2026 06 14 Pentecost 3 year A
Genesis 18.1-15 Psalm 116.1-2, 11-18 Romans 5.1-11 Matthew 9.35-10.8
Sarah laughed.
Mostly we hear about Abraham
and his faith, but today I am sensing that there is something significant about
Sarah. She laughed. We pick up the story in Genesis 18, after God
had already called Abraham to leave his hometown and his family of origin – all
that was recorded 6 chapters back in Genesis 12. Most importantly last week, we read about God’s
promise to Abraham. He said, “I will
make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing. I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” This is a promise that was for Abraham and
his descendants. But what descendants
are they?
Sarah laughed. I suspect it was the kind of laugh you laugh
when you do it to hide the cry of your heartbreak. Sarah had been swept along with the call of
Abraham. God called and Abraham answered. Abraham left his extended family and set off
for an unknown land, but what about Sarah?
Sarah was there when Abraham
allowed his nephew Lot, who travelled with them to select the best land. She stood faithfully by her man. She was a woman of faith, but things were not
going according to God’s promise. All
this talk of a blessing and making into a great nation was all good and well,
but it had been years of waiting to fall pregnant and nothing happened. I’m guessing that Sarah believed God – she
was a woman of faith too, but it seems that she was thinking maybe that
blessing was for Abraham and not for her.
Maybe Abraham was the called one, the chosen and the blessed… but not
her.
Finally, Sarah did the
honourable and “sensible” thing and gave her handmaid to Abraham so that he could
have an heir. Sarah knew that she was
beyond child-bearing age- way beyond - menopause was a speck in the rear-vision
mirror. God had declared the blessing
and promised. But it seemed like either
God broke His promise or the promise would come about by this little “work
around” where Sarah made a huge sacrifice.
She stepped aside and had her servant bear a child to Abraham.
Sarah suffered. She put the needs of her husband above
herself, but it backfired. Once the
servant, Hagar, gave birth to a son, she looked down on Sarah. Hagar’s status threatened to usurp Sarah, as
the matriarch of a wealthy and successful tribe.
Sarah was willing to suffer
for the greater good. She was willing to
sacrifice, and I’m wondering, are we like her, believing in God, but feeling
like His blessings are for others and not us?
So now that this visitor proclaims that SHE, herself, will have a child,
she laughs.
Who was this mysterious
visitor? We read that the LORD visited
Abraham but in the next sentence we read that there were three men. In Messianic commentaries, this is viewed as
a pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah in human form – God almighty
manifesting in flesh. Jewish people
would declare that it is God almighty accompanied by two angels. Abraham addressed the visitor as, “My Lord”…
in the original language this is Adonai – signifying that God can manifest
physically as a man. Later in Christian
times, this is seen as an indication of the Trinity – a revelation of the
triune nature of God.
Showing hospitality is
important in the Jewish understanding of life and was passed on to Christians
through Jesus declaring that what we do for the least of these, we do for
him. And also, the New Testament declares
that in showing hospitality some have entertained Angels unaware.
This visit took place under
the Oak trees of Mamre. The word for
these trees in the original language implies strength. They were a prophetic sign that here was
Abraham who was called to have great strength – in other words, a son, who
would be a blessing and through him all the earth would be blessed. Through Abraham Isaac was born and through
Isaac, Jacob was born, whose name God changed to Israel… and through Israel,
many generations later, Jesus the Messiah was born.
Sarah had faith, but she
suffered through feelings of doubt and rejection, that maybe her part in God’s
plan was more as a “cheer leader” or support figure, rather than an integral
part. For Sarah to fall pregnant at this
point was nothing short of an absolute miracle.
It constantly blows my mind that today there is a nation called
Israel. That nation exists by the will
of God… by a complete miracle. And this
should give us hope for those times when all hope is physically, logically and
tangibly gone.
Our letter to the Romans
tells us; “but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction
produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces
hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” This is the absolutely unshakable attitude of
the early Christians. They were put to
death and thrown to the lions, but they endured because they knew that God is
the be all and end all, and eternal life was assured them and worth it
all. Well…. It was the attitude of so
many, but the fact that Paul is writing this letter tells us that there were
many who, like Sarah, were wondering where the promise of blessings had gone. In 2026, we might be wondering the same.
St. Paul encourages the
early Christians, ultimately to rely on the Holy
Spirit. Remember, this is the season of encouraging
us in the Holy Spirit. What do our
readings tell us about this? It tells us
that we need God’s love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit so that we can
continue in faith through every storm.
The early Christians were
just the same as any group of people and after the big revival of the day of
Pentecost and after the miracles and wonders, then came the persecution. God wants to bring people into his kingdom, and
he has given us the tools we need through His Holy Spirit filling our hearts
with HIS love. When revival such as the
day of Pentecost happens, life gets messy.
Then life gets messy and tough. We
can’t sustain growth without leaning into the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
This is the challenge. Do we really want full churches and churches
that are alive with all kinds of people?
God does. There is a harvest that
is plentiful. When the disciples went
fishing and caught so many fish of all kind and Jesus commissioned them to be
fishers of men, he was showing them that all kinds of humans would come into
the family of God. (not just people just
like us).
What does Jesus have to say
on this matter in our Gospel; "The harvest is plentiful, but the
labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers
into his harvest." Then Jesus
summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to
cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”
Like Abraham and Sarah, the
disciples were called, and through them all are blessed. The disciples were called and chosen to carry
on the work of Jesus. Through them, we receive
the same call and challenge. However, do
we, as the church, feel that we are like barren Sarah, and merely supporters
and the “cheer squad” in this work of God?
We are not!! Like Sarah, we
are called and we are chosen to be an integral part of God’s plan to bless our
world with the Good News of God’s love.
Recently I was talking to
someone who tried to get a ministry off the ground. They felt like they failed. Like Sarah, they toiled but there was no
visible fruit for their labour. But they
didn’t fail. They planted the seeds. Others will harvest – but only if we don’t
lose heart thinking that we are beyond the time and ability to bring forth life. Maybe you look around at our smallish and
oldish congregation and think we are just a dying breed. Remember, the disciples of Jesus were given
power and authority to raise the dead.
Today, we are called and chosen.
Don’t lose hope. God will, through us, call into being the fruitful life
that is beyond our ability. And we will
laugh!
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