Who Would Have Thought?

Posted on June 18, 2023

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Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

Romans 5:1-8

Matthew 9:35-10:8

There are times in life when one looks back to their past life and they wonder, who would have thought that I would be where I am today. If you could have seen me as a child or even a teenager, no one would have said that this kid was going to grow up to be an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. Who would have thought that I would be married to a beautiful Colombian woman and that I would be the father of three beautiful girls? As a kid thinking about a dreaming of my future, I could never have dreamed up any of this nor could I have planned something like this. So again, who would have thought that any of this would happen in my life? The answer is that God thought and planned every little detail and purpose for my life and for all of our lives too. He thought and felt that all of these things were possible and hoped for us to follow the path that he desired for us. When God makes promises, he keeps them.

Genesis tells us the history of the world from the beginning. It follows the lives and paths of people chosen by God. In our passage today we continue to read about the story of Abraham. Abraham was chosen and set apart by God to be blessed. There was nothing really special about Abraham, he was just an ordinary man no different from anyone else. However, while other people ignored their roots and the truth by turning to idle worship, Abraham believed and trust in the one true living God. He believed so much so that God spoke to him directly to guide his path and he obeyed. He trusted his life and family to God even though God had not yet given him the one thing that he and his wife desired the most. He was childless. On a side note, Abraham’s faithfulness to his wife in all of this is something to admire as even though she could not give him a child, he still loved her and kept her as his wife while I am sure other men of that day would have cast her out or found another wife or multiple wives. Abraham stayed faithful to Sarah though even into their old age.

God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Who would have thought that this would be possible for a now childless old man and old woman. Sarah certainly did not believe this to be possible and we know that because she gave her husband her servant girl to have a son for Abraham in her place. An act that surely turned out to torment and bother her in the end. However, God still said that his chosen would be through his offspring through his wife Sarah. Sarah laughed at even the thought of this because it seemed impossible as she was and old woman and pass the child bearing years. Never the less, God’s promise came to be and she bore Abraham a son and she says in chapter 21 verse 7, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” God was the one who said it would be so. True no one in the world who looked at Abraham or Sarah would have thought that this would now be possible. However, God knew and he gave Abraham the great gift of being a father of nations.

Fast forward a few thousand years, there is the nation of Israel, the offspring of Abraham. They live in a land that was promised to them from the time of Abraham. They have been disciplined many a time to guide them to the right path of worshiping God only and it sets the stage to welcome His son into the world. His name is Jesus. Jesus made many friends during his ministry and called them his disciples. In our Gospel scripture for today he sends out his 12 chosen into the land of the lost sheep of Israel to bring a message of hope and joy. Who would have thought that these simple and ordinary men would be chosen to preach the good news to the nations? Jesus knew and believed in them and it is because of them and the work that they did 2000 years ago that we worship in this church today.

We call God our good Father in heaven. But about Him makes Him so good in the first place. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans in chapter 5, “just at the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Through this He demonstrates his fatherly love for us for “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This example embodies the character of a good father. No matter how awful or bad a child may be, he still is willing to lay his life down for his children. Not everyone in our world today can say that to be the case about their earthly father. Unfortunately, there are many fathers who do abandon the responsibility of their children. As a result of this fatherlessness there is increased crime, increased poverty, and increased mental illness and suicide among children of fatherless homes. Who would have thought that fatherlessness would be such a problem in our world today? God knew and that is why he sacrificed His own flesh even when we were awful and acting out or misbehaving. He loved us enough to give of himself to take our place of the punishment that we deserve. He is the father that many in the world never had and he is the example of what a father in this world should be.

I had the privilege of having a loving and caring earthly father. It was a gift from God to have this man raise and guide me into my adulthood. Who would have thought that my time with him though would be so limited on this earth? I know that there are many in this world that share a similar story. However, we can never truly understand how crazy in love our heavenly father is with us. He sees each of us as his masterpiece and he is so proud of his creation. I know that He even loves my earthly father more so than I ever could and he now lives in the presence of that love today. Who would have thought that we could be loved so much that someone would die for us just so that we could be with them for all of eternity? God thought that and I am grateful that He thought of me and he thought of you even when we didn’t deserve to be thought of. Praise be to a loving and caring father in heaven.