Promises, Promises

Our reading from Genesis is only part of the story. For those of you who remember their Bible, you will know that this is one version of the promise of God to Sarah that she will have a son. Upon hearing this Sarah laughs. She is past the time in her life that she would be able to have a child. She was leery of putting her hope on a promise. You know the feeling. How many times has someone promised something to you and did not fulfill it? But then, that probably cuts both ways. You also have made promises and not kept them. Some promises are made that cannot be kept, some we do not plan to keep, and others we just lose our way to keeping them. That is why Sarah laughed. She had been given and made promises that were never kept.

That is not the reason we have read this story today. We read it because it is the Lord who visits Sarah and Abraham, and Martha and Mary. Although they seem to say something different about what one is supposed to do when visited by the Lord. Sarah makes the cakes and sits in the tent while Abraham has his servant prepare the calf and sits with the visitor. Martha does the same as Sarah while Mary sits with the Lord. Maybe the difference is expectation. Sarah sat in the tent knowing that, as a woman, she was expected to serve the men and stay out of their way. Martha believed that too and was trying her best to live up to that standard and getting angry with Mary who did not seem to know her place. It is Jesus who tells her that things are different with him. That all people are welcomed to sit at his feet. Which reminds us of God’s promise of a new covenant that will be written upon our hearts and on our lips. A covenant that is freely given to us because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

I suppose there are many Sarahs in the world; people who do not believe the promise of God and laugh when they hear it. There are also many Marthas in the world who believe that hard work and devoted service is the requirement to receive God’s promise. Both are wrong. God’s promise is given freely to all. This promise is not that you will always be rich, successful, healthy, and happy.  The promise is that, no matter what happens, Jesus will always be present. Sarah learned that as she saw God’s promise fulfilled in the birth of Isaac. Martha heard that promise calling her to sit and listen and not be concerned by the expectations placed upon her by the world.

You are called into God’s promise by Jesus. The promise that you will receive the new covenant of God not because you deserve it but because God loves you. With God’s gift you are called into the world to show the peace that God gives through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. A peace and love that moves us to work for a world where all will see God’s promise. So give your worries and fears to Jesus and share God’s love with the world.