Sarah Genesis 21:1-7 Pastor Wayne Puls, Senior

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August 21, 2016 Under Construction: Sarah Genesis 21:1-7 Pastor Wayne Puls, Senior Pastor at Hope Lutheran Church (to someone up front) I promise you that this sermon will not go past fifteen minutes. Do you believe me? When someone promises you something, do you always believe wholeheartedly that promise will come true? If your roofing contractor says to you, “I’ll be there Tuesday morning,” are you sure he’s going to show up? You call and order a pizza, and the lady says, “Your order will be ready in fifteen minutes.” Will it? What if your kids promise you that they’ll clean their rooms, do their homework, or brush their teeth? Do you have 100% trust in those promises? The politicians running for office are promising all kinds of things, right? Do you have total confidence in all their promises? You stand at the altar, and make marriage promises with your spouse. What about those promises? Are you keeping them every single day? When you think about it, our lives in many ways revolve around the promises that we make to each other. But so many of our promises aren’t kept. So often we disappoint each other when we make promises. When people make promises, they don’t always follow through, do they? So when we hear promises given by our kids, by the roofing guy, by the politicians, even promises given by our husbands and wives, often we’re somewhat skeptical about those 1

promises. We want to believe that people are going to do what they promise to do; but reason tells us -- experience tells us -- that maybe we should just believe it when we see it. That’s pretty much what happened to Sarah, our Bible character for today. This woman, Sarah, lived thousands of years ago in the Old Testament era. She ended up being very famous. Sarah ended up becoming the matriarch of a huge family that quickly multiplied into a large nation, the Israelites, God’s chosen people. Sarah ended up as an ancestor and progenitor of God’s Messiah, the world’s Savior, Jesus Christ, who came out of her family. Sarah’s story ended up great. But, along the way, Sarah sure did struggle. She and her husband Abraham had a series of adventures and misadventures. But God didn’t give up on them. He kept working on them, kept blessing them, and you can read their remarkable story in Genesis chapters 12-25. The really important part of Sarah’s story, though, is when God one day makes a promise to her. The Lord had promised her husband years before that he would have a son, and that his descendants would grow to become a mighty nation. But Abraham and Sarah are not able to have children, and now they’re getting really old. So Sarah, at one point, tells her husband, “God isn’t allowing me to have a baby. Go have a baby with my servant girl, Hagar.” And he does, proving in a very messy fashion that husbands shouldn’t always listen to their wives. But God comes to Abraham again, and he says, “That’s not what I promised. You are going to have a son with Sarah, your wife.” Now, by this time, Abraham is ninety-nine years old. And Sarah is eighty-nine years old! Abraham has a hard time believing it. But this is God talking. This isn’t Ryan 2

Lochte telling a story; or Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton making a campaign promise; or your roofing contractor, or even your beloved spouse promising something. This is almighty, all-knowing God making a promise! And when he repeats that incredible promise, “Sarah, in her old age, is going to have a baby,” Sarah hears that promise. And what does Sarah do? She laughs. She laughs! She thinks it’s hilarious. Sarah thinks, “There’s no way that this promise is coming true. It’s impossible for me to have a baby.” And who could blame her? But guess what? Within a year, Sarah has a baby boy. They name him Isaac, which means, in Hebrew, “he laughs.” God’s promise to Sarah comes true. God’s incredible, unbelievable, fantastic promise to Sarah comes true. Sarah learned. “Ha!” turned to “Ah!” God’s promise always, always comes true! From today’s Old Testament reading, “And Sarah said, ‘God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.’ And she said, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’” (Genesis 21:6-7) Sarah learned. God’s promise always, always comes true! Now, God has not promised that you are going to have a baby when you’re in your nineties. Thank goodness, right? Yet God has made several promises to you just as astonishing, equally mindboggling. Promises made to you, and to you, and to all of us. Here are just a few of God’s promises to you. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

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“In my Father’s house are many rooms … I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). “There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). “Give and it will be given to you” (Luke 14:14). “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). The Bible is filled with hundreds and hundreds more promises of God. Promises to believers, to the humble, to the afflicted. Promises to the generous, to the penitent, to the poor, to the tempted. Promises to you! Sarah learned. And so can you. God’s promises always, always come true. I have another minute, right? I leave you with four questions.    

Do you know these promises? Get to know them better. Do you know the God who makes these promises? Get to know him better. Do you trust him? You absolutely can! Are you building your life on God’s promises? You absolutely should! Start today.

Sarah learned. And so can you. God’s promise always, always come true. Amen.

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