The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
October 19, 2008
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
Genesis 18:1-15
Our God of the Impossible
In his book, Just As I Am, Billy Graham writes about an encounter in a roadside diner in New Jersey. While he was eating lunch, Graham was “greeted by a big, smiling man whose eyes grew large as he” approached. Graham recounts that the man shouted “Hallelujah,” and grabbed and vigorously shook his hand.
“What an answer to prayer, I was just sitting here praying that I might meet Billy Graham and in you walk. I didn’t even know you were on the East Coast.” The man introduced himself as a preacher from Philadelphia. “I have a great burden on my heart,” he said. “It’s a message that I believe is from the Lord. Billy, you must go on national radio.”
The preacher urged Graham to contact two men who worked in radio. Graham recalls that after that lunch exchange, “I pretty much forgot the whole idea. I was so busy that I could not imagine adding anything to my plate.”
“A few weeks later I was speaking at a conference in Michigan. Two well-dressed strangers approached me and introduced themselves as Fred Dienert and Walter Bennett. These were the two men mentioned by the Philadelphia preacher. They spoke to Graham about their interest in him doing a national radio program.
Graham recounts, “I told Fred and Walter that I appreciated their interest but simply could not do a radio program at the time.” Graham closest advisors agreed – “it was out of the question.”
Later, Graham was in Portland and he reports that “these two extremely persistent men repeatedly lay in ambush to catch me. All they wanted, they claimed was five minutes of my time. I got so irritated with their pestering that sometimes I took a back elevator to avoid them.”
“As I came out of the hotel one night,” continues Graham, “there they were. We want to say good-bye,” one of them said. “We’re leaving tonight for Chicago.”
“All right, fellows, I said laughingly, “if before midnight tonight I should get $25,000 for the purpose of a radio broadcast, I’ll take that as an answer to prayer and be willing to do a national broadcast.”
This all happened nearly sixty years ago and the thought of receiving $25,000 was so incredible that the two men laughed along with Billy Graham before heading to the airport. I went to dollartimes.com and found out that one dollar in 1950 had the buying power of $8.98 in 2008. So, $25,000 in 1950 is equal to over $224,000 today.
That evening, more than 17,000 people gathered at the Billy Graham meeting. Graham told that crowd about Walter Bennett and Fred Dienert and their burden for “broadcasting the Gospel” over radio. He informed the audience of his $25,000 condition and they all had a good laugh.
After the meeting, “a number of people dropped by to greet me,” says Graham. Several of the said they believed that God had spoken to them during the service about helping us go on national radio. They began to leave cash, checks, and pledges. I couldn’t believe it! An associate told Graham that $24,000 had been given that night for radio.
Graham couldn’t believe that this was God’s answer since it was $1000 short, but as he arrived at his hotel the desk clerk handed him two letters. Graham says that the letters were “postmarked two days earlier” and “they were from people I hardly knew.” Two businessmen wrote that they believed Graham should be on the radio and “they wanted to be the first to contribute. Each enclosed a $500 check.”
Still in the hotel lobby, Billy Graham turned to walk to the elevator and saw in his path Walter and Fred. “They had been at the airport, they said, but something told them not to get on the plane.”
That was the beginning of the Hour of Decision. The first broadcast aired on November 5, 1950. “Today it broadcasts the Gospel messages” of “Billy and Franklin Graham around the world” (www.billygraham.org).
Our God routinely does the incredible, even the impossible as we see in our first reading. What might our God of the incredible and impossible do in our lives?
We begin this morning with Abraham at the “oaks of Mamre.” This is the place where Abraham settled after separating from his nephew Lot. Abraham is sitting in his tent when he sees three men. They are standing in front of him, but nothing is said about how they got there or where they came from.
Abraham runs to meet them and bows to them. To one of the three he says, "O Lord, if I
have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. “ (v. 3)
The Hebrew word used for Lord here is adonay and it is usually used for God. Adonai is
the form usually used for another person. Did Abraham understand at this moment who
he was addressing? The form of the Hebrew word for Lord suggests that he did.
Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you
may pass on--since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have
said." (vv. 4-5, ESV)
Abraham offers the three a foot washing, some rest in the shade and “a morsel of bread.” The three visitors accept his hospitality.
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quick! Three seahs of fine
flour! Knead it, and make cakes." And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender
and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds
and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by
them under the tree while they ate. (vv. 6-8)
Everything about the pace of preparations for their guests was rushed. “Quick!” says Abraham to Sarah as he asks her to bake bread (v. 6). Abraham rushes off to choose a calf and he gives the chosen calf to a servant to prepare “quickly” (v. 7). When everything is ready, Abraham sets it in front of his guests. Abraham had promised his guests “a morsel of bread,” but instead he spreads before them a lavish meal. He stood near his guests as they ate, ready to be of service to them.
They asked Abraham, “Where is Sarah your wife?” and he reported that “She is in the tent” (v. 9). Then the Lord drops a bombshell.
The LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your
wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him (v. 10).
Abraham and Sarah had waited over 25 years. They were both old – Abraham is over
100 years old and Sarah is over 90 years old (7:17). Sarah is way beyond menopause.
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I
have pleasure?" The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, ’Shall I
indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ (vv. 12-13)
Sarah laughs and God hears her laugh. She laughed at God’s promise and God’s
response is one of the great statements in all of Scripture about God’s power. God says,
“Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about
this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." (v. 14)
“Is anything too hard for God?”
God asks the same question hundreds of years later through the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? 32:27
Jesus, in the middle of a storm at sea said to His disciples, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith.” He then calmed the “great storm” and His disciples asked, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” Mark 8:23-27
Our God majors in doing the impossible.
Jesus walks on water and invites Peter to do so as well. Peter does walk on water with Jesus until a breeze comes up and he becomes fearful. Jesus takes hold of Peter as Peter sinks into the water and He says to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt.” Matthew 14:22-33
Our God does major in doing the impossible.
Another time, Jesus needs money for paying taxes and He instructs Peter to go fishing. Jesus tells Peter that the first fish he catches has a shekel inside its mouth. Peter uses that shekel to pay taxes for Jesus and himself.
Cannot God, who directs Peter to catch a fish with a shekel inside do the impossible in our lives?
Cannot God, who casts out demons, gives sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf…
Cannot God, who cleanses lepers and heals paralytics…
Cannot God, who restores withered hands and removes diseases…
Cannot this God also make a 90 year-old woman pregnant?
Have you ever wondered what this God can do for you? Do you ever ask that question?
Is there an impossible problem in you life that only God can handle? God really does major in doing the impossible for His people.
He brought His people Israel out of Egypt. He raised His Son Jesus from the dead. He gave Isaac to Sarah and Abraham. Nothing is impossible for God. This God who came to Abraham also comes to us.
God came and ate Abraham’s food. Now, God comes to us and says,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
How incredible is that? The God of the universe, the God who created the universe,
comes to us. He doesn’t force His way into our lives; He stands at the door of our lives
and knocks. He comes into our lives if we invite Him to do so.
His presence in our lives is pictured as table fellowship – eating together, Jesus and us.
So, the Apostle Paul asks,
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
(1 Corinthians 10:16)
These are rhetorical questions about the table fellowship that we share with Jesus as we receive His Body The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
These are rhetorical questions about the Body and Blood of Christ that we receive in Holy Communion. The answer to both questions about participation with Christ in Holy Communion is an emphatic yes. The Body and Blood of Christ that we receive in Communion is God’s real presence with us.
God is with us not only in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood; He is also present through His Spirit within us. For all Christians, the Spirit of God is within you.
If God were to come to you and tell you that in the next year He plans to do the impossible in your life, what would that be?
If God were to speak to our parish today about his plans to accomplish the impossible in our parish, what would He say?
I believe that God wants to accomplish great things in our personal lives and in our parish life. I know that God can do infinitely more than we ask or imagine. What will it take for God to accomplish great things in our lives? Let’s look at what it took for Abraham.
When we look at the Abraham story, we see that Abraham was fully committed to doing God’s will. When God told him to leave his family and his native land, he left. He followed God’s direction and settled near the oaks of Mamre. He was in the place where God sent him and he was intent on doing God’s will.
A number of years ago I was in a worship service in a Presbyterian church in Augusta, Georgia. The preacher was an Englishman named Stephen Olford. Olford challenged the congregation that night to say to God that we would go anywhere at any time at any cost at His leading. That is what Abraham did. Olford invited everyone who was willing to make that commitment to God to come forward. Being a cradle Episcopalian, I knew that the only reason Episcopalians go forward is to receive Holy Communion. But my friend who was seated next to me went forward. I decided that I wasn’t willing to sit in my pew and not tell God that I was willing to go anywhere at any time at any cost for Him, so I went forward too. I’ve traveled to more than a few places to do God’s work and I’m thankful that I made the commitment to do so.
Abraham made that kind of commitment. He didn’t always get everything right as we saw with Hagar and Ishmael, but he was available to God. How available are you to God?
How well are you listening to God as He speaks? Are you regularly reading Scripture and asking God to speak to you through His written word? How well are you listening to God while you pray? Do you have a regular time when you pray and listen for God’s voice to you? How well are you listening to God during the normal course of your life?
Are you trusting Him for great things? Are you willing to attempt great things for God?
I’ve asked lots of questions. There is one thing of which I am certain. I am sure that God doesn’t want us to be the same people or the same parish a year from now. God wants us to grow personally and spiritually. I believe that God wants our parish to grow numerically. How are these things going to happen?
On the Church’s first Pentecost the Apostle Peter interprets the action of the Holy Spirit on that day by reaching back to the prophet Joel. Peter proclaims from the prophet Joel,
"’And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; (Acts 2:17)
We need visions and dreams. We need big visions and big dreams. We need God-anointed visions and dreams. It is essential that we believe the visions and dreams that God gives us and that we translate them into concrete actions.
What is God’s one year dream for us? This is part of what our Vestry will be discussing tomorrow night. I have some thoughts that I will be sharing with the Vestry tomorrow night on how God is manifesting His power in our parish at this time. I hope that God has laid some ideas on your heart as well. Talk to me about them. Talk to the Wardens. Talk to vestry members. Let’s not miss this window of opportunity.
God wants to do something great through our congregation. What is He telling us right now that will lead us into the great work that God has for us?
As we go to prayer, what is God laying upon your heart? Is He speaking to you about something in your personal life or something in your family life?
Is God speaking you about our parish life?
What is it that God is saying to you right now?
Let us pray.
Will you tell God that you are available to Him for His work on earth?
Will you tell God that it is your heart’s desire to be obedient to Him?
Tell God that you will do what He is asking you to do right now and in the coming year.
Won’t it be exhilarating next year when we look back with praise and thanksgiving to God for what He has done in our lives, in our parish, and through our parish?
Thank you, Lord, for communicating your will to your people. We stand ready to hear your plans for us and we look forward to you using us in the power of Your Spirit. In your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
