12th August 2007 - 10th Sunday after Trinity

On Friday I conducted the wedding of a couple at St Mary’s Church. It was particularly special for me because I have been a friend of the bride for over 20 years. The groom is in his late 60s and was widowed many years ago when he was relatively young. What was so lovely, was the whole atmosphere in the Church, which was packed, and afterwards at the reception. The couple’s wonderful happiness and sense anticipation for their new life together. It felt like the wedding of a young couple just setting out in life. I think this was because neither bride nor groom, who had both been single for many years, ever expected to fall in love and find someone who they would share the rest of their lives with. There was a tangible sense in the church that the couple were, in being married, fulfilling God’s purposes for them both.

It gave me a glimpse of how Abraham and Sarah must have felt when God announced to them that they would have a son and heir. God’s revelation to them is spread over three chapters of Genesis. Our reading today is just the beginning. The couple were in their nineties, long resigned to the fact that they would never bear children. But God tells Abraham that Sarah will give him a son. Abraham’s response to this news is not particularly devout. We are told ‘Abraham fell on his face and laughed’. The story continues for another chapter when God’s promise is finally overheard by Sarah. And we hear her response ‘So Sarah laughed to herself “After I have grown old shall I have such pleasure.’”’ The Lord asks Abraham – why does Sarah laugh … is anything too wonderful for the Lord?

Genesis is not considered by most people to be historical in the sense that we understand history today. It is more the story of the faith of the Hebrew people and how God chose to become involved in their life. So our potential disbelief about the idea of a 90 year old having a child should not concern us. The story of Abraham and Sarah is the beginning of a response by the Hebrew people to God’s presence and the conviction that God does indeed do wonderful things when we respond to him in faith. Ultimately Abraham and Sarah were people of deep faith, and they did, as God promised, have their son, Isaac.

Most may not consider Genesis historical, but there is no doubt that in the story of God’s involvement with his people wonderful things certainly do happen. None more wonderful of course than the gift to us of God’s son, Jesus Christ. Our readings from Hebrews and Luke provide more teaching on the need for faith and the potential for the genuinely unexpected pleasure that God can bring us.

Faith, we are told by the writer of Hebrews, is ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things never seen’. Through our engagement with the story of God’s involvement with his people, in both Old and New Testaments, we hear of people who are part of God’s plan. From the patriarchs through to the disciples and St Paul, we read of people who do not see the completion of God’s plan but know enough to be excited by it. The story has continued down the ages. We know that God’s plan is not yet fulfilled. But as Christians we live in the knowledge that we are part of his ongoing transformation of individual lives and in turn of our world.

One commentator writes that the Hebrew’s passage about the story of Abraham makes ‘faith the air that Christians must breathe to live.‘ Faith in this context means being conscious of our place in the continuing work of God. This consciousness is based on firm knowledge. And yet there is also tension because, as Jesus warns us in the gospel reading from Luke, we do not know what our future with God holds for us. So part of our faith is placing our trust in God’s unexpected ways of doing things. But if we are to breathe this air of faith then we have to intentionally make space for it in our lives. Jesus, speaking to his small band of disciples, told them to give up everything for God – ‘for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

Our treasure, the most important thing in our lives, is our faith – the air we breath to make us live. It means being God centred in the way that we lead our lives. In so far as we are able, all of our relationships should reflect the love and faithfulness we receive from God. And our values should be shaped to God’s purposes, as we understand them to be. Because this way of living prepares us for God’s unexpected intervention. God’s unexpected gift of a child to Abraham and Sarah. God’s unexpected gift of love to my friends who were married last Friday.

If we look carefully at the passage from Luke we get a glimpse of the unexpected promise of faith. In Jesus analogy we are the servants waiting for our master to return, ready to open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. He comes during the middle of the night – and what happens? The master commands the servants to sit down to eat and to be served by him. So God comes to us at unexpected times. He can bring comfort in times of hardship or sorrow, and joy when we thought it impossible. Be prepared, like Abraham and Sarag, to laugh then remember – is anything too wonderful for the Lord.

© Robert Jenkins August 2007