10/5/25 “Abraham & Sarah”
“Abraham and Sarah”
Genesis 17:15-22; 21:1-7
Patience.
It’s something we love to receive from others…
…yet we so often struggle when we are required to exhibit patience for others.
Maybe you’re in a long line to use the restroom….or you’re waiting for your spouse to finish something up before you can get in the car and go…
…or maybe you’re dealing with a kid who’s all jacked up on sugar and won’t behave….or someone who just isn’t understanding something you are trying to teach them.
There are moments within each and every day when we are called to practice patience….
I think it’s called ‘practicing’ patience, because patience is something that none of us can truly master this side of heaven.
Like practicing your shooting form in the game of basketball, some great players can make most of their shots….but…they will also miss the basket on occasion as well…
So it is with patience…some of you have practiced it to the extent that you’ve become the Steph Curry - or Caitlyn Clark - of patience…
….but just as those great players miss shots from time to time…your patience will also run short from time to time as well…
We love it when others are patient towards us….but it’s so contrary to our nature to be benevolently patient toward others…isn’t it.
We are not born naturally patient!
I dearly love my 9-month-old granddaughter, but when she gets hungry…she wants food Now!....and she lets everyone know that she wants food Now!...Evelynn is adorable – but she’s not very patient.
We laugh…but we adults can act in a similar way…
When you’re in a hurry….and the drive-thru lane is 10 cars deep…and you’re the last car, the struggle of patience is real, right?
We fidget…we sigh…we tap our steering wheel…we try to keep our mind occupied by frantically scrolling through social media…or shoot off a bunch of emails…
….we roll our eyes at the car that’s been sitting at the window for a whole 90 seconds….
…In that moment, it’s a veritable ETERNITY!
We say things like “My goodness, did they order one of everything?”….
…or, ”What’s taking so long - did they have to find a chicken somewhere and butcher it?”
Moments like this can definitely be a test of one’s patience…
Guy Kawasaki once said “Patience is the art of concealing your impatience”
George Saville said “A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.”
James Corbett wrote “Only those who have patience to do simple things perfectly, ever acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.”
The great philosopher Axl Rose once said “All we need is just a little patience”
When asked his secret to becoming the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan (yes, MJ – NOT LeBron) Michael Jordan simply replied…. “I’m patient”
Patience is required in almost every facet of our lives…at home, at work, at school, at play....
We all must practice patience everyday – yet so many of us struggle with making it a consistent reality in our lives.
We live in a frantic-paced, I-need-it-now world…
one where we’ve been brought up to believe that waiting a split-second longer than what we think we should wait for something – is an unacceptable travesty of justice.
If you think about it.…what a prideful, boastful, arrogant attitude that is.
You farmers here this morning – you understand patience…your livelihood depends on it, right?
You know that crops will grow at their own pace…there’s nothing you can do to hurry them along…or artificially speed up the process.
Being a farmer requires a great deal of patience in God’s providence and timing.
Well…our passage for today deals with Abraham and Sarah – a married couple in the Bible who learned many lessons along the way…
…but learning to be patient in God’s perfect timing was their biggest life lesson…and…like many of us….it was their biggest struggle as well.
So…first of all…who were Abraham and Sarah?
Abraham and Sarah lived around 2,000 years before Jesus…
We know very little about their childhood and early adult years…
They were both from a place called Ur – an influential city in southern Mesopotamia (Modern day Iraq)
In scripture, we first meet Abraham in chapter 11 when he is already 75 years old
In Genesis chapter 12, God calls Abraham out of the culture of pagan worship in which he was raised…and Abraham responds in faith to this calling of God.
God promises to make his line of descendants into a great nation, one that will receive many blessings….this is known as the Abrahamic Covenant…
It’s one of the most important oaths that God institutes in all of scripture.
God uses Abraham to put into motion His plan of revealing himself to the rest of the world through Abraham’s descendants – people who will eventually come to be known as Hebrews…Israelites…people of Jewish descent.
Even less is known about Sarah….
Like Abraham, scripture is silent concerning much of her youth and middle age.
We do know that Sarah was from the same clan as Abraham…in fact…Sarah technically was Abraham’s half-sister….they had the same father, but different mothers.
Now…before you get all squirmy about that…be reminded that genetics were of a more pure variety in those ancient times…
…and that marrying a relative did not carry with it the same reproductive risks – and prohibitions – that would later be associated with this kind of union.
So…God makes this promise of a great nation to Abraham…
Technically, its Abram at this point…like Simon and Saul in the New Testament, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham – and Sarah’s name was also changed from her birthname of Sarai…to Sarah…to reflect more precisely the mission that God would use them for…
Abram means ‘Exalted Father’, while Abraham means ‘Father of many nations’
Likewise, Sarai means ‘My princess’, while Sarah means ‘Princess of multitudes’
So…God makes this covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 – and confirms it again in chapter 17 - informing him that he will be the father of many people through a son that will be born to Sarah…
Only two problems with this.
First of all, Sarah was well passed her child-bearing years…
And…Secondly, Sarah had been barren her entire life…she was never able to have children…even when she was a younger woman…
God seemed to be making a promise to Abraham that was not biologically possible…not based in reality.
…but isn’t that how God works sometimes?....He chooses to perform those miracles in our lives that have no natural or scientific explanation…
On Wednesday night, the ladies group went for a field trip to the Fireside Theater in Fort Atkinson where they were entertained by a talented southern-gospel group called ‘High Road’
…the lead singer of the group told the audience about a difficult time in her life when she had to undergo an emergency medical procedure that would render her unable to have children….
…but then – with tears of gratitude – she informed everyone that her baby had just turned 8 months old a little while ago.
Folks, we serve a God who specializes in doing the impossible.
….He is the creator of All Things….nothing is ever too difficult for Him!
…We need to remember that truth.
…Abraham and Sarah needed to remember that truth.
But they didn’t.
As the years went by, Sarah was not getting pregnant….no child was being conceived…
…and instead of having patience…instead of trusting in God’s faithfulness – and in His perfect timing…
…Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands.
Many of you know the story.
Together, they hatch a plan to – basically - force God’s hand into providing a male heir through Sarah’s maidservant Hagar.
Abraham and Sarah are tired of waiting….their patience in waiting for Sarah to become pregnant had all but run out.
That decision to take matters into their own hands would have major ripple effects for the next 4,000 years…and counting.
Ishmael - The son born to Hagar – and his descendants, would continue to always be at war with the descendants of Isaac….the miraculous son of promise, who eventually did come by way of Sarah’s womb.
Abraham and Sarah will always be known as the couple who God used to bring into existence a people group who would be given the task of revealing God to the rest of the world….
So, they will be remembered for their obedience.
However, they will also be remembered for a single act of disobedience motivated by their impatience.
Like Adam and Eve, one single decision of disobedience would produce ripple effects of pain, dissention, and grief for multitudes of people for the rest of history….
…including what is currently taking place in the Middle East today…
You see, the Palestinian people trace their lineage all the way back to Ishmael, the son of Hagar…
…while Israelites trace their lineage back to Isaac, the son of Sarah.
The feud between Hamas and Israel has its roots going all the way back to Abraham and Sarah’s decision to impatiently – and disobediently - act outside of God’s direct instructions…
So, how can we apply these lessons about patience to our own lives?....to our marriages?...to our family relationships?
Well…for the answer to these questions…and – really - every other question in life…we go back to the Bible.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, we read a beautiful verse on how patience ought to manifest itself in our lives…what it should look like in practice.
Ephesians 4:2 reads, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Look at the words in this verse that accompany the word ‘patience’….
…the first one is ‘humble’
Essentially, humility is a barometer of one’s faith.
Did you realize that every single book of the bible – in one way or another – stresses the vital connection between humility and faith.
…if you are a true Christian, then you are – by necessity - a humble person.
It’s as simple as that.
It would be like saying “If you’re a donut, you’ll have a hole in the middle”
…the hole is what defines a “donut”….otherwise, without a hole, it’s a Danish…or something else other than a donut….
If you are a born-again Jesus follower….humility defines you!
Abraham and Sarah lived prior to the time of Christ, but the principle of humility tied to faith still applied…
…and, even though Abraham and Sarah were commended for their general attitude of obedience to God, they needed to learn a huge lesson in humility.
The plan to for Abraham to sire a child through Hagar was not only one of impatience, but one that was also rooted in pride and arrogance…
…the mindset that they knew better than God did as to how best bring a fulfillment to God’s promise of an heir.
To have patience with others, we must first be people of humility.
We must realize that the impatience we express toward others who are slowing us down…or inconveniencing us…or altering our planned timetable…
…All of this impatience reveals a heart that has been infected with the virus of pride…a sense of our own importance being above those of other people.
Folks….This is the opposite of humility.
Humility aims to serve…Pride aims to be served.
What a great reminder for those of us who are married…
Humility within the marital relationship is absolutely vital for both partners…
When our patience with each other is not grounded in true humility, then it degenerates into an act of disingenuous, prideful patronizing toward the other person…
… A false humility of this nature will always manifest itself in negative ways within a marriage – or any other relationship….
….because it reveals that the best interest – the wellbeing of the other person is not a top priority.
….it reveals a heart of self-interest and self-pity.
Both Abraham and Sarah exhibited moments within their marital relationship where this kind of attitude was present.
In a couple of instances, Abraham lies about Sarah being his wife, just to save his own skin…
…and Sarah lies about her reaction to being told – by God - that she will give birth to a son at her advanced age…
All of these actions were based in prideful self-interest…they revealed a heart that needed to be fine-tuned with more humility and patience.
Another word that accompanies Patience in this verse from Ephesians is: gentleness.
Gentleness is defined as being “The quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered.”
Remember the Christopher Reeve Superman movie from back in the late 70’s?
I always think of the mild-mannered Clark Kent when I think of someone who exemplified gentleness….even if he was a fictional character.
Clark Kent possessed plenty of muscle & power, but he chose a path of gentleness and peace in his day-to-day life…
In general, Abraham and Sarah seemed to exhibit gentleness as well.
When we see Abraham take his son Isaac up the mountain, we see abundant kindness and gentleness emanating from the elderly patriarch….
Scripture does not provide as many words & interactions of Sarah, however we are able to see her influence of love and gentleness through the eyes of her son, Isaac.
After Rebecca becomes Isaac’s wife, Genesis 24:67 tells us that “….Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
Isaac had a deep bond with his gentle, humble, and patient mother.
Gentleness is a key ingredient for every sort of relationship – especially within the covenant of marriage.
If we are gentle in both our touch and emotion, this will foster a home of peace and tranquility…something that children – and grandchildren – need to experience in order to flourish in their faith.
Finally, Ephesians 4:2 tells us that patience is rooted in love.
“Be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
After going through the entire book of 1 John, it should come as no surprise that love needs to be the fertile soil that gives life to all of the positive qualities in our lives…including patience.
It is simply impossible to be a patient person without first having love in one’s heart for others.
Love is like the anchor of our ship…it keeps us from drifting into the waters of pride, arrogance, and indifference toward others….
When Paul lists the attributes of a believer in Galatians chapter five – known as the fruit of the Spirit – there is no doubt why he begins with love….from it, all other characteristics of the Christian must flow.
Abraham and Sarah did exemplify love for each other.
In most circumstances, they can be seen as genuinely wanting the best for each other….something that all of us must strive to exemplify in our relationships with others.
Abraham and Sarah.
Theirs was a marriage steeped in obedience to God -which led to a healthy and loving relationship…
…It also led – eventually – to patience….even though it took them some time to overcome a very big mistake – to truly find it.
Let’s allow the marriage of Abraham and Sarah to teach us in our marriages – and in our relationships with others –
…to teach us patience within God’s perfect timing….
….and patience with each other.
Let’s Pray.