Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : August 1, 2004
God Is Speaking. Are We Listening?
Pentecost 9
Obviously Abraham was a man of faith, as was Sarah, his wife. Certainly they had times when they didn't trust in God wholeheartedly, which we all do at times. Can you give any examples? (Abraham tried to pass Sarah off as his sister; had a son through Hagar.) Can you give any examples of how Abraham and Sarah showed their faith in God? (Left Ur for some land God would show him; ready to sacrifice Isaac.) On a scale of 1-10, where would you place Abraham's faith? This morning I'd like you to measure your faith. Where would you rate on a scale of 1-10? Would you be a 10, like Abraham, where you could say, "Faith is my middle name." Or would you be more of a 1, who could say, "Faith, what faith?"
Although we have some shining moments in our lives of faith, all too often we would tend to be ranking ourselves pretty low, don't you think? Instead if trusting God wholeheartedly through every pain and sickness and difficulty, we tend to worry; we tend to complain. Instead of building an altar to God in the good times, as Abraham often did, we tend to forget about God's gracious hand of blessing; we take his blessings for granted; we may even start to doubt his promise of salvation that Christ has done everything for us.
That's why we're going to look at a time in the life of Abraham to see how we can follow his example in his unwavering faith, his trust, in God and his promises. This morning God Is Speaking to us. Are we listening?
Abraham became a very wealthy man. He had thousands of sheep and cattle. He had all kinds of servants. He even had his own private army of 318 men. But he would have been the first one to tell you that he had it all as a result of God's love and grace to him. Does that mean that you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams if you are a believer in the true God? It certainly does. We might not be rich in the eyes of the world as Abraham was, but believers already have riches beyond their wildest dreams. Believers have heaven. We have forgiveness of sins. We have a clean conscience toward God. We have a hope that won't disappoint them. Many of us also have an amazing amount of earthly wealth. We have all of these simply because God loved us and opened his hand of blessing to us.
Abraham realized everything he had came from God's gracious hand. That's why he acted as he did when three men came to visit him one hot afternoon. In the hot, Middle Eastern climate, no one in their right mind would be traveling in the heat of the afternoon sun as the sun baked everything to a crisp. But that's when God chose to come to Abraham, accompanied by two angels. Did Abraham know that this was the Lord God as he made all these elaborate preparations for a feast for his visitors? We don't know. If he didn't right away, he certainly figured it out after his visitors had been there a while based on what they said. But it doesn't really matter if Abraham knew this was God in human form accompanied by two angels in human form. He was a model of faith in how he treated his guests. How did Abraham show great hospitality to his guests?
v. 2 -- he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
v. 3 -— referred to himself as "your servant" and to him as, "my lord" or "O Lord"
v. 4-5 —- offered water for their feet, "something to eat"
v. 6 -- Abraham hurried. "Quick," made a feast—bushel full of flour for bread
v. 7 -— "ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf
v. 8 -- "brought curds and milk; set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree."
It is obvious how Abraham treated his guests and the hospitality he showed. God tells us to do the same thing in Romans 12:12-13 -- "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." That isn't a problem for most of us. When we have guests in our house, we do these things. It's just being courteous.
Abraham went above and beyond when he practiced hospitality. Here he was, basically a king himself and fabulously wealthy, yet he saw no contradiction in bowing with his face to the ground and giving his guests a feast and humbly acting as their servant.
We mentioned before that we can't tell if Abraham knew his guests were heavenly visitors or not. But we do know of a Guest who is in our home every single day, the unseen Guest at every meal, during every football game, during every party, when you have your friends over. How do you treat your unseen Guest? How's your language? Do your actions show that you are a child of God? What about when your earthly guests leave your house, how do you talk about others? How is your devotional life? What do you spend your time doing when you are the only one there -- the only one besides your unseen Guest, that is?
When we get right down to it, we haven't treated the Lord very well, have we? And because of it, we deserve to be treated as the sinners we are -- with God shutting us out of his home, out of heaven, forever.
But when you and I fall before the Lord in repentance, an amazing thing happens. The Lord shows us just how much he was and is willing to serve you and me. In fact, the phrase in verse 14 sums it up well: "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" What you see in this account of Abraham is an account of your salvation history. These days many people are into genealogies trying to find their roots and family history. But in the Bible we have our family tree written for us, and we can trace it back to Abraham. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are descendants of Abraham through faith. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Here God promised to perform a miracle that would make it possible for you to have your sins forgiven and have heaven as your eternal home. He did that by promising to give two dead bodies life. As far as having children, Abraham and Sarah were too old -- he was 99 and she was 89. Abraham couldn't produce what would be necessary to fertilize an egg. And Sarah, besides being barren already, was past the age of being able to conceive -- she wasn't producing any eggs. But God made it happen. And a year later Isaac was born, the son of the promise, the ancestor of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
That's why God was at Abraham's tent. He had already told Abraham we was going to have a child from his own body through Sarah through whom the whole world would be blessed. Now he came and made sure Sarah knew that as well. So after Sarah was eavesdropping and overheard the promise God made to Abraham, and after she laughed to herself in her failure to believe it, God said, "Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
But God had been assuring us of his promise of salvtion since creation, so it shouldn't surprise us. He saved Adam and Even instead of allowing the world to die in sin when he promised the Savior. He saved Noah and his family when the sum total of all believers in the world was eight out of millions and probably billions. After Abraham and Sarah, he saved the entire family from famine by having Joseph become 2nd in command in Egypt. He led the people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, a picture of our heavenly home. He raised up faithful servants to preserve his Word even in times of horrible ungodliness. He kept Josiah safe when he was the only descendant left alive in the Savior's family line. He kept them through captivity and hardship all the way to Jesus' birth some 2000 years after Abraham. And here we are, gathering as believers because God the Holy Spirit brought us from death to life through the wonderful promise of the gospel, which is based on the death of his Son Jesus for the sins of the world, and proven by God raising Jesus from the dead to life.
God has been performing miracles throughout history to make sure you get to heaven. That's what the message in the Bible is all about. God is speaking to you about what he did to save you by sending his Son. Jesus took all your sins that only you know about -- the ones that you commit in the privacy of your own home -- and he nailed them to the cross and paid for them all. Not one sin can condemn you now. Your sins are forgiven. That is God's promise to you. Are you listening to God's promise of salvation?
If you are, it will be evident. What happens when you face roadblocks in your life that test your faith? When you discover that you are facing all kinds of medical problems, maybe even radiation or chemotherapy for cancer, are you listening to the Lord? He says that your spiritual cancer has been cut out completely -- "by Jesus' wounds you have been healed."
In a recent movie about the Civil War, some evil men wanted a family's land. The family was made up of a kind older couple who had two grown sons who were off fighting in the war. The evil men put themselves into positions of power to punish deserters from the war. When the two sons came home, these evil men shot and killed the wife's husband and two sons in front of her very eyes, and tortured the woman and left her for dead. She survived, but she never laughed again. How could a person endure such pain? Maybe you know someone who has been through something like that, and maybe that person is you. After enduring tragedy after tragedy -- one horrible thing after another -- how could you endure such pain? God is speaking. Are you listening? In Revelation 21:4 he says, "I will wipe every tear from your eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." In Psalm 23 God is speaking as well: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me…Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." (Psalm 23:4,6) He also says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." If you are enduring such pain and tragedy in your life, listen to God speaking to you, speaking promises of blessing.
When you are on your deathbed -- even though you are surrounded by friends and family who are there for you to show they love, they can't do anything for you to get you where you want to go. Now you will find out what happens after death. So many ideas -- does Christianity have it right? Is there only heaven or hell for you? And if that's what it is, can you be sure you're going to heaven? Have you done enough? It just seems too simple and easy to think that Jesus did everything for you -- that all your sins are paid for. Can it be true?
God is speaking. Are you listening? God says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:25-26) Is anything too hard for the Lord? No. Nothing. He paid the full price for you sins. They're gone. God says so. Jesus did it all. Trust in him for your salvation. Trust in him for everything else in life as well. Amen.
