Nothing is Impossible for God - Pastor Tom Loghry
In Genesis 18, we see Sarah doubt the promise of God because of the impossibility of it from a human point of view.
Transcript:
We all love stories where people defy the odds. We are captivated by the story of a mom that lifts her car to save her child. It's far less surprising when it's a backhoe that lifts the car. We expect the backhoe can do that. We don't expect the mom can do that. In Genesis 18, we are presented with a different set of seemingly impossible circumstances.
Sarah has been unable to conceive a child and now she's past the age of bearing children. There are no human solutions. It's an impossible situation. But Abraham, Sarah and their household are in a covenant relationship with God. He is their God, and they are his people. What is impossible to humans is possible for God.
God can give her a child. Like a backhoe easily lifting a car. God's power should be apparent to Abraham and Sarah. But we find their vision obscured by their past disappointment. It's late in the third quarter. What can be done now?
Going to Genesis 18. Looking at verse 1. Moses tells us this. 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. 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.
He said, If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 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. So, something that we're reminded of as we look at this chapter is that we do have a narrator's point of view here. And the narrator is Moses, who wrote the book of Genesis, inspired by God. And we see at the outset that Moses notes that this is a divine encounter. He says, the LORD appeared to Abraham.
And when you see the LORD in all caps, again, that's just a designation in the English, through using all caps for, this is the Hebrew word Yahweh. This is the personal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel. So the God of Abraham has come to meet him. Now, this isn't, this isn't unprecedented, for God to come in a bodily form to meet someone. We saw this happen in Genesis 16 with Hagar and the angel of the Lord who came to her. And what we have here then is God appearing to Abraham in human form with an entourage. Now, it's, it's three men. It appears as three men. And initially, you know, if you're thinking, you're like, okay, I'm a Christian, I understand God is three in person, one in being.
So this is the Trinity. You'd be, you might tend to think that. , But it doesn't seem that that's the case. It seems as though that one of these men is God personified in the form of a human being. Likely, what we're talking about here is the son, pre incarnate. And then the two others are attending angels, messengers that are with him. And we, and we see this clarified in Genesis 18 and 19 as these two are sent to Sodom and Gomorrah. And it's not indicated that they are the Lord. So it seems like one of these speakers is the Lord. The two others are attending, angels. Now, Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent and all of a sudden he sees these three guys.
Apparently it was kind of like they just appeared out of nowhere. He didn't notice them. But when he saw them, he rushed to meet them, and bowed before them, because apparently there was, there was something about them, apart from them just simply being strangers and guests before Abraham's presence, there, there was something that must have struck him as being particularly noble.
He calls at least one of them, my lord. Now you notice there in the text that the word for Lord there is not in all caps. That's because it's a different word, it's Adonai, or otherwise you may have heard the word Adonai. And this is a more generic form of Lord, it can certainly apply to God, but you could also call just any other human king Lord, Adonai.
And so Abraham feels honored. He has these strangers who've come along. It appears as though they've been traveling. And they appear to have some royal bearing about them. And he has the opportunity to host them as his guests. And so, he goes before them and says, Hey, come rest under the, I got these great trees here. Come, come rest. Wash your feet. Get the dust off ya. And I'm going to do, and I'm going to serve you basically hand and foot. And what we see being kind of manifested here is the value of hospitality. That's a value of hospitality is a value that, um, is very highly prized in many cultures across the world, especially in Eastern cultures.
It continues to be so today. Unfortunately, I think we've seen it kind of dip off here in the West. But it's interesting when you meet people from other cultures. I remember I would go to my best friend's house and his, his mother was from Cambodia and whenever I would go there, I would eat well, she would just like insist on just like filling me up with food because she wanted, she was trying to show me hospitality.
And that's the value that Abraham is manifesting here. This value of welcoming in the stranger and caring for them. So we see in verse 6, Abraham go about preparing the snack that he agreed to basically offer them. But it's much more than that. He says it. It says, so Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get threes seahs of the finest flour and knead it, and bake some bread. Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice tender calf, and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it, and then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and sent these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
So Abraham goes into the tent. I know my wife would kill me if I rushed in like this. And I was like, we gotta prepare a huge meal. We've got some guests here. And he said, And just to have an understanding of how huge this meal is, three seahs equals twenty quarts of flour. Like, that's a lot of bread. Like, he's putting on a legit feast for these men.
And he's also bringing them fresh meat. Now, they didn't have freezers and stuff like that to be able to just easily just have meat on hand. So, it was a, somewhat of a delicacy that, , he was going to slaughter this calf and give these guys a fresh meal, meal of beef. So he, so when he said he was going to give them some food, you know, your initial impression is like maybe he'll just give them a little bit of bread with butter or something.
But he was completely under, underplaying it. He intends to give them the very best. And he intends to serve them. You see them, they're sitting at this tree, eating. He's just standing by. Like, he's ready to serve. And again, we see again, just this, this value of, of hospitality. That Abraham is manifesting here.
And the New Testament writers pick up on this. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, encourages us in Hebrews 13 to, it says, Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. And so obviously in the case of Abraham, he was serving angels, he was in fact serving, serving God.
It also reminds us of what Jesus tells us that, Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me. If you find someone that's hungry or thirsty, in need of shelter, whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me. And so, the value of hospitality that we see Abraham living out here is a value that we ourselves ought to try to cultivate.
in our own lives, especially amongst ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ, inviting each other into each other's homes, and also to those strangers that we might meet. Um, one of the defining characteristics that we should be known for is, you know, the people of Rockland Community Church are very hospitable people.
They're just very welcoming. Not just into our church building, but into our lives, and into our homes. So as this meal is spread before these three visitors, and they partake and eat, they ask a curious question. Verse 9 says, Where is your wife Sarah, they asked him. There in the tent, he said. 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. And Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So just kind of out of the blue, they ask, Where is your wife Sarah? Now we have no indication up to this point that Abraham had told them the name of his wife.
And so, if he was going to get any sort of impression that this was a divine visitation, it would begin here because they know the name of his wife. And they ask, you know, where is she? And he says, well, she's there in the tent. Now, you might begin wondering, well, why was she in the tent? Why hadn't she come out at this point?
And there's no clear and obvious reason why. There's been some speculation among the commentators. One is that, traditionally there, there is often some separation between the men and the women in the Near East. One commentator actually suggested that, maybe God had already begun to show her a sign of the restoration of her fertility.
Because she was past the age of childbearing. It was basically indicated that she'd gone into menopause. In that traditional culture, when a woman was going through her period, she was to actually separate herself and stay in a tent away from everyone. And maybe she had gotten, maybe that had been restored and she'd already begun wondering.
That's, that's very speculative. But it's kind of interesting in as far as just trying to answer this question, why was she away? But in any case, she is away and they're asking, and they seem to know something about her even though these guys are, are strangers. And what this does is it sets up the message that they're going to deliver here, which is I will surely return to you about this time next year. And Sarah, your wife, will have a son. Now, this isn't news to Abraham. Remember, Abraham was already told this in Genesis 17. So why are they coming and saying, giving this message again? Well, who else is listening? Sarah. Sarah's listening. So, this message isn't, it doesn't seem that this message is primarily for Abraham.
It's for Sarah. And what this reminds us is that God sees Sarah. Now, we already talked about how God saw Hagar. God also sees Sarah. It's not all about the men. It's not all about Abraham. Sarah's not merely just this vessel to be used. She's a real person. And God wants her to believe and trust in His promises.
Frankly, though, it's very difficult for both her and Abraham because they are old. She has gone into menopause. And this is what leads her to laugh at the notion that she could possibly have a baby. So we see in verses 12 through 15 how she says, So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I'm worn out, my Lord is old will I now have this pleasure.
Then the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, will I really have a child now that I'm old. Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son. And that's where she gets afraid and says, I did not laugh. He says, yes, you did laugh.
Now, by this point, as they are speaking, Abraham knows that this is the Lord speaking. Because we see that the speaker refers to himself basically as anything too hard for the Lord. And he's speaking in the same way that the Lord has already spoken to Abraham. So, the mask has been removed pretty much completely now.
Now what we see here with Sarah laughing. It's, it's a sort of laugh that is cynical kind of nature that says like, this is ridiculous. How could this possibly happen?
But why would she have such little faith? Because of her past experience, because of the difficulty that she's had. But as God tells her here, is anything too hard for the Lord? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
She has a barren womb, but that's not too hard for the Lord. He can give her a child. And I think there's a bit of a parallel for us here as we think about Sarah's barren womb in our own lives. Because when we think about our lives, our lives in and of themselves are barren. They bring forth no good fruit.
There is no life in us. And in fact, there needs to be a birth. We need to be born again. This is what Jesus says to the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3, verses 3 through 9, and he's met with the same sort of disbelief. Jesus tells him, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God. Unless they are born again.
How can someone be born when they are old? Nicodemus asks. Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born. Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit.
You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. How can this be? Nicodemus asks. So you see that same kind of, like, questioning on the part of Nicodemus that we see with Sarah.
It's like, how can this be possible that a person can be born again? Now, what Jesus makes clear is that this is a birth that is made possible through himself. He says, whoever believes in me shall be saved. And Paul tells us that... This promise is indeed fulfilled in Christ. That it is in fact in Him that we are made alive again.
In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 21 through 22, it says, For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. So we have the promise that we will be born again. We will be made alive. And this promise includes not just a spiritual rebirth, but a material, physical rebirth.
Paul tells us in Philippians 3, verses 20 through 21. But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
It's difficult for us to imagine how our bodies will be anything different than what they already are. And the nature of our lives is we are born, we have a bit of strength, and then we just go into greater and greater weakness. Yet somehow, somehow, we will be raised and be given glorious bodies just like the body that Jesus has.
How is that possible? It's by... That same power that enables Jesus to bring everything under his control. Included with this promise that we're born again, that we have this new life, that we have these restored bodies, we have also this promise that we will dwell with God. That we will live with Him forever.
In Revelation 21 verses 3 through 4. John testifies saying, I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that?
It's difficult to imagine. It's difficult to imagine a day in which there will be no more pain, or death, crying, suffering. It's difficult to imagine a day when we will live with God. We will actually live with Him. But all of this is possible by the power of God. And so Sarah's been given a promise that she will receive this son.
Doesn't seem possible, but it's gonna happen because everything's possible with God. And we too have received a promise. We have received a promise that in Christ we will be born again, that we are in fact born again. And that this new birth is not limited spiritually but will manifest itself physically and will ultimately culminate in us living in a new order of things.
Because the old order will have passed away. Not possible by human power, but possible by God's power.
God makes the impossible possible. He's able to overcome our condition. And we just have to remember, I think, how miraculous it is that God has Restored us in relationship to himself. When you've been in the faith for a while, we kind of tend to think, well, like, I'm a half decent person. And we can tend to kind of minimize the, just how miraculous it is that you believe in Jesus.
That you're seeking to follow God. But the fact is, is that it is miraculous that you're here today. And it will take a miracle for any other person to believe and follow Jesus Christ. But it is possible because of, by the power of God. Paul testifies to this miracle that has occurred in our lives and can occur in the lives of other people.
In Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 5, Paul says, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the great cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions. It is by grace you've been saved. It's by grace you have been saved. It's not by any goodness that is found within you that we are saved.
Remembering that it's by grace that we are saved is important because I think sometimes we look at other people around us and we think, well that person couldn't be saved. It's like I've spent too much time with them. Like I can't imagine them darkening the door of a church. And maybe you've prayed for this person for a while.
You've tried sharing, you know, some of the truth of the gospel with them at various points, and they've been like, no, no.
And so you give up. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't exercise wisdom about when you speak with people, when you don't, and all of that. What we should not do is give up. We should not say that it is impossible for that person to be reached by God. Because then we are limiting God to human possibilities instead of having confidence in his divine power.
And in the same, by the same token, we need to have confidence that God can in fact use us. As weak as we are. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 verses 26 30 says, Brothers and sisters, Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential. Not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world, and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is, our righteousness.
God can use weak people like us for his glory.
He can use weak people like us to reach other people who are dead in their transgressions and sins.
And I think what we need to do is get beyond just thinking about this theoretically. So I think everyone, almost everyone here at least would say. Well, theoretically, of course, God can do these things. It's possible that God would do these things. But will He, in fact, do it? Will He, in fact, use you? Will He, in fact, reach the person that you know who seems so far gone, like it's impossible, they would never believe in Jesus?
Will He do it? I think we need to begin expecting that God would do those things that seem impossible to us. Jesus told his disciples in Mark 10 that it was very difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And,
when he told them that, the disciples were like, well, can anyone get in? Because they thought people who were rich were probably pretty good because God had blessed them. Jesus looked at them and said, with man this is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God.
We need to have that sort of attitude and understanding that all things are possible with God. And we can see Sarah begin to turn here in the text.
She, she's probably wondering how these guys knew how the speaker knew that she had laughed. And, she said, oh no, I, you know, I, I didn't laugh. Because now she's afraid, because she understands that this is, at the very least, a divine messenger. And it leads her to deny. But then God says, yes, you did laugh.
She did laugh.
And this leads us to ask the question of ourselves. Do you laugh?
I think there are many Christians who laugh in New England, not with joy, but with cynicism. They will never believe, we think, our friend, neighbor, relative, whoever they may be, simply beyond God's reach. I do not possess God's foreknowledge. I do not know who will be counted amongst God's sheep on the last day, but I can tell you this.
That notion is a demonic lie. It denies the power of God. It denies that your own salvation is a miracle, as though you are not a piece of work yourself.
God's word is foolish in the eyes of the world. But it comes to us with unyielding, unstoppable power, strong enough to pierce the sinner's heart.
In Isaiah 55, 10 through 11, the prophet Isaiah speaks, saying, As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish. So that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
This is the Lord speaking, saying this. This word will go out and it will not return empty. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that God's word is the sword of the spirit and God has placed his sword in the hand of the Christian. The power of God is placed in your hands, but will you wield it?
I take courage because I have met Christians who are raising the sword. I met Christians in our state who believe that nothing is too hard. Nothing is too difficult. Nothing is impossible for our God. We can join them. We can go beyond theory and believe that God will act because God, Christ has promised us this before his ascent.
Jesus told us. That we will receive the power of the Spirit. That we will be His witnesses in the ends of the earth. That He will be with us, to the very end of the age. We have been given the power of God. Will you laugh? Or will you believe?
God knows your response. Let us pray.
Dear Father,
You are all powerful. Everything is possible for You. Nothing is impossible. Father, we pray that You would help us to trust in Your power. That we would not laugh cynically, thinking that something is too hard for You. Father, we pray that as we look upon our neighbors in our society. As we look upon our neighbors, those people in our family, and we think they just won't come to God, they just won't ever believe.
We pray, Father, that you would confront us with your power. That you would remind us that nothing is too difficult for you. And that Father, we would submit ourselves to you as your servants, as weak as we are, believing that you can use people like us for your glory, to bring people who've gone astray back to your side through Jesus Christ.
Father, I pray that you would help us individually and together as a church. To step out in faith, believing in your power, not just theoretically, but expectantly. that you will act, that you will be true to your word. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us this Sunday, as we continue our sermon series looking at the Bible's account of Abraham.
It's our joy to welcome you into our community.
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)