Trinity Lutheran Church

(Pastor Mike finds a note on the pulpit…it reads…)

Dear Pastor Mike,
 Found this in the yard when I was digging bones…it says it’s the story of Sarah. Thought it might help today…Love, J.J.

 In the backyard? A story of Sarah? Well, might as well look at it…I guess it can’t hurt…

 And Sarah (I guess?) writes…

 The first thing I really knew of my husband’s god was this: Abraham came into my tent and said, “We’re moving.” When I asked, “Why?” He responded, “’Yahweh,’ God, says we must move.”

 You have to understand that until Abraham was called by Yahweh, we worshiped many gods.

 By the way, this is absolutely the truth. Every family in the ancient world had gods—some of them were shared, of course, but each family had gods they held especially close…

 You have to understand that until Abraham was called by Yahweh, we worshiped many Gods. Everyone did. Oh, I know that Abraham talks like he’s never worshiped another god, but we all did when we were young. And Yahweh? Yahweh was one of them out of many. We all even had favorites, gods we particularly liked to worship, and Yahweh had never really been one of mine. We didn’t know much about him—and when Abraham announced to the family that he was leaving to follow Yahweh, they all thought he’d gone crazy.

 Well, they probably did. Why look to one god when you could pray to lots?! If you got one god mad at you could just pray to another! Right? It made sense…in its kinda silly way.

 I was concerned about a lot of things. First, Abraham said that from now on, we would only worship Yahweh, for he was the one true God. That worried me—what if the other gods became angry at us for ignoring them? It’s hard for you to imagine what that felt like—you’re used to having just one God—but I had grown up with many. And I was afraid that the other gods might turn on us if we ignored them.

 Well, that makes sense, too. Sarah, and probably Abraham, didn’t stop believing there were other gods when God called—just that our God was the greatest. So that would be tough…and she probably was afraid. Besides, God was talking to Abraham—not to her!

 I was also afraid because we were leaving the safety of our family to strike out on our own. Without the protection of family, we were vulnerable to attack. And if we were attacked, there would be no one to come to our aid. No one, I guess, but Abraham’s God. Abraham himself was not much of a fighter, so I was uncomfortable depending just on him.

 My fears were well warranted. When Abraham ran into Pharaoh in Egypt, he said I was his sister and gave me to the man as a bride! Only God undid that mess, and believe me, it was very embarrassing. But it was at that point, when I saw how Yahweh undid the mess that Abraham had created, that I started to believe that perhaps all this talking to God Abraham was doing was real.

 Well, at least at the beginning, Abraham was kind of a coward. Sarah was really beautiful…and, to protect himself, he not only passed her of as his sister once—he did it twice! But God did come, both times, and saved the day…

 Oh…hey, she’s getting to our story “today…”
 
 God had told Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, that all nations of the world would be blessed through him. I wondered about God’s choice of Abraham, but I also realized that, if Abraham was going to be the father of a nation, that meant that I was going its mother. But…I couldn’t conceive a child.

 Years went by, we were getting old, and rich, but no babies came. I became desperate, and gave Abraham my servant, Hagar, to conceive for me. He wasn’t much interested, but he was getting worried, too, and so he consented. The baby was, by rights, my baby. That’s the way it works, if your husband has a child by your servant, it’s your child.

 That was, by the way, the way it worked in those times. It was cruel…but women, and children, were pretty much property. That didn’t change until Jesus began the change…and the change wasn’t complete until, what? the 1900’s for us? And it still isn’t complete in some parts of the world. (PAUSE)Sarah goes on…

 I didn’t want anything to do, of course, with the little brat. And Hagar…she started acting more like the head of the household than the servant. She started the minute she got pregnant…flaunting her belly before my eyes every chance she got. It enraged me…but our house had no other heir.

 Well, accurate again…this was not a happy time for anyone in the household…except for Hagar…

 Then, God met us on the road…at least I think it was Yahweh. Three men…angels, met us…or perhaps it was God and two angels, we weren’t sure. But we served them as honored guests, and they told Abraham that, next year at that time, I would have a son.

 I overheard the conversation from my tent, and I laughed! And why wouldn’t I? I was old, my husband never touched me anymore…we had both given up. I laughed, but then I shuddered, because they heard me. One of the men said, “Why did Sarah laugh?” and I tried to deny it, but they knew I had. Still…they weren’t really angry. They simply said I would have a child.

 And Sarah laughed. Sarah laughed. I remember being little in Sunday School and our teachers would wag their fingers and say, “Why, Sarah? Why, why, why, would you laugh? Why?”

 Because it was funny!

 (Duh!)

 And it was so. We had a baby. A beautiful child I named “Isaac,” which means “laughter.” I wasted no time getting Hagar and her son out of the house. Abraham says that God has promised that her boy, Ishmael, will also be the father of a great nation, but I don’t care. I just wanted them out of my sight so that the rightful son would have what he deserves.

 Not Sarah’s finest moment, but accurate again. And as for Ishmael—the world of Islam calls him father…

 Yahweh…I didn’t think much of him at first, but he has indeed come to my life, and made us people of promise. I still don’t know what we did to deserve it….We really didn’t deserve it. But he has done what he promised, and I know he will do more.   

 He has done what he promised…and he will do more.
I guess that’s the story of Abraham and Sarah in a nutshell…but it’s our story, too.

 Our God has done what God promised…and keeps doing more. Even when we don’t deserve it.

 This story of Sarah…Is it real? How could it be?
 
 But it is interesting. And it is good to look at things from another angle…because when you look at any story in a new way, you tend to see a lot of truth. And the truth is, God brought the promise, and like Sarah we have to hold to that promise and make it part of our lives. We have to hold to it and trust that God will be there when we do.

 Oh yeah, and the truth is, God made Sarah laugh. And through that promise we have been laughing ever since…