Sarah
Genesis 12:1-4
When I was growing up, there was really only one female superhero and it was Wonderwoman. She had it all: the rope of truth, the indestructible bracelet, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and of course, the invisible plane. I never really understood why you couldn't see the plane when she was flying but you could see her! Wonderwoman was a heroine fighting for justice and peace. Linda Carter starred as Wonderwoman and it was one of the mainstays of shows I watched every week. And I wasn’t alone! Young girls and women watched, were influenced by her and even dressed up like her at Halloween. She was a heroine who was beautiful, strong, and courageous and she fought for what’s right.
But Wonderwoman isn’t the only female Superhero. We have many from our culture and from the Bible. Today, we’re going to look at one of them, Sarah, who laid a foundation for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Her story begins in the infancy of the Jewish faith as God chooses a couple, Abraham and Sarah to be the foundation of the faith. God comes to Abraham and says, “I want you and Sarah to go to a place you’ve never seen in your life.”
There are several things we learn from Sarah about living a story worth telling. First, heroes are called to leave their comfortable existence. Abraham and Sarah lived in the land of the Chaldees, which is today Iraq. Their hometown was Ur which was at the mouth of the Euphrates River on the Persian Gulf. It was a thriving port city and all of the trade and wealth from the Persian Sea came through there. It had a sophisticated pagan culture and worship, an efficient government and impressive buildings. According to one estimate, it was the largest city in the world and at the height of its power, wealth and influence when Sarah and Abraham lived there. Thus, they would have enjoyed all of the modern conveniences and comfort such a city afforded. But then God called Abraham and Sarah to leave Ur for the land of Canaan (today’s Israel), they left a comfortable urban life for one that was difficult and semi-nomadic as they wandered from place to place, searching for grazing land and water for their animals. Abraham must have had to convince Sarah to go because he was asking her to go to a culture not her own and a land that she has never seen and to leave her home, family and friends behind. Can you imagine how the conversation must have started? “Sarai, I don't know how to tell you this, but God came to me and said…” Now I don't know about you, but if my spouse was hearing voices saying pick up and leave everything, she had better double check that it was the voice of God and not the chili from last night. From Sarah and Abraham ‘s experience we learn that when God calls, he calls us beyond ourselves and sometimes even to leave our comfortable existence to move out of our comfort zones and into new places and circumstances.
Second, heroes have the promise of a better life and greater impact. In our Scripture today, we find that there are three promises made to Abraham. First, God will make him into a great nation. Really? They’re one couple which is now homeless and wandering in the wilderness. But this is not just a promise to Abraham. You know the old saying, “It takes two to tango.” This is a promise that of Go for Sarah: “I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Second, God says, “I will make your name great.” In other words, if you say ‘yes,’ I will make your story not only one worth living but one to tell for the ages. That’s what it means to participate in the story of God. His story becomes our story, we join in a larger story and that’s a story that will last forever. Third, God will not only bless Abraham but Sarah will become a blessing to others as well. God has not only made a promise to Abraham, God has made a promise to Sarah. We are blessed to bless others. This is the promise made to Sarah that even when she has to give up everything, she will be blessed but it’s a blessing with a purpose and that’s to bless others. The more we’re blessed by God, the more He expects us to help others and to use our resources of time, talents and treasure for His purposes and to build His kingdom. Jesus put it this way: “Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given” (Luke 12:48 TEV) These promises are not just for Abraham and Sarah, you can have a better life with purpose and meaning and have a greater impact as well.
Third, it’s never too late to become a hero. Abraham is 75 years old and Sarah is 65 years old when God makes this call on her life. About the time when Abraham and Sarah are making plans to retire to Florida and begin slowing down their normal every day routine, God says, “Now is the time to BEGIN writing your story and not just your story but the story of my chosen people and not just their story but God’s story of His plan of salvation.” Sarah is looking to start the last chapter of her life in sunny acres not begin a journey, start a new venture and start a family. This is no small task. The life of a nomad would be hard for anyone at sixty-five. But hear God’s response to her: “Sarah, I have chosen you. You have been chosen to be the mother of nations. Trust me on this and go to this promised land.” It doesn’t matter where you are in your journey, it’s never too late to become a hero and enter into God’s story.
Fourth, being a hero isn’t about outer beauty but inner beauty. “As he was about to enter Egypt, he (Abraham) said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.” Scripture remarks repeatedly about how stunningly attractive Sarah was. Wherever she went, she instantly received favor and privilege because of her good looks. We sometimes see in the Bible the emphasis on physical beauty. Today is no different. We are surrounded by unrealistic images of beauty where people starve themselves, they work out incessantly and their images are airbrushed all to attain the perfect look, which is completely unattainable. From fad diets to botox, we have become obsessed with appearance and many times at the expense of the beauty that comes from within. We ignore that but this is not what God is calling us to do. You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s not the outside that matters, it’s what is on the inside.” And yet, we live in a culture which bombards us with the message that thinner, taller, and younger is better. But how thin, how tall or how young is enough?’ The Bible says, “What matters is not your outward appearance, the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes but your inner disposition.” 1 Peter 3:3 In other words, it’s what’s on the inside that matters.
And if there is one characteristic of inner beauty Sarah shows us, it’s faith. She placed her faith in God and His call upon her life to join Abraham in God’s promises, despite the sacrifice, hardship and all of the unknowns. It is her faith that is the true beauty of Sarah and is at the heart of her life. It is this beauty we need to develop. This is the call of God. I Peter 3:3-6 says, “Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way…” We can be true sons and daughters in the footsteps of Sarah if we understand our beauty, a beauty that doesn't come from the outside but one that comes from within and that is a faith that sustains and guides us. That faith was no more apparent in Sarah than the years spent waiting on God to fulfill His promise of a child after a life of barrenness. And then one year passed and another and another. Sarah had an amazing trust in God as she just clung to the promise that Abraham was going to become a father unto nations which meant that she was going to be a mother unto nations until two decades roll by.
Fifth, even heroes falter but God never abandons us. As the years passed and age increased, doubt crept in, the community began to murmur and talk (“really, at her age, she thinks she’s going to start a family!”). She began to believe the lies so she took it upon herself to hatch a scheme that was so ill-advised she regretted it for the rest of her days. Now to be fair, we can understand Sarah’s creeping doubts and growing despair. She had waited more than 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled, only getting older. So she decided to take matters into her own hand and give Abraham her slave girl, Hagar who was young and the perfect solution to the problem. Abraham sleeps with her, she gets pregnant and gives birth to a son named Ishmael. When Hagar was pregnant, she looked upon Sarah contemptuously—or so her mistress believes. In return, Sarai treats the pregnant Hagar harshly, so bad that she flees into the desert. She returns but again is eventually send into the wilderness with Ishmael to die.
Then three angels came and announced and re-affirmed for Abraham the promise for a child. Sarah overhears the promise and because it’s so outrageous a thought to have a child at her age, she laughs saying, Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh…(Now listen to this) Is anything too hard for the Lord” Gen 18:12-14 This is what happens when we begin to listen to the lies and doubts. We begin to doubt God and to hear the negative messages over and over again in our mind that we’re not good enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, young enough or skilled enough. As a result, we either take matters into our own hands or even worse we back away from God’s story for our lives. It’s too easy to believe the lie that we are not enough. And we allow it to rumble around in our minds and be repeated over and over again until we have paid the price and that lie has become a part of us. And it has smothered any notion that we are a child of God or that God has a story for us to live.
But God says “No, that’s not my story for you. I have created you and chosen you. I have not forgotten you, even though you haven’t trusted me. I haven't forgotten my promise to you. You are called to a new story and a new life” You will not only have a new story but a new life and become a new person. This is exemplified when God changes her name from Sarai to Sarah and she becomes the only woman in the Bible whose name is changed. Genesis 17:15
Bet even despite this stumble of faith, God doesn’t punish Sarah, pull away from her or remove his call or promise from her. Instead, he re-affirms His call on her life by giving her a new name and Sarah begins to see herself as God sees her. When she becomes pregnant, she then begins to see herself even more so as God as sees her and experiences the love of God unlike anything she has ever known before.
James Bryan Smith tells the story of meeting a pastor from England named Carl. He asked him how he became a Christian. He said that when he was growing up, he seldom went to church. He was very close with his dad though. When he was 14, his dad died in a tragic accident at work which completely shattered his life. To numb his pain, he began to get into a lot of fights at school and soon was abusing alcohol. But nothing seemed to work. When he was 17, a friend invited him to a party which he thought would include binge drinking, so he agreed. It was actually a Christian house party which is more like a retreat where people go to a big home and hang out for days of conversation, worship and recreation. When he found out, it was too late to turn back. After the first two days, he still felt bitter toward God. But on the final day in their time of worship, Carl heard a distinct voice that said, “I am your Father Carl, come to me.” Upon hearing these words, Carl began to sob and for the first time since his father died, his heart began to heal.
And then he writes, “All of us face pain and difficulty, sometimes even tragedy. As we come to know and draw close to the God Jesus knows, we have a new kind of strength to deal with our struggles. If we do not know God as our Abba Father, then we will never have the courage to face our problems. But as we come to know the good and beautiful God that Jesus knows, our struggles take on a whole new meaning. If God is truly good and looking out for our good then we can come to him with complete honesty. We can practice honesty when we pray, baring our soul and confronting those hurts that make us doubt God’s goodness by handing them over to him for healing.” Amen
