Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7
Midweek Advent 1
✠ In the name of Jesus ✠
Both Abraham and Sarah at first had laughed at God’s Word. In the chapter before today’s first reading, Genesis 17, when God told Abraham that Sarah would bear a child for him, it is written that he fell on his face laughing. Then in Genesis 18, Sarah does much the same thing, even though she foolishly tries to deny to God that she had laughed. The idea of Sarah having a child seemed preposterous both to her and her husband. For “the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.” She was past the time when she could conceive and bear a child. How could a worn-out wife and a husband who was as good as dead, as St. Paul puts it in Romans 4–how could they be the ones to bring the promised offspring into the world?
Abraham and Sarah had grown old and weary waiting for God to fulfill His promise–the promise that God would make of Abraham a great nation, that all families of the earth would be blessed through him, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. We know they had grown impatient because they tried to come up with their own way of fulfilling the promise, when Abraham went in to Hagar the maidservant and conceived a child by her. Abraham was convinced that this Ishmael was the promised son. However, God’s promise would not be fulfilled by human wisdom and manipulation.
Let us all learn from this, especially when we begin to grow weary and impatient waiting for the Lord to fulfill His Word. For we, too, can be tempted to think that there are ways around God’s Word that get us to the desired goal, trusting in our own ideas and our own forms of spirituality. We can even begin to doubt if the promise is actually real. Our fallen nature laughs at the idea of simply trusting in God to fulfill His Word and waiting on Him; our old Adam scoffs at the notion of living by faith in the Lord, especially when what He says and promises seems literally inconceivable. Let us repent of this unbelief. All things are possible with the God who made the heavens and the earth.
The Lord first made His promises to Abraham when he was 75. Now he’s 99 and Sarah is 90. They had waited a long time without a lot to show for it. The Lord also makes you wait, too. Prayers sometimes seem to go unanswered. The Lord delays in His return to bring your redemption to fulfillment. The days can drag by slowly. But this is not without purpose or reason. The Lord is not apathetic; nor is He slow to fulfill His Word. Rather, He is longsuffering and patient toward you, not wanting any to perish. In order to save you, He allows you to be brought low, so that you may despair of yourself and your wisdom and your works, so that you have nothing left to hold onto but Him and His Word.
It is precisely when we can contribute nothing, when the situation is humanly impossible, that the power of God’s Word and the glory of His work are shown most clearly. When we are brought to nothing, God and His gracious giving are everything. For the true God, the Holy Trinity, is the one who creates out of nothing. He brings light out of darkness, life out of death, faith out of unbelief. He chooses that which is weak and foolish, even things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no one may boast in His presence (1 Cor. 1:27-28). God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). The fact that it was humanly impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a child actually made this the perfect divinely prepared moment, the appointed time for them to be given a son.
As it was with the birth of Isaac, so it is with the birth of Jesus. “When the fullness of time had come, [after centuries of waiting], God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). God had said to Sarah, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” And the angel would say to Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). With God all things are indeed possible (Mt. 19:26)—even the Virgin birth of the Savior without any contribution from a man, even the salvation of us sinners without any contribution of our own works (Rom. 3:28). The Lord did not pass by His servant Abraham (18:3), and neither does He pass by His people today. He shows us favor and comes to us in the fellowship of His holy meal. As Abraham offered water to the Lord for the washing of feet and invited him to rest under the tree, so Jesus washed the disciples’ feet before going to the tree of the cross and resting in the tomb. By dying and rising, Jesus does what is too hard for man. The Incarnate One alone defeats death and the devil. In the shadow of the cross, under that tree we find rest and peace and hope.
The name Isaac means “he laughs.” What a fitting name that is! For laughter surrounds the life of this child, both for good and ill. Although Abraham and Sarah had laughed disbelievingly when the Lord had first spoken of Isaac’s birth, their snickering was turned to joyous believing merriment when the Lord visited Sarah and did as He had promised and brought life to them even in the face of death.
And that’s how it is for you, too. Isaac, the son of the father, is a picture of Jesus. Though the Lord was laughed at and mocked in His suffering, though you at times have had your doubts, His incarnation and death and resurrection now bring you joy and laughter in the knowledge that you are reconciled to God. You are rescued from Satan’s captivity, and you are right with God and an heir of His kingdom.
God’s Word is true, whether or not it is immediately believed. The Lord is faithful and does what He says. The Lord carries on to completion the good work He begins in us (Phil. 1:6). Though we are filled with uncertainty, God’s Word is powerful to turn unbelief to confident faith and scoffing to joy. He is at work constantly through His Word to strengthen our faith in Him.
And don’t ever forget that all of you who believe are also children of Abraham. For Abraham was father to Isaac, Isaac was father to Jacob, Jacob’s 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel, out of Israel came the Messiah Jesus, and you have been baptized into Christ; you are one with Him by faith. Therefore Abraham truly is your father as Christians. It is written, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise.” Just as Abraham was accounted righteous before God by faith, so are you who trust in God’s promises in Christ.
So especially during this Advent tide, let us wait on the Lord in humble faith. Let us hope in Him. For the Son of the Father, Jesus, brings you laughter in the forgiveness of your sins. The long-awaited promise of the Savior has been fulfilled. In Him you are set free from sin and fear and death. In Him you have hope in the midst of this fallen world. With the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption, and He will bring to fulfillment all the promises that He has made to you. Take Mary as your example and say in simple and humble faith, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
✠ In the name of Jesus ✠