Genesis 17:15-17 God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’
In this passage from Genesis we hear God promising a son to Abraham and we hear echoes of another promised son many years later. We celebrate that other birth this week of course. But maybe taking a quick look at this older promise of a son can shed a little bit of light on that birth of a Messiah for us.
God promised the son and Abraham laughed... Abraham fell on his face and laughed at God because he and his wife were too old for having kids. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90... a bit beyond the normal child-bearing years. So Abraham laughed. It was just too ridiculous and impossible to comprehend. We know of course as we keep reading that it did happen.
And so many years later God promised another birth, this one even more ridiculous and impossible. Is it possible for a virgin to conceive? Is it possible for God to enter the world as a crying human baby? Is it possible for heaven's eternal majesty to break into human existence? Is it possible for us to be saved by this tiny baby?
Just don't laugh.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Join us Wednesday for our Blue Christmas service at 7 pm, especially designed for those who have lost someone they love in the past year. Then on Friday (Christmas Eve) we will worship at 3, 5, and 11 with pre-service music one-half hour before each service time. More details at http://www.allsaintspalatine.org
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