CWC- Pentecost 9 - Old Testament - KB Kuschel

Genesis 18:1-14

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. 2 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. 3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 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.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.” 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 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. 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 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. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

When was the last time you laughed about something?

When it is bad to laugh about something?

Humiliate someone

When was the last time you laughed at God? Why?

IA1 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. “Hey guys,” God said to two angels, “I am kind of bored. Let’s go for a walk this noon.” God took on appearances at very times in history. Do you think He did that because He was bored?

2 From the rest of the verses before us today, why did God do that? He had some things He wanted to talk about with Abraham. He wanted to talk with Abraham about his son. He also wanted to talk with Abraham about what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah, since Abraham’s nephew Lot was living there.

3 How did Abraham respond to the presence of the three visitors? 2 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. 3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 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.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.” 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 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. Abraham did a lot of preparing for this conversation with these strangers.

4 Question. When do you think Abraham figured out that this was the LORD? Either when this person started talking about Sarah having a child, or if not then, when this person knew Sarah who wasn’t present had laughed. It’s a little humorous, isn’t it? You can see Abraham doing a double take and asking, “You are predicting a baby for us?” Or, “You can tell me what Sarah is doing even though you can’t see her?”.

B1 When was the last time the LORD appeared at your house? I think most of us would say, “He hasn’t ever taken on a visual appearance and showed up at my house.” Although He is still capable of doing what He did in our text, He doesn’t seem to do that all that often these days.

2 However, God still wants to do with us what He wanted to do by showing up at Abrahams’ place. He wants to talk to us. How do we know He wants to talk to us? He has given us a book through which He wants to talk to us. Is God talking to us through the Bible?

St Paul says He is. “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The words of the Bible are the same as words breathed out over vocal cords.

3 When does God show up in our lives and talk to us? Most of us have some set times. When we worship together with our congregational family. When we use the Scripture in some fashion with our family members. When we read, listen to or watch some Scripture-based communication by ourselves.

4 Abraham went through lots of preparation for his conversation with the LORD. What preparation do we do? There are two areas of preparation. One is physical. I need to be able to focus on the words of the LORD. What do I need to do ahead of time, so that I am physically able to focus on the words of the LORD. Have any practical suggestions?

The other area of preparation is attitudinal. “Wow. I get to go and help a bunch of people stay close to Jesus.” “Wow! I get to go to this gathering in which some people might be led for the very first time to believe that Jesus lived and died and rose for them.” “Wow! We get to hear God talk to us right here at home.” “Wow! Isn’t it awesome that God actually talks to me through the Bible!” LORD Jesus, please help us do whatever it takes to get ready to listen to You.

IIA1 As the LORD talked to Abraham, he posed several questions. In spite of the fact that the first question is the first thing recorded for us in the conversation between God and Abraham, I think the conversation had gone on for at least a little while before the LORD started approaching important topics. The first question is: 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” The LORD knows all things. He knew where Sarah was. He asked the question to open the discussion to get to the topic He wanted to discuss.

2 The second question was: “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ This time the answer to the question was pretty obvious. She laughed because 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. The LORD asked the question, not for information, but to indicate to Abraham that He knew exactly what was going on in people’s minds. The question tells us a characteristic of the questioner.

3 The third question was triggered by the reason for Sarah’s laughter. 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? This question was intended to get Abraham and Sarah to think about their personal beliefs about their God. It was also intended to get them to think about the consequences their personal beliefs about God had on their day to day existence.

B1 One of the questions God asks each of us is, “Where is Sarah?” As we sit down and listen to the LORD talk to us through His Word, He asks us, “Where are the people whose souls I have entrusted to you?” That is a question that we need to be thinking about as we audition various people who might be our marriage partners. Will this person be willing to sit down with me together with my congregation and at home and listen to God talk to us through His Word? That is a question that we need to be thinking about all the time. Are my family members willing to sit down with me together with my congregation and at home and listen to God talk to us through His Word? What can I do to help them get physically able to focus on the truth of God? What can I do to help them have the attitude of excitement about listening to God that we discussed earlier. “Where is Sarah?”

2 The LORD also asks us, “Why did you laugh?” We need to be reminded regularly that the LORD knows what we are thinking. That’s because we often are really good at denying what we are thinking. All of us have doubts. Doubts about our abilities. Doubts about our direction in life. But we act as if we are the most confident people in the world. The LORD knows what we are really thinking. All of us have fears. Fears about the future. Fears about relationships. But we act as if we are fearless. The LORD knows what we are really thinking. All of us battle sin. On the surface it often looks as if we are not phased at all by temptations. The LORD knows what we are really thinking. “Why did you laugh?”

3 The LORD also asks us, “ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? You might not think you are able to accomplish something. But the LORD can. You might not know what direction to take, but the LORD does. You might be afraid of the future, but the LORD knows exactly what is going to happen. You might be afraid of what might happen to a relationship, but the LORD can fix it. You might think it is impossible to overcome temptations, but the LORD can give you the strength to do so. 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? LORD Jesus, thank You for asking us tough questions.

IIIA1 As the LORD talked with Abraham, he made a promise 10 “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” When God called Abram and Sarai to leave Ur, they had no children. Just a nephew Lot. When they arrived in Canaan, God promised, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Slight problem. No offspring. After he and Lot parted ways, God promised “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth.” Slight problem. No offspring. After Abraham wanted to make one of his servants his heir, God promised, “A son coming from your own body will be your heir.” Slight problem. No offspring. When Sarai determined that a child from her maidservant could be an offspring, God promised “I will give you a son by Sarah.” Slight problem. No offspring.

2 Now remember 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So this wasn’t just the promise of a son. It was the promise of a miracle.

3 Why all this repetition? Because the longer they were without a son, the harder it was for them to believe the promise. So, God promised it again and again and again.

B1 God had also promised us a Son. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, God had promised that a real human being, who would also be really God, would come into the world to restore the relationship between God and humans that had been lost when Adam and Eve sinned. This person was called offspring of a woman. Really a son. This person was also called Son of the Most High. Really God.

2 This was an even bigger miracle than the one promised to Abraham and Sarah. In Abraham and Sarah’s case it was the miracle of making something inactive active again. In the case of the Savior it was the miracle of a Virgin giving birth to a Son as well as the miracle of a person who is all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, everywhere and unchanging at the same time having all the limitations of a human being.

3 From Adam to John the Baptist that promise of the Son who was a miracle was repeated. Four thousand to ten thousand years maybe of repetition. Why? Same reason as for Abraham and Sarah. The longer the promise wasn’t kept, the harder it was to keep on believing that it would be kept. So, God promised it again and again and again.

C1 God has made some other promises to us. He has promised to wash away our sins in the blood of the Savior. Jesus of Nazareth took our sins to the cross. Shed His blood. Washes those sins away. The Holy Spirit delivers that forgiveness to us through the Word and the Word attached to the Water and the Supper. God has promised to declare us to be holy in His sight. Jesus of Nazareth took our place. Lived our life. Never sinned. Gives us His holiness. The Holy Spirit covers us with that holiness as He works in our lives through the Word and the Word attached to the Water and the Supper. God has promised that we will live forever. Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. He offers us unending life with the LORD. The Holy Spirit delivers that life to us through the Word and the Word attached to the Water and the Supper.

2 God promises to protect our bodies for as long as we need them to live on this earth. He promises to protect our relationship with Him so we stay members of His family. He promises to implement that protection by taking up residence in us and by being right next to us at all times. He carries out those promises every time we use His Word and His Word attached to the Supper.

3 As we listen to the LORD talk to us through His Word, he repeats those promises again and again and again. Why? Because as sinners it is hard for us to believe that our sins are gone, it is hard for us to believe that we are holy in His sight, it is hard for us to believe that we will live forever. So God repeats His promises again and again and again.

LORD Jesus, lead us to be ready when You want to talk to us so we get to hear the questions and promises