be blessed, and you have offspring, and through them, the world will be blessed. And this is where the strangers appear to Abraham. He's already taken up a place in the in-between space. He's both in the tent and outside. He's under the cover, sees out in the distance what could be, and sees God, or sees these strangers that the narrative tells us is God. He sees them coming, and he rushes up to be hospitable. Now, he's almost a hundred years old by this point. Now he is bending over, welcoming the stranger, running to and fro to get Sarah to grab some flour and make some bread, and running to his calves and telling his servant to prepare the best calf. He's running back to the strangers to greet them. 

03:52

First, you wonder if the first miracle is this 100-year-old man being able to do all of those things, but so intent was he to show hospitality to the strangers, show welcome to the strangers that had wandered the desert, who were exhausted from their journey, and he prepares a place for them. And in doing that, he sets up a scene that will unfold and truly unleash the blessings of God and the promises of God for him and Sarah, that first moment that this moment of fulfillment begins, with him, expectantly, waiting at the entrance way of the tent, keeping an eye out and then welcoming the stranger in his midst. And he had no idea it was God. And as God appears and they speak, Abraham welcomes him with this extravagance, the choicest calf, three giant measures of flour to make loaves of bread. Amid that hospitality, the stranger asks for Sarah. Where is she? And Abraham says well, she's in the tent. She's right over here. 

05:09

And you imagine the stranger speaking loud enough, knowing that she was just on the other side of the fabric, just on the other side of the tent, saying within a year, the thing that you have been waiting for over 25 years, I mean, they only had 25 years between the initial promise and the birth of Isaac. You can bet that she had been waiting for a child much longer than that. And in hearing through the fabric that, at last, the things she had been waiting for for so long, the thing that in this culture would define her, unfortunately in many ways as a woman and unfortunately some ways today as well, but she had been waiting for so long, we get the sense that she had given up hope from what she said when she heard the good news that within a year she would bear a child. How is it that I will bear a child in my old age? How is it that, having long given up pleasure, she says she would bear a child and laughs? She laughs at this message because she had given up hope that it was possible. She had given up a sense that this thing God had promised so long ago and even had reiterated once before was possible. And she laughs. The stranger says why do you laugh? What is impossible with God? Why laugh? And in fear? It's such a question. In fear, perhaps she wasn't expecting to be heard. I like that part of the story that she's still in the tent. 

07:00

She overheard what the stranger had said. She had heard that she would bear a child within a year, at the age of 100, or roughly around there at Abraham's age of 100. And perhaps thinking she could not be heard, she laughs and says out loud what she did. And she was caught off guard that somebody would hear her. This stranger that they had welcomed, the stranger that had given such an amazing story, told that somehow, within the next year, she would have a child, and she found out she was heard. She discovers that her doubts have been fully displayed to everyone, including that stranger. 

07:45

But notice, she doesn't get into trouble for the doubts. She has given a hopeful message in the face of that doubt that says all things are possible through God, that your age is not a barrier to what God can do, your ability is not a barrier to what God can do, your gender is not a barrier to what God can do. Nothing is a barrier between what God wants to accomplish and what he can do. And so, yes, she defends herself for laughing, saying I didn't laugh. She was thrown off by having been heard by God, and yes, it said that she's corrected in that she said no need to lie, no need to cover it up. We heard you, and it's okay. The thing that you have been waiting for, the thing that you thought impossible, is now possible. And not only is it possible, but it will happen soon. 

08:53

And we jump forward into the second reading, two chapters, or three chapters, to the 21st chapter, where all of the things that the stranger had said would come to pass An Isaac who was born, the one through whom the lineage of the Jewish people would trace themselves, is born, and through him, many nations are blessed. Through his lineage, we have Christ, and through Christ, we have been grafted onto the family of God. Indeed, all nations can be blessed through this gift of this child. And what laughter had started as a scoffing at what God can do, a scoffing at this idea that this thing she had been waiting for was even possible, a scoffing that she would be able to have a child in her old age. She's transformed into a name, for Isaac means he laughs. The laughter that was first out of disdain or dismay or disbelief or doubt is transformed into a laughter of blessing that, once what God had promised would happen finally came to pass, the doubt that was accused becomes sorry, the laughter that was once accused becomes a laughter of joy in celebration at what God has done. It is a sign that God is at work in our world. It's a sign that, even though we have to wait, even though we're tired of waiting, even if we've waited so long that we can't imagine what we thought we were waiting for would come to pass, God hasn't abandoned us. God hasn't left us behind. 

Chapter 2: The Concept of Waiting and Doubt

10:48

Now, I need to give a couple of caveats because it's easy to read the story. It's easy to think that what we're waiting for is necessarily what God has promised us. Not everything we wait for, not everything we don't have and long for, is something God wants to give us or would be good for us. In this particular case, it was a promise given by God to Abraham and Sarah that they would bear offspring and that they would be the starting point of a multitude of people. That was a direct promise that God had given them. We ultimately need to be careful about not claiming what we want and what we desire as God's promise and then getting upset when we don't get it. We have to be careful. We have to temper ourselves. We have to check ourselves against others. We have to hold each other up and check. Hey, I think this is something God might be promising me. This is why it's the case. This is the backing that I turn to. Am I true in this? Otherwise, we will lead to disappointment, thinking that every promise in Scripture applies to us as individuals. No-transcript. 

12:05

But I want to remember how this story unfolds between welcoming the stranger, being ready, at the in-between between what is unknown on the outside and the inside that is known. The tent is where Abraham waited, looking out at the horizon to see and seeing somebody out there, seeing somebody heading in his direction, seeing somebody that was wandering in the wilderness and that might need help, aid and hospitality, food and water, and a warm place to sit down. And in that waiting, he sees the stranger come. The Deutessus tells us that even by giving a cup of water to a stranger, we may be giving a cup of water to Christ himself, and we greet the wanderer. When we welcome them into our midst, we are welcoming Christ himself. I don't read Christ into the story of the three visitors and Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Some people do. I do not do that. I want to take the story at its face value as a foundational story of our faith. But it's still even true that as we read back. We look at it in terms of what Christ told us about how we treat and welcome each other. It makes a difference because we are treating and welcoming him. As we welcome Christ, as we welcome God into our midst, we know whether it's him or not, we unfold the potential for blessing and transformation. We unfold the potential for good things to happen for transformation to work. 

13:51

The second point I want to remember is that doubt is not bad in the story. She had doubts. She had lived so long. She and Abraham had lived so long that they thought what they were waiting for, that what God had promised, was impossible. As we talk about yesterday's retreat and what we're talking about, how we want to be a part of God's blessing in our community, and how to live things out, sometimes we've been waiting for things to unfold. We're waiting for God to unleash that blessing through us. We're waiting for God to be a part of what we're doing so that we can be a part of what God is doing. We're like, how long, oh God, must we wait? How long must we wait, and is it ever going to happen? And those doubts and those questions are okay. 

14:46

God handles Sarah, laughing at him. God handles the idea that Sarah would challenge the blessing he just said would happen. He handles it with grace and love. He calls her out on it, for sure, but not out of anger or spite. He doesn't remove the promise and say well, I was going to give it to you until you doubted, but not anymore. Our God doesn't work that way. He is faithful and true and handles all our emotions, whether anger or doubt, laughter or joy. He takes them all, meets us within them, welcomes us, and does not withhold his promises to unwelcoming the stranger. In expressing doubt and challenge, we find the soil prepared for the giving of blessing. This blessing was not only just for them but would extend long beyond them to the rest of the world. So what are you waiting for? What do you think God can do and can't do? What are you thinking at this particular moment? 

Chapter 3: Possibility, Transformation, and Sharing God's Blessings

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We asked yesterday what is possible, what should happen, what could happen, and what absolutely must never happen. What are we saying right now? Is it possible, is what God said would come to pass, possible, that through him and prayerfully, through us, the people of Burwin, in our community, we bless those who are struggling, those who are hungry, those who are lonely, those who are struggling with addiction, those who are broken, who have broken relationships and need of healing and life spoken into them, those who feel lost and alone, unforgivable or unwelcome. We pray that God would take us to them to be his hands and feet, not out of anger, not out of spite, not seeking retribution, and not turning away from those who doubt, those who are angry, and those who would curse us, but instead treating them as this stranger treated Sarah to say with all things, God is possible. 

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With God, all things are possible. With God, your life can turn around. With God, you can find meaning and hope. With God, you can find a depth that will hold you in the shaking waves and be open to it and open to the transformation that only he can bring. This is our prayer for ourselves that we would experience such transformation. Then, through us, we would be the messenger who carries the good news and shows that transformation is possible. 

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Sometimes we will be greeted with hospitality, and other times not. Sometimes, we will be greeted with laughter and derision. It doesn't matter. We share the good news either way and pray for transformation. I hope you will leave this place carrying that good news with you that you are not only receiving God's blessing, but you are through people through whom God's blessing will be shared with others. You are through people, through which God will share a message of hope, transformation, and possibility in the face of impossibility. 

18:39

So at the end of our service, when you leave here, you go out. You grab your cup of coffee or your tea. You're greeting one another around those tables or in the parlor, talking about what things you think are impossible, that are long gone, that God could not possibly do anymore, and what it means to say, through God, all things are possible. 

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Talk about the things that you think you're waiting for, perhaps that you thought were promises of God but maybe aren't. We have to wrestle with that truth as well. Or talk about how you're going to spend this week, just in some way being the stranger, going about to share the good news of promise and transformation, and how you'll respond if people laugh, how you'll respond if people don't prepare to welcome for you, and how you will be as God was in the story for someone else. So, here are my challenges for you this week. Those are my challenges for you in this conversation or other conversations that you have. I pray that through those conversations and this time today and the rest of our worship, you will find a God that challenges the impossible, brings fruit, and brings blessing. Amen.