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Abraham Under the Oaks of Mamre
Genesis 15:1,5-7; 17:1-8,15-17; 18:1-15

     Last week my message was on Noah; this week we’re moving on to a direct descendent of his son Shem.  Abram was 75 years old when God told him to set out to an unknown destination and he obeyed.  God promised he and his wife Sarai would have a son, and through his offspring the world would be blessed.  God told Abram, “Look up at the night sky and tell me if you can count the number of stars  you see?  That is how many children you will have one day.  Abram believed the Lord and God took notice of his righteous faith.  
     Have you ever been excited by a new beginning?  Your hope is full, your thoughts positive.  I can see Abram going into his family tent and sharing with his 74-year old wife that God had promised them a son!   His eyes danced with delight; his smile was broad under his long, thick white beard.  Did you catch the part where he laughed so hard at his good news that he couldn’t stop and actually fell on the ground?   He was filled with joy, giddy that in his feeblest years God declared he would create new life through him.   
      But Sarai at age 74 had been barren all of her life, which was a shameful thing in her culture.  Why did God not deliver the same news to her?  She desired a baby more than anything else but had to face reality every day; her body with its wrinkles, arthritis, and other accumulated weaknesses was not the best vessel to bring forth new life.  Nevertheless, she believed at age 74 God was faithful and could do this impossible thing.  God gave Abram his new Hebrew name “Abraham” at that time, meaning Father of Nations, and his wife became “Sarah” meaning Princess.
     But then 24 long years passed and things felt bleak. God spoke again to Abraham and said, call me El Shaddai (“God Almighty”)!  Walk before me and be blameless (Genesis 17:1).   God reminded Abraham a total of 13 times that he would have a son, but the last and best time came when he was very advanced in years. 
     It unfolds in Genesis 18.  Abraham is resting by the doorway to his tent during the hottest part of the afternoon, which in Canaan can reach 120-125 in the shade.  No one ever travels at that hour; they would soon become dehydrated and exhausted.  Abram sees three weary travelers approach him from the blistering desert landscape.  He had no idea whom he was about to welcome. 
    Abraham had 318 servants at the ready, but he chose to go “in haste” to greet them himself.  In modern language, that means he ran out to them and when he got there, he bowed low to the sizzling sand and offered a traditional greeting.  “My lord” was a respectful term, like our use of “sir”, which reveals that he does not know these are two angels before him and the Lord Jesus Christ!  These same angels disguised as men show up again a bit later in Abraham’s life story, but what I find exciting here is the appearance of Christ, the Son of God incarnate (in the flesh) many years before his coming at Bethlehem. This should grab our attention and put us on high alert because God is up to something extraordinary.  
      Abraham led the three men to the best place on his property, the shade of his Oak trees in Mamre.  He wanted his guests to not only be welcomed but be fed and well cared for at his home.  Did you notice how Abraham rushed as he told his wife to prepare freshly baked bread, then hurried off to get a choice lamb and then must have run to haul up water so they could drink and have water to cool and wash their dry, dusty feet?  The man was 100 years old and he did all of this running, carrying, pouring and serving not out of duty, but delight.  It was his joy to serve.   
      There is a reason for this, a simple one.  God had always told his people to, “love the traveler, treat strangers and refugees well and show them hospitality.”   (Deuteronomy 10:19).  Abraham immediately abandoned his chance for a nap and his own luxuries and went out of his way to personally, and generously, serve three unknown men.  Before long, a wonderful meal was put before them and Abraham stood respectfully off to the side, just like a lowly servant.  There were hot veal cutlets, “tender and good”, plus a curd or cottage cheese salad, perhaps figs and milk, but there was plenty of Sarah’s fresh aromatic bread. 
      This scene is a powerful one for me, and I hope for you. Abraham saw a human need and he responded.  The nomads were treated like royalty, shown the utmost respect, and cared for holistically.  He didn’t do what he did to impress anyone or get credit.  He wasn’t showing off his piety or hoping for praise.  What we see as outward evidence reveals the inward state of his heart.  He yielded himself to God and saw each day as an open opportunity to obey and serve the Almighty.  I’m reminded of the expression that your reputation comes from what you do when everyone is looking, while your character comes from what you do when no one but God sees you.
      How well does each of us do as a quiet servant?  Can we do the lowliest tasks for others with contentment?  Like care for an aging parent losing their bodily function or their mental capacity?  Or help babysit lively grandchildren or nieces and nephews and be content knowing you are gifting their parents with the chance to  take care of themselves, or do other important things?  Whenever and however we serve selflessly, God sees that and blesses us.  Here’s a variation on that: have you ever done things that benefited others, but remained anonymous?  I really love doing a good deed in secret, so it’s never discovered!  The common theme here is that God calls us all to compassionately minister to others and do it eagerly. Our generosity and humility pleases God, and better yet, it can make others curious.  Our life and lifestyle can help draw people toward God - it can give us the chance to share why we serve others with love.    
      Well, so far we’ve seen God in disguise and Abraham in haste, next comes Sarah in doubt!  She made an abundance of bread on that sweltering afternoon so long ago, so much bread that the strangers could take the leftovers and be fed in the days to come.  She was nearby listening to the guests when she heard one of them casually say to her husband, “Where is Sarah your wife?”  I think there was a long, awkward pause.  No one outside their closely-knit group of relatives and servants knew her new, God-given name.  All Abraham could manage in reply was, “She is in the tent.” 
     Then the Lord Jesus himself spoke up loud enough for her to hear, saying, “I will surely (definitely) return here to see you both in the spring, for Sarah will have a son!”  Abraham’s reaction, whatever it was - shock, joy, tears, silence, or wild excitement - all went unrecorded.  The Lord Jesus continued, this time turning to Abraham.  He asked him a question that was not just direct, but revealed he knew exactly what Sarah was thinking: “Why was Sarah laughing to herself?” Abraham, feeling confused, had no answer.  Jesus then said Sarah’s heart was asking this question: “Will I really give birth to a baby now that I’m THIS old?”  Before Abraham could answer, Jesus looked him in the eyes and posed this powerful question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  I’m thinking that when these words came out, they were loud and said with holy authority – so that Sarah herself would also hear this question!  
     What do you believe as you sit here this morning?   Is ANYTHING too hard for the Lord?   Could you say with firm conviction that all things are possible with God?  The Bible is chock-full of miracles from cover to cover, proving that God has absolute power over nature and time, life and death.  And it contains just a sliver of all of God’s ongoing omnipotent activity.  Is it your conviction that that God is Ruler over all, that God is a Way-Maker, and nothing can stand against His will?      
     There is something else happening in today’s story worth noticing.  Abraham and Sarah don’t have a simple or a single problem.  When they were young and healthy, they could not conceive a child; that was terribly hard.  Then consider her being well past menopause - that crushes any chances of becoming parents.  Finally, add on several more decades of living and the idea of a baby growing in Sarah’s ancient womb is outright impossible. 
     There are several similar stories in the Bible, where there is not just one massive hurdle but then more pile on until there is zero logical chance of success.  Like when Jesus didn’t heal Lazarus when he was sick but waited until he died to resurrect him!  Or when Elijah said to the false prophets of the day, “My God will send down fire and burn up this pile of wood, let’s see if yours can do the same!”   Then God had Elijah dump a whole lot of water on his pile, and let’s just say it all soon turned to ashes.  God did much the same thing here with this man and woman who would go down in history as the patriarch and matriarch of Israel. 
      God triumphs over layers of impossibilities.  Sarah, at 99, thought she had a  biological impossibility, but impossibility is not in God’s vocabulary.  Not for the Creator of all Life!  Sarah could not stay put any longer behind the inner curtain of her tent, so out she stepped and sternly said, “I did not laugh.”  Well, she was right; she didn’t laugh audibly, but in her thoughts, she scoffed!  The Bible adds this small but important nugget: we’re told she was scared.  Had she lost faith, did she feel ashamed?  Is that what made her defiant?  Rather than admit the truth, did she get defensive? Can you relate to that?  Instead of owning some way that we fell short, we deflect.  It takes great humility and maturity to say, I admit what I did was not right, I regret that, I am sorry, will you please forgive me.  
       Listen now to what Jesus said in the hazy heat of the day at Mamre: Jesus spoke the truth. “No, Sarah...you did laugh.”  Did he say it in a sad but tender way, showing he understands us better than we understand ourselves sometimes?  I think He did.  That is the exact moment of suspense when the story ends.  No more details are given.  It feels like getting to the end of a book and not getting the satisfying ending, so we cry out, “no!”  We don’t even have the satisfaction of an account of the Lord Jesus returning to see and delight in the bouncing baby boy the next year, but we are told that “at the exact time God had promised Sarah gave birth to a son” (Gen. 21:2)  His name, chosen by God and given to him, was Isaac, which (are you ready for this?) means “laughter”.  
     To have some closure about Sarah we can turn to the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 11:  “By faith Sarah received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered God, who made the promise, to be faithful.”   She turned her scoffing and defiance into sincere trust and dependency on God.   She ends up being in faith’s “Hall of Fame” as an example for us to follow, and even better she became the great-great-great-grandmother of Jesus Christ!
      What might God be showing you today through this Scripture that you need to hear and apply in your own life?   Do you need a reminder that God will guide you into your future, even though right now your road map is as blank as Abraham’s once was?  What about the reminder that God has and will gladly use “really old people” for His purposes?  Are you willing to still be a humble servant, offering whatever is in your capacity?   Is God reminding you of the importance of  hospitality, opening your home to others in need of refreshment in body or soul?  In your prayers, you could start calling God “El Shaddai,” meaning Almighty God!  Try that especially if you have not just one really hard problem in life, but many complex struggles.   Believe every day, every hour and minute, “Nothing is too hard for God”.  Then, I think there will come a day when you hear something; it will be unmistakable - it will be the sound of your own… laughter.  May it be so, Amen!   

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