And Yet
Pastor Kim, Taehoon
Genesis 20:1-7, 11-13, 17-18
Today we investigate March 7ths QT text 'Abrahams Repeated Mistake'. Abraham is weak, and yet God upholds, supports, and restores him as chosen. Let us think about the chosen peoples lives, full of 'and yet's.
First, in spite of being chosen, we repeat our mistakes.
Abraham departs Hebron, the land where he received Gods promise and built an altar to serve Him, south onto Negev. From the lands of Canaan, symbolizing heaven, towards Egypt, hallmark of the world, he went, arriving at the southern tip of Canaan, in the Philistine kings city Gerar. His faith surely matured: he received the Lord when He visited in the guise of a lowly traveler, put his life on the line in prayer for Sodom, and was promised Sarah would bear a child by the following year. That the now wealthy Abraham did not so much as ask God in relocating to Gerar was a symptom of his spiritual famine. Spiritual droughts corrode the Word, our identity, and mission by instilling self-pity, victim mentality, depression, cynicism, and emptiness. In Abrahams pathetic figure falling into the abyss, I saw myself, bringing tears to my eyes. I left for the States to study, brushing off my wifes wish to stay with the community and our head pastors recommendation that I serve the community a little while longer before going. With hard work and yearning, I finished my Masters with flying colors, and was accepted to doctoral programs in three prominent seminaries. But then my second was born prematurely with cerebral palsy, forcing me back. The future seemed bleak I could not fathom how, being chosen, my life had become this way. However, the Lord led my family back to the Hebron of the community. On that first day back in community service, my wife apologized to me at my behest. Even then, my spiritual famine was such that I rejected the apology, deeming it insincere. And yet, our family would heal with the communitys prayers and loving service.
Second, God shows mercy even though we make mistakes.
In the single verse 2, we see Abraham make his mistake then Abimelek, king of Gerar, take Sarah God deals with Abrahams sin immediately. But instead of reprimanding Abraham, God appears in Abimeleks dreams and whilst allowing that he acted with 'clear conscience', God also makes it clear that it was not Abimeleks integrity but Gods will that kept him from touching Sarah. God recognizes the tiny sesame of a faith Abraham displayed in leaving his fathers house to move to the promised land, and stands by his chosen people. And from Abimeleks stance of 'Abraham believes, yet lies and sold his wife, whereas I am honorable and good, so I have no use for belief', we can see the limits of human conscience as opposed to one bestowed by the Holy Spirit. Because through Sarah, Isaac must be born and this is a matter of salvation for Jesus must come through him, God extends protection and mercy to Sarah overlooking Abrahams blunder. When we trust and wait for the Lord, who knows our weakness better than we do, He will in that night visit Abimelek to save our children, spouse, parents, and fellows as he did Sarah. Much like Abraham, we repeatedly stumble, but I hope that we will remember the ever loving Lord and put our full force behind salvation.
Third, God makes us confess our sins, however hidden they were.
In the humiliating moment as Abimelek admonished Abraham, Abraham confesses his weakness in lying, that Sarah is his half-sister, the scars of incest, that his selfishness forced his wife to lie. The reason God protects us is so that we may confess as so and repent with confidence of mercy this is the greatest of grace. As the seventh century theologian of the eastern churches, Isaac of Nineveh, said, 'He who knows his own sin is higher than the man who resurrects the dead by his prayer. He who has been granted the gift of seeing himself is superior to the man who sees angels.' Seeing Abrahams confession, I confronted my own lack of faith in Gods protection and mercy having grown under parents of great credentials as a well-behaved son engaging little in the communication of emotions and thoughts. And to shatter my distrust, God sent our family a bruised reed: my son who, even at his second year of school, cannot do much on his own. In caring for him with my wife, I experience my anxiety and fears grow smaller by the day. I realize the frivolousness of worldly recognition and praise, and learn, instead, to depend on the Lord to live another day.
Fourth, God restores our mission, despite our collapse.
God names the pitiful, erring Abraham a 'prophet'. As the first use of the word in the text, God bestows it upon Abraham, weeping for his sins and calling the Lords name. Reinstating his mission as a prophet, the Lord shows the road to recovery. Abraham finds strength in the love of calling a wretch as himself a prophet. He prays for Abimelek, and God responds by healing Abimelek, his wife, and servants so that they could have children. Oswald Chambers writes in My Utmost for His Highest how we can rediscover our mission through prayers of suffrage. With Abrahams mission regained, Isaac is born in the very next chapter.
Today, I share a confession from the community of a member living in the States. From the near complete collapse of her family, attending the community services, she came to realize that she may also have been an offender. Indifferent to her husbands salvation and praying for him, the Word told her she had been hateful. And in seeing her sins, she was able to follow the prescriptions of the community to restore her family.
In concluding,
I wish for us all to admit our weak and pathetic selves and to believe Gods mercy in bringing our sins into the light. I pray that we may free our minds by confessing our sins, demolishing our whitewashed walls, adhering to our newfound mission, and especially to come to pray for others as Abraham did.
