Lectionary 16 C - Genesis 18:1-15

Genesis 18:1-15

In 2010 I wrote this blog from Ebert Ranch in the Texas Hill country where this year Janelle, Pr. Kyle, Intern Mallory and youth from Calvary and Grace are trying to beat the heat. The 2010 Confirmation Camp theme was Faith 365 and each day was devoted to a season of the church year. One night was devoted to Advent and involved singing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” while waiting and watching for “the stars at night are big and bright…” come out one by one. Abraham and Sarah had been waiting a long time for God to make good on the promise of offspring more numerous than the stars. When Sarah heard the promise repeated she laughed to herself because she figured the joke was on her. She didn’t need a mirror to know her body had been passed by the promise too slow in coming due. There are times when wearied by waiting “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” is beyond our ability to believe. When the check is not in the mail, when there is no good news to balance the bad, when bodies are beyond healing or relationships beyond repair we like Sarah might think the joke is on us. But at the end of Sarah’s story God will have the last laugh as she cuddles a cooing Isaac and Abraham rejoices in the gift of the son who will make the starry dream come true. The end of all our stories has been written by the One who came in swaddling cloths and for whom we wait to come again clothed in glory. When we remember the end of the story God has written for us we are able to endure the chapters yet to be written as we wait for the last laugh which God will share with us and the whole creation.