It's a Boy!

Introduction

The toys are barely out of the box; the lights are not down from the tree; exchanges have not been completed; yet, if you listen carefully you can hear the voices of children—“I can’t wait till next Christmas.” We adults need a couple of months to recover, but children can’t wait for the next visit from the North Pole. There is nothing like having to wait for Christmas. As a child I can remember thinking that Christmas would never get here. Having to wait for those last few days to fade giving way to Christmas. I can remember being so excited on Christmas Eve that I couldn’t sleep. Now sleep seems to be the best part of Christmas.

Maybe you never got that excited about Christmas. But I would venture that there have been times when you have thought “I can’t wait until…” and you fill in the blank. Maybe it was for your wedding or a vacation or a new job or a day alone. There are any number of things that brings us a great deal of joy. And any number of those things we might wish would happen a bit more quickly.

You think Abraham and Sarah ever thought about “I can’t wait until we have a son?” At age 75 when God made his initial promise and Abraham came home to tell Sarah about it, I am sure there were times when they looked at each other with knowing looks in excited anticipation of God fulfilling his promise. As one year faded into another, the anticipation gave way to frustration, disappointment, and eventually to unbelief. And yet every so often God would make an appearance and reassure them of his intention to fulfill his promise. There had to be times when their emotions would swing from full belief to utter disbelief. There must have been times when they wondered if their faith had been misplaced. And I am sure there were times when they thought about giving up. The point of tonight’s lesson is found in 21:1, “The Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.” Our God keeps promises.

The Birth

In chapter 18, Sarah was told that she was going to have a baby. She laughed. She was told that about a year from then, she would be suckling a son. She laughed. Wonder what she did when she found out she was pregnant? I’ll guess she laughed. Did she laugh through morning sickness? Did she laugh as her abdomen swelled? When she looked at her ninety year old body, I wonder if she laughed? She probably laughed all the way through pregnancy and delivery. And when the promised son was born she laughed in her exhaustion. She laughed so much that she named the child, Isaac, meaning laughter.

As she nursed that newborn baby, touched his tiny fingers, counted each toe over and over again, she laughed. She knew, too, that others would laugh with her. It was a laughable situation. Ninety years old and nursing her newborn. Such things do not happen in the world. Such things are unbelievable. When Abraham took Isaac into his arms for the first time, don’t you know he laughed. When he picked up Isaac with those calloused, rough hands, and touched Isaac’s soft skin, don’t you know he laughed. I suspect that their family was one filled with laughter. Each day was a day to celebrate that which was impossible. No one knew more than Abraham and Sarah that God moves in mysterious ways.

If you think we brag about our newborns, don’t you know that Abraham and Isaac couldn’t wait to show off their son. I’m sure there were folks who just didn’t believe that Sarah was pregnant. They probably thought she was just getting fat in her old age. But the proof was evident to all when Isaac was born. Who could deny that the child had been born? Who could deny that the child was theirs? Who could deny that something unexpected had happened in Abraham’s camp? The laughter of disbelief has given way to the laughter of joy and thanksgiving. Sarah’s misery has given way to laughter. And in her laughter there is healing and thanksgiving.

The Promise of God

The main point of this story in found in 21:1. We have two ways in which God is described in this brief passage. The first is gracious. Literally the word is “visited.” It is a way of acknowledging that God directly intervened in order to bring about Isaac’s birth. There is no conception unless God acts. The second way God is described in this passage is that he is a promise keeper. God acts and Sarah gives birth to a child. God said she would give birth and she did. What God promised to do is fulfilled. These two descriptions result in several conclusions.

First, God doesn’t forget his promises. While we may wonder about God’s presence, the story of Isaac’s birth assures us that God doesn’t forget. Twenty-five years is a long time, but God kept his promise. We may wonder about God’s determination to complete his promise, but Isaac’s birth story helps us to realize that our God is sufficiently determined to complete his will.

Second, this story teaches us that God’s time frame and ours is not always the same. The words of the song “In His Time” are true. God does what he says he will do in his time. We may want him to speed things up. We may want him to slow things down. We may want him to demonstrate that he knows what we are going through. But God is on his own time frame making things happen when they need to take place. Thus, we need to learn to patiently wait on God to bring his will to completion. But learning this patience is difficult. Consider Abraham and Sarah. Waiting at times must have been unbearable. Yet, God brought about his will in his time.

God is still busily working out his will in his time. Our faith is what sustains us when we do not know what to do or where to turn. If God had told Abraham in Haran that he would have to wait 25 years for a son, Abraham might have found it difficult to pursue God’s course for his life. But each day, Abraham brought faith to his relationship with God and believed that God would do what he said he would do. Such faith did not disappoint.

Finally, when God makes a visit things happen. This idea of visiting is truly an act of grace. That God would bring himself into the presence of man and act on our behalf is truly an act of grace. In chapter 18, God visited Abraham to explain what would happen in a year. In John 1, God visits this earth to demonstrate what would happen for eternity. Our God is indeed a God of grace. When he makes a visit, things happen.

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