And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
! We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.
They don't need God's grace.
And no one so bad that they can't have it.
Which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us.
In his word.
This week we're continuing our series in the book of Genesis.
You'll remember the book of Genesis is a book of origins.
In chapters 1 through 11, we're told the origin of the world.
And then in chapters 11 through 50, we find the origin of God's people, Israel, starting with Abraham.
In fact, that's our focus.
We're only in chapters 11 through 25 in Abraham's story.
And we're there for two reasons.
First, to prepare us to go back in our series in Romans,
where we'll pick up in chapter 4, which is about Abraham.
And two, because it allows us to answer this question,
what does it look like to follow God in faith?
You remember last week, chapter 17, we asked the question,
what does it mean to be in a relationship with God?
How does it change us?
And we found two answers, that it gives us a new identity,
and it gives us new responsibilities.
Here in chapter 18, God is going to reiterate his promise specifically to Sarah.
In the past, he's spoken only to Abraham.
And here, she struggles to believe.
And so we ask this question,
how does faith overcome bitterness and cynicism?
How does faith face overcome bitterness and cynicism?
It's with that that I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 18.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn on your phone.
You can turn in your worship guide.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5 tells us,
every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to those who take refuge in him.
So that's why we read now chapter 18, starting at verse 1.
Do not pass by your servant.
Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet,
and rest yourselves under the tree,
while I bring a morsel of bread,
that you may refresh yourselves.
And after that, you may pass on,
since you have come to your servant.
So they said,
Do as you have said.
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah,
and said, Quick, three sillas of fine flour.
Knead it and make cakes.
And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf,
tender and good,
and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly.
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared
and set it before them.
And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him,
Where is Sarah, your wife?
And he said,
She is in the tent.
The Lord said,
I will surely return to you about this time next year,
and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.
And Sarah was listening at the tent tour behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years.
The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying,
After I am worn out and my Lord is old,
shall I have pleasure.
The Lord said to Abraham,
Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
At the appointed time I will return to you
about this time next year,
and Sarah shall have a son.
But Sarah denied it, saying,
I did not laugh, for she was afraid.
He said,
No, but you did laugh.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven,
we do praise you
and thank you for what you show us in Genesis,
that as your people fail again and again,
you pursue them again and again,
show them grace over and over.
We ask that you would remind us of that this morning,
that you would open our eyes,
you'd unstop our ears,
you would clear our minds,
you'd soften our hearts,
that we would be able to see and hear
and understand and believe
everything that's written in your word.
And we ask these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Many years ago,
over a decade ago,
I spoke with a woman
who desperately
wanted to be married.
And she told me
that she had recently
started praying about this.
She'd recently started praying
for a spouse.
But only recently,
because for a long time,
she did not want to pray about it,
which I thought was interesting.
So I said,
why?
Why did you not want to pray about it?
She said,
well,
what if I prayed
and I still didn't get married?
It's bad enough
not to have it.
It's even worse
to pray
and not have it.
That would be
an even greater
disappointment.
I tell you that
because the point is this.
Hope
is really vulnerable.
It is incredibly vulnerable
to hope.
It's scary.
And it's scary
and vulnerable
because it opens you up
to disappointment.
And so I'm going to share
a little life hack with you.
If you want
to never be disappointed,
make sure you never hope
for anything.
It's easy.
Don't desire anything.
you can be safe.
If you don't long
for anything,
your heart
will never be broken.
So it's a lot easier
to make it through
this life
as a cynic.
That's where we're at
in this story
with Abraham and Sarah.
They have been hoping
for a long time.
You may remember
the opening
of chapter 17.
Last week,
we're told
that Abraham
is now
99 years old,
which means
that it has been
24 years
since God
first appeared
to him
in Genesis chapter 12.
It was in Genesis chapter 12
that God said to him,
look,
you are going to be
the father of a nation.
Later,
he tells him
not just a great nation,
but many nations.
Chapter 16,
Abraham and Sarah
try to speed things up.
This isn't happening
fast enough.
Maybe we can get Hagar
to have the promised son
for us.
That's Sarah's idea.
Chapter 17,
remember,
God comes to Abraham
and says,
I'm going to give you a son.
And Abraham says,
yeah,
but what about Ishmael?
Isn't he good enough?
Can't he be the solution
to the problem?
Proverbs chapter 13,
verse 12,
tells us,
hope deferred
makes the heart sick.
Sarah's hope
has been deferred
and her heart
is very sick.
I'm jumping ahead of us,
though.
At the very beginning
of this passage,
verses 1 and 2,
we have three unexpected visitors
who show up
to see Abraham.
Verses 3 through 5,
he gives them
this offer of hospitality.
Verses 6 through 8,
we have a frantic scene
of preparation.
And we know it's frantic
because of the words
that are used.
Verse 6,
Abraham goes quickly
and he says,
quick.
Verse 7,
they ran.
In the Hebrew,
there's actually a verb
or two that is dropped
to show how fast
Abraham is talking
because he's trying
to get it done
as soon as possible.
Now,
the point is this.
Abraham is a great host.
Abraham is a great host
who is really good
at hospitality.
This plays a larger role
in the narrative
of Genesis
because we're being set up
for what's going to happen
in the next chapter.
Remember,
Abraham and Lot
sort of serve as contrast
to each other.
Abraham often
the positive example.
Lot always
the negative example.
Abraham shows
great hospitality
so we can understand
how bad Lot's hospitality
is later on.
Okay?
That's for a future sermon,
though.
We still need to get down
to business.
And in fact,
that's what they do.
So they have this meal
and then it is time
for the four men,
Abraham and the three visitors,
to sit down
and figure out
what this is all about.
We don't have to wait long
because they tell us
the topic,
verse 9.
Where is Sarah,
your wife?
Now this is kind of
a rhetorical question.
They're not actually wondering
where Sarah is.
This is a men's meeting
for man talk.
And so really what they're saying is,
hey, the reason we're here
is for Sarah.
We know she's behind the tent
and we find out quickly
these are not just
random human visitors.
No, something is going on.
And we know something
is going on for many reasons,
one of which is
they know Sarah's name.
And they don't just know
Sarah's name,
they know her new name.
Right?
Remember chapter 17,
after most of her life
being called Sarai,
she is now,
God's given her
this new name of Sarah.
And so we are not
dealing here
with some average,
regular travelers.
No, and we find out quickly
we are dealing
with God himself.
In fact, that's what we see
in verse 10.
You may have noticed
in verse 3,
Abraham addresses him,
O Lord.
Lord there is lowercase,
meaning he's just using
the general term.
And we find out verse 10,
Lord uppercase,
meaning God's personal name,
Yahweh.
This is not just
three random men.
No, God himself
has come to visit Abraham.
That commentators point out
that until Jesus' incarnation
in the New Testament,
this is the only
and first time
that God has a meal
with a man.
So it's significant.
It's a good thing
that Sarah is listening in
because they, in fact,
do have a word for her.
Verse 10,
Sarah, your wife,
shall have a son.
And what's Sarah's response?
Does she say,
wow, that's so exciting.
I wonder how that's
going to happen.
Oh, the thing I've been
longing for
for so many years
is finally coming to pass.
No.
Verse 12,
Sarah laughed
to herself.
Her laugh here,
it's not a joyful laugh.
It's not a silly laugh.
It is a bitter laugh.
It is a laugh
filled
with Sarah's
shame.
And we know that
because of what we found out
the verse before,
verse 11.
Abraham and Sarah
were old,
advanced in years.
The way of women
had ceased
to be
with Sarah.
It's a bitter laugh
of how.
How is this
going to happen
now that I'm weak?
How is this going
to happen
now that I'm not enough?
How is it going
to happen
now that my sex life
is over?
We're not here
to throw Sarah
under the bus.
In many ways,
her response
makes complete sense.
From a human perspective,
this is a joke.
Verse 11
is telling us
that for Sarah,
menopause
is finished.
And whatever hope
that she had
of one day
having a child
is fully
and finally
gone.
Her options
are set.
Her greatest
dream,
the thing
that would be
most important
to a woman
in the ancient
Near East
has not happened
and it will
not happen.
And so it's
safe
and easy
for her to laugh.
In fact,
cynicism
makes complete
sense
in a world
without God.
Cynicism
makes complete
sense
in a world
without God.
A man named
Cary Newhoff
tells us
that cynicism
and hope
are actually
opposites.
If you hope,
you cannot be
cynical.
And if you are
cynical,
you have given
up on hope.
Those things
cannot travel
on the same
track.
Hope tells us
that the future
and other people
are innocent
until proven
guilty.
Cynicism
tells us
that the future
and other people
are guilty
until proven
innocent.
I'll say
that again.
Hope
tells us
that the future
and other people
are innocent
until proven
guilty.
Cynicism
tells us
the future
and other people
are guilty
until proven
innocent.
Cynicism assumes the worst so that we never get disappointed.
Assumes the worst so we never have to hurt.
Where do you laugh at God's promises?
Where are you tempted to let bitterness and unbelief set in?
Do you believe that the very best things are not in front of you, but are behind you?
If you do, you don't believe God's promise in Psalm 23.
That goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.
Do you believe that God cannot use you anymore?
If you do, you've given up on God's promise in Ephesians 2.
That you were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand.
That we should walk in them.
Christian, if you're still alive, God still has good works for you.
Are you convinced that you or other people cannot and will not change?
If you do, you've forgotten God's promise in Ephesians 3.
That he is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think.
Remember, we're asking this question in Genesis.
What does it look like to follow God in faith?
One of the answers, the answer of this passage is,
following God in faith means believing that what is ahead is better than what is behind.
It's hard to be cynical if you believe that.
Charles Spurgeon was a Baptist pastor in London in the 19th century.
It's well known that Spurgeon struggled with pretty severe depression throughout most of his adult life.
It was so bad at times that he wanted to die.
Spurgeon spoke about this in multiple sermons.
In fact, a man named Zach Eswine wrote a book about it called Spurgeon's Sorrows.
And he tells us in one of Spurgeon's sermons that he points out that despair is arrogant.
And he said, despair is arrogant because it is confident that it knows the future.
It's arrogant to believe that you know what's going to come next.
And so Spurgeon goes on to say the Christian needs to hide themselves under this promise.
And he quotes 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9.
But as it is written,
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him.
Christian, you cannot imagine what God has prepared for you.
Faith means believing that what is to come is better than what has passed.
Spurgeon preaches a sermon on the prophet Elijah,
and he riffs off the Psalms and says this,
Do you believe that God can and will still do great things for you?
Or do you laugh with bitterness?
Hope and cynicism cannot coexist.
Hope and despair never go together.
Thankfully, God doesn't leave Sarah here.
He doesn't leave us there either.
As we've been going through this story of Abraham,
one of the major themes, maybe the major theme,
is this, that God shows mercy and grace to his people
despite their failure.
That God shows mercy and grace to his people through their failure.
Genesis chapter 12,
right after God's made this great promise to Abraham,
what does he do?
He goes and lies to Pharaoh and puts his wife in danger.
What does God do?
God delivers him.
Genesis 14,
Lot makes a foolish choice
and ends up being the collateral damage
in a big war between lots of kings.
What does God do with Lot's foolish choice?
God shows grace to his people through his people.
And Abraham shows up to rescue.
Genesis chapter 15,
God makes a covenant
and says,
I'll pay the price if you break it.
Genesis 16,
Hagar is thrown out
because of Abraham and Sarah's selfishness.
What does God do?
He goes and finds Hagar in the desert
and rescues her.
Genesis chapter 18,
God comes to a bitter and cynical old woman
and shows her his grace.
God comes to someone who's very disappointed
with how their story is ending
and he calls her by name.
She laughs.
God doesn't punish her for that.
No, he doubles down on his promise.
He says it not once, but twice.
First time, verse 10,
Sarah, your wife shall have a son.
Verse 12, she laughs.
So it's time to repeat the promise again.
Verse 14,
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I will return to you
about this time next year
and Sarah will have a son.
God is still going to use Sarah for his mission.
His grace is more powerful
than her unbelief.
Christian,
as you falter and fail
in following God,
he is still going to use you
in his mission.
He has still prepared works beforehand
for you to do in Christ Jesus.
His grace is greater
greater than your unbelief.
I'm going to fast forward a little bit
and steal a little bit of thunder
for chapter 21.
Because in chapter 21,
Isaac is born.
You know what Isaac's name means?
Isaac is Hebrew for he laughs.
God gets the last word.
Genesis chapter 21,
Sarah says,
God has made laughter for me.
Everyone who hears
will laugh over me.
Her laugh of bitterness,
her laugh of shame,
God takes that.
He makes it into a laugh
of joy.
He does that for us as well.
And so there's a foundational question
that we must get straight
as Christians,
and it is this.
Is anything too hard
for the Lord?
Is anything too hard
for the Lord?
The answer is no.
And we know that
even more than Sarah did.
We know that more than Sarah did
because we have seen
more than Sarah saw.
What Sarah looked forward to,
we look back on,
which is Jesus' life
and death
and resurrection.
If there was anything
that would show
that there was nothing
too hard for God,
it was not
everything that God
sent up to this point
in Genesis.
No.
It's God sending
his son,
his only son,
to die for us.
if Jesus has risen
from the dead
and he has,
there is nothing
too hard
for the Lord.
That's what Paul tells us
in 1 Corinthians 15.
He says,
if Christ has not
been raised,
then our preaching
is in vain
and your faith
is in vain.
In other words,
if Jesus has not risen
from the dead,
you really need
to be cynical.
You need to stop hoping.
In fact,
he goes on,
verse 19,
he says,
if in Christ
we have hope
in this life only,
we are of all people
most to be pitied.
If Jesus didn't rise
from the dead,
you should laugh
at Christians
more than you laugh
at anyone else
because we believe
the future is better
than the past
even though it's not.
The problem is this.
Jesus has risen
from the dead.
so we can trust him
and follow him
and believe him.
He'll take our laughs
of bitterness,
our laughs of shame,
he turns them
to laughs of joy.
Is anything
too hard
for the Lord?
No.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven,
we do praise you
and thank you
that you meet us
as we falter
and fail,
that our mistakes
cannot stand
in the way
of your kingdom
as it moves forward.
They don't block
our relationship
with you
because we don't rise
or fall
on our behavior,
but instead
our hope
is in Jesus Christ.
We ask that you
would remind us
of that,
you would drive it
deeper and deeper
into our hearts
and we would believe it
more and more
that we would have
great hope.
We ask these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.