The life and faith of Abraham. Part 14 – Sarah and Abraham die. Genesis 23 & 25:1-11

Well, if you've ever uh watched a

longunning TV series or maybe uh

listened to a longunning uh radio series

or read a book with a good character in

it, you feel like you get to know those

people in the stories, don't you? Uh

they you become attached to them.

Apparently, the longest running soap

ever in the world, TV soap ever in the

world, is Coronation Street. premiered

in 1960 and it's still going. U the

longest running soap on radio is The

Archers. Put your hand up if you've ever

listened to The Archers before. So, oh,

quite a few. Okay. Yeah. So, that was

premiered in 1951

and has over 20,000 episodes and that's

still going as well. I've never uh

listened to that or watched Coronation

Street either, but for those who tune

in, you are probably very much attached

to those characters.

We get to know them. We miss them when

they've gone. And of course, if that is

the case with fiction, all the more so

in reality, the people we live with, our

friends, our family, our colleagues, our

neighbors, these people form part of who

we are.

They share in our experiences and our

joys in our triumphs in our heartbreaks.

And when we lose such people,

we lose a part of ourselves.

And one of the weighty responsibilities

and and I guess honors of being a pastor

is you lead people's funeral services.

And they're obviously rarely easy times.

Even as believers, when we have that

wonderful joy and hope in the Lord,

there is still that gaping loss

and grief. And today we come to the

sobering accounts of Sarah and Abraham's

death. So I'm aware this sermon will be

particularly difficult for some because

of the bereavements that are still very

much with us and painful for us. It

might also be difficult for some of us

because we will have to come face to

face with thoughts of our own death

which is not going to be easy.

Uh this isn't our final episode looking

at Abraham's life and faith because

rather than as I said rather than

dealing with uh Sarah's death and then

Abraham's death separately. I thought we

would just combine them into one. And uh

next week we'll finish the series as we

backtrack to uh chapter 24 and look at

that lovely uh love story uh in chapter

24. But for now with much war without

much warning death just intrudes upon

this story. Sarah dies and we'll look at

that in the first of our two points this

morning. Faith in the promises of God.

She lived a long life. Not a bad innings

at all. 127 years. That's it's not bad

going, is it? I very much doubt that any

of us will make it to that age unless

they do something remarkable with AI and

robot robotics or something. I don't

know. But hopefully not. But um Sarah

lived uh around 4,000 years ago.

Humanity was much fresher at that point

given the right circumstances and the

blessing from God. Uh humans seem to

live a lot longer. But even Sarah had to

die as do all people.

We don't know how long Sarah had been

married to Abraham. Uh but as they were

half siblings, we can assume they had

been aware with of each other since

childhood. They had grown up probably

together.

So a parting of this lifelong

relationship wouldn't be easy. And of

course, mourning is appropriate.

Tears are appropriate, too. I mean,

don't beat yourself up if you've lost

someone and and you can't cry for some

reason. I mean, we deal with grief in

different ways, don't we? We process

that in different ways.

But it is right and [snorts] appropriate

to grieve and to cry. You know, when our

favorite TV series character or book

character comes to the end that you do

feel a kind of grief, don't you? Even

though you know it's only fiction. How

much more so then when when a pet or a

person or someone we love is taken away

from us. It is right to grieve. It's

it's fitting because they were a part of

our lives and and then they're not.

Surprisingly, the writer doesn't spend

much time dealing with that aspect of

it. And most of this chapter is actually

given over to Abraham securing a place

to bury Sarah.

Maybe Abraham was a a practical person

and and this is his way of dealing with

it all. Or perhaps it's just the the

pressure of the hot climate. You

couldn't wait around. A burial would

have to take place as soon as possible.

Now, this is the first mention of an

interament in the Bible. I'm sure others

have obviously died by this point and

been buried in some way, but it's

interesting. This is the first mention

of burial in the Bible. And the respect

and the care that Abraham takes over

this is instructive. You know, what

happens to his wife's body,

it matters. It's not just uh it doesn't

matter. Actually, it it does matter. God

made us body and soul. Our body is part

of who we are. So, thought and care is

required. It matters.

By the way, at this point, I I hope I'm

not going to seem insensitive, but it

just seemed like a good point to mention

it. Um, if you are an official member of

this church, as long as there's still

space when your time comes, you do

qualify for a free spot in the

graveyard. Um, you might not know that

because it's not something we sort of

shout about, but I just thought, you

know, I would mention it at that point.

Um, you don't have to use it, but there

we go. You now know a member gets a free

spot in the church graveyard. I hope

that didn't sound like an advert. I was

I tried to word it, so it didn't.

But the problem for Abraham is is that

he's not a member of MBBC and he doesn't

have uh that qualification. He doesn't

have anywhere to bury his wife. He's a

sjona. He he's a foreigner. He's a he

doesn't own any land. And yes, Bimlec,

if you remember, had agreed that Abraham

could have the rights to the well and

and that was great, but that was 28

miles southwest of where they are now in

Hebbran. So that's no good to him being

able to use the well back there. He's

here and he's got nowhere to bury his

wife. So Abraham humbly lays out the

problem. He makes his request to be

allowed to buy some property for burying

his uh for for a burial place. And

whilst Abraham refers to himself as a

foreigner, they the Hittites, they refer

to him as verse six, a prince of God

amongst us. A prince of God. It's not

that they all believed in God, but they

could see by his life, by the blessing

that he seemed to enjoy from some divine

source. Here is a man who enjoyed the

grace and favor of God. And so they're

very happy for him to to have the best

of their tombs. A generous offer, you

know, choose which one you want. You can

have that. That's that's fine, you know.

Whereas it seems very generous. So

that's that's not really what Abraham's

after. See, Abraham wasn't just wanting

to reserve a couple of spots to to bury

his wife and himself in. In faith, he

sees this is his long-term home for

generations. in faith. He believes his

children and their children and their

children's children, they will come to

this place. They will live and die in

this land. And so Abraham wants to buy

land in this place, not just a couple of

tombs just just there.

And he already has a a place in mind. So

it seems like he's thought about this.

This isn't just a spur of the moment.

Oh, what shall I choose? He has

somewhere in mind. And the owner is

there. He's happy to give it to Abraham.

And that's great because who doesn't

love a bargain, right? I mean, that's

brilliant.

But quite how much of this is actually

genuine generosity is disputed. It might

be. It It seems to be offering it. You

can have it. You can have it. Go on,

take it. That's fine. Um, but actually

some people suggest maybe there's more

of an ancient Eastern business

negotiations going on here. Maybe that

was the expected thing you would do to

someone like Abraham. So, it's not quite

clear whether this is a genuine offer or

whether this is just being polite and

going through the motions,

but anyway, Abraham insists he will pay

for it. And so, Ephron, still offering

it as a gift, skillfully slips in how

much he wants for it. 400 silver

shekels, which by the way, I'm told is

excessively high. It's really expensive.

Um especially when when you consider a

thousand years later, King David paid 50

shekels for the sight of the temple and

Jeremiah only paid 17 shekels for his

cousins field. So you can see there's a

great disparity in in prices there. But

who knows what happened over a thousand

years to inflation and the worth of

[snorts] these things. I don't know. But

anyway, it was a lot of money, I'm told.

And of course, the expected thing would

be for Abraham to try and haggle this

high price down. But Abraham's having

none of it.

The the expectations of haggling or or

being given it, they are swiftly brought

to an end as Abraham says, "I'm going to

pay it. I will pay that full price."

And it does sort of make you wonder why

is he so intent on paying for this? Why

why is he not even going to enter into

the negotiations and get himself a

bargain?

Also notice Abraham is careful to ensure

how things are done. They are done

openly and properly.

He speaks to the Hittites. Verse seven.

Um I don't think that's the idea. He

gets all of the Hittites together and

speaks to them all. Um it's is probably

just saying he's speaking to the

leaders, those in charge. Um he says in

verse eight, "Entreat for me Ephron."

See the idea can you guys you ones who

you've got the responsibility for this

you go and and approach this this man on

my behalf and again verse nine at the

end of verse 9 for a full price let me

uh give it for the full price let him

give it to me in your presence so he

says in your presence he wants this to

be done so everyone can see so everyone

is witnessing uh in your presence as a

property for a burial ground in verse 10

in the hearing of the Hittites so whilst

They're all listening of all who went in

at the gate of the city. So where all

the business negotiations uh went on in

that in their hearing at that place

halfway through verse 11 Ephron says in

the sight of the sons of my people. So

again with all these people watching in

I give it to you bury your dead. And we

see similar things in verse 13, 16, 18,

and then finally in verse 20, the field

and the cave that is in it were made

over to Abraham as property for a

burying place by the Hittites.

So just again and again, Abraham and the

author are making it. There are pains to

show this is done publicly. It's done

openly. It's done honestly.

There's no coercion, no pressure here.

Abraham isn't using his princely power

to demand a cheap price. Abraham bought

the field fair and square so that no one

can contest his ownership on any

grounds.

Now, of course, it's uh important that

as Christians, we carry out our business

affairs openly and honestly and fairly,

isn't it? You know, Abraham was known as

a prince of God. And so, what he did

reflected on God. You, if you're a

Christian, you're known as a child of

God. What you do reflects on your God,

too. how in congruous it is when

Christians are not open, not honest in

in our work and business dealings, you

know, when you think I can't can't

really trust them.

And and that that's true. That's that's

a good moral lesson we could draw from

this. Uh but I don't think as true as

that is, that that is what we're really

meant to be thinking about at at the

moment that that's not the key takeaway.

Yes, we are meant to be true, open, and

fair in our business dealings. But

there's something bigger, something more

important to think about here. The point

is this was an act of faith.

As mentioned, Abraham was planning this

to be permanent

for the Lord had promised him and his

descendants this land. That promise, it

hadn't been fulfilled yet, but is going

to make plans for it. He will pay for

this patch of land in the interim until

God's promises come true for him. So the

promise is yet to be fulfilled, but he

believes God. And so he plans

accordingly on the basis of God's

promises. This is where his wife and he

need to be buried in the promised land.

By faith, he believes his descendants

will come and live there, too. And so he

spends his money, he invests himself

based on the promises of God. He

entrusts his precious wife's body to the

promises of God. Can I trust God with

this? Yes, he says.

And I wonder if that's the same for us.

We have many promises in Christ, don't

we? Uh some are true and fulfilled right

now and we we live in the enjoyment of

those promises right now. And yet some

of those promises we have in Christ,

they they lie in the future and we

haven't got them yet. We believe by

faith that we will have them, but we

haven't entered into them yet. Some of

those promises like being given new

bodies. Maybe we wish that would hurry

up because like this old one's wearing

out. But you know, having a new body,

entering into the new creation, being

with the Lord forever in glory. And so

like Abraham, we have promises, but

we're not living in the reality of them

yet.

So like Abraham, the question is, are we

arranging our lives

in anticipation

of those promises?

How much do God's promises and our

future hope in him, how much do they

factor into our thinking and and our

planning right now in this life? Jesus

said in Matthew 6:20,

Matthew 6:20

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures

on earth, where moth and rust destroy,

and where thieves break in and steal,

but lay up for yourselves treasures in

heaven, where neither moth nor rust

destroys, and where thieves do not break

in and steal. For where your treasure

is, there your heart will also be."

That is challenging, isn't it?

We all know life is fleeting, don't we?

Especially as you get older. There's so

much to cram in, so much to do, and the

the faster you try and do it, the faster

life just seems to get away from you.

But I wonder how much our agenda is

dictated by the promises we have in

Christ.

What are we actually living for?

Are we investing?

Are we spending ourselves just in what

is fleeting

and not what is eternal?

So are you using your money towards his

kingdom, his purposes, or is it all most

of it being just directed

to to your own needs? Are we using our

abilities [music]

to serve him and his people?

Pretty much every ministry in this

church is is crying out for help.

Are we willing to take um part with that

or are we willing to part with that so

precious commodity time

for the sake of the Lord? That's

sometimes sometimes it's easy to give a

bit more money, isn't it? But the time

that is so costly.

Are we dealing with our friends and our

family in a way that is based on the

promises of God? I know what I have in

the Lord. They don't have that or or or

maybe I need to be living in a more

sacrificial way or something. Are we are

we living with our friends and family in

a way that is based on the promises of

God? Are we anticipating that heavenly

joy? So laying up treasure there,

it's easy to forget we're seners. We are

foreigners. We are exiles. We are

citizens of heaven. We are citizens of

this kingdom, this earth too. But we are

citizens primarily of heaven.

And so the way we live, the way we plan,

the way we invest ourselves need to be

based not on just what we can see now,

not just on what we want to enjoy now,

but on who we are in Christ and what we

will be in him.

Let me put it another way.

If the promises of God

to you were ever to fail, now that can't

happen, right? I'm just this

hypothetical.

If the promises of God to you were to

fail, it didn't happen. You weren't

resurrected or whatever,

how much would you lose?

How much does following Christ cost you?

Would it be like, "It doesn't really

matter. Being a Christian wasn't a big

deal anyway." Or if the promises of

Christ didn't happen, you would go, "I'm

devastated. I've lost I've lost

everything."

Does living as a disciple of Christ, how

much does that change your life?

Or we are to build our lives on the

promises of God. So are are you doing

that? Are you banking on Christ and his

promises? So that if it can't happen,

but if it did happen and it it didn't

happen, would your loss be great or

would you just go? I've had my fun here

anyway. My heaven was on earth really.

In Abraham's adventure of faith, he's

he's had some highs, he's had some lows,

but at this stage in his life, even as

his beloved wife has been taken from

him, he looks ahead in faith, knowing

that God has promised him this land all

around him that he doesn't currently

have, but he looks ahead in faith. And

so, acting in faith, he takes pains to

ensure this burial site will be

recognized beyond all doubt as his for

the generations to come. everyone

around. So, yes, we can affirm that

belongs to Abraham. And so, Abraham and

Sarah and Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob

and Leah were all buried there. All

expressing that hope, that faith that

even though they didn't see the

fulfillment, even though they didn't

come into that the promises right then

and there in their life, yet God will

keep his promise.

That's what Abraham and Sarah's long

lives had taught them. They could trust

God. They could throw their entire lot

in with him in life and in death. And

God is faithful and his promises were

true.

Christian,

you are to orientate your life

Christ,

homewood.

Give yourself,

invest yourself,

trust yourself to him in life and in

death. So we are to live and die in

Christ.

Well, after Sarah has died, Abraham

lives on for another 38 years.

So let's fast forward to chapter 25 and

we'll see uh what we can learn in that

final point planning ahead.

Story of Abraham has been full of

surprises and even now here is a

surprise. Verse one, Abraham took

another wife Kitura. I mean that's a

surprise, isn't it? It's not something

we often think much about, but there we

are. He took another wife. Good for him.

We might think, you know, brilliant.

Well, yeah, that's great. So it is

slightly unclear about the timing of it

all. Um so many scholars think she's

more of a concubine. So sort of one step

down from her wife. Um and that's how

she's referred to in verse six. And uh

because of that uh they they think that

Coutura came onto the scene before Sarah

died. And um one of the main reasons for

thinking that is because Abraham manages

to father six sons by Coutura. Um

there's a picture of the family tree

should appear up there if you can see

it. There we go. Um so because he he

managed to father uh six sons with her,

people doubt that Abraham could have

managed all of this at his grand old

age. And so the family tree records um

they they sort of say this this is put

here at the end of the account because

it records the end of his life and it's

to introduce characters that be relevant

um throughout the rest of the Old

Testament. And and that might be

perfectly well and true. That's fine.

Um, sort of fine. Um,

however, uh, since we don't actually

know the timing,

personally, I'm inclined to take this as

chronological and that he took Cura

after Sarah's death. Uh, and perhaps

Abraham was just blessed with

particularly good health, lots of energy

and stamina. Maybe. I've never been his

age, so I don't know. Maybe he got a

second wind. Who knows? When you're his

age, you can correct me. I don't I don't

know. But there we go. Um the point is

when this happened isn't really the big

thing. The key thing for us to notice is

that Abraham makes plans.

You see, we all know that our time will

come eventually. For some of us, that

that time is approaching more rapidly

than we ever imagined. You know, when

you you're young, you think you've got

all the time in the world. blink for a

moment, suddenly you're middle-aged. And

then people start to worry if you're up

to certain things, you know, don't

overdo it. What you mean? Yeah. It's

funny. Yesterday I was um in danger of

making myself late for the men's

convention and I was charging around the

house trying to find your, you know,

where's my Bible? Where's my And as Cla

could hear me thundering about upstairs,

as I approached the stairs, she yelled

up, "Don't run down the stairs. You're

not as young as you used to be." Or

something like that.

which I thought was hilarious. But she

did have a good point. To be fair, I can

still run up the stairs, but I don't

usually run down the stairs. That's

Yeah, we imagine we can still do what we

used to do in our 20ies. I don't want to

be too morbid and depress us all. I

realize it's a bit late for that, but

[laughter]

it is unhelpful to pretend that out of

all the humans who ever lived,

we are the only ones who aren't going to

die. That's unhelpful, isn't it? If

we're not actually going to be honest

with ourselves about our mortality. As

far as I'm aware, only Enoch and Elijah

escaped death in the Old Testament. Of

course, all those who were still living

when Jesus return will not have to die.

But for most of us, death is a reality.

So forward planning is important and

Abraham is aware of that and he makes

plans. So he's got this other wife or

concubine and there's this whole other

family tree going on which uh yeah,

but how will that affect Isaac

and the promise? After all, when God had

told Abraham to send Ishmael away, he'd

said to Abraham in Genesis 21:12, "Do

Genesis 21:12

it. Send him away because it's through

Isaac your offspring shall be named." So

Abraham is aware, God has warned him or

told him, Isaac is the child of the

promise. He is the one. He is the one

through whom these promises are going to

come true. So Isaac needs to be

safeguarded.

So there needs to be no confusion about

the situation, especially with all those

other children springing forth. And so

he makes clear plans to deal with any

issues before his own death.

Verse five, Abraham gave all he had to

Isaac. Whether it's in the form of a

promise or some written will or perhaps

actually giving it over to him whilst he

was still alive, saying now it is yours

now. It's it's it's not clear. But what

is clear is this all belongs to Isaac.

It's his.

Verse six is explicit. Whilst he while

Abraham was still living, he gifts gives

gifts to these other sons and he sends

them away.

And this might seem terribly practical

this next section, but I think we be

helpful to think about it. So matters of

inheritance

and who gets what.

It does often cause major problems in

families.

It can cause rifts

that never heal.

And as those who follow Christ in life,

it would seem neglectful if we didn't

make proper plans for our death. I know

none of us really want to think about

these things, but we need to because I'm

sure the last thing any of us want to do

is actually have our family falling out

because we weren't clear about what our

wishes were.

That would be an unfortunate legacy to

leave. So, I'm I'm I'm getting quite

practical here. Um just to help you

think some of these things through. Do

your family know what your wishes are

for the end of your life? For the end of

your life care? Do have you explained

you want this, you want that? Have you

sorted out your power of attorney for

health, your health issues or for your

financial issues? Because if it gets to

the point where you can't make your own

decisions, surely you want the decisions

to be made by someone you trust,

preferably a believer.

Is your will up to date? Does anyone

know where it is? Have you made verbal

promises to someone and actually no one

else knows about that? So when you go

they'll say, "Oh, you know, mom said I

could have that." And everyone else

goes, "Really? Well, she didn't tell

us."

Have you made it clear whether you want

to be buried or cremated?

Whilst I'm here, why not plan out some

thoughts for your funeral? Of course,

this is fun stuff, isn't it? [laughter]

Sorry.

Should have come with a warning. I know.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're nearly

there. Don't worry. But but seriously

though, as as a pastor, um it is it is

really helpful when it comes to planning

a funeral if someone has written down

because who knows what your favorite

scripture is better than you? Who knows

what your favorite songs are better than

you? Um, if I'm leading a service, it's

wonderful to be able to say so and so

chose this one of their favorites or

this was special to them or, you know,

it just has that ring of truth and it it

saves your poor relatives at a really

difficult time making really difficult

decisions. Uh, you know, oh, what did

dad like? What? I don't know. I can't

remember. You know, it's write it down,

stick it in the back of your Bible, put

it next to your wheel or something. All

these things it's good to plan for.

Otherwise, your family will find

themselves in difficulty. Let me

encourage you. If you sought to honor

God in your life, why not seek to honor

him in your death? Make clear plans that

result in praise and thanks to God

rather than give your family a heartache

and strife and division.

So Abraham having made preparations and

having made plans to ensure that Isaac

is safeguarded and everything is taken

care of after 175 years of life, Abraham

breathes his last and he's gathered to

his people.

What does that mean?

Well, it's fascinating, isn't it? Even

at this early stage of biblical

revelation,

it's the idea that death is not the end.

For those who die in faith, there is the

promise of community,

of fellowship beyond death,

who were Abraham's people.

His people are those who know God, who

like him walked before God in faith.

Yes, many of his natural family would

join him because they shared his trust

in God, but not just his natural

descendants. Listen to these words from

Galatians chapter 3 7-9. They should

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

appear on the screen as well from Paul.

He writes, "Know then that it is those

of faith who are the sons of Abraham and

the scripture for seeing that God would

justify the Gentiles by faith preached

the gospel beforehand to Abraham,

saying, "In you shall all the nations be

blessed." So then those who are of faith

are blessed along with Abraham, the man

of faith. So it's the people of faith

who are Abraham's people. He would be

gathered together with them. And it's

the same for us. That's why Paul writes

in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, we do not

1 Thessalonians 4:13

grieve as others do not uh as as others

do who have no hope. So it's not that we

don't grieve at all, but it's the fact

we don't grieve like those who have no

hope because we do have a hope. For all

those who die in Christ, they shall

live. And as we breathe our last, we are

taken to be with our Lord, we are

gathered to our people, those who are in

Christ by faith. That includes Abraham

and Sarah. As Paul says in in chapter

Romans chapter 8, and again this should

Romans 8 · chapter mention

appear on the screen. For I am sure that

he is neither death nor life. Isn't that

amazing? Uh, for I'm sure that neither

death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,

nor things present, nor things to come,

nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor

anything else in all creation will be

able to separate us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is a

wonderful reassurance for those who are

trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not

even death

can separate you from the love of

Christ.

How precious those words are.

But they're not for everyone.

They are for those who have planned

ahead, who have believed in him, who

have cried out to the Lord for mercy,

who have turned from their sins and by

faith seek to follow the Lord now in

life.

It's by trusting in the Lord in life

that we can prepare for our death.

Coronation Street. It's been running for

66 years, but one day it will come to an

end.

And however long you have been running

for or living for, one day you like

Sarah and Abraham will breathe your

last. So it is imperative that you make

the necessary preparation before that

day before you stand before God face to

face. Abraham lived and died by faith in

God and in his promises.

What about you?

Let's be quiet before the Lord.

Father God, we have been thinking about

extremely serious and sobering things

this morning.

Father, we pray that uh your spirit

would uh speak into our hearts and minds

that these your word would do its good

work. Oh Lord, that we would

make the necessary preparations

to meet with you so that we meet you as

our Lord and our Savior, as our friend

and as our King. So it is a a a grand

welcome home that we get. Father, may

each one of us examine our souls this

morning to make sure we have planned

ahead and put our faith in Jesus. Pray

this in his name. Amen.