We have a couple of significant days coming up this week. Do we know what they are? What’s the 31st? And what’s the 1st? We will look at both of these in the context of our scripture today (Genesis 17-18) but first I have some October 31 Trivia questions for us. Let’s see how we do?[1]
- What happened on October 31, 1517?
- Name one witch in the Bible?
- Who famously survived a diet of worms?
- Which of the following is not in the Bible (ghost, vampire, one raised from the dead)?
- What was Luther protesting on October 31, 1517?
- T or F: Jesus tells a parable of a haunted house.
- Which King of Israel consulted a medium to contact the dead?
This Monday is not only Hallow e'en, it is also Reformation Day. We mentioned October 31, 1517, was the date Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church. Do we know to what his 95 Theses primarily referred? It is actually quite long and complicated and some of his 95 points make more sense than others but the main gist of it has to do with Papal Indulgences; do we know what Papal Indulgences were and thus what Martin Luther was protesting?
To draw an analogy from last century: Do you remember the televangelists from the 20th century… like the Jimmy and Tammy Faye Baker and Oral Roberts in the 1980s? They were getting rich peddling Christian-themed items and such. The Bakers even started an entire Christian amusement park and Roberts went so far as to lock himself in a tower and said that unless people gave him eight million dollars God would ‘call him home’. These people used or abused their authority and reputation to make money.
Way back in Luther’s time, something similar was occurring. A theological position had previously developed and was becoming quite prevalent that people would go to a place called purgatory after they died and purgatory was not a great place. Purgatory was a place of torment, where people would be purified of their sins by being tortured until they were made holy. Powerful people in the church were telling others that if they wanted to get their departed loved ones out of this spiritual Guantanamo Bay, all they had to do was pay some money and they would pray them out of Purgatory or give them time off for good behaviour or something like that. This –buying your friends and family out of purgatory - was called buying Papal Indulgences. The monk, Martin Luther, like so many other churchmen of his day had a real problem with powerful people exploiting others and this complaint was the main thrust of Luther’s 95 Theses. So on every October 31st we are invited to remember that Salvation is due to the grace of God, not actions like by paying money or doing other things. And salvation can’t be bestowed or prevented by clergy or other church, political, family, civic, or other leaders. Holiness and Salvation come from Christ alone and Christ says we can all be holy. We’ll come back to this in a bit but first let’s look at Isaac and his mom and dad.
Do we know who Isaac’s mom and dad were? Isaac’s mom was Rebecca and Isaac’s dad was Abraham. And Isaac, he was born when his dad was 100 years-old and his mom was ninety.
Now Heather was born when I was in my forties and I certainly don't have the same energy I did when my older two girls were her age. Even my children’s grandparents are nowhere near the 100 years-old that Abraham was when Isaac was born and they definitely are a little slower keeping up with their grand-kids than they were with their own children. I can’t imagine what it would be like raising a child at 100.
Every month Susan and some others go to the Arthur Meighen Centre to lead a service for the seniors. They are great folks; many of them have age-related challenges and most of them are not 100 or even 90 years-old. Can you imagine if we went to a service at the old age home next week and one of the seniors gave birth? I can't imagine raising my own child at 90 years-old, let alone being a woman and giving birth in my 90s. This is the miracle of Isaac's birth. Nothing is too difficult for God.
Now Isaac is a nice name. His name means laughter. Does anyone here know what their names mean? My name means ‘Servant of God’, Rebecca’s name means ‘Covenant’, Sarah-Grace means ‘Princess-Gift of God’ and Heather is a beautiful flower. Do you know why Isaac is called ‘Laughter’?[2]
It comes back to this story in Genesis - an angel of the Lord tells Abraham that his 90 something year-old wife will give birth.[3] Sarah hears this and she laughs out loud. The Angel calls her on it, saying, ‘why did you laugh when I said you were going to have a baby’? To which Sarah replies, ‘I didn't laugh’; The Angel says, ‘yes you did’; so God and the Angel call her child ‘Laughter’ to remind her and us not to doubt the power and the providence of God. Nothing is too difficult for God. There is nothing God cannot do. Do we know this? Do we believe this?[4]
This relates back to Reformation Day and Martin Luther a little bit. Remember one of the things that he was protesting was people thinking that they could pay or earn their way to God; that they could somehow merit or someone else could impede their eternal relationship with God.
Abraham and Sarah each laughed when they heard that God was going to give them a child. They didn’t believe that God would take care of them in this way; they didn’t know God can do anything. Do we? Do we believe that? Do we know that? Do we believe that whatever is wrong in our lives, God can take care of us? Every time Abraham and Sarah would be tempted to doubt that in the future they simply had to laugh or recall their son Isaac’s name, ‘Laughter’ and they would be reminded of his miraculous birth and that nothing is too difficult for God (Matthew 19:26, Luke 18:27).
This relates a little bit to All Saints Day which is coming up this week as well. Do we know what a saint is in the Bible? ‘Saint’ is actually the Bible`s word for a Christian. ‘Saint’ is one of those words I think that is left over from the King James translation that we should update so people know what we`re talking about because a lot of people only think of saints as dead people. The Bible says that if you are a Christian you are a saint. And more than that: If we were to name attributes of a saint, what might they be? (Good, nice, holy). Did you know that the word for saint in Greek is from exactly the same word as holy?[5] So the Bible says – especially in 1 Peter – that we who are Christians are holy. It is the same word.[6] The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but it does not say that we all sin all the time. We are no longer sinners; we are now holy saints, because God says so and God makes it so.[7] 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 tells as that as we serve God, He will transform our lives from sin to salvation. He will do it. He loves us. He makes us holy.[8] He makes us saints.
This is important. Whenever someone tells you that you are a failure, you can say ‘No, I’m a saint – the Bible says so’. It really does. Whenever someone tells you, you are no good, you can say, ‘No, I’m a saint.’ Whenever someone tells us we are worthless, what can we say? (No, I’m a saint). Whenever someone tells us we are evil what can we say? (No, I’m a saint). Whenever someone tells us we are less than in any way what can we say? (No, I’m a saint).
The God who transforms people in the Bible can transform you and He can transform me. The God who saves people in the Bible can save you and He can save me. The God in the Bible who loves people – the whole world’s worth (John 3:16) – He loves you and He loves me. God made us to be holy as He is holy – like the Bible from 1 Peter all the way back to Leviticus records – God has transformed us who love Him into saints. So next time you hear your Christian friend here saying ‘I’m not a saint,’ encourage and correct them, because they are a saint and so are you. God has declared us such: even me. Nothing is too difficult for God. So let’s praise Him for that today and on Tuesday which is our day – All Saints Day.
This is important. Nothing is too difficult for God. Sarah and Abraham had some really difficult challenges in their lives but nothing is too difficult for God. Twice Sarah said that she was Abraham`s sister instead of his wife so people wouldn’t kill her husband and take her away. And even though Abraham and Sarah messed things up by trying to solve the problem on their own, God took care of them. Nothing is too difficult for God.
Having a child was seen as being blessed by God; someone who did not have a child was thought to be cursed. This troubled Sarah and Abraham greatly. And even though Sarah messed things up a bit, God took care of them. He gave her a child and named him ‘Laughter’ to remind them that even though they laughed at the prospect of having this child, here he is because nothing is too difficult for God.
Before that Sarah even went so far as to force her slave girl to have relations with her husband so that she could have her child. And even though Abraham and Sarah messed things up by trying to do things without Him, God took care of them.[9] He gave them this child and another child, who was begotten of them both named ‘Laughter’ to remind them that nothing is too difficult for God.
Every time after that someone laughed or every time after that they heard their son’s name, I’m sure they could laugh assuredly in the providence of God. Many times in her life and their life Sarah and Abraham messed up but God took care of them; nothing is too difficult for God.
Many times in my life I have messed up, made serious mistakes, done bad things, but God takes care of me. He calls me ‘holy’. I am a saint. You are a saint if you love God. Nothing is too difficult for God. God has been with me through my darkest hours, just like he was with Abraham and Sarah and later Isaac and his sons and their sons. We spoke about Judah the other week, Sarah’s great grandson and Isaac’s grandson. He messed up a lot but God took care of him. His brother spent years in slavery and in prison and during that time the Bible tells us he prospered and how did he prosper? He prospered because God took care of him. Nothing is too difficult for God. God took care of him. And they could all look back on the naming of Isaac, their relative, laugh and remember that nothing is too difficult for God.
Today, I know there are many people here who are in the midst of so much. There is illness all around. I honestly can`t believe the number of people with cancer these days. There is addiction here and there and everywhere struggling with many of us as well. There are mental health issues. People in our family and our community are struggling with so much. There are broken relationships; Struggles around parents, children, jobs, finances, food, housing, and security. So much happens here in our world, our community, our family right here but you know what? Even in our darkest hour God will take care of us. Nothing is too difficult for God.
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[1] 1) Martin Luther presented his 95 Theses 2) The Witch of Endor 3) Martin Luther 4) Vampire 5) Papal Indulgences 6) True 7) King Saul
[2] Cf John H. Sailhamer, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Genesis/Exposition of Genesis/II. Abraham 11:27-25:10 [11])/D. The Lot Narratives (13:5-19:38)/5. Abraham, Sarah, and Ishmael (17:1-27), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), 463. One might see how this news would be surprising as the passage is clear (Genesis 18:11) that Sarah has stopped menstruating.
[4] Cf. Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation: Genesis, (John Knox Press: Atlanta, Georgia, 1982), 159. This is actually the primary focus of the text.
[5] Cf. Paul Minear, Interpretation 37 no 1 Jan 1983, p. 22: In his death and resurrection, Jesus' holiness or sanctification became the measure and standard of all holiness, whether of places, times, things, or persons. (Key passages which reflect this are John 10:36; 17:17-19; I Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; 12:14-24; 13:12-14.)
[6] John D.W. Watts. 'Holy.' In Holman Bible Dictionary, general editor Trent C. Butler. Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 660. W.E. Vine. 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 555.
[7] N.T. Wright , Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2009), 142
[8] W.E. Vine. . 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 556.
[9] Cf. John H. Walton, ‘Genesis’ in NIVAC Bundle 1: Penteteuch. (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan, 2001), Loc 9574, re. Noble intent gone awry.
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