Abraham’s Fatherhood, Sara’s Joy – Churchill-Gilford Pastoral Charge

“Abraham’s Fatherhood, Sarah’s Joy”
Krista’s Reflection on Father’s Day Sunday, June 18, 2023
Based on Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7) (God promises Abraham and Sarah a son)
Introduction to the Scriptures:
Last week God promised Abraham, a great name, land, and many descendants. And Abraham followed God’s call to the land of Canaan. Abraham did what he was told, but he was impatient.

God tells Abraham he will have a son by his wife Sarah, even though she is barren. Abraham doesn’t believe it and grows impatient, so he has a son with his wife’s handmaiden Hagar. But that is not what God promised.

This week, God comes to Abraham in the form of three men and tells him by this time next year his wife Sarah will have a son. Sarah is listening by the doorway, and she laughs. She doesn’t believe them either! Abraham is almost 100 years old, and Sarah 90. But God is full of surprises.

SERMON
My Story – Don’t Mess with Papa Bird
I love watching the birds this time of year. I have befriended a male robin in my yard at home to the point where I can step really close to him and say “Hello, Mr. Robin, how are you today?” and he listens and cocks his head and bounces closer to me. Then he goes about his business getting food for himself and doesn’t seem to mind me.
But this year as we prepare to move to the manse, I have a new greeter every time we get out of the car and step toward the side porch. Above the door, perched precariously over the door frame is a little nest. (Last year’s nest is discarded below.)
As soon as I approach the mama bird flies away, but the papa bird stays nearby on the fence and chirps at us repeatedly. Even when we go inside to the kitchen, he stares through the window as if warning us to stay away from his chicks!
We have not yet developed a close relationship, but I’m hopeful. It’s clear to me though, that the father’s job is to guard the nest and protect his chicks, bring food now and then, and take turns with the female (now that’s a nice form of equality – listen up gentlemen!). I’m hoping he will get to know us more, and let us come close and not freak out, but for now don’t mess with Papa bird!

Scriptures – Abraham Can’t Wait and Sarah Laughs
Fathers come in all shapes and sizes.
Birds, geese, dogs, cats, husbands, big brothers, grandfathers, uncles, extended relatives, teachers, guides, and mentors. This week we hear about Abraham who is nearly 100 years old and his wife Sarah almost 90 when they are promised a son. What you didn’t hear is the passage before this one, where God promises him a son, and that he will be the father of many nations. God promises that his wife Sarah will be the mother. But Abraham doesn’t believe it because they are old, so he falls to the floor and laughs! Abraham was impatient. Instead of waiting for God to fulfill the promise, he has a son with his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar, and he names this son Ishmael.

Twelve years later, three messengers of God (described as men or like angels) come to Abraham at his tent on a hot summer’s day, appearing as strangers. It was his duty to welcome them, and so he busily rushes into the tent to tell Sarah to make something to feed them. (Sounds like my grandfather who would chide my grandmother with, “what’s for dinner?”. I won’t pick on my dad today because he’s not here, otherwise it would be fair game.)
Then one of the men, the LORD (known as YHWH in the Old testament) tells Abraham that Sarah will have a son within a year. This time, it is Sarah who overhears the men talking – and SHE is the one who laughs! She is nearly 90 after all.
But the men are serious. And they tell Abraham so much. And later one of the men questions why Sarah laughed, and she lies about laughing, because she is so embarrassed.
God has the last laugh, because within a year, Sarah has a son. Thirteen years after God made the initial promise to Abraham. Churchill: (And just like Barry read to us last week, Abraham “circumcises him”).

What is the Meaning of the Story? for Us?
Now what could this story mean for us today? Very few of us will have the pleasure of having children in our 90s or even 100s. But if you look closer, it’s all about the promise.
God promises impossible things.
That’s why Abraham and Sarah both laughed.
They didn’t think it was possible.
They were too old.
Abraham solved the problem by having a child with someone much younger, but God said no, I’ll still bless that child, but it is a son you will have with SARAH. The one who is barren now. That’s what makes it special.
If it were possible, it wouldn’t be written about, and we wouldn’t be here today talking about it after 3500 years later.
God does what we consider “impossible” things.
God is also a “father.” God is very good at making plans and having them come to fruition. God likes to make things happen. God likes to create. And God likes to protect creation.

So if God wants to create a son from an old couple, it’s God’s prerogative!

What else can God do for us?
Sometimes we forget that God is our father/creator. We might think of God as an ambiguous force without a name, someone we don’t’ really know. Something mystical or mysterious that cannot be known. But that is not true.
Today God comes in the form of three visitors to Abraham. And one of them speaks and is addressed as “the LORD.”
God speaks and eats with us and gives us good news. God can do whatever God wants to. God can appear as a man, or a woman, a friend delivering good news, or even a loud robin giving me a hard time on the porch protecting his young.
Don’t mess with Papa bird!

Scripture – 1 Year Later
So after the three men leave Abraham and Sarah, a year passes, and Sarah has a son, Isaac, just like the men said. It’s a miracle! She is so overwhelmed with joy that she laughs all the time, and she says that many will laugh with her because of her joy.
God can do the impossible.
God can bring joy, even and especially in old age.

Final Story – My Nephew
My family received a joyful surprise about a two years ago, when we heard that my brother was about to be a father again after his first two boys were in their twenties. He was going to have a son, with his new wife, Maddalena.
I’m pretty sure I laughed. (He is four years older than me, so he’s about the age to expect his first grandchild!)
BUT instead of a grandchild, they were expecting a son. And My parents had four grandchildren already, and (my mother) was probably getting ready to expect great-grandchildren, But NO. They were going to have their fifth grandchild in 24 years – and I was to be an aunt again!

QUESTION: (How many of you here have great-grandchildren? And how many total grandchildren do you have?)
Yes, Fathers come in all ages, shapes, and sizes.

Closing image
Today is Father’s Day. And I am hopeful, that this time next year I will see a third nest perched over the door frame at the manse – and that same Papa bird will eye me from the fence and turn to his wife and laugh, because I never give up. And maybe we will be friends after all and have a nice, long chat.

Prayer
May God bless all the fathers in our life, big or small, old, or young, past, present. or future. And to those who are missing your fathers, brothers, husbands, sons – we give thanks and honour them today.

And let us not forget the ultimate father of us all, whom Jesus called Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name – and who never fails to surprise us, or make us laugh, even when we are very old. Amen.