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Sunday June 13, 1999
~ Third Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: Genesis 18:1-15
Matthew 9:35-10:8 * Romans
5:1-8 * Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
One of my favorite children's sermons was the time I had three suitcases sitting at the front of the sanctuary. One was empty, one had six bricks in it and one contained four very dense steel bars. I could barely lift the one with the steel a foot off the floor.
I asked the children to take turns lifting the first suitcase. "Easy!" One lad said as he showed his prowess and put the suitcase over his head. Naturally, I invited him to try the second suitcase. He grunted and groaned and managed to get the thing an inch or so off the floor. "How was that?" I asked. "Hard!" He said. A few of the children tried the second suitcase and the idea of cooperation arose and they were able to lift the suitcase with the help of a friend or two.
The third suitcase was a stitch. Try as they might, none of the children could budge the heaviest suitcase. Not even when three or four tried together. "That's hard!" "This is too hard -- no one could lift this!"
"Some things," I told the children, "are hard, but we can do them. Other things are very hard and we can do them with lots of work. But, there are some things that are just too hard and we need help with them."
***
All of us have suitcases to carry around and sometimes those suitcases can get pretty heavy. Every once in a while one shows up that is impossible for us to handle alone. The our hearts are turned to prayer. "Take it to the Lord in prayer," an all time favorite hymn suggests.
A small prayer group met every Monday evening at one church I served. The woman who led the group had prayed with and for people in all kinds of trials. She was number one on many people's list when it came time to ask someone to pray for a great concern.
She came to the group one Monday evening and was visibly distraught. "I've got a really tough one tonight," she said, "My grand daughter has a brain tumor!" And she began to weep. In the conversation that followed, we looked at how we assign terms like, "hard, harder and hardest," -- even to our prayer requests. We had much discussion with this question, "What is harder for God to handle... a common cold or a terminal cancer?" Hard, harder and hardest does not apply to God.
The question came right out of our reading from Genesis. "Is anything too hard for the Lord." [KJV & NIV] We prayed that God would heal the little girl and that we would be given a sense of peace in our prayers. Though we could not see into the future, we could place the future in God's hands. In very earthly terms, we place the order and God handles the outcome.
***
The Genesis passage contains three faith building themes that are as relevant today as they were in Israel's ancient times. [1] God's Promises, [2] God's Timing, [3] God's Ability
[1] God's Promises
Since the very beginning of his relationship with God in Genesis 12, Abraham's life was shaped by the promises of God. He would have a homeland and he would be the father of a great nation. There were times when poor old Abraham could not see any earthly way these promises could possibly come to pass. Yet, he continued to trust.
The principle that comes out of this story is that God's promises are our securities. They are "divine bonds" backed by the full faith and credit of the Kingdom of Heaven!
Many of us have been hurt by broken promises. Promises made by mortals are subject to "brokenness". Even those we dearly want to keep are vulnerable to our human frailties. While on a trip a short time ago, I was supposed to buy a T-Shirt for my daughter. "Get me a T-Shirt in Toronto," she asked. "I will," I replied. "Promise??" she pleaded. "I promise."
Can you guess what horror overtook my soul when I stepped off the plane in Chicago?
I forgot the T-Shirt! [Expect boos and hisses here!] I honestly considered heading right for the ticket counter to get a flight back to Toronto. (I had a friend mail one to me and allowed my daughter to hold me hostage in many trips to McDonalds until the merchandise arrived!)
God never forgets a promise. There are examples of people throughout scripture who wondered if God had forgotten them. The Psalmist cried out, "I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me?" [Ps.42:9] Yet, it is always the perception of humans and never the promise of God that wavers.
It is as though God said to Abraham, "You will be the father of a great nation Abraham -- and that you can take to the bank!"
[2] God's Timing
Sometimes, our problem is not so much with a promise that has been made as it is with the timing of the promise. I did finally keep my promise to my daughter -- although the timing and circumstances were somewhat convoluted. It took some time, but the T-Shirt finally arrived.
God does not forget, but there are times when we are asked to wait. (And who likes to wait? If long lines at the check-out are any indication -- patience is not one of the strong characteristics of many in our culture.)
Notice what God said to Abraham. Twice. "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." [v.10] Then again after Sarah's laughter, "At the set time I will return to you, in due season and Sarah shall have a son." [v.14]
The way for Abraham and Sarah was long and sometimes discouraging. Yet the promises of God provide the foundation for Abraham's journey. From onset to outcome, the fulfillment of the promise of a son is twenty five years! And yet, the delay is a part of the delight when it all finally comes to pass. Listen to these words from Genesis 21:
The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac [meaning "He Laughs"] to his son whom Sarah bore him... Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." And she said, "Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
What a wonderful thing that this child should be named Isaac. (Yitzak - He laughs) When Abraham first heard that Sarah would have a child, he actually fell on his face laughing. (Gen. 17:17) Sarah also laughs. Now the laughter is a joyous laughter. Holy joy!
God fulfills every divine promise -- but the timing is completely within the purview of the Lord. There are times when we may not like God's timing and times when we become discouraged, but God never calls off or forgets promises. There is a wonderful verse in Jeremiah where God speaks to a nation that is thoroughly demoralized. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." [Jer. 29:11]
God's timing teaches us the powerful secret of Isaiah 40:31, "...those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength..."
[3] God's Ability
When I was a boy, my father used to carry me on his shoulders whenever there was a parade so I could see. Otherwise, I could not see what was gong on. Divine promises put us on God's shoulders, as it were, so that we can see past the barriers of our living.
The third great lesson in the text from Genesis is that impossible barriers are but wonderful opportunities for the power of God to be manifested. Whether it is waiting for a child to be born, or praying for a cure for a child's tumor, it is God's ability we are counting on and not our own. We sometimes shudder when we see the strength of an adversary or weight of our suitcases filled with problems. But we are seeing from human perspective and not from God's.
When we hit those tough times, it is good to turn away from our weakness and look to God's strength -- away from the power of the obstacle and look to the God who...
* Calls the worlds into being,
* Opens up the sea for a people on the run,
* Gives courage to Joshua to conquer a land,
* Strengthens a shepherd lad to topple a giant,
* And opens the grave when God's son had been slain!
***
Those times will come when the suitcases are too hard to lift and the obstacles seem to high to surmount, or the diagnosis too hard to bear. When that happens, we will need to stop and turn our spirits to God's promises, trust our lives to God's timing and rest our burdens in God's ability.
Discussion and Reflection on the Texts
Connections in the Texts
The Gospel reading is centered around the "good news of the kingdom". When the kingdom is present, disease and death are absent. Jesus preaches and cures and then sends out his disciples to proclaim the good news and engage in the death and illness defeating work of the kingdom. In casting out demons, they will discover the tremendous conflict there is between God's kingdom and "the world". In the Genesis reading, the clock is turned back to another dimension of the kingdom of God. As in Matthew the kingdom will have to come through persons. God will not (until the descending of the New Jerusalem in Revelation) drop the kingdom "in one fell swoop" -- but will work through persons. Abraham, Sarah, Peter, James John -- the work goes on through the people of God. In Romans 5:1-8, Paul speaks of the amazing work of God in doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
The two central thoughts in the readings are: 1) God makes possible that which was impossible, 2) God works through persons to bring about the kingdom.
Genesis 18:1-15
You might revisit our scripture notes from May 30 / Trinity Sunday where the issue of the three men / one man is briefly discussed. While remaining cautious about relating the three visitors with Trinity, there is an interesting thought here which may be reflected in Hebrews 13:2, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." [KJV] Not only is hospitality a central Christian virtue because of the possibility of entertaining angels, but there is always the "Christ" who is present in the needs of persons around us. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." [Matt.25:35-40] This "Abraham Awareness" is to recognize the presence of God in other persons (are we not all in God's image?) - and to honor persons as children of God, worthy of respect and care.
The promised child will be named "Isaac" which means "he laughs" In Gen. 17:17, Abraham actually falls on his face laughing at the promise God makes of a child to him and Sarah. Poor Sarah feels the need to cover up her laughter out of fear, but one of the wonderful things about the Judeo-Christian tradition is that the faith begins with a wonderful laugh. Isaac bears the name. As the story unfolds, the old saying is underscored, "He who laughs last -- laughs best!" It is God who has the last laugh -- God who turns "laughable" dreams into reality.
"Why did Sarah laugh?" Not so much a criticism, but an affirmation that God is able. Similar to Jesus' question to Peter in Matt. 14:31"You of little faith, why did you doubt?" That was also a "laughable" thing -- that someone should walk on the water.
"Is anything too wonderful [NRSV] -- or too hard [NIV] for God?" This is an affirmation that the promises of God are certain and that with God there is always a hopeful future. As in the glorious statement in Jeremiah 29:11, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."
Matthew 9:35 -10:8
Parish ministry sometimes feels like an impossible task. The "harvest" is always "plentiful" and the "laborers" are always "few." If you have the heart of Jesus for the flock, the needs can at times seem overwhelming and there is rarely a night that we can hit the pillow with a sense that all which needs to be done has been done. Sheep can be demanding creatures -- when they are tired, hungry or afraid, they make lots of noise. How shall we respond? Jesus' methods and message is instructive.
When he sees the need Jesus does not say, "Okay guys, there's a lot of need out there -- I had best get busy." His method is to ask his followers to pray that God will provide workers. Next, he picks some people to train and sends them out with the message of the kingdom. There is a message here that might be called, "God's biggest problem." Namely... there is a lot of need out there, but God does not have enough workers to meet the need. As Undershepherds, the task of the pastor is not only to care for the sheep, but to train the sheep and send the sheep out with the kingdom message. One of the difficulties in our contemporary church is the perception of many that ministry in all its forms must be carried out by "professionals". Though the idea of lay ministry and pastors as "equippers" has made gains -- many of our parishioners today would have difficulty with Jesus' message. "Go proclaim the good news... cure the sick... raise the dead..." It is not difficult to imagine people saying, "But Lord, I thought that was your job!"
Jesus asks his followers to "pray the Lord of the harvest..." and then he sends out those laborers. When we engage in ministry as clergy or lay people, it is a divine commission and not a human choice we are making. We sometimes present invitation to "work in the harvest" as though it was simply a human choice. "Oh... come on... please help us with this..." Actually it is more along the line of, "God wants you to..."
Romans 5:1-8
"What are you counting on to give you peace of mind and soul? What is it that can give you peace with God?" These are the questions I would begin a sermon with in using this passage from Romans.
Chances are, most of us are counting on all kinds of things to give us peace and contentment other than the faith Paul speaks of here. Authentic peace means hope in spite of suffering and love in spite of our condition.
There is a great opportunity to talk about the meaning of grace and love if you are using this passage. Divine grace and love are absolutely counter-cultural. Listen to statements like, "Why should I help him?" "What's she ever done for me?" "If that's the way he' feels then why should I...?" On and on it goes.
Divine grace and love are defined in Romans 5:8, "But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." What would it be like if God applied the questions to us we sometimes apply to people in our lives... "Why should I love her / him?" If this is connected with the Matthew passage regarding going into the world with the message of the kingdom, one might point out that the "outward" work of the kingdom (proclaiming good news, curing the sick... ) is authenticated by the "inward" quality of the community of faith -- namely divine grace and unconditional love.
A Call To Worship (Based on Psalm 116)
Leader: Let us affirm that we
love the Lord.
People: We love the Lord who hears every prayer.
Leader: God is forever waiting to hear our cries,
People: And we can call upon the Lord as long as we live!
Leader: We will serve the Lord all the days of our lives,
People: God's praise will always be in our hearts and on our lips!
A Prayer Of Dedication
We give thanks to you, O God, for the wondrous
gift of your love and grace.
You have loved us with a deep love, long before we could love you in return.
You offered the gift of life everlasting when we were undeserving. The gifts we
present to you today are but meager tokens of the love we feel for you. O Lord,
please grow your love in our hearts so that we can perfectly worship you and
worthily magnify your holy name. Amen.