Called and sent and provided for

Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7; Matthew 9:35—10:8

It’s common to talk about this story from Genesis, about Abraham and Sarah and the three visitors, as a story about hospitality. Abraham does what anyone of that time and place would do when travelers appear: he welcomes them and offers them a meal. I always find it interesting that they must first kill the calf, butcher it, cook the meal, and then finally eat. Of course, in the meantime, Abraham the host offers them a snack, some fresh bread and likely other foods that were quickly prepared. These visitors were there for hours!

Sarah was in the women’s area preparing and cooking much of the meal, or at least overseeing the servants/ slaves who did the actual work. She must have sought out the opportunity to listen at the open tent door to the conversation. Then, when she heard the topic of a baby, she listened more closely. Maybe she even moved closer to the men, to really hear them.

It seems the visitors want Sarah to overhear them at this point. The visitors promise Abraham that within a year, he will have a son. But Sarah laughs and scoffs. I think her response is a mixture of hope and disbelief. She has heard this promise many times before, and for 25 years nothing has happened. By now, Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar the slave woman, is a young man of about 13. Sarah laughs. Does she dare hope? I like to think so.

And maybe the author thinks so, too, since the visitors ask if she laughed. She denies laughing, but it seems clear to them that she did. Within a year, Sarah is laughing for joy as her son Isaac is born. The name Isaac means laughter, so for the rest of her life, Sarah will remember that the son she never believed she would have, has brought her joy.

At the time of Isaac’s birth, Abraham is about 101 and Sarah is 91. I can’t imagine waiting that long for a child, nor wanting an infant and its needs at that age, much less following after a toddler at 93, or coping with a teenager at 100. But after such a long wait, Sarah has been given what God promised her long ago.

The visitors describe this well. “Is anything too wonderful for God?” This is good news for us, too, although we don’t like waiting 25 or more years for what is promised to become a reality.

… In the Gospel story, Jesus continues with his training of the disciples. The first few verses describe Jesus teaching, preaching, healing. He is compassionate and concerned that there is so much need and not enough people to respond to the need. It’s time to get the disciples out into the field so he sends them out in pairs on a training mission.

When I was a young mom, I participated in a class called Word and Witness. We learned a lot about the Bible, so we could feel comfortable if people asked us questions about the Bible. Then we learned how to visit people. We went in pairs, first to long-time members of the congregation. The intent was to help us feel comfortable talking about church with people we knew would receive us. Later, we visited new members, and finally, recent visitors to the church.

When Jesus sends the disciples out this first time, he wants them to have success, so he sends them to the Jews. They will have a better reception there than if they talk with Roman soldiers or Samaritans. He tells them to do what he does, and then he gives them the authority and the power they will need in many situations.

So, they are sent out. I think of this as their internship, a time to practice what they have been learning. But they are sent out with the barest of resources: the clothes on their backs and the shoes on their feet. They are to stay where they are welcomed, and give without payment. Luke’s gospel reports that the disciples had great success on their mission trips.

People responded to the good news, and many were healed. They were housed and fed. Perhaps they could say, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” I can imagine them laughing with joy as they told the stories of their encounters with people and the healings they were able to do.

… I think both these stories demonstrate the ways God calls us, sends us to do God’s work, and equips us with whatever we need to do the ministry we are called to do. Yes, Abraham is given credit for being the father of the Israelite people, but he couldn’t have done it without Sarah and some divine assistance.

Jesus called the disciples, sent them out to preach and heal, and equipped them by teaching them well and giving them the power they needed to heal. Notice that the disciples are not originally skilled in preaching or teaching or healing. Four are fishermen, one is a tax collector, one is skilled in finance. We don’t know much or anything about the others. And yet, they were called, trained, sent out for God’s purposes, and provided with the power and authority they needed to do God’s work.

We also are called by God, sent out to share the good news of the empty tomb, and equipped with God’s grace and courage to go wherever and to whomever we are sent. You may know exactly what you are called to do, and have found ways in life to use your calling for God’s purposes. Or, you may believe you don’t feel called to do anything particular, or that you don’t have any gifts to use for God’s purposes.

I say to you that you do have gifts, lots of them. But you may worry that they aren’t worth anything. I suggest you figure out what you love to do by noticing what gives you joy, what makes you laugh. There is your gift. Now, figure out how can you use it for God. When you do what you love doing for God’s purposes, amazing, wonderful things happen. And you may think: Is anything too wonderful for God?

Amen