Father, sometimes your word brings up issues that cause emotional turmoil for us.
And Father, we don't like having emotional turmoil,
but we know ultimately that when you raise issues that cause emotional turmoil,
it is for our good.
We give you thanks and praise that you know the sorrows of our hearts,
the sadnesses, the unfulfilled dreams that we have,
and we give you thanks and praise that we can pour out our hearts to you about those things,
that you are our Father in heaven and that we live in your world and that you love us.
We ask, Father, that you would gently but deeply pour the Holy Spirit upon us this morning
as we read this and think about this powerful story in your word.
And we give you full permission for your word to speak deeply into our hearts
and form us.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So today's sermon comes with a trigger warning.
And I'm not saying that as a joke.
It's very serious.
There's a particular issue which drives the story.
And it's an issue which was very painful then.
And it's painful for many people today.
And it's painful, in fact, for some of the people in our church.
And the issue which is triggered, which is very difficult,
is the problem of people who would like to have children but can't.
And for some people, they would love to be able to have children,
but they can't find anybody to marry.
Or they've never been able to marry.
Or at least not anybody that would be suitable.
So they can go through their 20s and their 30s.
And then maybe, of course, if you're a woman, enter into your 40s.
And now it's no longer possible to have children.
And you've never been able to find somebody to marry.
And it can be very, very painful.
And it's one of those pains that people have that they don't really wear on their sleeve.
But it still can be a very, very deep ache and sorrow.
And then, of course, there are women and men who've married.
But for a variety of reasons, for whatever reasons, they're not able to have children.
Or maybe they were able to have one miracle child, but they would long to have many children.
And that's a very deep pain.
It can be a very deep ache that can last for a very, very long time.
And once again, it's not something often that they wear on their sleeve or even feel free to talk about.
But it's a very, very real ache.
And what drives the events of this story, amongst other things,
is the struggle over childlessness.
And the reaction of somebody who gets pregnant in the context of somebody who's childless.
Now, this story, though, in other words, for some here in the room,
it can evoke and maybe even trigger very, very powerful emotions.
And the story itself doesn't directly deal with the issue of childlessness.
But one of the things you need to understand about this story that we're about to read,
and I know, by the way, if you went to the University of Ottawa,
they would just say this is nonsense.
But that's fine.
People in universities aren't always right.
I know that's a bit of a shock.
But historically, Christians have understood that this story that we're about to read in Genesis
is actually part of a five volume.
It's actually five books that are meant to be one book.
It would be like if you're reading The Lord of the Rings,
and The Lord of the Rings as a whole is six books.
And you're supposed to read the six books understanding that there's one author.
And historically, Christians have believed that there's one ultimate,
one primary author of this, which is Moses.
And he wrote five different books.
And then, of course, as Christians, we would now say that, in fact,
this is one book out of a 66-book story,
the 39 books that were written before Jesus
and the 27 books that were written after Jesus.
And one of the things that if you read the whole story,
so there's two things about this.
And so one of them isn't directly in this story.
It would be if you kept to read the rest of the story.
And even a little bit, if you were to think back to how the whole story begins in Genesis chapter 1,
is that one of the things which is very, very powerful
is that at no point in time in the Bible
does the Bible ever connect a woman's dignity or worth
to the bearing of children or of even being married.
At no point in time in the Bible
does it connect a woman's dignity or worth or value
or being used by God or ability to bring glory to God
is connected to having a child, being married or having a child.
And it's actually a very, very,
we're going to talk about it a little bit more later on,
that part of what the Bible is,
is it's, I would call it,
the Bible is, the Bible understood in the context of the gospel
is the perennial sexual revolution
to clarify how we human beings get sexual relations
and sexual knowing all messed up.
And the Bible is this unending source
as seen through the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit
to bring sanity to us.
So there's things in our human nature that might mean,
and it's not wrong for a person, for a woman
to desire to have children.
That's not a wrong desire.
And the Bible doesn't say it's a wrong desire.
The Bible very, very clearly portrays
that women who are blessed
and men who are blessed to enter into holy matrimony,
they are doing a good thing.
If they're blessed with children,
that is a good thing.
If they're not able to be married
or not able to have children,
those are also things,
which while all of these things can be sources of sorrow,
they're all things
that don't affect our dignity and worth,
our value,
our ability to be used by God.
And this is profoundly countercultural.
And the other thing that we're going to see in this story
is that there's the dynamic of childlessness
and pregnancy,
which causes conflict,
massive conflict.
But one of the things
that's very, very powerful about this story,
and by the way,
if you're watching this and you're not a Christian,
and you might not understand this,
that Christians have trouble with this too,
our culture has sort of formed us.
The stories of our culture
have formed us
to do one of two types of things.
One is to actually try to divide characters
in a story into the good guys and the bad guys.
Or the other thing,
the thing which the elites like,
but people tend to not want to go watch those movies
or read those books.
So they win awards
and they sell a thousand copies.
It's to sort of despair of the idea
that there's any good or evil,
right or wrong at all.
But for the bulk of the stories,
which human beings like,
we want to try to put characters
in the good category and the bad category.
And one of the things
which is going to be confusing for us
when we read this story
is that everybody's bad
in the sense that everybody does some wrong things.
Like everybody.
There's no hero in the story.
But what you see in the story
is a profound sympathy
for people who do bad things.
And it's hard for us
to get our minds around a story.
In a sense,
what you're doing is
the story is giving us
a little bit of a glimpse
about how God,
the triune God,
sees human beings.
He sees us as human beings.
He sees the evil that we do.
He sees the good that we fail to do.
He doesn't minimize it and say,
well, you're one of the good guys,
so therefore the bad things that you do
aren't as bad as the bad things
the bad people do.
And for you bad people,
the bad things you do are way worse
because that doesn't happen ever in the Bible.
What you see is
without minimizing moral evil
and without minimizing the consequences
of moral evil,
you see this constant sympathy.
This constant sympathy
towards how people are presented.
So here's how the story goes.
If you turn in your Bibles,
it's a long introduction,
but it's an important introduction.
And here's how the story goes.
It's Genesis chapter 16,
verses 1 to the end of the story.
And for those of you
who have maybe not come to the church
for a long time,
we preach through either books of the Bible
or large chunks of the Bible,
and we're in the process
of going through the story of Abraham.
So we've done chapter 12, 13, 14, 15,
and now chapter 16,
and here's how the story goes.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
She had a female Egyptian servant
whose name was Hagar.
Now just sort of pause here.
One of the problems for us
reading a story like this
is we're all familiar with the problem.
How big or small a problem it is,
of course, is itself a problem,
the problem of racism
and the problem of prejudice.
And so for many people in our culture,
hearing a story like this
that instantly goes to identifying
the woman as an Egyptian
sounds as if it's, in a sense,
racializing the story.
It's bringing in prejudice.
So is that what's going on in the story?
Well, it's not what's going on
in the story at all.
What's going on here
is something which is very, very important
in terms of how the story
forms you in a deep way.
Excuse me.
You see,
here's the thing.
We have a person here
who's in the church today
who has a PhD in the Old Testament.
And if you talk to him,
he can tell you one of the things
which is remarkable
about not only the book of Genesis
but about all of the Pentateuch
is all of these intricate interconnections
in the story.
And that's what's going on here.
You see,
Egypt is bringing up something.
In Genesis chapter 12,
at the beginning of these stories
about Abraham,
what happens is
you get this profound thing
that sort of launches
the rest of the Bible
about how God has called Abram
to leave Ur of the Chaldees
and he's called him
to go to this land
that he doesn't know where it is
and that God's going to bless him
and he's going to make him
a blessing which blesses
and he's going to bless him
with the land
and it's a very, very powerful
moving set of verses.
And then almost immediately after that
there's a famine
that comes to the land
and Abram,
rather than trusting God
or rather than seeking God's will,
he tries to take matters
into his own hand
and he goes down to Egypt.
And if you remember the story,
what he does
is not only does he decide
to go down to Egypt
but he decides
that he's going to manage
the Egyptian issue
by lying
and by doing something,
him and Sarah together
decide they're going to do
something terrible.
They're going to pretend
that they're brother and sister
and anyway,
the whole thing becomes
this complete and utter disaster.
And in fact, actually,
so when we see here now
Hagar, who's an Egyptian,
she probably became
their servant
in that incident.
And there's other things
which go on in this story
because just before this,
they talk about
the 400 years
and they're going to be
in their impression
and this is going to set
the stage for eventually
we discover it's going
to be Egypt.
And so there's all
these little threads
that go all the way
through the story
that connect things
in the story
and echoes of each other.
But the particular thing
which is going on here,
if you've been reading
the stories from chapter 12,
13, 14, 15, and 16
and you come to this
and you see this
and it reminds you
of the disaster
that happened in chapter 12,
it's saying
something bad
is about to happen.
In modern movies,
it would be done
with a certain type of music
where all of a sudden
the music stops
in their silence
and it signals
to the viewer
that something
bad is about to happen
and that's what's going on
here in the text.
So, verse 2.
So what's the bad thing
that's about to happen?
Verse 2.
And Sarai said to Abram,
Behold, now,
sorry, behold,
behold, now,
the Lord has prevented me
from bearing children.
We'll talk about that
in a moment.
Go into my servant
and go into my servant
is sexual language.
Basically, she's saying
I want you to have sex
with my servant.
Go into my servant,
it may be that I shall
obtain children by her.
And Abram listened
to the voice of Sarai.
So after Abram
had lived ten years
in the land of Canaan,
Sarai, Abram's wife,
took Hagar the Egyptian,
her servant,
and gave her to Abram,
her husband,
as a wife.
And he went into Hagar
and she conceived.
And when she saw
that she had conceived,
she looked with contempt
on her mistress.
So,
so first of all,
this sounds a bit weird
to us, eh?
I could just imagine
me suggesting
to Louise
that she find
a younger woman
for me to marry
and I'll be married
to both of them.
And that would not be
a conversation
would go very well,
nor should it.
But here's the thing.
What Sarah and Hagar do
is the cultural wisdom
of the day.
In other words,
it is what the cultural
equivalents of the CBC,
the Liberal Party,
the Conservative Party,
Ottawa U,
Hollywood,
the Globe and Mail,
all of our elites
have a cultural wisdom
around sexual knowledge.
and sexual relations.
And in the,
the equivalents
of the CBC
and the Supreme Court
and Parliament
and the Senate
and Ottawa U
and,
and Hollywood,
the equivalents
in those days
would have said
that what Sarah
and Hagar were doing
was the smart,
wise way
to fix the problem.
They're following
the cultural wisdom
of the day.
And it leads
to complete
and utter disaster.
The disaster
is going to get worse
as the story goes on.
There's going to be
demands for justice
which is really
just masking a desire
to hurt,
not for justice
but to hurt,
to crush,
to oppress,
to afflict.
There's going to be
abandonment
and running away
and there's only going
to be further heartache
as they follow
the wisdom of the world.
this in fact is
why you see
that the Bible's teaching
is part of the continual
true sexual revolution,
the perennial sexual revolution.
You see,
if you watch Hollywood
and read stories
and listen to the experts,
they continually
tell us different ways
to live sexually
in the world
which they say
are wise.
And the stories
and the movies
never show
in fact
the folly
of following
the wisdom
of the world.
So in the wisdom
of our world,
there is pressure
on women
to have
sexual knowing
with their boyfriends
because they believe
that unless they have,
they sexually know
their boyfriends,
their boyfriends
will not date them
and they'll never marry
and they want to marry.
Or
there is pressure
put on young men
and young women
and older men
and older women
that they need to have
sexual knowing
of many people
because how else
will you be prepared
for marriage
unless you have
sexual knowing
of many people.
And the cultural
wisdom of the day
says that if you want
to have a long
and happy marriage,
you need to live
together first
because that's the way
that you find out
whether you're in fact
suited to be
with this other person.
And this is all
just the commonplace
wisdom of the world.
What they don't say
is because God
has designed
sexual knowing
as a powerful
unitive force
within the person
that when a woman
sleeps with a man
and one or both
have absolutely
no intention
of ever marrying them,
all that happens
is that there's
a type of tearing
in the person
in a hardening
of relations
between the sexes
and a distrust.
And that's not
even calling,
that's not even
connected to things
like sexually
transmitted diseases
which can in fact
in many cases
lead to infertility
or to unwanted
pregnancies
and abortions.
And there's no
type of sense
that the supposed
wisdom of living
together
to prepare you
for marriage
that all
of the statistics
for decades
consistently show
that people
who lived together
before marriage
are much more
likely to divorce
than to remain
married.
Nor that the
pressure to sexually
know many different
people to somehow
prepare you for
marriage,
that to sexually
know many people
only forms you
to have sex
with lots of
people.
doesn't help
you or form
you at all
to sexually
know just one
person,
your husband
or your wife.
In fact,
the sexual
wisdom of our
world causes
chaos.
And the
wisdom of the
Bible,
because you see
one of the
things in what
happens in this
story,
and it's a
subtle thing,
but it's very
powerful and
cumulative.
The wisdom
of the world
in those days
was polygamy
was good
amongst other
things.
And one of
the things
that the
Bible consistently
shows is
that whenever
polygamy or
these other
things happen,
all that
happens is
heartache and
chaos.
And that the
wisdom,
portrayed especially
in Exodus and
Deuteronomy,
where it talks
about you
shall not
commit adultery,
that that
is something
which opens
the door to
a perpetual
sexual revolution.
that points
you towards
sanity and
wholeness and
health.
So they
follow the
wisdom of
the world,
and Hagar
successfully gets
pregnant,
and Sarah
is crushed,
Hagar's
arrogant and
contemptuous,
and we can
all see that
this is going
to be a
recipe for a
great time
together.
In sitcoms,
of course,
what would
happen is
there'd be a
period of
conflict.
They'd all
come to their
senses,
they'd have a
group hug,
and they'd
live together
happily ever
after,
and that,
of course,
is completely
and utterly
unrealistic to
most of
human
experience,
but what
is portrayed
in sitcoms,
and what we
think should
happen to
us.
Well,
how does it
work out?
Look what
happens in
verse 5.
Sarah said
to Abram,
May the
wrong done
to me
be on you.
I gave
my servant
to your
embrace,
and when
she saw
that she
had conceived,
she looked
on me with
contempt.
The same
word for
contempt is
also the
word for
curse.
She
curses,
Sarah.
May the
Lord judge
between you
and me.
But Abram
said to
Sarah,
Behold,
your servant
is in
your power.
Do to
her as
you please.
Then Sarah
dealt
harshly
with her,
and Hagar
fled from
Sarah.
So here
we see
just a
perfect
picture
of human
life.
Why is
it that we
can't
accept
responsibility
for the
wrong that
we do?
Sarah
blames
Abram.
Abram
shuffles
off
responsibility.
Sarah
claims that
she wants
justice,
which is
what she's
trying to
talk to
Abram
about
what she
doesn't
really want
justice.
She wants
to smash.
That's what
she wants.
She doesn't
want justice.
She wants
to smash.
And so
she smashes.
And Hagar
flees.
And now
the focus
shifts
to Hagar.
Sarah,
in a sense,
disappears from
the story,
at least this
incident,
moment,
and now
the focus
goes on
Hagar.
How is
God going
to deal
with all
of this?
Well,
let's
look.
Verse 7,
the angel
of the
Lord
found her,
now the
her is
Hagar,
not Sarai,
but found
Hagar,
by a
spring of
water in
the wilderness,
the spring
on the
way to
Shur.
Now,
just sort
of pause
here for
a second.
It's just
a very
tiny bit
of the
story,
but remember,
stories form
us,
and one
of the
things which
is subtly
forming us
here at the
very,
very beginning
of the
Old Testament
is that
God goes
seeking
Hagar,
the one
who treats
Sarai with
contempt,
the one
who curses
Sarai out.
God
goes
looking
for
Hagar.
See,
every single
one of us
who have
become a
Christian,
God
sought you
before you
sought him.
That's the
pattern of
the Bible.
The Lord
seeks you,
and he
seeks you
even when
you've done
things which
aren't very
good.
The Lord
seeks
Hagar,
and the
Lord finds
Hagar.
Verse 8,
and he
said,
Hagar,
servant
of
Sarai,
where have
you come
from and
where are
you going?
She said,
I am
fleeing from
my mistress
Sarai.
The angel
of the Lord
said to
her,
return to
your mistress
and submit
to her.
Now,
that causes
problems for
us.
I don't
know if
you're aware
of the
fact,
but the
most popular
tattoo in
Canada is
the phrase,
I love to
submit.
Haven't you
found that
is the
case?
Like,
I don't
know,
you know,
every time
I go into
a Starbucks,
it's like
every person,
I think,
what are you,
a herd of
independent
minds?
You all
like to
tattoo on
your arms
where everybody
can see I
love to
submit?
No,
of course,
this is like
a completely
terrible thing.
This is so
un-Canadian.
In fact,
for many people
looking at this,
they go,
oh,
come on,
good grief.
Like,
how,
what?
Listen,
the Bible
shouldn't be
telling her to
submit.
Like,
so how would
Hollywood tell
it?
Well,
here's the
thing.
Here's the
thing where
the Bible
is wise.
There is
no option
to Hagar
other than
submitting.
The question
isn't,
see,
that's what
Hollywood and
the wisdom of
the world
likes to try
to tell us.
the option
for George
is,
will I
submit?
Or will
I be
an independent,
powerful,
self-asserting,
autonomous,
self-actualizing
person that
everybody should
applaud?
Should I do
that or should
I submit?
Well,
who's going to
pick submitting
when that's
the option?
But that's
not the
option in
life.
Bob Dylan,
in his
Christian phase,
put it
perfectly.
You've
got to
serve
somebody.
It might
be the
devil,
or it
might be
the
Lord,
but you
got to
serve
somebody.
The
question
isn't,
will you
submit
or not?
The
question
is always
who or
what will
you submit
to?
So,
if you
get upset
with the
story,
well,
what's
Hagar
going to
do?
Hagar's
going to
go back.
Here she
is a
single,
unattached
woman in
a patriarchal
society.
She's
going to
go back
and be
somebody's
slave.
she's
not going
to go
to
Egypt
and start
the
equivalent
of
Shopify
or
Amazon
and be
unbelievably
rich.
She's
going to
submit
to
somebody.
But
what does
he tell
her?
And we're
going to
see,
in a sense,
the promise
which comes
immediately
after that.
Remember,
if you go
back and
you read
Genesis
chapter 12
verses 1,
2,
and 3,
one of the
things which
characterizes the
blessing that
God is to
give Abram,
is that
Abram is
blessed to
be a
blessing.
So what
he is telling
Hagar to
do is to
go back to
the one who's
being blessed
to be a
blessing,
because if
she goes
back,
she will
be blessed.
She goes
to Egypt,
slavery,
she goes
to poverty,
she goes
back,
and she's
going to
have to
submit,
or she
can go
back and
submit.
God is
going to
deal with
things so
that she's
blessed.
Look, in
fact, what
happens.
Verse 10.
So verse 9,
return to
your mistress
and submit
to her.
The angel
of the
Lord,
verse 10,
also said
to her,
I will
surely
multiply
your
offspring
so that
they cannot
be numbered
for multitude.
And the
angel of
the Lord
said to
her,
behold,
you are
pregnant,
and you
shall bear
a son,
you shall
call his
name Ishmael,
because the
Lord has
listened to
your affliction.
He shall
be a wild
donkey of
a man.
That's an
image of
a person
who loves
freedom,
but at the
same time
he's going
to have a
problem.
His freedom,
his love
of freedom
will mean he
won't get
along with
people.
Verse 12,
he shall
be a wild
donkey of
a man,
his hand
against
everyone,
and everyone's
hand against
him,
and he
shall
dwell
over
against
all his
kinsmen.
But the
thing is,
right,
there's a
prophecy of
some other
things that
are going
to go on
there,
but fundamentally
if she
goes back
and submits
to the
one whom
the Lord
is blessing
to be a
blessing,
is that
she will
be blessed.
Her son
will be
safely born.
Her son
will marry.
her son
will have
children,
and she
will be a
mom who
has a
child,
and who
has
grandchildren,
and great
grandchildren,
of course,
in those days
she would die
before any
of that
would be
seen,
probably.
But that
is what
God is
promising her
and offering
her.
Verse 13,
this is very
significant.
So she
called the
name of
the Lord
who spoke
to her,
you are
a God
of seeing.
For she
said,
truly,
here I
have seen
him who
looks after
me.
Therefore
the well
was called
Bir Lahai
Roy.
It lies
between
Kadesh
and Bered
and Hagar
bore Abram
a son,
and Abram
called the
name of
his son
whom
Hagar
bore
Ishmael.
In other
words,
Abram
comes
back,
there's
peace
which
goes
back
there.
Abram
was 86
years
old
when
Hagar
bore
Ishmael
to
Abram.
But here's
the thing,
trying to
wrap this
up,
here's the
thing which
is very
significant
about this.
If you
go back
to verse
13,
you are
a God
of seeing.
In the
original
language,
the same
name
sentence
can be
understood
in different
senses
all at
the same
time.
In English,
of course,
you have
to pick
one.
And it
also means
not just
you are
a God
of seeing,
but you
are a
God who
sees me.
And it
also could
be understood
as you
are the
God I
see.
And then
the thing
about the
well is
that there's
a living
God who
sees
me.
You know,
here's one
of the
things.
I mean,
one of the
problems,
of course,
to go back
to the
thing which
I mentioned
at the
first,
is, of
course,
one of the
reasons that
people can
feel so
hard done
by and
hurt,
and hard
done by,
I didn't
mean to say
it that way,
can be very
hurt,
is that they
haven't been
able to find,
they'd love to
be married,
they'd love to
have children,
they aren't
able to find
it,
and it's a
very,
very hard
thing,
and at
some point
in time,
they start
to feel
invisible.
It's one
of the
things which
is also
hard,
not just
for women
like that,
but for
men,
is the
feeling of
being
invisible.
It's the
problem of
the poor,
they are
invisible.
One of the
things I had
several people
tell me who
live in the
downtown core,
is that when
we had the
lockdown,
especially the
first lockdown,
what did they
say to me?
They never
realized there
were so many
street people
in Ottawa.
Why did they
never realize
there were so
many street
people in
Ottawa?
Because they're
often invisible
amidst all
the others,
and when
there's nobody
there,
they're no
longer
invisible.
What is
part of the
problem with
aging?
Often with
age, you
start to
feel invisible,
unseen,
and so we
have this
very, very
powerful way
of describing
the true
and living
God.
Not the
God of
Canadians,
but the
God of
the Bible.
The God
of Canadians
is often
just an
impersonal
force or
some type
of wispy
type of
thing,
but the
God of
the Bible
is not
an invisible
force,
it's not
something
wispy.
The God
of the
Bible is
the true
and living
God,
and the
true and
living God
is the
one who
sees you.
You are
not
invisible to
the true
and living
God,
and he
looks upon
you with
sympathy.
He sees
very clear-eyed
the wrong
you've done
and the good
you've done,
but you're
never invisible
to the true
and living
God.
And this
becomes even
more, as
the Bible
continues,
and as you
learn more
about the
true and
living God
and the
different ways
that the
true and
living God
sees,
both with
justice and
mercy and
with compassion
and with
sympathy,
and it
culminates in
the New
Testament.
John's
Gospel, in
particular,
the clearest.
In John's
Gospel, it's
very, very
clear that
when you
see Jesus,
you are
seeing the
living God.
And the
way that you
see the
living God
most completely
and perfectly
in the
Gospel of
John is
when you
see Jesus
dying upon
the cross.
And one
of the
things which
is so
remarkable about
the seven
last words
that Jesus
has from
the cross
is the
way that
even as
he is
hanging on
the cross
dying,
he sees.
He sees
the thief
upon the
cross.
He sees
the disciple
whom he
loves.
He sees
his mother.
He sees.
He sees
you.
You see
God
perfectly
revealed
when you
see Jesus
dying upon
the cross.
He sees
God and
you are
seeing the
God who
sees you
and sees
me.
The promise
that God
would be a
blessing to
Abram and
Sarah and
that part of
that profound
mystery of
blessing isn't
as you can see
that they were
perfect.
they are
not
perfect.
But from
them believing
the promise
you see
from them
believing the
promise
eventually they
will give
birth to
the son
who will
give birth
to a son
who will
give birth
to a son
that down
the road
and down
the road
and down
the road
is great
Abram's
greater son
who dies
on the cross
so that
Abram and
Sarah can
be made
right with
the true
and living
God.
And for
Hagar
potentially.
but in
the cross
you see
the God
you see
God
and you
see the
God who
sees you.
You're not
invisible.
Just in
closing
part of the
great lesson
of this text
is not just
to bring us
to this point
this profound
insight.
Remember I
said that one
of the things
which is
complicated for
us when we
read this
story is we
want to put
people in
good guys
and bad
guys and
downgrade
their badness
and upgrade
their goodness
or do the
opposite depending
on what
sides we
are and we
don't see
that happening
in the text.
We see the
wrong.
We see the
hurt.
We see the
sorrow.
We see the
sadness and
we don't see
it and we
see it seen
with sympathy
and the
steps to
deliver people
from oppression
and to bring
people into
love.
To live out
of the promise
that comes from
the gospel
that when
Jesus dies
for you on
the cross
he sees
you and
he died
for you
and to
realize that
he has come
and sought
me the
promise God
comes and
gives me this
great gift of
grace when I
do not am
worthy of it
and I do not
deserve it.
You see
part of
Sarah's
problem was
she thought
God couldn't
accomplish
things and
so she
needed to
do it
for herself.
She
stopped living
out of the
promise
and thought
that God
needed her
power to
fix the
things that
his power
couldn't
manage.
and that's
always a
consistent
problem and
danger for
us who are
Christians
thinking that
somehow we
need to use
our power
because God's
power isn't
enough.
You see
what happens
is it will
happen now in
the rest of
the story in
chapter 17 and
18 and
19 and
20 and
21 and
22 is
that when
Abram and
Sarah are
being faithful
they live out
of the
promise.
And as
the promise
of grace
and of
blessing
becomes real
to their
heart
God will
at the
same time
put into
their heart
the things
that they
need to
do out
of obedience
and gratitude
to the
promise.
Not because
his hand
is short
or weak
but because
the very
promise of
the blessing
and the
promise
forms you
to do
things
in a way
that don't
bring your
own power
first and
foremost
and you're
not trying
to be
God.
It just
flows out
of being
formed by
the promise.
And that's
how the
Christian life
is to be.
Not that
if I don't
do this
God can't
get it
done.
But what
has God
done for
me?
And as
that becomes
more real
to my
heart
you look
around and
you say
gosh I
got to do
something
about the
poor.
Or I've
got to do
something to
help the
city be
more
prosperous.
Or I've
got to do
something to
help the
victims of
violence.
Or I've
got to do
something about
the world
where there's
true
poverty.
I've got to
be more
generous.
As you
look upon
the generosity
of Christ
you say
gosh I've
got to be
more
generous.
as the
gospel forms
you realize
you know
what I
need to
forgive.
And that's
a very
very very
different way
of living
than thinking
you've got to
forgive so
God will
forgive you.
Or you've
got to be
generous because
unless you give
that money God
can't do
anything about
it.
It's a very
very very
very different
way to live
than to live
out of the
fullness of
seeing the
God who
sees me.
Please stand.
Nothing
special or
mystical about
standing but
you've been
sitting and
you're going
to sit again
in prayer and
it's good to
have a bit of
a stretch.
Let's bow
our heads in
prayer as we
stand.
Father we
give you
thanks and
praise that
you see us.
That there
has never
been a point
in time in
any of our
lives where
you have
not seen
us.
That you
see us as
we really
are.
You see
us in the
things you
see the
things about
us that
are eccentric
maybe a bit
kooky.
You see the
things about
us that are
good and
true and
beautiful and
wise.
You see the
things about
us that
are wrong
the wrong
we've done.
You see us
you see us
perfectly and
seen as
perfectly still
you love
us and
send your
son to
be our
savior to
die upon
the cross
and as he
dies on the
cross he
sees each
one of us
with eyes
of love.
We ask
Lord that
you would
grip us
with the
gospel.
We ask
Lord that
you would
help us
to put to
death any
sense of
boasting or
rivalry that
somehow or
another unless
I do what
only I can
do you
cannot get
good things
done in
this world.
Father put
that to
death within
us.
But make
the gospel
Father the
promise the
blessing the
knowledge that
you see us
and love us
and redeem us
Father make
that more and
more real to
our heart and
as you make it
more real to
our heart help
us Father to
live out of
that grace
and to do
the things that
your grace
leads us to
do not so
that you will
love us but
out of an
overflow of the
wonder and the
marvel of
your grace and
love for us.
And so
Father we ask
that your Holy
Spirit would do
that wonderful
and deep work
within our
lives because we
cannot do it in
our own strength.
And Father if
there are any
who are here or
watching who
have not yet
recognized that
Jesus is the
one who sees
them and loves
them we ask
Father that you
would turn their
heart to Jesus
that they like
us would trust
him as their
savior and their
Lord.
Lord and we
ask all of
these things in
the name of
Jesus your
son and our
savior and all
God's people said
amen.