1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,540 Welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. 2 00:00:08,540 --> 00:00:13,380 This week we're continuing our sermon series, Heroes of Faith, as we take a deep dive into 3 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:19,440 Hebrews chapter 11 and those who are given to us as examples of faith to look up to. 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,920 And this week we're looking at the first woman in our list of heroes and that is Sarah. 5 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,320 So if you were around last week to listen to our sermon on Abraham, you might know that 6 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,920 Sarah is Abraham's wife. 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,640 And Sarah's going to show us about a kind of faith that gets us through the hard times, 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,760 even if we don't always do it perfectly. 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:45,360 So let's listen in as Rob shares a bit about Sarah's story. 10 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:50,480 Her first reading is from Genesis chapter 16 verses 1 to 6. 11 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:56,520 Now Sarah, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named 12 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:57,840 Hagar. 13 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,320 So she said to Abraham, the Lord has kept me from having children. 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,800 Go sleep with my slave. 15 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,600 Perhaps I can build a family through her. 16 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:09,880 Abraham agreed to what Sarah said. 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:15,400 So after Abraham had been living in Canaan 10 years, Sarah, his wife, took her Egyptian 18 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,020 slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 19 00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:23,060 He slept with Hagar and she conceived. 20 00:01:23,060 --> 00:01:27,320 When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 21 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:32,680 And Sarah said to Abraham, you are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:39,040 I put my slave in your arms and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,600 May the Lord judge between you and me. 24 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,460 Your slave is in your hands, Abraham said. 25 00:01:45,460 --> 00:01:48,240 Do with her whatever you think best. 26 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,260 Then Sarah mistreated Hagar. 27 00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:52,660 So she fled from her. 28 00:01:52,660 --> 00:01:59,280 Our second reading today is from Hebrews, Chapter 11, verses 11 and 12. 29 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:05,840 And by faith, even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was unable to bear children because she 30 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,520 considered him faithful who had made the promise. 31 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:16,440 And so from this one man, as he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the 32 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,260 stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 33 00:02:21,260 --> 00:02:24,080 This is the words of the Lord. 34 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,040 Pete Rose is the all time hits leader in Major League Baseball. 35 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:35,440 And yet he was banned from the sport because he was betting on games and you can't have 36 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:36,440 that. 37 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,720 So he was banned even though he, you know, truly is a Hall of Famer. 38 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,680 Or take for example, Lance Armstrong. 39 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,680 Lance Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles. 40 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:55,380 And he had all those titles stripped away from him when it was determined that he was 41 00:02:55,380 --> 00:02:58,060 using performance enhancing drugs. 42 00:02:58,060 --> 00:02:59,060 What a controversy. 43 00:02:59,060 --> 00:03:00,880 What a catastrophe. 44 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,080 And then let's get another example, Barry Bonds. 45 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:10,960 Barry Bonds is of course the all time home run leader in Major League Baseball. 46 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:17,840 But Barry Bonds has been consistently refused entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame because 47 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:24,720 of allegations surrounding his use of performance enhancing drugs. 48 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,200 So why am I saying all this? 49 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:31,640 I guess I'm saying all this because there's a lot of controversy sometimes around these 50 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:33,480 Hall of Famers. 51 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,640 And people who make it into the Hall of Fame, you know, sometimes we say, you know, some 52 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,500 people who should be in there aren't in there. 53 00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:46,180 And other people who maybe shouldn't be in there are in there. 54 00:03:46,180 --> 00:03:51,360 Now that kind of brings us to what I want to talk to you about today. 55 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:52,920 Today we're continuing our teaching series. 56 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:54,120 It's called Heroes of Faith. 57 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,580 If you've been here the past few weeks, you know what we're doing. 58 00:03:57,580 --> 00:04:03,760 We are going through the Bible's Hall of Fame, which is this one chapter found in the book 59 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 of Hebrews chapter 11. 60 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:13,600 And the author of Hebrews kind of enumerates there and inducts into the Hall of Faith several 61 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,200 people who lived exemplary lives of faith. 62 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:21,520 And we've been looking at these people over the past few weeks, people like Abel and Enoch 63 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,400 and Noah. 64 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,880 And last week we looked at Abraham. 65 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,620 And unfortunately though, today we come to a bit of a controversy. 66 00:04:31,620 --> 00:04:38,800 Today we hit a little bit of a snag because our next inductee is a person who's surrounded 67 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:39,800 by controversy. 68 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,440 I'm talking about Sarah. 69 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,560 Sarah, of course, is Abram's wife. 70 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,740 Abram, who we talked about last week, he had a wife, her name was Sarah, and she is she 71 00:04:51,740 --> 00:04:54,480 or well, there's a bit of a debate. 72 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:59,480 Is Sarah, should Sarah be a Hall of Famer, a Hall of Faith-er? 73 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,440 Should she be in Hebrews chapter 11? 74 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,800 On the one hand, she had an impressive career. 75 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:05,840 She had an impressive career. 76 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:08,600 She overcame a whole bunch of obstacles. 77 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:10,760 She had to relocate over and over again. 78 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:15,640 She faced barrenness in her life and yet she ended up giving birth to the golden child, 79 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,520 the promised child, Isaac. 80 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:22,480 So yes, maybe she should be in the Hall of Faith, but her critics say, no, no, no. 81 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,920 Sarah does not deserve to be there because she cheated. 82 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,460 She cheated on God's promise. 83 00:05:27,460 --> 00:05:28,920 She kind of bet against God. 84 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:35,520 She tried to go around the plan that God had and therefore she has no place in the Hall 85 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:36,520 of Fame. 86 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,680 So today what we are going to do is we're going to look at some of the controversies. 87 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,240 Surrounding Sarah's placement in the Hall of Fame. 88 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,800 And of course, what we're going to try to learn is what it teaches us about living by 89 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:51,520 faith as we look at her story. 90 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,400 And you can decide for yourself whether you think she deserves to be in there or not. 91 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,480 I want to just let you know, as always, we've got these little sermon notes that you should 92 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,640 have got coming in. 93 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,920 That'll help you kind of track along with sometimes my meandering thought process. 94 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:10,660 And I also want to let you know that we publish every week questions, questions that are really 95 00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:15,840 related directly to the text that we just read and to the sermon that you're about to 96 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:16,840 hear. 97 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:20,040 And if you ever want to access those questions, you can just visit our website and they're 98 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,640 there and you can go and you can kind of dive a little deeper into those. 99 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,160 So let's start by looking at the first controversy with Sarah. 100 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,600 And that is what I want to call the textual controversy. 101 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:31,720 The textual controversy. 102 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:32,960 Now, what does that mean? 103 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:34,500 Well, here is the thing. 104 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:41,240 Some people believe that Sarah actually was never intended to be in your Bible in the 105 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,640 Hall of Faith. 106 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,920 And that the only reason she is there is because of a bad Bible translation. 107 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:49,920 That's right. 108 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:50,920 Here's what I mean. 109 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:51,920 Here's what I mean. 110 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:52,920 Okay. 111 00:06:52,920 --> 00:07:00,840 If you read Hebrews 11, 11, which we just read, in say, for example, the NRSV, the New 112 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:02,480 Revised Standard Version. 113 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,080 It's just a translation, one translation of the Bible. 114 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:06,320 This is what you read. 115 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:14,040 By faith, Abraham received power of procreation. 116 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:23,120 Even though he was too old and Sarah herself was barren because he, Abraham, considered 117 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:27,760 him, God, faithful who had promised. 118 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:28,760 Okay. 119 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:30,820 That's Hebrews 11, 11, NRSV. 120 00:07:30,820 --> 00:07:34,680 Tell me, whose faith is being commended here? 121 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,400 Just shout it out. 122 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,080 It's Abraham's faith, right? 123 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:39,840 By faith, Abraham did this. 124 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:45,860 And he was old, yet he considered God faithful who had promised. 125 00:07:45,860 --> 00:07:51,260 So if you read that and a lot of people say, see, this actually isn't about Sarah at all. 126 00:07:51,260 --> 00:07:53,480 This is about Abraham's faith. 127 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,240 He received the power of procreation. 128 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,760 He was the one who kind of put his faith in God. 129 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,440 And plus, another thing people will say is the verses leading up to Hebrews 11, 11 are 130 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:03,840 all about Abraham. 131 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,800 And then the verses on the other side are all about Abraham. 132 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,320 So Hebrews 11, 11 is probably also meant to be about Abraham. 133 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:13,040 This is not about Sarah's faith. 134 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,480 This is about Abraham's faith. 135 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:20,600 But if you read the exact same passage and you just have a different translation of the 136 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,800 Bible, if you read it in the NIV, for example, this is what you get. 137 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:33,520 And by faith, Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because 138 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,640 she considered him faithful who had promised. 139 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,440 Whose faith is being commended here? 140 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,440 Sarah's faith. 141 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:43,560 It's the exact same verse. 142 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:44,560 The exact same verse. 143 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:48,200 It's just been translated in two different ways. 144 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,320 And so Team Sarah, Team Sarah fires back and they say, look, look, see, in the original 145 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:59,600 Greek, Sarah's name is in the nominative form, which means that she is actually the subject 146 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:04,560 of this whole sentence, which means that it's her faith, not Abraham's faith. 147 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:10,080 It's her faith that is being commended, which means she deserves to be in the hall of faith. 148 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:11,480 This verse is about her. 149 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,160 She's one of the inductees. 150 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,520 Now, the question is who is right? 151 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:16,720 It's a really confusing thing. 152 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:17,720 It's a really confusing thing. 153 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,680 I thought I would kind of create a little analogy to help us understand. 154 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:28,920 Imagine your workplace is handing out the awards for the employee of the year. 155 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,920 And this is big gala, this big evening, and the moment comes and your boss steps up to 156 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:38,480 the podium and he grabs the microphone and he says, I want to announce this year's award 157 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:44,280 recipient goes to someone who showed dedication, someone who's just been determined and persevered 158 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,800 and demonstrated great contributions to our company. 159 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:49,800 That's right. 160 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:55,520 The person who is receiving this year's employee of the year is, and then the microphone crackles 161 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,960 and he kind of mumbles the answer. 162 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:03,360 And half the people in the room are certain he said Bob. 163 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:04,360 Yeah, yeah. 164 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,920 I'm pretty sure he said the award goes to Bob. 165 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:11,440 But the other half of the room was certain they heard him say Susan, right? 166 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,000 Team Bob says, well, actually, let's think about this, right? 167 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,120 Bob has been with the company for years. 168 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,320 And Bob was one this award so many times before. 169 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:23,280 It's gotta be Bob. 170 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,680 But Team Susan says, no, no, I was listening very carefully. 171 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:26,680 I was listening. 172 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:32,080 And the grammar he used, it was clearly Susan's hard work that was being commended. 173 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,320 This is her breakthrough year. 174 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:38,560 This is exactly what's happening in Hebrews 11, 11. 175 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:41,780 Did Sarah really win the award or was it Abraham? 176 00:10:41,780 --> 00:10:46,240 It is actually not just a goofy exercise. 177 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:51,500 It's actually kind of important because if Sarah is the subject, then it highlights the 178 00:10:51,500 --> 00:10:57,320 faith of women in salvation history and that faith is not just about these patriarchs, 179 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,520 by the way, have you noticed that all the heroes so far have been men? 180 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,400 It's not just about the patriarchs of faith, but it's also about matriarchs. 181 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:11,760 If this is about Abraham again, then actually Sarah's role and the role of women seems to 182 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,480 be diminished a bit into the background. 183 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,200 Well, you gotta do reading. 184 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:19,200 You gotta do research. 185 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:20,280 I tried to do a bit this week. 186 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:26,080 I came across a professor named Harold Greenlee, wrote a research paper on this topic, which 187 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,140 begins, his paper begins with this sentence. 188 00:11:29,140 --> 00:11:34,880 The purpose of this article is to show that the subject of Hebrews 11, 11 is Sarah, not 189 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:36,720 Abraham. 190 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,600 And then he ends his article by saying this. 191 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:46,160 It is clear and unequivocal that it is she, not he. 192 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:52,160 She not he considered God faithful who has made the promise. 193 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:57,560 So it looks like actually Sarah does deserve her spot in the hall of faith. 194 00:11:57,560 --> 00:11:58,740 It's not a typo. 195 00:11:58,740 --> 00:12:00,080 It's not a mistake. 196 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,840 She was meant to be included. 197 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:04,300 I just want to say a little side note. 198 00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:09,580 If you're in a Bible study or if you are in a life group, it really pays to have people 199 00:12:09,580 --> 00:12:13,280 sitting around the circle reading different translations of the Bible because what it 200 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,840 surfaces are times when there are some disagreements or uncertainties about what the exact words 201 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,480 mean when you read from different translations. 202 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:22,560 So there you go. 203 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:27,840 That's the first controversy, the textual controversy, but I think she passes the test. 204 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,120 Now if only that were the only controversy, but it's not because another reason why people 205 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,440 don't want Sarah in the hall of faith is because of what you might call the shortcut controversy. 206 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:42,480 In other words, did Sarah take matters into her own hands and instead of waiting faithfully 207 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,840 for God to give her a child, she took a shortcut instead? 208 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:48,520 Hmm, good question. 209 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:49,520 Here's what I mean. 210 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,120 Now Sarah had an Egyptian slave girl whose name was Hagar. 211 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,360 And Sarah said to Abram, you see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. 212 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,680 Go into my slave girl. 213 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,200 It may be that I shall obtain children by her. 214 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,240 So here's the controversy, right? 215 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,320 Critics say, ah, see, Sarah doesn't even have faith. 216 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,880 She doubts God's promise to provide her with a child. 217 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,400 And so she told her husband to go and sleep with her servant instead. 218 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:22,420 That kind of behavior does not get you into the Bible's hall of faith. 219 00:13:22,420 --> 00:13:25,680 This does not look good for Sarah, does not look good. 220 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:30,680 But again, we gotta just, maybe there's more going on here than we know. 221 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:35,280 And the first thing I want us to consider is the context, right? 222 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:36,280 This context is important. 223 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:37,280 And here's the thing. 224 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:44,520 In the ancient Near East, thousands of years ago on the other side of the world, if a wife 225 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:50,640 was barren, it was actually culturally acceptable to provide a servant as a surrogate. 226 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,080 Okay, this was not seen as immoral. 227 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,160 It was a legal and culturally practiced thing, right? 228 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:04,360 The law of the land in those days was this code called the law of Hammurabi, or the code 229 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:05,360 of Hammurabi. 230 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,000 Hammurabi was a Babylonian king. 231 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,000 Anyways, so this was kind of a law that was governing the land at the time. 232 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:19,400 And in law number 146 of the code of Hammurabi, you read that if a man take a wife and she 233 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:25,720 give this man a maid servant as wife and she bear him children, then this maid assume equality 234 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:27,560 with the wife. 235 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,100 Guys, this is all Abraham and Sarah knew, okay? 236 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:33,360 They were pagans. 237 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:39,360 They were the first followers, the first generation followers of this Yahweh God. 238 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,440 And they had not figured this out yet. 239 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,160 This was like a work in progress. 240 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:45,740 So who is this God? 241 00:14:45,740 --> 00:14:47,160 They don't know 100% yet. 242 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:48,160 They're still figuring this out. 243 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:54,040 So what Sarah did was she acted appropriately within her societal norms. 244 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,040 Why? 245 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,440 To ensure that God's promise would still be fulfilled. 246 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,600 And that brings me to the second thing I think we have to understand. 247 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:09,920 Is that up to this point, right, Sarah probably did not know 100% whether she was actually 248 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,680 included in this promise that God had made to Abraham. 249 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:15,640 I mean, think about it this way. 250 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:20,720 In Genesis 12, one, when God first makes this promise to Abraham, he says, Abraham, I'm 251 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:22,600 going to make you into a great nation. 252 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,080 Who is this promise made to? 253 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:26,680 It's made to Abraham. 254 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,080 There's no mention of Sarah, right? 255 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:31,720 You is in the masculine, right? 256 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,600 This is spoken to Abraham. 257 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:35,720 Sarah's not in the conversation. 258 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:41,000 So Sarah could have thought, maybe I'm not included in this promise. 259 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,880 Oh, but thankfully, a few verses later, a few chapters later, God gets a chance to clarify, 260 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:47,880 right? 261 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,320 Because he reiterates this promise in Genesis 15. 262 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:52,760 But does he mention Sarah this time? 263 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,120 Well, actually, no, he still doesn't mention Sarah. 264 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,840 God took Abraham outside and said, look up at the sky, count the stars if you can count 265 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:00,840 them. 266 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,560 He said to him, so shall your offspring be. 267 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,600 Again, this is a promise to Abraham. 268 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,120 There is no mention of Sarah. 269 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:16,440 So Sarah, at this point, could easily be thinking, folks, you know, Abraham's going to have 270 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:17,440 numerous descendants. 271 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:21,320 Yeah, but I'm not necessarily part of that plan. 272 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:26,240 So what she did is she offered Hagar, not because she doubted God's promise, but because 273 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,760 she didn't think the promise included her. 274 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:36,200 It's only in Genesis 17, which, by the way, is after Abraham has already had a child with 275 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:37,200 Hagar. 276 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,560 It's only by then that God actually makes clear like, no, no, no, sorry, I should have 277 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,560 cleared this up a little earlier. 278 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:48,200 As for Sarah, no, Sarah, I will bless her, right? 279 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,120 And will surely give you a son by her. 280 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:55,560 I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. 281 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:02,240 It's only here that she learns that the promise given to Abraham is not just that he's going 282 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:08,640 to be the father of nations, but that she is also going to be the mother of those nations. 283 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:09,820 So do you know what this means? 284 00:17:09,820 --> 00:17:18,240 This actually means that when Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, it wasn't a shortcut. 285 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,120 It wasn't a lack of faith. 286 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:22,600 It was actually an incredible sacrifice. 287 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:26,160 She was putting Abraham's calling ahead of herself. 288 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:33,640 She believed God's promise so much that she was willing to let another woman bear the 289 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,700 child so this promise could come true. 290 00:17:36,700 --> 00:17:41,840 She literally was willing to write herself out of the script. 291 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,600 Again, maybe another analogy will help. 292 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,320 Imagine one day you open up the mail and you get this beautiful wedding invitation. 293 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,480 Oh, it's a lovely invitation and you're very excited. 294 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:53,800 Your friends are getting married. 295 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,720 But then you look more closely and you realize, oh, this wedding invitation actually isn't 296 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:57,720 to me. 297 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,200 It's for my roommate, which is odd because we're all friends together. 298 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,920 But you don't make a big deal about it. 299 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,440 And then a couple of weeks later, the couple is there and everybody's cheering them on 300 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,760 and they say, we can't wait to see everyone at the wedding. 301 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,520 And you're like, I think they were talking to me, but maybe they were just talking to 302 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:17,520 everybody else. 303 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,560 And I'm, because they didn't invite me. 304 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:21,040 So I don't think I'm included. 305 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,800 So it's kind of confusing again, right? 306 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,080 And then, but you support them. 307 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,060 Nonetheless, you buy them a gift for their shower. 308 00:18:29,060 --> 00:18:30,060 You buy them a wedding gift. 309 00:18:30,060 --> 00:18:31,820 You support them all along. 310 00:18:31,820 --> 00:18:36,840 But it is only weeks later that Canada Post finally knocks on the door and says, oh my 311 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:38,420 goodness, we're so sorry. 312 00:18:38,420 --> 00:18:40,880 We lost this invitation in the mail. 313 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,560 And you realize you were on the guest list all along. 314 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,200 Just bad communication, right? 315 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,680 Sarah's mistake wasn't that she doubted God's plan. 316 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,040 Her mistake was that she assumed she wasn't included in it. 317 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,520 And friends, haven't we done the same? 318 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:04,000 You probably have a sense, oh yes, I'm sure God has a plan for the world, but surely I'm 319 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,840 not a big part of that plan, right? 320 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,320 God works through other people, right? 321 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,160 He works through people who are more faithful than me, more qualified than me, people who 322 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,900 are more deserving than me. 323 00:19:14,900 --> 00:19:19,240 And just like Sarah, Sarah always had a part in God's plan, but she didn't realize that 324 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:27,280 sometimes we too struggle to see our place in God's story. 325 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,000 But God's plans include us too. 326 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,600 Here's another controversy surrounding Sarah. 327 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,200 It's the blaming controversy. 328 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,240 People think she doesn't deserve in the Hall of Fame because of her attitude. 329 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:48,200 Sarah is often slammed for being this blaming, jealous, kind of vindictive, unreasonable 330 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,200 wife. 331 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:50,200 Why? 332 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,920 Because of what happened shortly after in Genesis 16, five to six. 333 00:19:54,920 --> 00:20:00,560 So at this point, you have to understand that Hagar got pregnant, and surprise, surprise, 334 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,840 it caused all sorts of problems. 335 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:08,440 Hagar got proud, Sarah got jealous, and this is where the blaming starts, right? 336 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,760 So Sarah and Hagar are kind of fighting with each other, and then Sarah turns to Abram 337 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,920 and she says, you're responsible for this wrong that I'm suffering. 338 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:22,400 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I put my slave in your arms, but it's your fault. 339 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:27,080 Now people say, well, Sarah, come on, we all know this was your idea. 340 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,960 Don't go trying to blame Abraham, right? 341 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,680 This person doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fiddlers. 342 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,840 She's playing the blame game, pointing her finger at Abraham. 343 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,580 She shouldn't be doing that, or should she? 344 00:20:41,580 --> 00:20:42,580 Should she? 345 00:20:42,580 --> 00:20:47,800 Because again, we have to consider the context in the ancient Mesopotamian world that they 346 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,520 grew, they were living in. 347 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:55,480 Abraham was the head of the household, and the decisions came down to him. 348 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,080 So yeah, Sarah may have suggested this plan. 349 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:02,560 Maybe you should sleep with my slave girl, Hagar, but it was Abraham's call. 350 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,200 He was in charge, and Abraham was the one who God had made the promise to anyways, and 351 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,240 so he should have known better. 352 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:16,960 So yes, Sarah suggested it, but Abraham, he was responsible. 353 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:21,760 Maybe they were, you know, Abraham, it's interesting, he then just passes the buck back. 354 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,080 He's like, oh, it's not my fault, right? 355 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:25,080 You deal with it. 356 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,080 This is your thing. 357 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:27,080 Your slave's in your hands. 358 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,160 You do with her whatever you want, and he kind of abdicates himself out of this responsibility. 359 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:31,400 No, no, no, it's not me. 360 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:32,400 No, it's you. 361 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:33,400 No, it's you. 362 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:34,400 This was your idea. 363 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:35,400 No, this was your idea. 364 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:36,400 But you're in charge. 365 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,240 You're not, you know, you can just see the bickering get going. 366 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,000 Again, here's a little parable. 367 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,800 Imagine you're on a road trip. 368 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:51,840 One person is driving and says, I know the way, but the other person has a map and they're 369 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,160 supposed to check the map, and so the passenger calls out, you know, hey, turn here, but the 370 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,360 driver says, I know better, and they go this way, and a few minutes later, they're completely 371 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:00,360 off course. 372 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:01,600 Then the blaming starts, right? 373 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,720 They're like, hey, why didn't you tell me this wasn't the right way? 374 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,480 You were the one driving, right? 375 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,440 I thought you knew where you were going, but you have the map, right? 376 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,720 You told me, no, but you were the one who actually made the turn, blah, blah, blah, 377 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:16,720 blah. 378 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,600 This is exactly what's happening with Abraham and Sarah. 379 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:25,280 Sarah suggested the idea with Hagar, but Abraham was the one behind the wheel. 380 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,280 He had the final say. 381 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:28,280 So you know what? 382 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,960 Is it safe to say they're both to blame? 383 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:32,960 One author says this. 384 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,920 It's a long quote, but it's a good one. 385 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,920 The thing that shouts loudest here in this story is that there was not an honorable character 386 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,880 in the lot. 387 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,800 All were dishonorable. 388 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:44,280 Abraham was the worst. 389 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:49,800 He was pathetic, passive, impotent, and uncaring of either woman, Sarah or Hagar. 390 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,560 Neither woman had any compassion for the other. 391 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,560 Sarah was worse than Hagar, but you get the idea that Hagar would have done the same if 392 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:58,560 she could. 393 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:03,320 In other words, to sum it all up, they're both a mess. 394 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:08,320 If Abraham points the finger at Sarah, then you know what? 395 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:11,880 There's three fingers pointing right back at him. 396 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,200 Either they both go into the Hall of Fame, I say, or neither one of them goes into the 397 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:16,200 Hall of Fame. 398 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,200 But you know what? 399 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:18,480 They're both in. 400 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,400 Because why? 401 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:28,440 Because this story shows us that faith happens in the messiness of life, in the real life 402 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:34,600 screw-ups and decisions and squabbles and conflicts and mistakes. 403 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:43,760 Even when we take a wrong turn in life, God can still reroute us and get us back where 404 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,040 we're supposed to be. 405 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,000 So quick preview, where are we so far? 406 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,360 We've kind of debunked the textual controversy. 407 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,180 We've debunked the shortcut controversy and the blaming controversy, I think, is safe 408 00:23:55,180 --> 00:23:57,280 to say it's not Sarah's fault. 409 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,760 So it's beginning to look like Sarah might just actually deserve a place in the Hall 410 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,560 of Faith, but there's still one more controversy we've got to address, and that is what is 411 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,160 known as the laughter controversy. 412 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:13,560 And for many people, this is the real reason why they say Sarah does not belong in the 413 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:15,600 Hall of Faith. 414 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:16,600 Because why? 415 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:24,240 Because in Genesis 18, she literally laughs at God, laughs at God's promise. 416 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:25,240 Here's what we read. 417 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:26,240 Here's what we read. 418 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,360 The Lord said to Abraham, your wife Sarah will have a son. 419 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:36,520 And Sarah, who is listening at the tent entrance behind him, she goes, you gotta be joking 420 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,920 me, and she laughs to herself. 421 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:39,920 She laughs. 422 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,560 And then the Lord said to Abraham, hey, wait a second, why did Sarah laugh? 423 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,880 But Sarah denied it and said, no, no, no, I didn't laugh. 424 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:50,320 It's useless, it's crazy. 425 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:55,200 But anyways, you know, I think people are kind of right to maybe get mad at Sarah for 426 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,640 laughing at God, because as they say, you do not laugh at the word of God. 427 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,520 You do not chuckle at the promises of God. 428 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,080 Shame on you, Sarah. 429 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,080 Shame on you. 430 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:11,400 Just look at this woman, look at her with disdain and doubt, and she's so defiant. 431 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,920 How on earth could someone like that end up in the Hall of Faith? 432 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,800 It's funny you should ask that, because one chapter earlier, when God makes the same promise 433 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,720 to Abraham, God says, this is my covenant with you. 434 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,640 You're gonna be the father of many nations. 435 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:29,120 Abraham falls face down, and he laughed to himself. 436 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,800 Oh, will a son be born to a man who is 100 years old? 437 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,720 So hold on a second here, right? 438 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:39,840 You're saying that when Sarah laughs, that she gets removed from the Hall of Faith, but 439 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,960 when Abraham does it, it's no big deal? 440 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:43,960 Come on. 441 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:49,360 It's a double standard, it's not fair, it's not fair. 442 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:52,200 But I think here's what it does show us. 443 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,520 Sarah's laughter, it's not unique. 444 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:57,520 It's actually human. 445 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:02,880 Laughing at God, as weird as it is to say, is often part of the journey of faith. 446 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:03,880 Because why? 447 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:09,480 Because God's promises are so big and so amazing that when we hear them, we may think, oh my 448 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,480 gosh, that is completely impossible. 449 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:17,000 So our first reaction is kind of to laugh it off in disbelief, or even with some kind 450 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,360 of, yeah, that'll never happen, nervous laughter, right? 451 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,320 I call this the yeah right reaction. 452 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:27,880 You know, imagine telling a 92 year old woman, you are going to run a marathon. 453 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,280 She'd say, yeah right, maybe if I had a time machine, right? 454 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,480 Or imagine telling a guy who just lost his job, a year from now, you're going to own 455 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,520 a thriving business. 456 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:44,240 He'd say, yeah right, I can't even put groceries on the table right now. 457 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:45,240 Or what about you? 458 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,680 What about you? 459 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,320 What if God were to say to you, you know, I can restore that broken relationship in 460 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,320 your life. 461 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:56,560 And you laugh and you say, yeah right, you don't know the kind of damage that's been 462 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,120 done. 463 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:03,760 Or God tells you, you know, in 2025, I want you to step out and do something new for me. 464 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:09,720 And you say, yeah right, I am not qualified for that at all. 465 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,000 My question to you is, hey, let's not look at Sarah, let's look at you. 466 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,600 Where are you saying, yeah right? 467 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:17,840 Right? 468 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:18,840 To God. 469 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:27,280 Sarah's story reminds us, look, God's plans don't depend on our ability to believe them 470 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,280 in the moment. 471 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,840 God didn't condemn Sarah for laughing, by the way. 472 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:39,320 He carried her through her journey until her laughter of doubt became a laughter of joy, 473 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,280 which ended up happening. 474 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:42,520 Check this out. 475 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:49,640 Then ultimately in Genesis 21 six, she is holding the newborn baby, the baby that she 476 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,080 laughed at in her arms. 477 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:52,080 You know what she says? 478 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,400 She says, God has brought me laughter. 479 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:01,040 And everyone who hears about it is going to laugh with me. 480 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:11,520 Isn't it amazing that Sarah is able to turn her laughter of doubt into a laughter of joy? 481 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,000 Even the name Isaac, do you know what it means? 482 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,320 Means laughter. 483 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,680 She named her baby laughter, right? 484 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:25,360 As a reminder to say what once seemed absolutely impossible became a reality. 485 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:30,480 So guys, Sarah's story, it shows us that God's got the power to turn your laughter of doubt 486 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,680 into a laughter of joy. 487 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:33,680 And you know what? 488 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,720 You can laugh all you want at God's promises. 489 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,380 And of course the world will laugh at you if you believe in God's promises. 490 00:28:40,380 --> 00:28:48,360 But in the end, we're all going to find ourselves laughing with joy at what God has done. 491 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,560 So Sarah's place in the hall of faith. 492 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,320 Yeah, it's been debated, but her story, I think, silences the critics. 493 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:59,600 One, yes, some say Hebrews 11, 11 is about Abraham, but this text is clearly talking 494 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:00,600 about Sarah. 495 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:06,040 Secondly, what seems like a shortcut was actually a sacrifice that she made for the promise. 496 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,960 Third, yes, she played the blame game, but so did Abraham. 497 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:14,800 And fourthly, yes, she laughed, but let's be honest, who wouldn't? 498 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:19,800 And in the end, God turned her laughter of doubt into a laughter of joy. 499 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:20,880 Sarah was not perfect. 500 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:21,880 You're not perfect. 501 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:27,400 She doubted, she blamed, she laughed, she struggled, but God still fulfilled his promise 502 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:28,400 through her. 503 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,720 And if he can include Sarah, he can include us too. 504 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:38,840 Because our faith can falter, but God's promises never fail. 505 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:39,840 Thanks be to God. 506 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:40,840 Amen. 507 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:41,840 Amen. 508 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,660 Thank you for listening to Trinity Sermons. 509 00:29:45,660 --> 00:29:50,640 This week's sermon was recorded at Trinity Church, Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario 510 00:29:50,640 --> 00:30:09,560 on February 9th, 2025.