Genesis 18:1–10a

---

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?”

These verses which follow our first reading from Genesis this morning, highlight the absurdity of it all…a woman who is in her 90s, who has been barren her whole life, who has long passed her menopause years…all of a sudden is supposed to get pregnant?

Laughable, for sure. 

Ridiculous, of course.

But as we remember, this is no ordinary story, no news item of a delusional, hallucinating crone, but a story of faith, a story of blessing, and grace which nurtures all who witness this miracle. It is a story of the Holy Spirit that guides hearts as we celebrate God’s gift of new life.

It begins with a promise. God's promise, God's covenant with Abraham, that if he walked in God’s path, that God would make him to be the ancestor of a multitude of nations, his offspring would be very numerous. 

But at the time of this promise, Abraham and his wife were very old, and still did not have a single child together. A promise is a promise, but at a certain point, it may sound just like a pipe dream.

But Abraham takes it on faith. He believes God. Even though it seems impossible.

And one hot summer’s day, when it’s the hottest, three guests appear when Abraham is by the Oaks of Mamre. They are no earthly guests, that’s for sure, but like the Middle-Eastern host that he is, Abraham extends the grandest hospitality. He bows down and asks the guests to rest a while, He gets Sarah to make delicious cakes, gets his servant to prepare a choice calf, and with curds and milk sets a feast before his divine guests.

His hospitality is a posture of expectation. He is open to possibilities, and so he is open to his guests.

And the guests don’t just share some silly anecdote about their travels, or talk about the weather, but they come with an important message, actually the fourth time this message is explained:

Sarah will become pregnant and will have a son.

Though she is barren, through God’s abundance she will bear a son. God speaks life into the impossible. What seems impossible for humans is possible for God. Isaac will be born before the guests return.

Sarah laughs when she overhears this…yes she’s heard it many times before and she likely has given up hope, but maybe, just maybe, this time it could be true? These three guests seem to be a little more real this time, and they seem to mean what they say…they might be trustworthy?

Sarahs’ laughter turns to wonder and hope, “maybe just maybe this time it will turn out. “ “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” (v. 14) she ends up rhetorically affirming God’s power….yes, for God everything is possible.

---

Children are Divine Gifts.

1. They Are Foreseen by God.

   Even before they exist, God knows and names them.

The Psalmist exclaims in Psalm 139: “For it was you who formed my inward parts;    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

When we come together for a Baptism, we take notice of God’s role in the process.

   Baptism marks the visible sign of an invisible promise.

In Baptism we recognize that we are God’s children as much as we are our parents’.

We remember our heavenly parent was with us before we were conceived, and will be with us after we die.

And we recognize this for our children as well…that they are gifts of God, and so we consecrate them with the Sacrament of Baptism, with water and the Word, affirming them to be God’s.

But children don’t just exist by themselves, in the middle of nowhere.

2. Children Call Forth Our Hospitality.

    Just as Abraham prepared a feast, and prepared everything for his guests,

So the community welcomes and supports the child in Baptism.

There’s a reason we generally have baptisms in the context of Sunday worship…as we recognize this is not just a private affair, 

but a public event…

we welcome the child into the body of Christ, God’s family, 

and we show that by stressing the congregation’s responsibility 

in helping raise the child in the faith…

it is not solely up to the parents.

The child by coming regularly to church, being part of the congregation, can grow in the congregation’s hospitality.

    For Baptism isn’t only the family’s joy but it is also the congregation’s calling. 

It is the role of the church to be a safe space where children can grow as little followers of Christ.

And luckily this isn’t always that hard, because..

3. Children Inspire Wonder & Laughter

   The innocent delight of a young child mirrors Sarah’s laughter from our reading.

Children are a blessing (not to say they can’t be a handful, and cause a lot of sleepless nights).

But laughter is a part of it, as we remember Sarah’s chuckles when she heard the good news from her divine guests.

   In baptism, we celebrate the child’s first steps into God’s family with joy. We rejoice with Xander and his family as they celebrate his arrival on the scene.

As we observe a child’s wide-eyed wonder and joy, we remember what it was like to be little as well, and our compassion and caring is brought forth.

As we see a young child enter God’s light, we are encouraged to walk as a child of the light as well.

---

May we, like Abraham and Sarah, receive the wonder of God’s gifts with open hearts, and may Xander, marked today by water and Spirit, grow in grace and truth all the days of his life.

*Hymn of the Day 815 “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”