Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old.
Sarah was no longer menstruating.
So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking,
I’m no longer able to have children
and my husband’s old.
The Lord said to Abraham,
“Why did Sarah laugh and say,
‘Me give birth? At my age?’
Is anything too difficult for the Lord?
When I return to you about this time next year,
Sarah will have a son.”
As we work our way through the summer,
our texts from the Hebrew scriptures
are thematically related
to our gospel texts week by week.
So we don’t get to hear
the part of this visit to Abrahama and Sarah
that I just continued for you.
It’s really the crux of the passage, though.
Abraham is a good host
as visitors from God come to him,
the way Martha is a good host
for Jesus and his disciples.
Jesus has been preaching
that the Kingdom of God
has come near.
As the Ancient of Days manifests to Abraham
coming in three visitors
that Christians may back read the Trinity on to,
God is telling Abraham something big and new
will be happening too.
The Reign of God is drawing near
as Abraham has made a covenant with God
and Abraham will be a father.
At long last.
In Genesis and in Luke today
we hear stories about welcoming.
Not just about welcoming,
but welcoming God!
If you’re visiting today,
I hope you’ve been made to feel welcome.
The rule of St. Benedict,
drawing from Matthew 25,
directs Benedictines to welcome all guests
as if they are welcoming Christ.
Look at how Mary and Martha
and Abraham and Sarah
welcome God.
With water for washing,
with food,
with what we generally know ourselves
to be marks of hospitality.
This was sacrosanct
in their Near Eastern cultures.
They’re not only welcomed
with refreshment, though.
God as Three Guests
and Jesus are also welcomed
by those who are willing
to hear what they say.
Mary sits at Jesus’ feet
and listens to what he was saying.
Abraham stays with them under the tree
while they eat the tender calf,
cakes, milk, and curds.
The Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near
if there are eyes to see it.
One of the men,
when they’ve finished eating,
tells Abraham that within a year
he’ll be a father.
They’ll have a son.
From behind the tent door,
Sarah thinks about all the practicalities
they’re kind of important
when it comes to having children
and laughs at this prediction.
Martha is trying to be a good host
and wants some help to be a good host
to fulfill the expectations society has put on her.
Jesus invites her to listen
to know alongside her sister
that the kingdom of God has come near.
As Mary, Martha, Abraham, and Sarah welcome these guests
they all have something to teach their hosts.
As we welcome guests as though they are Christ,
our guests probably have things to teach us too.
Some of us have been reading through
Invite, Welcome, Connect by Mary Parmer.
Those three lodestones
are borne out in both of the passages
about which I’ve talked today.
Abraham and Martha
both invite God into their space.
Having accepted the invitations,
Abraham, Martha, Mary, and Sarah
work to welcome their guests.
In the process of welcoming them,
and in the process of scolding them!,
they connect with those who’ve come to them.
In John, Mary and Martha are Lazarus’ sisters,
who send for Jesus after Lazarus’ death.
That death prompts Jesus’ tears
because of his connection
to this hospitable family.
God says they’ll be back
in a year and Abraham will have a son
because Abraham has listened to God’s voice
and is willing to learn from God’s law.
Sarah laughs at the possibility.
Martha is frustrated at all the work
that has fallen to her.
The kingdom of God has come near, though.
One of the men asks Sarah after her laugh,
“Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”
Jesus doesn’t set Mary and Martha as opposite ends
where we need to sort ourselves into one or the other.
He asks Martha and us
to know our surroundings
and when it’s time to contemplate and listen,
when it’s time to welcome the guest as Christ
and learn something from them.
He asks Martha and us
to know our surroundings
and when it’s time to work,
to do the action part
of an action reflection model.
Sarah laughs at the possibility,
but the Kingdom of God has come near,
and God has sent his laborers into the vineyard.
Over the next six weeks
I’ll be in the meeting room at 9 a.m.
to follow the discussion guide
to each chapter’s video
from Invite, Welcome, Connect.
Even without the book,
you can watch the videos during the week –
which I’ll be sending on Mondays –
and join for discussion.
On June 1 you voted to grow,
and yesterday the Bishop’s Committee met
to home in on what we mean by that.
“The growth we seek
is an infilling of the Holy Spirit
leading to congregational and community
engagement and enthusiasm
that yields 2026 pledges in excess of $180,000
by November 17.”
The pledge campaign is about to start.
We’re talking about it at the Bishop’s Committee today.
We brainstormed some benchmarks and goals
for upcoming special events
that I’ll be sharing with y’all tomorrow via email.
It’s a big lift
for four months’ time.
But it’s not bigger than Sarah’s lift
of bearing a son within a year’s time,
given everything else going on
in her and her husband’s life cycles!
The passages I’ve focused on today
aren’t about setting characters against one another
or necessarily choosing who we identify with
like a church zodiac sorter.
In Abraham inviting God to dine with him
and Martha doing the same
we see what happens
when we welcome God to us.
Not only when we welcome God to us,
but when we learn from those who join us
as they give us wisdom from God.
We may want to laugh or scoff
or shoot down thought balloons.
But as the messenger asks Sarah,
“Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”