We looked at one old couple for the past few weeks as we considered the reactions and fulfillment of hope in the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. For the next three weeks, we’ll think about an elderly couple in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sarah and Abraham were, we are told, old when the three men visited them and promised a child.
In our own lives, we might ask ‘what can I birth’ in my old
age (or my youth or middle age)? God’s work is not constrained by human
measurements. David was a youngster when he killed Goliath in the name of the
Living God. Samuel started his ministry with Eli when he was a child. Joseph
was a grown man when he became second in command in Egypt. Sarah and Abraham,
though elderly, had a part to play in God’s salvation story. And so do we.
The announcement of a child for Abraham and Sarah has a
miraculous element to it, similar to the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah we
looked at last month. In Genesis 18 we hear the Lord appeared to Abraham near
the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in
the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing
nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them
and bowed low to the ground.
I always like to have an idea of where the Biblical events happened. Scholars and archeologists believe that the “Oaks of Mamre” were near present-day Hebron. This is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem in what is now known as the West Bank. There is a Russian Orthodox monastery on the supposed site of the actual oaks. This well known icon interprets the three visitors in a way that helps us enter the event.
With traditional nomadic hospitality, Abraham greets the trio of visitors. He says, Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way… In a desert land, the offering of water and food to anyone passing through was (and is) a sacred calling.
Abraham tells Sarah to prepare bread and has a servant
prepare a calf with curds and milk for the guests. After the meal, one of
them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah
your wife will have a son.”
This was a rather surprising statement for a (seeming)
stranger to make. Indeed, Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I
am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
We do not hear that Abraham has doubts, although the visitor,
who is, of course, God, rebukes the couple, Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a
son.
The narrative is then interrupted with the story of Sodom
and Gomorrah, and with the interlude of Abraham with Abimelech. Then in chapter
21, we hear, Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord
did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and
bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
The name Isaac comes from the Hebrew יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq),
which means "he will laugh" or "he will rejoice". Sarah
reinterprets her earlier doubtful laughter by stating, God has brought me
laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.
In their old age, Sarah and Abraham have a new life to
rejoice and laugh with. At any season of our life, God may step in and point us
to a new birth. A different ministry opportunity, or a change of location, or a
surprising career move may pop up unexpectedly, just like the three visitors
who suddenly appeared at Abraham’s tent.
Perhaps we don’t recognize God’s hand at first, and it is only in looking back that we see God’s hand. Maybe, like Sarah, we chuckle a little and ask ‘really, can this be happening now?’ Any new birth of an idea or a child or an opportunity causes change and challenges. If we get stuck looking at the potential differences and difficulties, we can miss the fact that challenge really equates with opportunity.
Has there been a time when you faced an unexpected
opportunity that was also a challenge to the way you expected your life to go?
Next week we’ll look at that question more deeply.
