Sermon(Gen 21:1-7): Patience and its good fruits

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025256344

 

>> 1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, who Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Gen 21:1-7) <<

 

Actually, I laughed out loud as I started writing this sermon. How funny: a 90-year-old woman got pregnant and walked around with a mountain-like belly; such an old woman gave birth to a child and said to the neighbors that it was her son! Even a 40-year-old woman would be embarrassed when she has a baby today. I wonder why Sarah and Abraham laughed when they had a baby. Did they laugh because they were happy or because they felt so embarrassed? Certainly both, I think. But sometimes we make a hollow smile with a sigh automatically when we are at a loss what to do. Abraham and Sarah's laughter was due to their delight, embarrassment and a little complaint, and they named the baby Isaac (laughter). It was a name that God gave them in advance. A pretty good name for their son! Anyway, this episode caused Sarah to be more shy in the neighborhood and Abraham, a 100 year old man, to be a man of high spirits enjoying a green old age. Abraham was a great old man indeed. He begot a son at that age!

 

But this episode caused Abraham and Sarah to reveal God's omnipotency in its fullness. >>When Abram (Abraham) was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. (Gen 17:1)"<< >>God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. (Gen 17:19)"<< Yes, my brethren! Abraham a 100 year old man and Sarah a 90 year old woman, after a long wait, tried to have a son in order to teach all their religious descendants that God is omnipotent, although it was somewhat shameful for such an old couple to have a son and somewhat dangerous for them to bear a son at their age. Abraham and Sarah suffered a lot to make a precedent of the rule that, if God promises something, he will certainly fulfill it. We are comforted very much when we think of Abraham who begot a son at the age of 100. How much does your patience increase? Abraham, I applaud you. Clap, clap, clap!

 

Abraham is our ancestor according to (the genealogy of) our faith. The religious ancestor provides his religious descendants with religious milk. Today we live on the milk Abraham produced. The milk Abraham and Sarah have given us is the conviction that God will answer our supplications if we believe him and wait for him to the end. All believers who believe in God like Abraham to go to heaven follow Abraham's faith and trust in God and in the end receive all God has promised them. My brethren, be patient to the end like Abraham, and receive the blessings of God. Be like Abraham who has given sacred milk to his descendants. Some believers, by their life, leave his sons and daughters the sacred milk of religious lesson that you'll be blessed with a lot of wealth if you live a life of tithe honestly. Some, by their life, leave the sacred milk of the lesson that you'll not be the tail but the head of people if you keep the Sabbath honestly. Some, by their life, leave the sacred milk that things will go well with your descendants and your descendants will prosper greatly if you serve others very well. Some, by their life, leave the sacred milk that you will be the pillars of the church such as faithful elders if you serve and obey the pastor of your church well. Some, by their life, leave the sacred milk that you will enjoy the blessing of health and longevity, the heavenly blessings and the worldly blessings as well all the days of your life if you love, honor and obey your parents joyfully. Some, by their life, leave the sacred milk that your house will be priestly house if you always obey God's will thoroughly. “Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation. (1 Pet 2:2)” We must not only long for the sacred milk we must eat but also consider what milk we should produce.

 

The Scripture says that for everything there is a season. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Eccles 3:1-4)" Therefore Abraham and Sarah have wept so long, and the time of tears is up, so they have a son Isaac because the time to laugh has come. The name Isaac tells us this lesson: we will surely laugh in the end if we, trusting in God, wait for his answer to the end. A Korean proverb also says, "Happiness comes after a long suffering." My brethren, be patient a little longer and smile joyfully sooner or later.

 

I'd like to say Isaac is a good fruit, that is, a ripe fruit. The grapes are fragrant and delicious in fullness as they should be, when they ripen. If we wait for God's answer patiently like Abraham, we'll meet the fullness of the blessing God prepared for us. What are the conditions for the fruit to ripe? You must wait until the appointed time unconditionally! The fruit will be only sour and bitter if you pick the fruit before the time. You must wait till late autumn for good rice, and till midsummer for good grapes, in Korea. You must wait till the time God has appointed, for the gathering of your religious fruits.

 

Consider the situation at the time of Israel's Exodus. The time to pick the fruit can be said to be the moment they departed Egypt. Then when? They ought wait long even after Moses went to them. There was a period when Pharaoh became stubborn and burdened them with heavier labor than before. Had the Israelites departed Egypt then because they were much distressed, a war between Israelites and Egyptians would have broken out, and Israelites might have 99% failed in the exodus only to suffer heavy loss of lives and assets. So it was not the time yet. God sent 10 disasters one by one, bigger and bigger. At last all the firstborn of Egypt, including the first son of Pharaoh, were killed, and Pharaoh and all Egyptians besought Israelites, saying, "Great Israel, please depart this kingdom! Please leave this land and save our lives." You might think this is the time to depart, but there is still another thing for Israelites to do. Isn't it fair that they receive their wages for the long heavy labor Israelites have done for Egypt before their departure? However, until the day before, Israelites as slaves couldn't say to Egyptians, "Pay us our wages for our labor, for we have to depart this land!" But now the situation had changed so that the Israelites could ask for their wages. Israelites said to the Egyptians, "We need money for a long journey now. So give us silver or gold." Egyptians thought, 'If they do not depart from this land, Jehovah, the God of Israel, will get angry at us and kill us all. What's the meaning of our silver and gold to us now? If they remain a more day here because they have no silver and gold, we all will surely die!' All the Egyptians had to surrender to Israelites whatever the Israelites asked them for, in order to escape God's wrath and to remain alive. "Take these, and get out of this land as soon as possible!" Now is the time to depart. God gave this accurate time to Moses, and Israelites patiently obeyed Moses' words to the end to obtain fragrant and nutritious fruits. Hallelujah!

 

It is unbelief and reckless valor, by no means great faith, for us believers to push our plans too hard. Abraham had the audacity to take Hagar as his concubine and begot Ishmael by her, which resulted in unhappiness. Great faith does not lie in recklessness, but in waiting for God's time. For example, have you received the spirit of scholar (from God), so that you want to be a professor? If you, not waiting for God's time, try to be a professor by bribery, you'll surely meet a bad result. You could lose your professorship forever if it is exposed. If someone entices you, saying, "I'll offer you professorship if you give me some money. Not to everyone, not anytime is this good chance given," will you swallow the bait (of Devil) at once? You must not do that as a son or a daughter of God. Instead, wait for God's time and study harder and be recognized as an excellent scholar. Then a day will come when a good university will first strive to bring you in as a professor, saying politely, "We'll offer you 1 billion won for your settlement, so please be our university professor. Please be a tenured professor at our university!"; if God wants you to be a professor. A good time to pick the fruit of the professorship is when you need not resort to bribery. A good job is a precious blessing of God indeed. For every good blessing of God, there is a period of waiting in patience. No exceptions! It is never the time to pick the fruit if you cannot but commit bribery or crimes in order to get some good things. And it is not always a good time to take the fruit when there is no need of bribery or crimes. It is, in that situation, a good time when either God says to you that you may take it or God does not oppose you.

 

>>And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. (v. 7)”<< My brethren, how amazing! There is a more amazing fact than that Sarah gave birth to a son at that age. That is, Sarah suckled Isaac. My brethren, God gives us the ability to keep and enjoy the blessings, too. He who set up a company by God's grace receives wisdom and help from God and makes the company a company in the black. On him who became a teacher by God's grace, God pours out the spirit of scholar so that he can teach students without difficulty. To him who became a pastor by God's grace, God gives the ability to preach and the personality to take care of the sheep of the Lord well. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. (Rom 8:26)" "And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. (Gen 21:8)" Old woman Sarah, you did a great work, for you didn't restrain yourself from suckling your son at that late age, and made him a good boy. I applaud you. Clap, clap, clap!

 

The old woman Sarah must have brought up her son well. When Isaac was bereaved of his mother and was too lonely, Abraham sent his servant to a remote place to seek Isaac's wife. We may think that Isaac was downhearted or felt ashamed of his mother because his mother was too old while his friends' mothers were all young and beautiful. But it was on the contrary. Isaac didn't seek a girl friend even until he was 40 years old. To him, the old mother, Sarah, was certainly the best mother in the world. Isaac got a wife in order to forget the sadness due to the death of his mother.

 

My brethren, maybe Abraham told his son about all his life with God. He told his son that God fulfilled all that he had promised. He said to his son that he should never give up God's promise even if he grew old and his strength failed. Isaac got married at the age of 40 and had twins at the age of 60. Like his father Abraham he waited for the time to pick a fruit for 20 years, patiently praying without resorting to worldly means rashly, and got the fruit without any mistakes at the time God had appointed. A father's experience of life teaches his son a lot next to only the Bible. Abraham told his son his mistakes and taught him not to make such mistakes. So Isaac didn't get another wife while his wife Rebekah didn't bear a child. It is very important that you should not forget the lessons from others' mistakes and should not make the same mistakes. In all respects, Isaac, Abraham's son, was a goodly fruit.

 

Finally, another lesson of today's text is that God blesses humans with the blessings beyond human limits. A woman who could not bear a baby bore a baby. Likewise, God can bless us believers with the blessing overcoming the sinister aspects of future that modern science and medicine show us, for they can predict a little our future. Do not be depressed even if your parents passed down some terrible genetic diseases to you. God's kindness for you is greater than the genetic diseases. Nothing is impossible to the believers. Even other people who haven't received genetic diseases from their parents are exposed to all kinds of diseases. The question is my relationship with God. Jesus says to us, "Peace be with you." Jesus the King of peace will keep you like the apple of his eye.

 

I pray that God may give you an ability of patience so that you can bear good fruits in due season.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                                    - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -