Step out in faith
Jane Denniston
June 18, 2017
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Genesis 18:1-15
The Three Visitors
18 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 the finest 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 one of them 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 very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord 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.”
The prayers this week are based on various passages from the Old and New Testaments, and also reference “We are Stardust” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash:
“And maybe it's the time of year
Yes and maybe it's the time of man
And I don't know who I am
But life is for learning
We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden”
“Life is for learning”, as the song says.
It’s a journey, and every step
takes us into unknown territory.
Abraham knew that.
But he also knew, Lord,
that you were with him.
You gave him the vision
and you would not fail.
Lord sometimes your vision
seems impossible of fulfilment.
Like Sarah we feel barren
tempted to reject the road ahead of us
because it seems too long
too rough
too painful
too vague.
Help us to catch your vision.
Help us to step out in faith;
with Sarah, in her fear and longing;
with Abraham, in his patience and wisdom;
with you, in your faithfulness and promise.
“As the stars in the sky,” you promised Abraham,
we are those stars,
children of your promise.
As you are faithful to Abraham
So, you are faithful to us.
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