“1 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. 2 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.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then the Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?” 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”’ 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.””
Has anyone here ever watched Undercover Boss? It’s a reality show on CBS in which a boss goes undercover within his own company. Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, went undercover cleaning toilets, parking cars, and selling hotdogs for the Cubs. Kim Schaefer, the CEO of Great Wolf Lodge, went undercover doing a variety of odd jobs in her hotels and waterparks. The drama of the show comes from the fact that the other employees don’t know that their new co-worker is actually their boss. They speak openly about what they think of the company and what they think of the management.
The big reveal—the moment when the boss takes off the disguise and tells the other employees the truth—is usually the most dramatic moment of each episode. The supervisors who were patient with the mistakes of the undercover boss realize that they were generous and kind to their CEO without knowing it. The supervisors who were impatient and belittled their new employee now realize how poorly they treated their boss.
That is a bit of what’s going in this morning’s passage. Abraham doesn’t know that this visitor who came for dinner is actually the God who makes promises. Sarah doesn’t know that this conversation she is overhearing contains the word of God. From this portion of the text you are to wonder how you would respond if you met God in disguise.
Sarah laughed at what God said because she didn’t know it was God who said it. At that point, He throws off the disguise and asks why she laughed. He asks if she truly thinks that anything is too hard for Him. Perhaps you would never say aloud that anything is too hard for the Lord, but in your heart of hearts you do believe it. That’s the second question you need to ask yourself this morning: is anything too hard for the Lord? Those are the two questions before you this morning: how would you treat God in disguise? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
We will study this in two points. First: serving God without knowing it. Second: Sarah’s laughter. First, in verses 1-8, we see Abraham and Sarah serving God without knowing it. Second, in verses 9-15, we see Sarah’s laughter and God’s response to the laughter.
First: serving God without knowing it. When you read Scripture, you often know more of what’s going on than anyone in the middle of it. You know that the serpent in the Garden of Eden is crafty. Eve didn’t know that. You know that David was anointed king before King Saul knew it. You know that the devil was working through Jesus before Peter knew it. You know more of what is going on than the people in the middle of the story. That’s what’s going on in verse 1, “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.” The reader knows that this visitor is the Lord. Abraham didn’t. Abraham’s knowledge of the situation begins at verse 2, “Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.”
Abraham didn’t know that this was God, but he responded with generous hospitality; verse 2, ‘When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 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—now that you have come to your servant.’
This is proper middle eastern hospitality. You see that in the show of honor. You see that in the generosity. This is not our culture. If three strangers were passing through Inwood and you invited them into your home and fed them, my guess is that you would think that you were showing remarkable kindness that deserved to go viral. You would think that you had just gone above and beyond.
Compared with the ancient near east we do not live in a hospitable culture. John Calvin considered that true about his own time and place four centuries ago. He thought the hotels and restaurants were, in part, a sign of how much had changed since Abraham’s day. In Abraham’s day, a host would have felt honored to feed unexpected guests. One of the reasons we have so many restaurants today is that people feel put out by unexpected guests. In Abraham’s day, a host would have felt honored to provide lodging for a guest. One of the reasons we have so many hotels today is that people feel put out by unexpected, or even expected, guests spending the night.
Now this is the culture in which we live, but we Christians are called to practice hospitality. That is a regular command in Scripture. We studied hospitality for five weeks last year in Adult Education, and if you there, you remember that the conversations were most authentic when we talked about the fact that we tend to avoid hospitality because it makes us uncomfortable. We feel that someone might judge us for the meal we serve or for the cleanliness of our home. I think it is good to acknowledge that uncomfortable feeling because until we face it, we won’t see the need to push through it for the sake of the other person.
Abraham was eager to practice hospitality. That was part of his culture. This is one reason it is a joy to see such different cultures portrayed in Scripture. There is so much we can learn from others.
Abraham was eager to show hospitality to these strangers. In typical Middle Eastern fashion he understated the hospitality he was about to offer. He said he was simply preparing “a bit of bread.” Our translation of verse 5 simply read, “Let me get you something to eat,” but other translations are more literal than the NIV and read, “let me bring a morsel of bread,” or “a bit of bread” or “a piece of bread.” This was, and in many ways still is, typical middle eastern hospitality. They understate what they are about to offer. They understate what they are going to do for you because they don’t want you to feel like they are putting you out. They know that if they say, “please come over for steak and a few side dishes and dessert,” you will say, “don’t go to all that trouble”, and so they simply say, “we’ll just have a bit of bread,” and then bring a feast.
Now not every middle eastern person was hospitable, and they weren’t all hospitable to everyone. You can see that in the way in which these same visitors are treated when they arrive in Sodom. The author wants you to see Abraham’s hospitality in contrast to Sodom’s inhospitable welcome.
Abraham asked Sarah to make three seahs of flour’s worth of bread which would have been way more than was necessary. Abraham killed the fattened calf when a lamb or a goat would have been more typical fare for a visitor. The author wants you to know that Abraham was crazy generous with these visitors who from all appearances could do absolutely nothing for him.
The author wants you to see that by being crazy generous with these visitors Abraham was actually being crazy generous with God. You see that in the happy ironies in this passage. Abraham bowed before these visitors as a sign of respect, but we as the readers know that he was actually bowing before God. Abraham called one of these visitors, “lord,” as a sign of respect like saying “sir”, but we as the readers know that he was actually calling the Lord “lord.” Abraham called himself the servant of these visitors as a sign of respect, but we know that Abraham was in fact the servant of God.
The author wants you to see that Abraham didn’t know that he was serving God. Jesus wants you to serve without knowing it’s God. He tells you that when you feed someone who is hungry, it’s as if you were feeding him just as Abraham fed God. There is no need to wonder how you would have behaved in Abraham’s place. You can see how Abraham treated God without knowing it by looking at how he treated these visitors with no expectation of return. You can see how you treat God without knowing it by looking at how you treat those who give you no expectation of return. This is why Jesus says that whatever you have done to the least of these—the poor, the helpless, the imprisoned, the hungry—that is what you have done to him.
How would you respond to God if you didn’t know it was God? That’s our first question. Our second question is the one God puts to Sarah, “is anything too hard for the Lord?” We see that in our second point: Sarah’s laughter.
God begins to remove His disguise; verse 9, ‘“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.’ Ask yourself—how did these visitors know the name of Abraham’s wife? Imagine that I’m at a conference. At the lunch break a few guys are heading to Jimmy John’s so I decide to join them. I get my chips and sandwich and sit down with these guys who I just met; one of them to me and ask, “so how are Bethany and the kids? You’ve got two in school now, right?” That conversation would suddenly turn strange.
This conversation has suddenly turned strange. These visitors know what they have no business knowing. This is more than just a man. This is God, and of course, Now, of course, God knows where Sarah is. He wants Sarah to listen to what He says and so he asks, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He wants her to hear Him say, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”’ She did; verse 10, “Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”’
Sarah laughed because she couldn’t bring herself to believe this promise. Gordon Wenham is doubtlessly right to say that, “she laughed not out of cocky arrogance but because a life of long disappointment had taught her not to clutch at straws. Hopelessness, not pride, underlay her unbelief.” She was too hopeless to believe this promise. Perhaps there is something that you are unwilling to bring yourself to believe about God. Perhaps you find yourself far too hopeless to believe the promises. Perhaps the promises of Christianity—the new creation, forgiveness, not merely acceptance but love—perhaps these don’t seem illogical to you. Perhaps they simply seem unbelievable to you because you can’t bring yourself to believe anything beautiful. That’s Sarah in this moment.
God loves Sarah and so He calls her out of her hopelessness, but first we need to consider his words to Abraham in verse 13, ‘Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?”’
It’s clear that God was talking to Sarah so why ask the question of Abraham? You answer that question by asking why God came in the first place. He wasn’t giving Abraham any new information. He was giving information that was new to Sarah because Abraham had not passed it on. Abraham had not told Sarah what God told him in Genesis 17. Abraham had not told his wife that God had promised that she would bear a son in her old age. Abraham knew that his wife was convinced that she couldn’t have children. Why open that can of worms again with her? Why not just wait until she was pregnant and then tell her about the promise? God wanted Abraham to know he should have told his wife. The good news should be spoken regardless of expectations. It is not for Abraham to decide what will or will not be believed.
Abraham’s role in this story is now finished. He doesn’t answer God’s question. The attention now shifts to Sarah. ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?”’
Just as the visitor made clear to Abraham that He had unusual knowledge so now He makes clear to Sarah that He has unusual knowledge. The visitor couldn’t Sarah her inside the tent or hear her laugh to herself, but yet He knew that she laughed, and He asked her why she laughed. Sarah now knew that she was dealing with God; verse 15, ‘Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
Sarah didn’t confess her laughter. She didn’t confess her hopelessness. She didn’t confess her bitterness. She didn’t bring it to God. She swept it under the rug; “I did not laugh.” Have you ever done that? Have you ever tried to be anything less than transparent with God. Be thankful for all the times He didn’t put up with it. He didn’t put up with it with Sarah; verse 17, ‘Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”’
God wanted Sarah to confess her hopelessness. She needed to confess it before she could hope in the promise. She didn’t know that when she had laughed, she had laughed at God. God took off His disguise to ask, “do you really think anything is too hard for me. That is the question of verse 14, “is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Walter Bruggeman points out that this comes in the form of a question because a question requires a response. There is a difference between God telling Sarah that nothing is too hard for Him and God asking Sarah, “is anything too hard for the Lord?” This question required aSarah to give a response. She couldn’t simply find the promise unbelievable because she couldn’t bring herself to believe it anymore. She needed to decide what she believed. She could live as if there were matters, like her dead womb, that were too hard for the Lord. If she went that route, her life, in the words of Brueggemann would be, “stable, reliable, and hopeless.” Her life would be stable; she wouldn’t need to risk getting her heart broken by believing. Her life would be reliable; she could believe that she really did know what could and couldn’t happen. Her life would also be hopeless. That is life without faith in God’s promises.
God invited Sarah to live differently by confronting her on her laughter and asking her, “is anything too hard for the Lord?” God invites you to live differently too. His word is an invitation. The Bible doesn’t describe Bible times. It gives you a way of looking at life that says, “actually, nothing is too hard for the Lord.” That’s the Exodus. That’s the deliverance under the Judges. That’s the line of David. That’s the return from Exile. That’s the changing of the human heart. That’s the new creation. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
That’s the incarnation. It seemed that God and humanity couldn’t dwell together; the incarnation said otherwise because nothing is too hard for the Lord. That’s the cross. It seemed that God’s wrath and God’s mercy were irreconcilable; the cross said otherwise because nothing is too hard for the Lord. That’s the resurrection. It seemed that death is the only future possible for any of us; the resurrection said otherwise because nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord and you enter into that by way of faith. It seems that Sarah took God’s correction to heart. Hebrews 11 tells us that, “by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise.” At some point, Sarah owned her hopelessness and put faith in God’s promise.
Don’t be like the Sarah of verse 15 and pretend that you didn’t laugh. Don’t pretend with God. Confess your unbelief and be like the Sarah of Hebrews 11. Confess your hopelessness and your bitterness; then put your faith in the promises of God. Sarah still wound up in faith’s hall of fame in Hebrews 11. That’s something to consider if you can’t seem to bring yourself to believe. Perhaps God is lovingly correcting you this morning. He comes in disguise; he did so in the incarnation. The people thought they were dealing with a mere man. Perhaps, this morning, you thought that you were just hearing from a dusty old book. That’s part of the disguise. Amen.