The Birth of Laughter

Bible Text: Genesis 24:1-7 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Story of Abraham

After excruciating tension and delay, this week we arrive at the birth of the long awaited child. And yet it is reported in a few short anti-climactic verses. Nestled between Abraham’s international affairs with King Abimelech (20:1–18; 21:22–34), the birth appears insignificant. But appearances can be deceiving. Isaac’s birth is the key promise in the Abrahamic narrative; everything else depends on it.

Laughter is an important word in this story. Isaac’s name means “he laughs” or “laughter”, and the word appears 5 times in these 7 verses. Isaac’s name would be a reminder of his parent’s previous responses to the promise (Gen 17:17; 18:12). It would also denote the joy that God brought into their lives, and the lives of so many others, through his faithfulness to his promise. In the end, Abraham and Sarah’s God turns their laughter of disbelief into a joyful laughter. He does this in at least two ways.

God fulfills his promise to Abraham: Verses 1­–2 emphasize that God’s faithfulness extends to the details. He did exactly what he said he was going to do when he said he was going to do it. Isaac’s birth did not depend on the strength of human faith, but on the reliability of God’s promise. Abraham and Sarah could rejoice in knowing that God’s word is trustworthy. Through the birth of his son, Laughter, Abraham’s apprehensive laughter would have been put to rest and replaced by joy.

God fills Sarah’s heart with wonder: The years of waiting had taken their toll on Sarah. The pain of suffering had calcified into bitterness. Sarah had lost hope that God would intervene and stopped marveling in God’s power. She needed a renewed sense of God’s miraculous work on her behalf. The birth of Isaac gave her just that. The miracle of a son born to a ninety-year-old barren woman transforms her view of God: “God has made laughter for me” (21:6), and fills her heart with wonder (v7).

What about Israel?

As the first recipients of this message, Israel would have identified with Isaac; for had the Lord not been faithful in fulfilling his promise, there would have been no Israel. This text would encourage them to rejoice in how God miraculously and faithfully called them into existence and encourage them to continue to rejoice in all the ways he would miraculously and faithfully sustain their existence.

What about us?

As Christians, we can rejoice in much the same way. Yet we look to the ultimate son of promise, Jesus Christ. His miraculous birth gives even further cause for rejoicing in the God who miraculously and faithfully keeps his promise. Through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, ascension, and through sending of the Holy Spirit, God has called us into existence. Every Christian is a miracle of grace and thus a cause for wonder. Every Christian can rejoice in the certainty that God will miraculously and faithfully keep every last one of his promises, even down to the details.

Entertaining Unaware

Bible Text: Genesis 18:1-15 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Story of Abraham

Are you ready to welcome God’s presence and word at anytime, even when God shows up unannounced and his identity is not disclosed? This is the question that Abraham and Sarah faced when three men appeared on their doorstep in the middle of the day, one of whom happened to be God. Unlike previous episodes in the Abrahamic narrative, this narrative has the characteristic of being jovial in its presentation. Through it, we find that God can and does show up at anytime, even during a lunch break on a mundane Monday afternoon.

Abraham showed himself more than ready to receive the visitors. Even without knowing their identity, he wastes no time in inviting them in and preparing a feast fit for God. Moreover, Abraham had mastered the art of hospitality, showing deference, and making it easy for the men to accept his offer.

While hospitality has become something of a lost art in the church today, especially in certain parts of the privatized western world, one cannot deny its importance in the Bible. Take Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:13: Contribute to the needs of the saints and pursue hospitality. Or Peter’s instruction: Show hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Pet 4:9). So important to gospel ministry is hospitality that it appears as a qualification for an Elder (Tit 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2). This is because hospitality is intrinsic to the character of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, hospitality is rooted in God’s love for the sojourner (e.g., Deut 10:18). In the New Testament, hospitality is revealed more clearly as being tied to God’s character and love. As S.C. Barton suggests: “hospitality, for Paul as for Jesus before him, is not just a practical issue. It is a fundamental expression of the gospel: a response to God’s hospitality to humankind in providing Christ as the ‘paschal lamb’ (1 Cor 5:7) and an outworking of what it means to be members of the one ‘body of Christ’.” And, like Abraham, when Christians express hospitality, they open themselves up to God’s presence and word (Matt 25:34–40; Luke 24:13–32; Heb 13:2).

But God’s word isn’t always the easiest thing to accept. In fact, when God reiterates the promise that Sarah would bear a son, she laughs and says: “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” It becomes clear that God’s primary purpose in coming was to confront and transform Sarah’s cynicism and doubt. After Sarah denies her laughter, the Lord, somewhat whimsically, rebukes her. But it is a restorative rebuke: the one who can read her mind also has the power to open her womb. The key is found in the Lord’s rhetorical question in verse 14: Is anything too hard (or wondrous) for the Lord? The answer, of course, is a resounding no: nothing is too wondrous for God. We know that Sarah believes God’s word because by faith does what is necessary to conceive a child: she has sex with her husband, believing God’s promise over against what her aging body tells her. The passage is a beautiful illustration of God’s tender mercy.

A Covenant in Your Flesh

Bible Text: Genesis 17:1-26 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Story of Abraham

Genesis 17 introduces the most significant ritual of the Old Testament—circumcision—as a sign of the covenant. We shouldn’t think of this as some separate covenant from the one outlined in chapter 12 and ratified in chapter 15, especially since the promises expounded here only expanded on the promises that God already made there. Chapter 17 is best read as filling out the details of a single Abrahamic covenant, by which God would bless Abraham and through Abraham to bless the world.

Circumcision is a Sign of the Covenant Promise: In chapter 17 God’s promise is fully and forcefully asserted: Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations; his offspring will come through Sarah and inherit land of Canaan. All these promises hinge on the central promise that God will be God to him and to his offspring forever. Since the promise of offspring is of central concern for Abraham, it is appropriate that God would use circumcision—an act thought to expedite procreation—as a sign of that promise. The fact that this was performed when Abraham was 99 only reinforced how Abraham’s fruitfulness was due to God’s supernatural power and not through Abraham’s biological maturation.

Circumcision is a Sign of the Covenant Requirement: But circumcision was not only a sign of what God pledged to do for Abraham and his offspring, it was also a sign of the commitment the covenant demanded of Abraham and his offspring. First, in order to keep the covenant Abraham and those who came after him must be circumcised. This is because the covenant sign has an intimate relationship with the covenant itself. So close is the relationship between the two that circumcision is described simply as “a covenant” in verses 10 and 13, and not as “a sign of the covenant” (v11). The signifier has a role in the things signified. From Abraham until Christ, circumcision was an entry rite into covenant relationship with God and his people (note the horizontal dimension of v14 cut off from his people). It is not difficult to see how baptism now performs this role as an entry rite into the life, loyalty, and community of the covenant (see Rom 6:1–5; Col 2:11–13; Gal 3:27–29).

But it would be reductionist to read Genesis as if this is all that God required. Verse 2 tells us that in order for the covenant to go forward, Abraham must walk before God blamelessly. The requirement was not just external obedience, but an internal disposition. Circumcision signified such allegiance; anything that impedes fidelity was to be excised from life.

Circumcision is a Sign of the Covenant Curse: The ratification of a covenant often included a sign, denoting what would happen to a person who breaks the covenant. In fact, covenants weren’t “made” in the ancient world, they were “cut”. The person who failed to keep the covenant would be “cut” off. Circumcision graphically depicted how covenant breakers would be “cut off” from the promised seed (v14), as would their progeny.

Chapter 17 introduces a great tension: How do we reconcile the seemly unconditional expression of the Abrahamic covenant in chapters 12 and 15 with Genesis 17’s very conditional expression (vv2, 14)? The apostle Paul found that tension resolved in Christ (Gal 3:7–16).

Sarah’s Synergistic Scheme and God’s Mediating Mercy

Bible Text: Genesis 16 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Story of Abraham

“Do what comes naturally.” This familiar advice might be good wisdom when it comes to choosing a major; but when comes to finding salvation, doing what comes naturally is simply disastrous. Genesis 16 presents a story that shows how God’s promised salvation will not be fulfilled through natural means, but by a supernatural intervention. Our sermon looked at four aspects of this story: the pain, the plan, the plight, and the provision.

The Pain: At 75 years old Sarah had yet to bear a son for Abraham (v1). In a day when a woman’s identity, value, and fulfillment was wrapped up in her ability to have children, Sarah was a nobody. Since it was her duty to provide her husband with children, she would also have been considered a failure. Her lingering predicament was both difficult and devastating.

The Plan: Tired of waiting on God to fulfill his promise, Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands and devises a plan to remedy her pain. Sarah’s plan centered on an Egyptian servant named Hagar. Following a popular and accepted ancient custom, she tells Abraham to use Hagar as a surrogate mother. This looked like the only practical way to have a child. And it seemed to work. Hagar conceived. But it wasn’t God’s plan.

The Plight: Through an allusion to the fall narrative, the narrator indicates how Abraham and Sarah simply replay the actions of Adam and Eve (cf. Gen 3:6, 17). The fall out is as predictable as reality TV. Hagar, pregnant and elevated to the status of a wife (v3), shows pride and disdain toward Sarah. Sarah, disgusted and jealous, falsely blames Abraham. Abraham abdicates responsibility, allowing Sarah to abuse Hagar. Hagar flees, jeopardizing her life and the life of her unborn child. In the end, no one comes away looking very good.

The Provision: While on route to her native land, Hagar is suddenly addressed by God’s angelic representative, who assures Sarah that God has heard her cry and seen her plight. God promises that she will be blessed by her child, though her child will in no way be the promised son. The angel also sends Hagar back to Abraham and Sarah. His request is strange if not shocking when one considers how Hagar had been treated. Nevertheless, God has chosen Abraham and his promised offspring as his means of saving the world. By sending Hagar back, God places Hagar and Ishmael in the channel of blessing. The command thus represents a severe mercy. Once again God shows grace and provision in the face of human sin—this time to an “Egyptian” outside the elect line. The Israelites who first received this story would have taken great encouragement: If God graciously provides for wandering Egyptians, how much more for his children.

Passage for Discussion: Galatians 4:21–31 Genesis 16 illustrates how God’s people are wholly dependent on his sovereign will and supernatural power. To attempt independently to help God accomplish his saving purpose is what theologians call synergism. Ishmael would always be a stark reminder of the disaster that results from trying to fulfill God’s promise through human initiative and strength; i.e., through synergism. In Galatians 4, Paul likens Hagar’s son to a group of people who are slavishly dependent on their own strength and initiative. In contrast, he claims that God’s people are always dependent on the supernatural work of God’s Spirit. Those who began by God’s supernatural power must continue the same way (cf. Gal 3:2–3).

The Ceremony

Bible Text: Genesis 15 | Preacher: Kyle Wells | Series: The Story of Abraham