God's Grace in Messy Lives

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess.

But she was unhappy because she'd been locked in a tower by a wicked witch.

A fierce dragon guarded the tower.

He roared and breathed fire at anyone who came near.

Everyone was afraid of the dragon.

Until one day, a handsome prince in bright shining armour

came riding by on his white stallion.

He heard the princess crying,

and he slew the dragon with his mighty sword,

broke down the door, and rescued the princess.

He took the princess back to his kingdom, where he married her,

and they all lived happily ever after.

You frequently come across people who try and dismiss the Bible as mere fairy stories.

And while there are many other reasons why we would reject that claim,

the one that seems most obvious to me

is that the characters and events in biblical narrative

are not remotely like those that you find in the typical fairy story.

In your typical fairy story, everything is simple and clear.

There are goodies, and you know exactly who they are.

There are baddies, and you know exactly who they are.

And after some challenge or other,

the goodies clearly and comprehensively win.

Good triumphs, evil is defeated,

and they all live happily ever after.

But when we look at the Bible,

we find something completely different.

We keep seeing it again and again,

whether it's in these studies we've been doing in Abraham,

or the studies we've been doing in the morning in Luke's Gospel,

or throughout the Bible,

just everything is a lot messier.

The heroes of the faith are often complete failures.

They stumble from folly to folly to outright rebellion.

And likewise, the enemies of God,

well, they're often shown to act nobly and rightly.

And when there are those victories,

those times when good seems to win through,

they're short-lived and incomplete.

At least until that future,

final, ultimate, literally apocalyptic victory

over evil and the making of all things new.

But until then, in all these messy stories,

there is one character that we find faultless,

and one thing we find constant.

God and his grace towards people.

Messy, broken, ordinary people,

like me, like you,

like all the people out there.

And I want us to look in this passage

at God's grace towards four categories of people.

To the stumbling believer,

to the unbeliever,

to the rejected,

and finally, to the world.

Don't worry if you think I'm going to take as long

on all the points as on the first point.

There just seems to be so much to say there.

And credit to my sister for the illustrations.

As we've studied Abraham's life

over the past couple of months,

we've seen a complex man.

A man at once of great faith

and of great doubt,

of obedience and of sin.

And in the first part of our passage here,

in chapter 20,

we don't see him in his finest hour.

After the dramatic events of the previous chapters,

you would think it was fairly clear

that he would want to follow God

and follow God's way clearly.

Clearly, but he moves into the region ruled by Abimelech,

a Philistine king.

And knowing that his wife is beautiful,

he fears that Abimelech will kill him

so as to take Sarah as his wife.

And so therefore he lies

and pretends that Sarah is his sister

so as to protect himself.

While on a technicality this is true,

she is his half-sister,

he's blatantly intending to deceive here.

While we in a few weeks ago

tried to let Abraham off lightly

and find the mitigating factors in his behaviour,

we can't do the same here.

Instead, when we read this,

we can't help wanting to cry out to Abraham

No, stop, don't do it, you stupid idiot.

Because Abraham's sin here is repeated.

Just a few chapters back,

he tried the same trick in Egypt.

And that didn't work out well.

The first time we can maybe excuse

as a stupid mistake,

but to do it again?

That's inexcusable.

Surely he should have known better.

But we also see here

that his sin is premeditated.

This is not accidental.

This is not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Because he tells Abimelech

down in verse 13

that this is the plan

that he agreed with Sarah

when he left Haran

about 25 years earlier.

He's had plenty of time to realise

that this is not a good idea.

And yet,

he still goes ahead with his plan.

And his sin

put several people in danger.

First,

and most obviously,

it put Sarah in danger

so as to protect himself.

Basically,

he's saying to Sarah,

you know,

all that stuff I said to you

about

for better,

for worse,

or whatever

Bronze Age,

Middle Eastern wedding vows

were like.

Well,

actually,

if you'd just be willing

to sacrifice yourself

and your honour

for my safety,

I'm not willing

to take any risk

on behalf of you.

But his sin

also puts Abimelech

in danger.

He puts Abimelech

in danger

of sin

because his deception

leads Abimelech

to believe

that Sarah is unmarried

and that therefore

his intentions,

if not quite

in line with

21st century niceties,

are essentially honourable.

But his sin

also puts his

unborn child

in danger.

It's not clear

whether at this point

Sarah is pregnant.

But if she's not,

she will be soon.

Just before

the events

in Sodom and Gomorrah,

Abraham was told

that a year

from now,

Sarah will have

a son.

If Abimelech

had followed through

with his plan,

there could be

uncertainty raised

about whose son

is this?

Is this

the promised

son of Abraham

through whom

all the nations

will be blessed?

Or is this

just

the son of

some

minor Philistine

king?

But ultimately,

Abraham's sin

demonstrates

a total

lack of faith

in God.

He says that

the fear of God

is not in this

place,

and yet

there is far

greater fear

of God

shown by

Abimelech,

a pagan,

than by Abraham.

He doesn't

trust God

to protect him

and his family.

Instead,

he relies on

his own cunning

and deception

to protect himself

at the expense

of others.

I'd love to say

that we were

somehow different,

that Abraham

was an oddity,

an exception,

an outlier,

but I know

that's not true,

and you know

that's not true.

All too often,

our sin

is repetitive

and habitual.

Every time

we think

we've learned

our lesson,

we won't go

there again,

and we do.

All too often,

we know in advance

exactly

what we're going

to do.

Maybe not 25

years in advance,

but still

long enough

to have worked

out

that our plan

is wrong,

but also

long enough

to make up

enough excuses

as to why

actually

it's okay.

And while

we like

to pretend

that our sin

is a private

thing,

we like

to follow

the mantra

of the world

around us

that says

if it doesn't

harm anyone,

then it's okay.

The reality

is none

of us

are hermits.

Our lives

are all

intertwined

and interdependent,

whether in our

families,

in our workplaces,

or even more

in the church.

when I am

not in a

right relationship

with my

Father,

how can I

be there

to exhort

and encourage

you,

to worship

beside you,

to raise

my voice

with you

and strengthen

you?

And when I

sin,

and particularly

when you see

me sin,

will I lead

you into

temptation

and sin

yourself?

So often

I've heard

the gospel

presented

in such

a nice,

simple way

that sounds

great,

but leads

people to

believe that

after accepting

salvation,

sin is not

something they

should expect

to struggle

with.

Andrew

Peterson,

an American

singer-songwriter,

in one of his

songs says,

and I

thought

that all

my struggles

would be

victories by

now,

but I

confess

that the

mess

is there.

Or as

the Apostle

John says

in his

letter,

if we

claim to

be without

sin,

we deceive

ourselves

and the

truth is

not in

us.

We must

not deny

the reality

of the

sin within

us.

Instead,

as the

Book of

Common Prayer

would say,

we acknowledge

and confess

the grievous

sins and

wickedness

which we

have so

often

committed

by thought,

word,

and deed.

But while

Abraham's

actions were

completely

wrong,

it seems

that his

fears were

not totally

unfounded.

abimelech

does indeed

consider

Sarah

beautiful,

even though

she's about

90 years

old,

and he

sins for

her.

And despite

the fact

that these

events were

brought about

by Abraham's

willful

disobedience,

God still

demonstrates his

grace towards

him.

God

demonstrates

his grace

by appearing

to Abimelech

to stop

him from

taking his

unwitting sin

any further.

He intervenes

to protect

Sarah when

Abraham is

ducked out of

his responsibilities.

Abraham may

not be willing

to protect

Sarah's

honour,

but God

once again

steps in.

But God

also shows

his grace

towards

Abraham

by bringing

him favour

in the eyes

of Abimelech.

I don't

really know,

and I'm

sure probably

no one

really knows,

can only

speculate

exactly what

customs at

the time

were like,

but it

seems that

it would

have been

perfectly

natural

for Abimelech

to be furious

here,

to send

Abraham away

or worse.

But he

sees that

God is

with Abraham,

and so

rather than

seeking

compensation

from Abraham,

he instead

is the one

that gives

lavish gifts

and welcomes

Abraham to

stay in his

land.

And despite

Abraham's

sin,

God

graciously

gives him

the responsibility

to intercede

in prayer

for Abimelech.

for the man

that he

has wronged.

He shows

Abraham

that he

still has

a job

for him

to do.

He uses

Abraham

as the

means

for taking

away

the punishment

that was

hanging over

Abimelech

and his

household.

God

and he

continues

to use

him

to show

his

greatness

to

Abimelech

so that

he can

say

in chapter

21,

God

is with

you

in everything

you do.

He

continues

to use

Abraham

as an

ambassador

to the

world around

him.

God

also

shows

his

grace

to

Abraham

by not

going

back

on

his

promise.

As we'll

see later,

all the

promises

he had

made

to

Abraham

will

still

be

fulfilled.

Abraham's

failure

does not

mean that

God will

not do

what he

had said

he will

do.

God's

plans

were not

dependent

on

Abraham's

strength.

And then

right at

the end

of the

passage

we see

God

showing

his

grace

to

Abraham

by

bringing

him

back

to a

place

of

worship.

It's

interesting

to see

that

following

the

previous

incident

in

Egypt

Abraham

waited

until

he got

back

to

Bethel

the

place

where

he

had

worshipped

God

before.

It

seems

that

in

some

way

he

felt

he

couldn't

worship

God

where

he

was.

But

in

this

case

we

see

him

worshipping

God

there

in

Beersheba

in

the

land

of

the

Philistines.

I'm

not

really

sure

what

the

significance

of

the

planting

of

the

trees

is.

Commentators

seem

to

come

up

with

widely

varying

views

on

it

but

it

seems

to

me

that

it's

in

some

ways

an

act

of

placemaking

that

Abraham

is

making

a

statement

saying

that

here

as a

nomad

in a

foreign

land

as a

sinner

I

will

worship

the

Lord

here.

so

when we

see

God's

grace

shown

like

this

to

a

stumbling

believer

there

is the

obvious

risk

of

thinking

well

sin's

okay

then

we

don't

need

to be

concerned

about

it

we

don't

need

to

seek

daily

to

put

to

death

the

sin

within

us

it

would

be

easy

to

take

the

verse

we

read

in

first

John

to

say

that

because

sin

is

inevitable

it's

unimportant

but

John

goes on

to say

a few

verses

later

I

write

this

to

you

so

that

you

will

not

sin

but

if

anyone

does

sin

we

have

an

advocate

with

the

Father

Jesus

Christ

the

righteous

one

he

is

the

atoning

sacrifice

for

our

sins

you

see

there's

no

suggestion

here

that

sin

isn't

a

big

deal

that

it

doesn't

matter

there's

no

suggestion

that

it

can

just

be

swept

under

the

carpet

but

it

is

a

great

problem

but

Christ's

sacrifice

for

us

is

even

greater

as

one

hymn

puts

it

grace

grace

God's

grace

grace

that is

greater

than

all

our

sins

and

like

Abraham

our

past

failures

do not

disqualify

us

from

being

used

by

God

John

Piper

in

one

of

his

sermons

speaks

about

how

there

are

so

many

young

Christians

who are

filled

with

radical

passionate

zeal

to give

their

lives

for

Christ

but

then

they

fall

into

sin

and

despite

repentance

they're

never

the same

again

he

says

the

tragedy

is

that

Satan

uses

the

guilt

of

these

failures

to

strip

you

of

every

radical

dream

you

ever

had

or

might

have

and

in

its

place

give

you

a

happy

safe

secure

American

life

of

superficial

pleasure

but

last week

in the

morning

we looked

at

Jesus

words

to

Peter

at

the

last

supper

when

you

have

turned

back

strengthen

your

brothers

Jesus

knew

of

Peter's

imminent

failure

but

he

still

had

a

mission

for

him

to

do

in

the

future

but

if

in

this

passage

we've

seen

the

amazing

grace

that

God

shows

to

stumbling

believers

we also

see

the

grace

that

he

shows

to

the

unbeliever

because

we've

read

about

Abimelech

a

Philistine

presumably

pagan

king

and

it

would

be

easy

therefore

for

us

to

think

if

the

Bible

was

a

simple

fairy

story

with

nice

clear

categories

of

people

that

Abimelech

falls

into

the

category

of

baddie

enemy

of

God

and

his

people

and

therefore

when

he

comes

up

against

God

God

will

destroy

him

in

righteous

anger

but

that's

not

what

happens

instead

God

is

gracious

because

he

recognizes

that

Abimelech

has

acted

in

ignorance

and

instead

he

reveals

himself

to

Abimelech

in

a

dream

he

warns

him

of

what

he

is

about

to

do

warns

him

that

if

he

continues

on

the

path

he's

on

then

he

will

die

and

although

Abimelech

is a

pagan

who

had

probably

never

given

God

a

thought

before

God

listens

as he

pleads

his

case

but

he

clearly

sets

out

to

Abimelech

the

choice

that

lies

before

him

he

can

turn

back

from

what

he

has

started

on

and

he

will

live

or

he

can

ignore

the

warning

continue

and

he

will

die

I

think

when

we

ponder

the

question

of

evil

in

our

world

we

often

look

forward

to

how

God

will

one

day

put

all

things

right

and

then

that

now

through

his

grace

he

is

holding

back

judgment

he

is

at

time

he

is

at

time

he

is

actively

restraining

it

his

grace

is

at

work

in

the

lives

of

unbelievers

holding

them

back

from

the

full

expression

of

depravity

most

of the

time

it

will

not

be

by

such

dramatic

means

as

this

although

there

are

several

occurrences

in the

Bible

where

God

does

speak

to

pagans

through

dreams

to

warn

them

of

what

he

is

going

to

do

but

he'll

often

use

his

people

to

bring

about

good

and

to

restrain

evil

in

a

government

in

a

society

in

a

workplace

where

they

have

been

called

to be

salt

and

light

in

other

times

he

will

restrain

people

by

speaking

to

them

through

their

conscience

yes

this

world

is

currently

under

the

rule

of

Satan

but

he

is

far

from

having

complete

control

God

is

very

clearly

still

on

the

throne

but

Abimelech

was still

left with

a choice

and

although

Abraham

thought

that there

was no

fear of

God

in the

place

when

God

revealed

himself

Abimelech

did

fear

and

obeyed

God

and

God

was

gracious

to

him

and

took

away

the

judgment

that

was

hanging

over

him

and

brought

about

reconciliation

with

Abraham

God

was also

gracious

in

revealing

himself

to

Abraham

through

his

dealings

with

Abraham

he

could

see

that

this

was

not

your

ordinary

tribal

deity

but

that

Abraham's

God

had

a

real

effect

on

Abraham's

life

because

of this

we see

in the

last part

of

chapter

21

a

quite

strange

occurrence

Abimelech

seeks

a peace

treaty

from

Abraham

now

Abimelech

is the

king

in this

place

Abraham

is just

a

nomad

who

happens

to be

camping

on his

land

okay

a

quite

rich

nomad

with

quite

a

number

of

people

with

him

but

still

it

should

be

Abraham

that

is

going

to

Abimelech

seeking

peace

but

Abimelech

recognises

that

God

is on

Abraham's

side

and so

therefore

he sees

that he

is the

one

in the

position

of

weakness

we

don't

really

know

what

Abimelech

believed

we

don't

know

what

he

thought

about

God

did

he

just

add

him

into

his

pantheon

of

gods

as

yet

another

one

to

be

appeased

or

did

he

acknowledge

him

as

the

one

true

God

like

so

many

other

things

the

Bible

doesn't

tell

us

but

as

we

walk

out

of

here

tonight

into

the

week

ahead

let's

not

for a

moment

think

that

God's

grace

is

only

for

us

that

we

are

in

any

way

special

other

than

that

God

has

shown

his

grace

to

us

let's

go

into

a

world

where

God's

grace

stays

the

hand

of

many

that

would

do

evil

and

see

how

we

might

be

used

to

bring

good

and

to

bring

God

and

his

grace

to

the

world

around

us

and

to

the

people

that

we

meet

we

may

never

know

how

they

respond

but

let's

pray

that

God

might

display

himself

through

us

and

then

in

the

middle

of

our

passage

from

verse

8

in

chapter

21

we

come

across

an

awkward

and

rather

uncomfortable

story

that

doesn't

really

nicely

fit

in

the

story

of

Hagar

and

Ishmael

I

wish

I

could

spend

more

time

on

this

because

I

think

there's

actually

a lot

to say

about

it

but

essentially

this

story

shouldn't

be

there

at

all

this

family

this

conflict

these

events

were

all

a

result

of

Abraham's

folly

of

him

trying

to

fulfill

God's

plan

in

his

own

way

this

is

not

the

way

that

it

should

have

happened

although

of

course

God

knew

exactly

what

he

was

doing

we

see

here

Ishmael

who

has

been

displaced

from

his

position

of

honour

he

on

the

verge

of

manhood

probably

15

16

17

that

sort

of

age

must

now

take

second

place

to

a

mere

toddler

Isaac

and

naturally

he

doesn't

take

this

too

well

unlike

all

teenagers

he

mouths

off

about

it

Sarah

will

not

have

anyone

questioning

the honour

due

to

her

son

and

so

she

will

not

have

them

in

her

household

any

longer

and

so

they

are

sent

away

if

we

started

tonight

looking

at a

situation

where

God

was

gracious

to

Abraham

in

the

mess

that

he

had

got

himself

into

here

we

see

God

showing

his

grace

to

Hagar

and

Ishmael

who

although

far

from

perfect

are

really

the

victims

in

a

situation

that

was

not

of

their

own

making

and

at

first

it

seems

that

God

is

being

harsh

and

callous

he

seems

to