Sarah and the God of Laughter

April 25, 2021 · Aaron Moore · 42:41

Continuing the patriarchs series, this message turns to the matriarch Sarah in Genesis 15-17, examining her faithless attempt to secure an heir through Hagar and God's covenant renaming of her as the mother of nations.

Listen & subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · RSS

Read transcript

Auto-generated from the audio — may contain errors.

Hey guys, if you weren't here when I asked a question a few minutes ago, what I asked was if there was a time that you can remember that you felt amazed, just kind of that sense of how a little bit of like awe and wonder. Anybody have a good one? Anyone? Grant Canyon? Okay, that's a good one. Birthing children?

Those are very different on wonder experiences. Okay, watching Hurricane Charlie come in? Cool, very cool. Yeah, I thought I was actually thinking about that this morning and I had two come to mind. The first one that came to mind was actually when Michelle and I and Ben and Megan and some friends were in Zion National Park a couple years ago and watching kind of wind

roll up the cliffs and almost being, you could almost see it was amazing. But then I had this other memory and it was actually, I have a picture of the moment and it's actually of Michelle and she loves me to tell stories about her. But a few years ago, we had a good friend of ours invite us to go with him to a house that he owns on an outer island in the Bahamas. And it was one of those like, oh my gosh, really? Are you serious? Okay, yeah, cool.

And flying in, you're, I mean, it's kind of all the way on the outer islands and so you fly all the way over most of the, most of the Bahamas islands and get out there. And Michelle and I, if you know us at all, you know, we are water people. I mean, that is what we love, that is what kind of just really captures our hearts in a lot of ways. And Michelle also loves flying. So it's this combination of us flying over in a little plane and as we're coming down through the clouds, the water color was just incredible. And so we land and we get in his little truck and we drive down these, you know, shell

roads and there's nothing really around at all. And then we kind of go down this like little shell dirt road and we come to the end and to his house and you can't see the beach or anything, you know, for the sea grapes and the bushes there. And the house is just a normal, simple house, but we walk in and you kind of go up and it's on stilts, of course. And as we just walk out and they're all hurricane shutters and everything. So we walk in the back of the house, not even seeing the water nothing. And then he did the hurricane shutters off the sliding glass doors and we walked out

onto the deck. And it was just this, I mean, it was incredible, just this clear blue water. And as I was thinking about that, like kind of sense of wonder and amazement in that we have a really cool picture that I took of Michelle in her face at that moment when she kind of walks out and sees the water and it is like this, it is really a look to me that

is like this look of wonder. Kind of like this. That's two weeks in a row. Yeah. Well, can anybody still hear me at all? L.E.L. is honest. He's like, yeah. Okay. Well, last week Ben and I had the conversation how it never rains this hard in Florida in

the morning. And so if you weren't here last week, it did it again. It did it then too. And so it was like really weird because we've been in this building for years and very rarely does it ever happen when you're preaching that nobody can hear you because it rains in the morning. But cool. A lot of it's happening for me. So what we've been talking about the past few weeks and if you're on NEMED E.L. I will. So L.E.L. tell me if you can't hear me. What Ben's been walking us through has been looking at really the patriarchs and starting

to look at that. And he's been talking about just kind of bringing us into the idea of God really being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And so one of the things that I love that he said last week that really stuck with me was that God being the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob was a couple of things. One, that it really is kind of just inviting us into realizing that the God that's the God of Abraham is also the God of you and I. That that is the God that we're invited to be in relationship with.

And that is the same God that was in relationship with Abraham. But the other thing Ben said last week that I love was that he said that God chooses based on his own prerogative. That God chose to make that covenant with Abraham, God chose to continue these covenants along the way. God chooses to invite us into that covenant. And really what that means is that God chooses to do that because he just wants to. Like God wanted to do it. So God chose to do it.

And God said he was going to do it. And what he invited them into was this covenant that would continue. And that God promised to be faithful to them even if they actually struggled with being faithful themselves. That's probably a whole other conversation of what the covenant actually means where Abraham cuts the animals in two and separates them and walks in the flame go between them. What it is, it is God's prerogative to invite Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into this covenant

with himself. And I was really left last week. I was like, man, okay, this idea that God invites them into this place that's significance. This place is significance and identity. And that is what God also invites us into. But then I was thinking, and as I was talking with Ben about kind of where we're going with this, he's like, well, we're going with the patriarchs. And so I was reading these chapters this week going, man, okay, as we kind of move into

thinking about Isaac, I was reading it and I was like, okay, if we're going to talk about patriarchs, maybe it's also worthwhile to think about matriarchs. And maybe it's worthwhile to see it in a little bit of a different angle as we think about this. So this morning, we're going to kind of jump back a little bit and talk about some of the same chapters that we've been in. And so if you've got a copy of the scriptures, we're going to jump into Genesis and look

at chapter 15 and all the way up a little bit. So just to kind of think about it, if we think about patriarchs being really, as we've been talking about it, that covenant that God began with Abraham and then it continues on down through his lineage. But that also involved his wife. Now if you remember, Abraham was not Abraham yet when God made the covenant, right? Abraham when God made the covenant was actually Abraham. So if you want, you can pull up Genesis chapter 15 and hang with me because this is going

to be a little different. But I got kind of excited about this week. And so we were at dinner with some friends last night and I found myself like I was so excited about it that I had a glass of wine and kind of preached to him for probably like seven minutes and then I was like, oh, I'm sorry. This is getting weird. So what happens, right? Because I just want to kind of hit a little bit on what happens in each of these chapters to catch us up. So in chapter 15, right, that is when God comes, it's not Abraham yet that he's actually

Abraham and God comes to him and God comes and says that he's going to make a covenant with him, right? And so in that, in first part of chapter 15, it says, sometime later, the Lord spoke to Abraham in a vision and said to him, do not be afraid, Abraham, for I will protect you. Your award will be great. And Abraham replied, but Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Because you've given me no children, Eliazer of Damascus, a servant in my household will

inherit all my wealth. You gave me no descendants of my own. One of my servants will be my heir. And the Lord says to him, no. It's really funny because that happens in like every chapter for the next five chapters. The Lord says, no. Your servant will not be your heir. You will have a son of your own who will be your heir. And he took Abraham outside and said to him, look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have. And Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Now I know we've talked about this a little bit of the past weeks, but at this point, Abraham is old, right? At this point in the story, Abraham's somewhere between 75 to 80 years old. So he's not really feeling super positive that he's going to have a kid. His wife Sarah, well, who becomes Sarah, she's actually surai still in chapter 15 that at that point, she's about 65 years old. And when it talks about her in the next few chapters, when she's mentioned, she's actually

mentioned in the words in Hebrew that refer to her, actually refer to her being in menopause, not being able to have kids. So we see in chapter 15 that God calms and he makes the covenant and he reminds me of the covenant that he's made. And he's promising to give them, he's promising to give him an heir. So jump into 16. I told you we were going to move quick, but hang with me. So in 16, we start off with surai. And so now surai, Abraham's wife had not been able to bear children for him.

But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. And we know from what Ben shared with us a few weeks ago that what happened is that Sarah says, well, I can't have kids. So basically, she says, well, I can't have kids. So the way for Abraham to get an heir is actually going to be through our servant Hagar. And Ben talked about what happens with Hagar and Ishmael. But what's going on here? And what's happening is to put it in perspective, God has made this covenant with Abraham.

We assume that surai knows about the covenant that they actually have been kind of on the same page and that God has promised to give them an heir. God has promised that he will create all of these descendants. And then when we see in chapter 16, all of a sudden, Sarah's actually bummed for lack of a better word. But she's actually not really trusting. And what happens in there when Sarah goes and says, well, since I'm not able to have kids, I'm not actually getting pregnant, it's not really going to happen for me.

So what's going to happen here is God actually is going to give an heir and must happen through my servant. Now when I was rereading that this week, I was wrestling with that what happens right there for Sarah is that in that moment, that's actually an incredibly faithless choice for her. That what's happening for her there is that we have God who God has very clearly showed up and God has said, hey, I'm going to give you an heir.

And Abraham's like, no, I'm too old. So it's probably going to come through one of my servants, right? And God's like, no, it's going to be yours. And the language in there points to you that it's going to be yours from your marriage with Sarah. And then they go a few years down the road. And Sarah's like, well, God promised an heir, but it doesn't seem to be happening. So how can I make it happen? And so she actually takes this kind of like faithless approach where, I mean, I think it's almost like an approach of going, man, well, God promised this, but I don't see God

doing it. So how can I make it happen myself? And to put it in other words, I feel like in chapter 16, we see Sarah take a take like us. She makes an effort at kind of creating her own redemption story. And I don't know what that looks like for you, but I know that I connect with that because I think what happened for her is she woke up every day and felt the creak of being

old. And she looked at her old husband and she realized that years would keep going by. And God's promise didn't really seem to become into fruition. So almost probably felt like a natural place in her mind to go, well, if it's not coming, I don't see it happening. So let's make it happen, which is almost this oddly agnostic faithless choice that goes, well, God promised this, but it is up to me to actually pull it off and make it happen.

So what goes on in the story and then talked about Hagar and Ishmael a little bit, but it actually gets really stressful. It's really stressful between Sarahe and Hagar and it's kind of a stress point, actually almost forever. Interestingly enough, God actually maintains that he blesses all of them, but let's keep going. Okay, so chapter 17, I know we're going to jump every chapter, but I got too excited about this, so you're going to have to be excited about it with me.

So jump into chapter 17, right? God shows back up. Like the theme in this is that every few years, God actually visibly and presently shows back up to Abraham. And in chapter 17, God comes back again and at this point, Abraham is 99 years old, so Sarah is kind of pushing 90. And God appears in the beginning, he says, I'm El Shaddah, God almighty, serve me faithfully, live a blameless life, I will make a covenant with you by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.

Now, if you haven't caught it, this isn't new. Like, this is the same thing. So basically, God's coming back saying, hey, I'm still in that covenant with you. The game is still on. Plan is still ago. It's still happening. And when God shows up, Abraham falls down on his face and God goes on and says, this is my covenant with you, I'll make you the father of many, many nations. Right? He says, you will no longer be Abraham. Instead, you will be called Abraham, which the change of his name, Abraham, actually

links back in Hebrew to linking to the idea of having many descendants. So God has actually even kind of like upping the identity of the promise because he's going, man, not only am I telling you that I'm going to do it, your identity is now going to be wrapped up in it. I'm changing your name to describe you as one with a million kids. And Abraham is an old dude. He is 99. And his wife is old. She is 80.

And God keeps kind of like upping the ante. So what happens in verse 15? So in 1715, if you're following along, but then God said to Abraham, regarding Sarai, your wife, her name will no longer be Sarai. From now on, her name will be Sarah. And I will bless her and give you a son from her. Yes, I will bless her richly. And she will become the mother of many nations. She will become the matriarch of many nations.

Kings of nations will be among her descendants. That is a huge proclamation, right? That is a big deal, especially the way the Bible was written in the time. It was written. It is a big deal that God is saying, hey, this woman who is your wife is going to be given this incredible, incredible, incredible place of importance. Verse 17 is kind of the theme of what I want to talk about a little bit. So what happens next? It says, then Abraham bowed down to the ground.

So God says, hey, your wife, she no longer Sarai. She's Sarah. She's going to be the mother of many nations. And Abraham at this point, Abraham has been very faithful. He continues to be faithful. He'll be it very imperfectly. But we see him trying to follow the covenant. We see him being faithful. We see him in the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the

relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the

relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the relationship with the