Extraordinary Living – Genesis 18:1-15
/Lectionary Readings for June 14, 2020
Genesis 18:1-15 A Son Promised to Abraham and Sarah
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 v12 What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?
Romans 5:1-8 v5 For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Matthew 9:35-10:8-23 The Harvest Is Great, the Laborers Few + Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles
Happy 2nd Sunday of Extraordinary Time!
This is the second week of Extraordinary Time which is fitting because today’s Scripture reading is a story of God sharing an extraordinary vision with Abraham 3,000+ years ago. Oh yeah, my wife reminded me to explain why I call this season “Extraordinary Time.”
Most Christian churches refer to this season as “Ordinary Time” which comes from the word “ordinal” meaning numbers. We use this term because we’re counting the Sundays between Pentecost (two weeks ago) and Advent (which starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving this year).
So this is the second Sunday of “Numbered Time” but that doesn’t sound cool so folks started calling it “Ordinal Time,” which devolved into “Ordinary Time,” but that sounds lame so I call it Extraordinary Time.
And that’s not just me being goofy. Here’s the deep theology.
We were created by and invited into a relationship with an extraordinary God who works in our lives in extraordinary ways – even if we don’t notice it. And this same God wants to have extraordinary relationships with us – even if we’re not ready for that or feel like we deserve that.
Between now and Advent (Thanksgiving), I encourage all of you to think about how God has done and is doing extraordinary things in your life. Maybe it’s relationships. Maybe it’s opportunities. Maybe it’s been a change of heart or thinking. Maybe it’s what you have been saved from.
Today’s Scripture reading is a story of how God did extraordinary things in the lives of people who eventually chose to trust God even though what God promised them was so crazy that they literally laughed in God’s face.
Offers of undeserved, extraordinary blessings can be so unbelievable that we laugh. So we’re working laughter into today’s theme.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
Today verses remind us that God often gets our attention in unexpected ways and places. I didn’t plan this, but today you’re getting three Sermons: an art lesson, a quick history lesson, and some thoughts on practical theology in action. We’ll tackle geography next week.
First, the art lesson.
Before you read today’s story, I want to share four pieces of art with you. Art is important because it shapes how we think about people and places, often in ways that we don’t realize are happening. Warning: I am not an art major but my wife is, so I’m giving you the pastoral perspective of these pieces.
And just to be clear, I’m not saying any of these images are “bad,” only that they reflect the artists’ own time and cultural context more than the time and culture of the original story.
For each of these pieces, imagine that you grew up when they were created. Every time you went to church, you saw these and similar images – not beside each other, but rather by themselves. You had no basis for comparison.
And these would be the images that your pastor or priest would point to and say, “This is Abraham and Sarah.” You would start to think that all the Middle Eastern Biblical characters looked like… these people.
Abraham, Sarah, and the Angel by Jan Provoost
Like so many pieces of Christian art, this first image from around 1520 AD, and it looks very… European.
Italian Mosaic, approx. 550 AD
Again, everyone is very… European. Note the “meal” Abraham is offering – a lamb the size of the plate. Sarah’s “tent” looks more like a small shed or outhouse. And everyone is wearing the flimsiest of flipflops held on by thin strings of leather. Can you imagine walking through the desert with those?
If you grew up in the 6th century and regularly saw this image, what would you think of Abraham and Sarah?
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Abraham and the Three Angels, approx. 1515 AD
This image was created by a Flemish (Belgian Dutch) artist who was famous for his illustrations of Biblical stories. Keep in mind, Abraham and Sarah were desert people. Does this look like the desert? Abraham’s footwear and headdress as well as Sarah’s tent look like something from King Arthur.
If you grew up in 16th century Holland and regularly saw this image, what would you think of Abraham and Sarah?
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Three Strangers by the modern Jewish artist Richard McBee, 1995
Dramatically different, isn’t it? This is by far my favorite of the four art pieces. Abraham and Sarah were desert people. This painting looks like it was created with the desert sands; it’s rough and “dusty,” similar to what I imagine Abraham and Sarah’s lives may have been like.
If you grew up in 20th century America and regularly saw images like this – because you now have access to numerous religious images via the Internet, what would you think of Abraham and Sarah?
Now the Quick History Lesson
Today’s story is part of the long and rich history of our faith as described in Genesis – the first book of our Bible. Just to make sure everyone is up to speed on how we got to today’s story, here’s a very short summary of the first half of Genesis which is WAY before Egyptian slavery and Moses (that arrives in the next book: Exodus).
Genesis is a Greek word for Origins or Beginnings and indeed, the book of Genesis was written to help the Israelites (and us today) understand our spiritual origins. Genesis answers some of life’s most fundamental questions: Where did we come from? (God made us.) Why are we here? (To be in relationship with God.)
Here is an ultra-brief summary of the first half of Genesis (it’s a LONG book!).
Gen. 1-2 Creation Stories (there’s two!)
Gen. 3-4 The First Sins and Punishments
Gen. 5 Family Tree from Adam to Noah
Gen. 6-9 Noah and the Great Flood / Rainbows!
Gen. 10 Nations Descended from Noah
Gen. 11 The Tower of Babel (languages) and Family Tree from Noah to Abram
Birth of Nations
Gen. 12:2 God to Abram: “I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you…”
Gen. 13:16 God to Abram: “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth…”
Gen. 15:5 God to Abram: “count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
Gen. 16 Abram (age 86) and Ishmael is born to Hagar – his Egyptian concubine
Gen. 17 Name changes: Abram (age 99) to Abraham, Sarai (age 90) to Sarah. In this chapter, Abraham laughs at God’s promise to give Sarah a son.
And that brings us to today’s reading in which three mysterious men visit Abraham and Sarah to, once again, remind the elderly couple of God’s extraordinary promise.
Read Genesis 18:1-15
Growing up in the Georgia, my mother taught me good manners – whether I liked it or not. Now, manners are not unique to any state, region, or nation. But manners vary from place to place depending on the local culture and customs. And often these manners evolve from the most basic elements of specific locations. For example…
The deep South is both hot and humid most of the year. Before air conditioning was ever-present, traveling any distance usually meant you arrived hot and sweaty. Consequently, mom taught me that it’s good manners to offer a visitor something to drink when they arrive – iced tea or cold lemonade is ideal. To this day, more often than not, if you visit my home or office, I’ll greet you with, “Would you like something to drink?” That’s “hot and humid” manners.
When my family visited friends at the beach, we’d spend hours running around in the sand. After we’d chased every seagull and jumped in every wave, we were tired and hungry, Once back at the beach house, we would always wash our feet off in a bucket of water before walking into the house so we didn’t track sand into the house. That’s “sandy” manners.
On a very different continent, Abraham had “hot and sandy” manners.
Today’s story begins with an extraordinary appearance of three men arriving in the middle of the day which was odd since desert people generally avoided traveling during the hottest part of the day. Perhaps they were attracted to Abraham’s oak trees hoping to rest in their shade.
And true to the local customs and expected manners of his culture, Abraham welcomed the three travelers by offering them a place to rest in the shade, water to wash their feet, and a snack.
Part of the local custom was to give more than you offered. Abraham offer the men a little ordinary bread to eat. But instead, he delivered an extra-ordinary feast of fresh-baked bread made with the best flour, fresh milk, yogurt, and roasted lamb – which was really unusual since meat was reserved for the most special occasions.
As they enjoyed their fine dining experience, Abraham waits nearby in case they need anything else – above and beyond hospitality. Perhaps Abraham realized there was something special about his guests.
Today’s story ends with God, through these mysterious visitors, reminding Abraham and Sarah, once again and despite their skepticism, that their lives had a great purpose which would be fulfilled through miraculously extraordinary provision.
Think about that. God told them, “Here’s what I’m going to do with you. My call on your lives includes my blessing, my provision, and my journeying with you.”
I firmly believe that, through our baptisms – our extra-ordinary vows of commitment to our relationship with God – that God calls all of us into ministry, each in our own way. For months now, I’ve witnessed many of our church members doing extraordinary ministry both as individuals and as a faith community.
Many of you have reached out to our members who have been “safe at home” for several months. You have extended extraordinary hospitality to them by calling them, sending them notes, and offering to pick up groceries or prescriptions for them. I can’t thank you enough for all that you are doing for each other.
And many of you are making extraordinary efforts to learn more about the race-related issues facing our nation and our community. Your fingers are marching on social media, and many of your feet marched on the streets of Susanville last weekend in response to Jesus’ life of seeking social justice for all people who live in fear and oppressed conditions. Again, my thanks to you for putting the Methodist Social Creed and Social Principles into public expressions.
Finally, during the past three weeks, so many of you have supported our new HOPE Food Pantry with your extraordinary contributions of both time and money. The people of our church and our community faithfully arrive early each week. They are extraordinarily generous with both the food that we give away and the hospitality shown to everyone who comes to us.
This week, your homework is to look beyond the ordinary for the next step in your efforts to love God, love yourself, and love others. Don’t worry about leaps and bounds. What’s your next step?
Is it listening? Is God is trying to tell you something beyond your “ordinary” prayer conversations?
Maybe your next step is starting to pray daily. That regular time of conversation with God can have an extraordinary impact on your faith.
Or maybe your next step is reading a few Bible verses each day or a daily devotional. If you need suggestions for either, please let me know.
Or maybe your next step is a call to service. If you are shy or concerned about your health, there are numerous ways of serving others that you can do at home, without cost, and without training. Checking on your friends with a phone call or a card in the mail are just two ideas.
When we do what is possible – what is ordinary, God can do the impossible – the extraordinary through us.
If all of us take just one step forward each week in our efforts to love God, love ourselves, and love others, I am convinced that we will personally experience extraordinary moments of emotional and spiritual growth which will lead to our community being transformed before our very eyes. And we can do this knowing that God is taking those steps with us. Amen? Amen!