Bible with you this morning, please open it up to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18.
We're continuing on through the story of Abraham, and there's been a lot of that journey. I'm not
going to sum it all up again, but essentially God has made some amazing promises to Abraham
and Abraham has trusted God, but he's also had difficulty and struggle all along the way.
Two Sundays ago, we saw how the Lord renewed the covenant or not renewed, but confirmed the
covenant that he had made with Abraham and gave him the very specific promise that Abraham was
probably waiting for. About this time next year, you will have a son by Sarah. Finally, a date to circle
on the calendar by which God would do what he had promised to do or begin to bring all of this
to pass. And it's not long after this that we come to our story for this morning, which is in Genesis 18.
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to
his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them,
he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said,
if I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be
brought and, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something
to eat so you can be refreshed and then go on your way. Now that you have come to your servant.
Very well, they answered, do as you say. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah quick. He said,
get three seeds of the finest flour and need it and bake some bread. Then he ran to the herd and
selected a choice tender calf and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it. He then brought
some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them. While they ate,
he stood near them under a tree. Where is your wife, Sarah? They asked him. They're in the tent,
he said. Then one of them said, I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah,
your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
Abraham and Sarah were already very old and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to
herself as she thought, after I am worn out and my Lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?
Then the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, will I really have a child now that I am old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will
have a son. Sarah was afraid. So she lied and said, I did not laugh. But he said, yes, you did laugh.
So here we have another appearance from the Lord, not long after his most recent one. And it's quite
the story. It begins with Moses telling us that the Lord appeared to Abraham. And as soon as we hear
that, we're kind of, we're ready to know more about this encounter with God. What was this like?
But the first thing that he tells us is that Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.
This is different than some of the other ways that God has appeared in the past through visions,
through just speaking to him with a, with a voice. God, the Lord Yahweh appears to Abraham in human
form or in human form or in human appearance. And we get confirmation of that further down in the
passage. In verse 10, we find out that one of them says the very same promise that the Lord had said in
the previous chapter. And then in verse 13, then the Lord said to Abraham, this conversation just kind of
continues on. And it's, it's, it's, it's kind of partway through that we realized that one of these men
is the Lord himself. If we continue to read through the story for the rest of the chapter and into the
beginning of 19, we discover there that the two other men were angels. And this is, this is a, a, a very
strange kind of thing. I mean, can you imagine what Abraham might have been thinking in all of this?
We're kind of left to wonder at what point did he realize that this was the Lord? Was it right at the
beginning? Did he recognize him right away? Or was it kind of partway through? And there's kind of back
and forth over this. And at the end of the day, I'm not sure we can really confidently say this is the
moment where it clicked, where it dawned. But at the end of the, all of this, what an amazing thing
to have happen. I mean, imagine this, there you are standing at the door of your house,
looking out and you see three men on the driveway. And one of them is the Lord himself,
God himself, God himself, the one who we have, we know from before this spoke the universe into being
in his righteousness and justice. He flooded the whole world. He's the, he's the one who confused the
languages of the people, the builders at Babel. This God, Yahweh, the Lord was standing there
in human appearance. He came stooped down in a sense to pay a visit to Abraham face to face
and confirm. Yes, I am going to keep my promise to you.
Can you imagine what Abraham must've been thinking in that moment? Like quick, we got to get the best
we have of everything. Like this is, this is not just a once in a lifetime thing for some people.
They'd never get this opportunity to meet with the Lord like this, to have a visit like this quick.
Let's get the finest flour, bake, bake some bread, get the best calf that we have, kill it, make a feast
and set it before the guests.
Well, this visit was not without purpose. The Lord came with a very specific purpose in mind
and very quickly the Lord turns and the angels with him. They turn the conversation to Sarah.
Verse nine, where is your wife, Sarah? They asked him. Oh, they're in the tent, he said.
Then one of them said, I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah, your wife,
will have a son.
We get this detail. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
You've probably seen that moment in the movies. I love that moment where someone important comes to the house
to meet with someone and they go into the room to privately have their conversation and then the whole rest
of the family goes up against the door and they're all listening. You know, this is kind of the picture
we get of Sarah. She's, she's out of sight. She's in the tent, but she's, she's, she's listening in to this
conversation. And then she hears the wildest thing.
The Lord says about this time next year, Sarah will have a son and it rises up within her. She, she laughs.
But notice what it says in the story. It says she laughs to herself. Like we've probably all had a moment
like that too, where we just at a moment found something really funny, but it maybe wasn't
appropriate to laugh out loud. And so we're kind of just trying to like stifle it and keep it in.
This is, this is Sarah in this moment. The thought of having a child at 89 years old.
You've got to be kidding me. Like this is, she laughs to herself, literally laughs within herself silently.
Nobody heard a thing. And then the craziest thing ever from Sarah's perspective happens.
The Lord says to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, and then he basically just repeats the very
words that she was thinking in her head silently in that moment.
Can you imagine how Sarah must've felt in that moment? Like, Whoa,
she kind of comes out and I didn't laugh.
Yes, you did laugh.
It's understandable in a sense that she's afraid. It says she lied because she was afraid. I mean,
how, when does this happen to you that, that someone else repeats your very thoughts
in front of you? It's in a sense, we, we, we, we have to expect that she's going to try to cover up
the reality that the Lord knew what happened in that moment in her heart.
It's right about here that we start to wonder, well, why did she laugh? Just what was so funny
about this? And in the story, we're given a few different reasons. The first comes to us.
Verse 11. The narrator reminds us Abraham and Sarah were already very old. Abraham was 99 years old.
Sarah was 89 years old. So don't just picture a woman hiding behind the tent flap. That's young.
Picture an elderly woman.
The second reason.
And verse 11, Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
The Hebrew euphemism there makes it quite clear that she got her membership to the menopause club a long time ago.
And for those of us men who maybe don't really think about that a lot, let me translate that for you.
When it comes to reproducing, Sarah was no longer producing her half of the equation that's required
for there to be offspring, a child conceived.
Biologically, physiologically, it's impossible for her.
That's the second reason she laughs. I mean, this doesn't happen.
It got me thinking, you know, what is the
kind of the oldest age at which you could
become pregnant? And I just did a little bit of googling.
I was curious.
And I was shocked. Apparently, the oldest one we have on record,
aside from this one, which is not included in that for some reason,
is a person in 1881.
This is like last century.
At the age of 62, she conceived naturally.
And that is like a once in a century kind of thing.
Like this is extremely rare.
And so here Sarah is 89 years old.
It's impossible.
This doesn't happen.
I mean, she's barren.
She hasn't had children yet.
She's already been through the range of emotions over and over and over again.
I imagine a woman in that place would be very quick to search out
and look for those stories of women who have conceived later in life.
But it's not that it was unlikely for her.
Like it was over.
She had long moved on from that idea of having it happen the natural way.
Like, what are you talking about?
There's a hint of cynicism in her voice.
Skepticism.
She asks this question.
She says, or she thinks,
After I am worn out and my Lord is old,
will I now have this pleasure?
Like, yeah, right.
It's not even possible.
And the Lord kind of confirms that this was her attitude
in the way that he phrases the question.
Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Will I really have a child now that I am old?
Like, really?
Like, yes, really.
The Lord said it and he meant it.
And she's questioning whether it's really true,
whether it's truly going to happen.
The Lord himself says,
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
And it's a good translation,
but kind of bound up in the sense of that question,
too hard is the idea.
Is anything too wonderful,
too miraculous,
too marvelous,
that the Lord can't do it?
The reason the Lord asks that question
is because Sarah thinks it is.
This is impossible.
This is just not going to happen.
And yet the Lord affirms again.
He says it again.
I will return to you at the appointed time next year
and Sarah will have a son.
Notice the way that the Lord
phrases his question to Abraham.
Sarah is kind of back in the tent at this moment,
still in verse 13.
He says,
Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Will I really have a child now that I am old?
Of course, the Lord knows the answer to that question.
It's a rhetorical question.
What's the statement beneath that?
I think the statement is simple.
The Lord expects
that his people
will take him at his word.
He said that he would do it.
And this is not the first time Sarah's heard it either.
He said that he would do it.
And he expects that we,
that she would take him at his word.
At the same time,
I think we,
you know,
we understand Sarah.
We understand the laughter.
We understand,
like,
this is impossible.
Notice the Lord's claim in verse 14.
This is,
these are my favorite words in the whole story.
Will I really have a child now that I am old?
Why did she say that?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
What a thing to say.
Her getting pregnant at 89,
restarting that stuff in her body
and enabling her to conceive,
that's nothing.
Of course I can do that.
There's,
that's easy.
That's not too hard for me.
That's not too wonderful
or miraculous for me.
But notice that it's not just that,
that he,
that the Lord claims.
He says,
is anything too hard
for the Lord?
Like anything,
that,
that's,
that's a whole lot more.
Think about that.
Is there anything
that I cannot do?
Says the Lord.
What a thing to say.
It reminds me of my days
back in Bible college
and I don't know
who brought this up,
but this ridiculous question,
if God can do anything,
can he create a rock
that's so heavy
that he can't lift it?
I don't know
if you've ever heard
that question.
Ridiculous question,
you know,
because if he can't create
a rock that's too heavy
for him to lift,
then he can't do everything.
Or if he can create it,
but he can't lift it,
then he can't do everything.
Like,
what a load of hooey.
Listen to what the Lord says.
Is anything too hard
for the Lord?
Answer,
no.
I can do anything.
I can create a rock
of any size
and I can lift it too.
Anything.
This is the Lord's claim
to being all-powerful,
all-mighty.
So the year goes by
and I imagine
there's great expectation
both Abraham and Sarah.
The story continues
in chapter 21,
verse 1.
Now the Lord visited Sarah
as he had said,
and the Lord did for Sarah
what he had promised.
Sarah became pregnant
and bore a son
to Abraham
in his old age
at the very time
God had promised him.
Abraham gave him
the name Isaac,
gave the name Isaac
to the son Sarah bore him.
When his son Isaac
was eight days old,
Abraham circumcised him
as God commanded him.
Abraham was a hundred years old
when his son Isaac
was born to him.
Sarah said,
God has brought me laughter
and everyone who hears
about this
will laugh with me.
And she added,
who would have said
to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children
yet I have born him
a son
in his old age.
The year goes by,
there's some events
that Sodom and Gomorrah,
some other things,
a journey down
to southern Judah
and then the time comes.
She's pregnant.
This pregnancy
is going forward
and finally
the long-awaited
son of promise
has come.
25 years plus
after the initial promise
that he would be
the father
of a great
numerous offspring.
A long time
in the making,
but what a sweet moment.
it must have been
for this elderly couple.
Notice the emphasis
of the one
telling the story.
Three times
he makes it crystal clear.
The Lord visited Sarah
as he had said.
And the Lord did for Sarah
what he had promised.
She became pregnant
and bore a son
to Abraham
in his old age
at the very time
God had promised him.
God kept
his promise
and he did it
exactly as he said
he would.
Three times
he emphasizes it.
The triple whammy.
Yes,
God did
what he said
he would do.
And we see this
kind of
come full circle
when it comes
to this
laughter.
You remember
how this all started?
Abraham falling
on his face
before the Lord
and laughing
at the thought
of his wife
becoming pregnant
and bearing a son
in her old age.
God goes along
with it graciously.
All right,
we're going to call him
Isaac
which means
he laughed.
Then the laughter
passes on to Sarah.
A little different
kind of laughter.
Cynical,
kind of unbelieving,
skeptical,
doubting laughter.
And finally
it comes full circle.
The child is born
and look at Sarah's words.
God has brought me laughter.
This is the gift of God,
this son.
And not only
do I have him
but I have
the laughter,
I have joy.
And even when it,
you know,
the people around me
they're going to laugh
with me.
I'm going to laugh
with me.
After all those years
of trying
and trying
and not getting
her heart's desire
and then trying
to do it
through Ishmael
with Hagar,
at last
the son
of promise
is here
and Abraham
and Sarah
are filled
with great joy.
I love the picture
that we get
of God
in this story.
He's the God
who knows
exactly what we're thinking.
He hears
the silent thoughts
of our hearts
just as he did
for Sarah.
I love the picture
that we get
of his,
just how powerful
he is.
Is anything
too hard for me?
I can do anything.
I love the picture
that we get
of his graciousness
graciousness
and mercy
towards Sarah.
She laughs
in the face
of his promise
and then lies
to his face
and yet the Lord
is merciful
and gives her,
blesses her
with what he promised
anyway.
This great God,
the Lord,
Yahweh,
and yet he
stoops down
and comes
to pay
Abraham
a visit
in the most
personal
and intimate
way possible
in human form
right to the
dinner table
of Abraham.
I can't help
but see
in some
of those
things
a picture
of a
pointer
to Christ.
This is not
unlike
how God
would do it
again
thousands
of years
later.
More and more
promises made
throughout the
years,
more and more
years
waiting
patiently
for what
God has
promised
until that
time
when the
ultimate
son of
promise
would be
born
into our
world
in human
form,
the most
personal
and intimate
way possible,
this time
permanent
humanity.
Stooping
down to
our level,
coming to
the table
with us
to affirm
the promises
of the
new
covenant
over a
meal
with his
people.
Just as
the Lord
is patient
and bears
with Abraham
and Sarah,
so Jesus
was patient
and bore
with the
doubt and
unbelief
of his
disciples.
Like,
where are we
going to get
all the,
enough bread
to feed
5,000
people?
And the
same
statement
is made
through
Christ
again and
again.
Is
anything
too
hard
for the
Lord?
As he
heals
the sick,
as he
walks on
the water,
as he
multiplies
the loaves
and the
fish to
feed
multitudes,
as he
speaks to
the storm
and calms
it,
as he
causes the
lame to
walk,
the blind
to see
and the
dead
to be
raised to
life?
Are all
these
parallels
just
coincidence?
Or does
God have a
wonderful way
of pointing
to the
end
from the
beginning?
Where do
we find
ourselves
before
this
God,
this
Lord,
of
Abraham?
I hope
that we
find
ourselves
trembling
in fear
as Sarah
did,
a good
fear,
a right
fear,
at the
realization
that he
knows
us
inside
and out
even
better
than we
thought
possible.
And I
hope that
those words
is anything
too hard
for the
Lord
strike
right to
the
core
of our
hearts.
We have
a God
who can
do
anything,
who can
do
everything.
As you
look at
the
difficulty
of the
situations
that you're
in in
your life,
we have
a God
who is
all
powerful.
God
is
powerful.
But he
doesn't
always do
things the
way that
we expect.
This story
is not
here to
tell us
God is
all
powerful
and so
he will
do
whatever
you need
him to
do
or want
him to
do in
your life.
This story
is here to
tell us
God is
all
powerful
and so
there is
nothing
that can
interfere
with him
keeping his
promises
to his
people.
He did
it for
Abraham
and he
will do
it for
you.
And so
the question
that we're
left with
all of
this at
the end
of all
of this
is what
has the
Lord
promised
to us?
If it's
that certain
that we
will receive
what has
been promised
to us
then shouldn't
we make
it top
priority
to know
just what
the Lord
has promised
to us?
what has
he said?
Sometimes I
wonder if
as Christians
we just
kind of
float
through life
with just
kind of
an empty
wish or
hope that
Jesus will
save us
and nothing
more.
We can
do better
than that.
We can
have confidence
because the
Lord has
made specific
promises
to us
through
Jesus.
What are
those promises?
Do you
know them?
We could
talk of
the promise
of eternal
life.
We could
talk of
the promise
of resurrection
body.
We could
talk of
the promise
of his
return.
We could
talk of
the promise
of his
great heavenly
kingdom which
he will bring
on this
earth someday
and the list
goes on.
We could
talk about
being blameless
and spotless
before the
throne of God
because of
what Christ
has done
and on
and on.
Do you
know those
promises?
We could
talk about
specific
situations
in our
lives for
which God
has given
us promises
in here
for each
and every
one of
those kinds
of situations.
Times when
we're anxious,
times when
we're fearful,
times when
we're sick,
where we're
going through
great difficulty
and struggle,
trials,
relationships
aren't going
the way that
we hoped
that they
would.
there's a
promise for
everything that
we need to
live a godly
life.
This was our
verse for
VBS this
summer.
2 Peter 1
verse 3
His divine
power has
given us
everything we
need for a
godly life or
for life and
godliness.
How?
Through our
knowledge of
him who
called us by
his own
glory and
goodness.
Through these,
through his
glory and
goodness, he
has given us
his very
great and
precious
promises.
So that
through them
you may
participate in
the divine
nature and
escape the
corruption in
the world
caused by
evil desires.
Do you
know the
promises that
have been
given to
you?
And do
you know
that there
is absolutely
nothing in
heaven and
on earth that
can stop the
Lord from
keeping them
to you?
What an
amazing God
we have.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
we stand in
awe of you.
we stand in
awe of all
you are,
of all you
have done,
of your
great love,
of your
grace,
which you
have freely
offered to
us.
Thank you.
Teach us to
walk by faith,
to take you
seriously,
to take you
at your
word,
just as
Abraham and
Sarah learned.
Lord,
we ask this
in Christ's
name.
Amen.