Greetings
Good morning, everyone; before I begin, I would like to thank all of you who came to my ordination yesterday and witnessed how God is graciously and marvellously at work in raising up servants as he continues to build his church.
Last week, when David asked me how I felt about my ordination, I told him, I don’t feel glorified or more holy. Rather, I feel the weight of the promises that I will be making. Aned I feel a bit nervous, knowing that Satan attack may come at any time. However, I know that by the power of Jesus and his gospel, I have been called and prepared to be set apart for a life of ministry. But I beg, that you’ll keep me constantly in your prayers.
Pray that, above all else, I will allow God to minister to my heart with his living words, pray that I will be an example of humility and confession to my family at home and to my family at Kogarah, and pray that I would love Jesus more than anything in this life.
But now, as we are about to open God’s word, let us pray:
Our almighty and gracious Father,
Thank you that you have given us your holy word, that through it we may come to know your Son Jesus and receive the gift of your Spirit. This morning, as we open your word, we ask that your Spirit help us. Please open our hearts and minds so that we may receive your word with understanding and that our faith be strengthen.
For your glory’s sake, and in your son’s precious name, we pray, Amen.
Series Introduction
For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been spending our time in the New Testament, looking at 1 Peter.
However, for the next few months, we will be turning to the Old Testament, studying the book of Genesis.
As we finished Genesis chapter 17 last year, we will be continuing with chapter 18 this morning.
So please keep your Bibles open at Genesis chapter 18.
Sermon Introduction
As we begin, I want to ask you one question: Is our hope in God big enough?
Now, at church, we measure many things: attendance, visitors, conversions, baptisms, confirmations, number of volunteers, giving, attendance at growth groups, attendance at kids and youth, the list goes on and on.
But how can we know if our hope in God is big enough or not?
Well, this morning, we will see how Abraham’s hope in God moves him to show hospitality to strangers, and how God helps Sarah when she is too tired to hope.
And finally, we see how all of us have this hope in Jesus. But most importantly how this hope spurs us on to bring the gospel to the many strangers here in Kogarah, even when it might seem impossible.
And so, the three headings for today’s sermon are
1) Abraham – A love that welcomes strangers
2) Sarah – A promise that comforts the hopeless
3) Jesus – A Hope that welcomes even the Impossible
Abraham – A love that welcomes strangers (v. 1-8)
Let’s turn to Genesis 18, verse 1:
In verse 1 we see that Abraham most likely did a bit of work in the morning and is taking a break in the shade, away from the midday sun.
And as he was resting, he looked up and saw three men.
Notice that it’s not three angels or servants of the Lord that Abraham saw, but just three men, three unnamed strangers.
The words at the beginning of verse 1: ‘The LORD appeared to Abraham’, is a narrative comment; it is something that the author wants us readers to know as we read this passage.
However, to Abraham, these are only three men: three strangers passing by.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I’m having a bit of me-time, and some random people show up at my door, the first thing I want is to get rid of them so I can have my peace with whatever I’m doing.
But not so with Abraham, in verse 2 when Abraham saw them:
… he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, bowed to the ground 3and said, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not go on past your servant.
4Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.
5I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
Abraham ran to the strangers, not to get rid of them, but he bowed to the ground. Then he greets them deferentially and invites them to stay.
Not only that, Abraham gave them a bit of water to drink, and to wash their feet.
Then Abraham says, let me bring a bit of bread. But as we know when the passage was read earlier, it’s not just a bit of bread. Abraham will prepare a feast for them.
It is like how we say here at church, ‘please stay behind for morning tea’, it never means we’re just serving you tea. Sometimes, it’s tea and some biscuits; other times, it’s a feast, but it’s never just tea.
And in verses 6-7, we see how Abraham pulls together his whole household to prepare this feast for the three strangers.
He told Sarah to make the bread, his servant to cook the young cow, and Abraham himself will prepare the drinks and condiments.
But also notice the manner that these are being prepared; we see the words ‘hurried’ and ‘quick’ in verse 6, and then later ‘ran’ and ‘hurried’ in verse 7. As for the calf, it’s not just any calf, but ‘tender, choice’ calf.
And then in verse 8, they sat the visitors down under the shade, so they can eat in comfort.
I mean, if I’m hiring someone to manage my restaurant, I want Abraham and his crew.
Because Abraham knows what hospitality is.
Now, what is hospitality?
Well, according to the Bible, hospitality is the love of strangers.
It is to love the strangers that may come into our lives.
Even so, don’t you find it odd that the hospitality or the love that Abraham has for these strangers is a bit too much?
Especially when we recall that in verse 1, Abraham actually didn’t know these visitors were sent from the LORD.
But now that we’ve seen all that Abraham has done, we can’t help but think, did Abraham really didn’t know?
I mean, that must be the only reason for Abraham to justify his extravagant and costly hospitality to these strangers, right?
Why sacrifice the comfort in the shade? Why waste the water that you painfully carried from the well? Remember that there is no water tap in those days.
Why kill a whole cow, but not just any cow, but a tender, choice young cow, for just three men?
Well, I want to suggest, that the author of Genesis is using irony to communicate a point.
The author wants us to see that Abraham’s love of strangers is grounded in his expectant hope.
A hope that stems from the promises that God has made with him.
If we turn back to chapter 17, we see that God has just renewed his covenant with Abraham, let us read verses 1 to verse 8:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. 8 And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God.”
Here, I want us to notice just two things,
1) In verse 1, Abraham is called to ‘live in my presence and be blameless’, and second,
2) In verses 2 to 8, notice how God stresses his initiative when he speaks to Abraham.
a. I will set up my covenant
b. I will multiply
c. I will make
d. I will confirm, etc.
Now, to ‘live in God’s presence and be blameless’ can mean many things, but at the very least, Abraham is reminded that:
1) One, there is a God, a God who sustains and upholds everything in his life and in this world.
2) And two, for the relationship between God and Abraham to continue, Abrahman need to lead an obedient and blameless life.
And most importantly, God is the one who is making these promises, and God himself is the guarantor. And so, Abraham can trust these promises and have a sure hope that they will be fulfilled.
So Abraham is not showing hospitality because of cultural expectations or because he wants to show off his wealth or to gain some benefit from these visitors.
Abraham is showing hospitality and love to these strangers with an expectant hope of what God will do next. Which explains his deferential greetings and generous hospitality, loving the strangers as if they were sent from the Lord even though Abraham himself clearly did not know.
However, we see that these strangers really aren’t here for the food, they are here to visit Sarah.
Sarah – A promise that comforts the hopeless (v.9-15)
So, as we move to our second point, let’s turn back to chapter 18 and look at verse 9 with me:
9“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered.
Now, if you’re vaguely familiar with Genesis, the question ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ should sound oddly familiar, like a déjà vu.
You might remember that in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, God asked the man. ‘Where are you?’ and then later when Cain killed Abel, God asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother, Abel?’
In both of those instances, they are not genuine questions; they are rhetorical questions.
God knows where the man is in Eden, and God knows Abel is dead when he asked Cain.
Similarly, here, these visitors know where Sarah is.
And the fact that they know Abraham had a wife called Sarah, proves that these visitors are not just three strangers, but that they are indeed sent from the LORD.
Sarah’s original name was Sarai, and she was renamed by God to Sarah just in the previous chapter. No one else knows that she is called Sarah, except God.
And so, unsurprisingly in verse 10 onwards, the three strangers are now regarded by the author as ‘The Lord’. But at this point, Sarah does not know that it is the Lord speaking to her.
And so, in verse 10 it says:
10The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
13But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’
In these verses, the Lord might be speaking to Abraham, but really, he is speaking to Sarah.
In verse 9, we are told that Sarah is just nearby in the tent, and in verse 10 we know for sure that Sarah is listening in.
It’s almost like whispering out loud.
It’s like, (whisper) “don’t tell David that we have a surprise gift waiting for him after today’s service!”
Now, David I don’t think there is a gift, so don’t get too excited. This is just an illustration.
Anyways, so, Sarah hears that she will have a son this time next year, and we are told in verse 11 that both Abraham and Sarah are very old now and that Sarah has already passed the age of childbearing, the Bible is telling us that it is absolutely impossible for Sarah to have any children.
And in response, Sarah laughs.
Interestingly, when Abraham first heard that God would give his wife a son in the previous chapter, he also laughed!
In Genesis chapter 17, verse 17 it says,
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”
Here, Abraham gives us a bit more context to both him and Sarah’s response.
They already have Ishmael!
Sarah followed the local customs and cultural wisdom and gave over Hagar, her Egyptian slave, to Abraham, and Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Yet Ishmael then became a thorn between Sarah and Hagar.
So, as we come back to chapter 18, when Sarah hears God’s promises for the first time, like Abraham, she laughs.
But it is not so much a laugh of unbelief or sarcasm, rather it is a laugh of hopelessness. It is a laugh of despair and hopelessness.
Sarah has been barren her whole life, and she is now past the age of childbearing. Moreover, her plan of using Hagar to preserve a line for her husband did not work out.
But notice how God responds to Sarah’s hopeless laugh, in verse 14 and 15:
14Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”
Here, we have another rhetorical question. It stresses that nothing is too hard for God as God himself is the guarantor of his promises. God then personally affirms Sarah, that he will keep his promise and tells her that she’ll have a son this time next year.
And at this point, Sarah immediately knows these three men are not just some strangers but they are visitors sent from the Lord.
And when Sarah is confronted with the laughter, she denies it because she is afraid.
Now, here we might be tempted to say Sarah is an example of someone who lacked faith, but I think what God is doing here is that God wants to comfort Sarah and strengthen her faith.
Unlike Eve in the garden, who did not receive God’s promises directly, Sarah now gets an intentional pastoral visit from God himself, and Sarah now receives these promises directly from God.
And as Sarah’s faith is strengthened, she also becomes a more effective helper as a wife to Abraham as well.
Now to those of you who are familiar with Abraham’s story, you know that Sarah did have a son, and his name is Issac.
Well, the name Issac in Hebrew means: laughter. Even though in verse 15 we see that Sarah is afraid, for she knows she has offended the strangers by laughing, the Lord is not doubling down on her for her lack of faith.
Rather, God wants her to remember this moment, and indeed she does!
Hear what Sarah says after she gave birth to Issac in Genesis chapter 21:
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”, 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”
God used Sarah’s laughter of hopelessness and turned it into a testimony of God’s power and faithfulness, and not just for Sarah, but for everyone.
As it says there in verse 6, everyone who hears will laugh with me.
So now, Sarah’s laughter is now a laughter of joy that is shared and a hope for everyone.
And as Sarah welcomes the impossible birth of Isaac, we too are reminded that Mary welcomed the impossible birth of Jesus, and through Jesus, God welcomed us sinners into his household.
And this is our third and final point, Jesus – A Hope that Welcomes the Impossible.
Jesus - A Hope that Welcomes the Impossible
Now, there are many different applications that we can draw from today’s passage, but this morning, I want us to see how our hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in his power to save the lost drives us to evangelise to the strange, the lost and the impossible.
Over the last few weeks, David has been going through the 6 checkpoints or goals that we are to pursue as a church in order for us to be a healthier, stronger gospel presence in Kogarah.
One of them is to have 500 new families gathering with us in 10 years’ time.
Even if we include the families that we already have, on average, we still need to invite 1 new family to join us every Sunday for the next 10 years.
I wonder, how does this make you feel?
Did you laugh to yourself like Sarah did in verse 12, and say something like, ‘After I am worn out and my senior minister is old, will our church have delight?’
To be honest with you all, as the minister responsible for outreach and mission, when I see all the hurdles and challenges set before us, the time that we need, the volunteers that we need to raise, the money that we don’t have, the things that we need to learn and the relationships that we need to develop.
When I look at all these, even I want to let out a hopeless laugh, there’s no chance that we will have 500 families gathering with us in 10 years’ time.
It is, humanly speaking, impossible!
Especially when we consider those who might seem spiritually impossible.
The one who is drowning and weighed down by fleshly desires and various sins, the one who puts his hope on this world and on people, the one who is walking away or has walked away from Jesus, or the one who is not sure if they’re good enough to be God’s children.
But let us be reminded today that what is humanly impossible, is not impossible with God.
When God gave Sarah Isaac, God has revealed to us that he can overcome the impossible to achieve his good purposes for us and for this world.
And the fact that God can bring life to a dead womb, shows that our God is the giver of life.
Still, the birth of Isaac is only a glimmer of what God will finally achieve in his Son Jesus.
Jesus is the hope that overcomes the impossible, but more than that, he is the hope that welcomes the impossible.
Jesus’s blood washed our sins away and bridged the impossible gap between God and man.
And just as we are united to Jesus in his death, so too we are united to him in his resurrection and share in the new life that we now have as he lives in us by his Spirit.
Even though we were once far off and dead in sin, Jesus overcame the impossible, and he welcomed us into God’s household so that we, too, can call God our Father.
Friends, if our hope is on anything other than or less than the life-giving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, then our hope is not big enough.
And to spur you on, I thought it’d be great to share some of the gospel-filled conversations I’ve had with you in the past 3 weeks:
One of you said I used to serve at church because of my pride and my need for glory, but because of the gospel, now I have come to know that I’m wrong, and now I only want to serve and live for Jesus. Another said I am grateful that I am a follower of Jesus, but now I’m asking God to give me the courage to tell others the gospel. Still another said, I know that church can be difficult at times, but I have chosen to stay at Kogarah to support this church and the mission of Jesus Christ.
Can I say that is such a beautiful picture of God being at work right now here at this church.
Conclusion
And so, let us all welcome strangers like Abraham! With an expectant hope that they, too, will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
And when it’s too tiring to hope, may we remember that the God who comforted Sarah is the same God that comforts us today. He is the God that not only gave us Isaac to look to, but the God who gave us his only Son.
Finally, may I encourage you to share this gospel, to share this hope with your friends and family, and especially with the people here in Kogarah.
And as we seek to become a community that lives and breathes the gospel, God-willing, maybe we do not even need 10 years to reach our goal of having 500 families. Because when we preach the gospel faithfully, God will add to our number, just as he did when the gospel was being preached in Acts and elsewhere in the Bible.
But now, let us pray and commit these things to the Lord,
Father, please help us to be your faithful soldiers; help us always to fight the good fight. May you grant us the courage and wisdom to preach your gospel clearly, especially to those in Kogarah who have yet to know you. May we never trust in our own strength but only in the gospel's life-giving power so that when we share your gospel with others, they will only see your power and glory.
In your son’s gracious name, we pray, Amen.