Genesis Session 26

How would you respond… if God paid you a visit?

I’m talking about you, sitting in your living room, your ring doorbell goes off and when you look at your screen, you see God and two angels standing with Him coming up to your door. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

“Oh pastor, such a thing would never happen!” Maybe… but such a thing DID happen for Abraham.

Genesis 18:1–2 NIV

1 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.

Now if God came to my house and I saw Him on His way to my door, I’m not sure how I would react.

I might try to do what Abraham did… beat God to the door so He wouldn’t see the “mess” inside… the mess that ebbs and flows with a family of six sharing the same space.

I might look myself over and hope I looked “presentable” to stand before the One who literally spoke the world into motion.

What Abraham did… was remarkable. And I hope we all take notice of how he responded when he saw God.

First, Abraham recognized God for who He was.

There was no question in Abraham's mind regarding the identity of the Lord. We are not given details as to what Abraham saw… but Abraham knew who it was that was standing nearby. IT WAS GOD.

GOD WAS THERE! And God is here as well! He is not here in a human form but church, God is on the move. And I wonder if when He moves or when His presence is working, are we able to recognize His power at work OR are we too distracted by all that is going on to see Him?

Secondly, Abraham humbled himself before the Lord.

Scripture says Abraham bowed low to the ground in reverence to the one who stood before him. Abraham knew this was a special visit. He didn’t hesitate in honoring God. He knelt before the Lord in humbleness and servanthood.

So why did God choose to pay ole’ Abraham a personal visit in this way? Because God had some unfinished business to attend to.

This unfinished business wasn’t something God forgot about and now He was there to make it right. This business was something God had promised… and now the time had come for this business to be completed.

Again, God’s timing is perfect. He is never late, He is never early. God is ALWAYS on time.

Tonight we are going to look at what happens in the this moment… the moment when God visits Abraham to complete some very important business. We are going to continue to look at Abraham’s reaction, and then we are going to look at Sarah’s reaction. because what is happening on the inside during this visit makes a big difference.

Abraham Serves the Lord.

Genesis 18:3–8 NIV

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.

Abraham offers God and the two others his very best.

He quickly gets Sarah working on some bread. He gets the best calf and has a servant begin preparing it. He gives this group the finest service possible.

And this response in the one I hope we would all share in… Giving God our BEST.

We often say in this place that God is worthy of our highest praise. This simply means that of all the things and people we encounter, God is THE BEST of it all. He deserves our VERY BEST.

In this story, we do not see Abraham complain regarding the timing of God’s visit. We do not see the leftovers brought out on the table, we do not see the group turned away for time to prepare or get ready. Abraham moves to do what is deserved for the Lord!

Seems like a simple and obvious thought right? Yet too often Christians aren’t moved by much anymore. It seems like we are looking for the big, the extravagant, the next-level miracle or the writing in the sky to appear before we give God our best.

BUT WE NEED TO NOT FORGET THAT GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN HIS BEST FOR US.

The FACT that God gave His Son for our sins should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.

The FACT that God has given us His Spirit should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.

The FACT that God has given us eternal life should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.

The FACT that God has given us direct access to His Word should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.

The FACT that God is GOD… the great I AM should be cause enough for us to give Him our highest praise.

Abraham wasn’t sure at this point what God had come to do… BUT IT WAS GOD who had paid him a visit!!! Regardless of the why… WHO IT WAS was enough for Abraham to give his very best!!!

And then… when dinner was over… Things shift direction and the Lord gets down to business. And in this process, we see Sarah’s response… and it might not be exactly what you would hope for.

Sarah Struggles with the Mess.

Remember what I said in the intro regarding our hypothetical responses to a visit from the Lord? Would we be worried about the mess behind the door or if we looked presentable?

Sarah’s mind is in this mode… but the mess she is concerned with is not one of laundry and dirty dishes. It is a different kind of “mess” that has her in the wrong mindset.

Genesis 18:9–15 NIV

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.”

Sarah… is struggling. She did everything Abraham asked her to do concerning caring for the visitors… but here we see her heart revealed. Something is going on that has caused a mess… in her heart.

God gets down to business… and that business is to declare that by this time next year, they will have the child God promised them.

This sounds like news that should be celebrated! But Sarah’s heart… goes a different direction. Instead of celebration, we see bitterness. When she heard the news, she laughed and began complaining.

She basically said, “Oh… sure… now that I am old NOW you decide to come through.” And as she stood in the tent away from the conversation… she felt safe in her “mess.”

She laughed to herself. She complained to herself. She thought she had hidden her bitterness from God.

Bitterness was keeping her from being able to celebrate the news God had just brought them.

Things had not gone according to their timing… but God ABSOLUTELY knew what He was doing.

Yet, per her own understanding, this wasn’t news to be celebrated… it was news to be bitter against.

Sarah was bitter. And bitterness is a “mess” that can keep us from experiencing God’s best for our lives.

Bitterness turns our eyes inward instead of upward. Bitterness is more focused on what we deserve instead of what HE deserves.

Bitterness leads us to question and doubt when God has already delivered for us in incredible ways!

God did not have to promise Abraham and Sarah a child… God did not have to promise us a Savior! God didn’t have to do ANYTHING after we sinned against Him yet, because of His love for us, God has moved time and time again for us.

God has a way of doing things HIS WAY. And what I have come to learn over the years is HIS WAY is the BEST WAY.

Bitterness becomes a factor when our way tries to superceded His way. It becomes a factor when, in our minds, we deserve more than God deserves.

Sarah failed to humble herself before the Lord upon His arrival. Yes she assisted with Abraham’s meal, but there is no mention of Sarah’s personal response.

And in light of what she felt in her heart… GOD CALLS HER OUT. “Why did you laugh?”

Uh oh… her “private bitterness” just got called out on the carpet by God! That could not have been comfortable and indeed it wasn’t! And in fear… Sarah tries to hide again by lying out of fear… and God calls her out AGAIN!

God wasn’t trying to embarrass her, He was trying to break her free of the spiritual “mess” she was in.

Her first response was combative out of fear and God did not back down.

God may be dealing with your heart on some things and the WORST thing you could do is deny what God is trying to tell you! He knows you heart, He knows your thoughts! There is no hiding such things from the Lord!

So instead of hiding, instead of lying to God out of fear… we need to be real with what the Spirit of God might be saying to us!

Don’t let the mess cause you to miss what God has for you!

For Sarah, it was bitterness. For us it might be other things.

It could be hidden sin. It could be doubt. It could be selfishness. It could be rebellion. It could be religion over relationship. It could be a number of things… the point is, we need to stop hiding in that mess and be humbled in the presence of the Lord!

Closing

So I wonder if we could do that this evening - move from whatever mess might exist and humble ourselves before God.

His Spirit is with us tonight. His Word has touched our lives. So can we end a bit differently this evening by humbling ourselves before the Lord in worship?

As we do, clear out the mess. Allow God to help you in dealing with anything you might be trying to hide behind. God has unfinished business with ALL of us… meaning He is still leading us, guiding us, and helping us according to His will for us.

Are you ready to respond by giving Him our highest praise?