To introduce this sermon the following can be done.
• Walk to the platform and ask, “How many of you have heard of ‘Amazing Grace?’” (Most every hand will go up.)
• Next say: “Amazing Grace is one of the most popular hymns of all time. God used a rather unlikely candidate to write that hymn.” John Newton, a former slave trader, wrote Amazing Grace.
• Have congregation sing several verses of Amazing Grace.
• Show the 4 minute video clip from Sermon Spice about John Newton’s life.
Ask, are you ever surprised by the people God uses? I am! There are many things which surprise me about God. I am surprised that he would love me! I am surprised that he would send His son to die in my place! I am surprised that he would use the people he uses! This last surprise, the people God uses, is the one I want to address today. I want to show you an occasion when God used a skeptic. We are going to look at a woman who laughed at God. Her name was Sarah. More importantly, we are going to see our pictures in the mirror. We get glimpses of ourselves as we study the lives of people in the Bible.
Here is the story. Sarah was ninety years old and her husband, Abraham, was ninety-nine years old. God dropped a bomb shell on them. He announced that they were going to have a baby. Can you imagine the stir this news must have caused in the community? When Sarah heard the news she could not contain herself. She laughed out loud. She laughed with a skeptics laugh. What can we learn from this interesting story? In this story we see the ugliness of our imperfections. We also see the beauty of God. This will be our outline.
I. First, look at the ugliness of our imperfections.
• Sarah was not a saint!
• Sarah was not perfect!
• Sarah was not born with a halo around her head.
A. To illustrate Sarah’s humanity let me show you three examples of her imperfection.
(1) At one point in her life she was a party to deception. In fact, this happened twice. This is what happened. She and her husband, Abraham, were involved in a cover up. On both occasions they had moved to a foreign land. Sarah was a beautiful woman. Abraham knew men would be looking at his beautiful wife so he instructed her to tell those men she was his sister. The Bible never tells us why he did this. That little cover up caused great problems for their opponents. This story sounds like a soap opera or something out of the movies. The point is Abraham and Sarah were guilty of deception.
(2) At another point in her life Sarah allowed jealousy to drive her to be hateful to another person. She had a maid named Hagar. Sarah had no reason to be jealous of Hagar; however, she was jealous and hateful toward Hagar. Instead of trusting God to handle the situation she boiled with jealousy. She was unbelieving.
(3) We see her humanity a third time. When God told her she would have a child ,at the age of 90, she laughed. (Gen. 17:17; 18:12-15)
Let’s review! Sarah displayed three unholy actions. She displayed a deceptive spirit, a jealous spirit and she skeptically laughed when God proposed an idea that was beyond her faith.
Have you ever gone into a clothing store and noticed a clearance rack located to the side or back of the store? Those clearance racks often contain imperfect items. They sell for a discount but they are still good. As you study the Bible you will notice that God gets His servants off of the imperfect rack.
• Jacob was a trickster.
• Noah got drunk after coming off of the ark.
• David committed adultery after becoming Israel’s greatest king.
• Peter denied Jesus when he was on his way to the cross.
God uses imperfect people! That should make you sigh a deep sigh of relief. He wants to use you. Even though we are encouraged by this thought, we should understand that God does not excuse unholy or improper behavior?
• God is not pleased with drunkenness.
• God is not pleased with adultery.
• God is not pleased with divorce.
• God is not pleased with pornography.
• God is not pleased with uncontrolled anger.
• God is not pleased with arrogant pride.
So, what should we do about the ugliness of our imperfections. What can we learn from Sarah?
B. I want to show you the consequences of your imperfections, your failures and your shortcomings.
This will help you know how to address these failures.
(1) If I have a blemish in my life and that blemish goes unchecked it will cause me to waste time that could be spent serving God and fulfilling the purpose for which I was created.
Illustration: Let’s suppose you go to the beach and they have signs posted warning beach-goers not to park in the sand. However, you ignore the sign and park. You go to the beach and have a good time. After returning to your car you are relieved to find there are no parking tickets on the windshield of your car. You get in your car and swell with a sense of pride that you were able to ignore the sign and park in a no parking zone. You crank your car and press the accelerator and you car will not move. Your car has bogged down in the sand. As you race your engine all that happens is that your wheels spin and the wheels sink deeper into the sand. Now you have to get someone to pull you out of the sand. Your miss-step has caused you to waste your valuable time. That is what happens when you allow human short-comings and sins to control you life.
Your imperfections cause you to waste your time but they also blind you to God’s blessings. Sarah was so busy being skeptical she could not see the blessings God had in store for her.
Illustration: I mentioned last week that I performed a wedding on the beach out from Gulf Shores. During that time it was super hot and the humidity was real high. Every day I faced a frustrating situation. I would wear my glasses indoors and they would get cool. When I went outside my cool glasses would fog up. I would have to take my glasses off in order to see where I was going. The imperfections of our heart will do the same to you spiritually. Skepticism, bitterness, anger and the like will fog up your spiritual view. You will be unable to see God’s blessings because of such things.
Sarah’s imperfections cause me to be encouraged. Because of her failure I know that God can use me. Because of her failure I know that God will forgive me. However, her imperfections cause me to look in the mirror and see the ugliness of my sins, failures, short-comings and disobedience before God. It causes me to bow before God and humbly repent of my failure. The Bible says “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
II. This story helps me to see the ugliness of my imperfections. The other side of this story helps me see the beauty of God. If Sarah displayed a deceptive, jealous and skeptical spirit…how is it that she was accepted before God? How did her name end up in God’s Hall of Fame? Why was she accepted and affirmed by God? Is it possible that you, in spite of your frailties and humanity, can be accepted and used by God? This says more about God than it does about you! What does it say about God?
A. The story of Sarah teaches us that God sees our potential. There is an interesting play on words in our text. The word Sarah means princess. The word reflects what Sarah was destined to become. When everyone else saw a skeptic, God saw a princess. God saw the potential buried in Sarah. He needed to bring that potential to the surface.
Illustration: Ray Boltz has a song entitled “Shepherd boy.” The words of that song illustrate our text. It says “When others see a shepherd boy, God sees a king.” In fact, when the prophet Samuel was looking to anoint a new king for Israel he looked to the family of Jesse. Jesse brought his sons before Samuel one at a time. When Jesse brought the oldest son before Samuel, Samuel thought Eliab, the oldest, would be God’s obvious selection. God told Samuel “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’’ God saw a king in the face of a mere child.
Illustration: Years ago I bought a book that contained many of Paul Harvey’s stories. These stories were often used by Paul Harvey and were called “The Rest of the Story.” One story was particularly fascinating to me. It was about a horse named Snowman. Snowman belonged to a man named Harry. Harry had moved to America from the Netherlands and secured a job at the Knox riding school for girls on Long Island. One day Harry attended a horse auction and returned with a mammoth grey horse he had purchased. One of Harry’s children gave the horse the name “Snowman.” Harry kept the horse for a period of time until a neighbor offered Harry double what he had paid for the horse. After a period of time Harry regretted that he had sold Snowman. Apparently Snowman missed Harry because he began jumping the neighbor’s fences and returned to Harry. Due to this jumping problem Harry was able to repurchase Snowman. Harry began to cultivate Snowman’s jumping ability and to enter him in horse shows. Snowman won horse of the year two years running. Paul Harvey called Snowman an unlikely champion because the only other bidder who bid against Harry at the horse auction was “a glue factory.” Harry bought a horse that was headed for the waste heap and made him into a champion. ( “Snowman”. Paul Harvey’s, The Rest of the Story, by Paul Aurandt. 18th printing. P. 6)
I am so glad God takes imperfect people and uses them.
B. The story of Sarah teaches us that God is gracious. Sarah laughed at God’s suggestion that she have a baby in her 90’s. In spite of that skeptical attitude God used her. God forgave her attitude and her sin. That is grace.
Joke: Someone sent me an e-mail this week that perfectly illustrates God’s grace. A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says, "Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years
and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That’s wonderful," says St.Peter, "that’s worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says.
"Well, I attended church all my life
and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St.Peter. "That’s certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!!"
"I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter
for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that’s good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!! "Exasperated, the man cries.
"At this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven
is by the grace of God."
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"
We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape. God did it with nails. He sent His Son to die for imperfect people.
C. The last thing I learn from Sarah’s story is that after forgiving us God enables us so that we can do His will.
Illustration: When Jesus called His first disciples He called them to obey. He said “Follow me.” He did not leave them to obey on their own. Next, he said “I will make you fishers of men.” There are two enlightening words in that statement. He said “I will make you fishers of men.” He did not say “follow me and you will become fishers of men.” He said “I will make.” The Lord calls us and if we will follow He will enable us to do His will. We do not have it within ourselves to be His follower. He enables us to be His follower. That takes the pressure off of imperfect sinful men.
Aren’t you grateful! We serve a great God!
