Genesis 18.1-15 (21:1-7) The call of Abraham and Sarah

In Matthew 22:37, Jesus sums up for us very nicely the greatest commandment ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ In verse 39, he even gives us the second greatest commandment ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But nowhere does God or Jesus ever tell us what the greatest sin is, do they? Boy, would that be helpful information to know, wouldn’t it? That way, even when you’ve had a particularly challenging day, you could at least avoid doing that one thing.

Now, all sins are equal. In terms of salvation, murder is as great a sin as coveting your neighbor’s donkey. Today, I want to present an argument that one sin covers them all. Loving the Lord God with all your heart, mind, body and soul encompasses all ten commandments; hypocrisy encompasses all sin. To say one thing and yet do another. To love our God we must love our neighbor. To say that we love our God and then to treat our neighbor poorly is hypocritical.

To say you love God and then to create idols to bow down to and serve is hypocritical. To use the Lord’s name in a derogatory, insulting, or weaponized manner is hypocrisy. To not honor your mother or father, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, covet something someone else has, or not allow your body the rest it needs is hypocrisy, for to love God is to love all of God’s creation, which includes your neighbor and yourself. To love God is to follow God’s commandments, statutes, laws, desires- whatever you want to call them.

The word we translate as hypocrite in some form as a noun, verb, or adjective occurs 27 times in the Old Testament and 18 times in the New. But stories, parables, and accusations of hypocrisy appear countless times. It would seem as if human beings have a difficult time living out what they say they believe.

We want to believe that Adam and Eve trusted God completely. He created them, provided for them, nurtured them, loved them, and yet they broke God’s trust. We say that our God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and good. Yet, we laugh when God tells us “Don’t worry, I got this.” Last week, we witnessed the crowd in front of the leader’s house laugh when Jesus told them the girl was not dead but sleeping. This week, Sara laughs, when God tells her that she will have a child.

When you read your Bible, you probably find contradictory information. Sometimes, you can write it off as things change over time, like no longer requiring sacrificial animals, but others are a little more complicated. Every individual must find their own way to come to terms with historical events, whether Biblical or from their own personal life, and deal with the consequences of their choices and beliefs.

What I believe is most important is not necessarily what we believe but that what we believe is apparent in our everyday life.

Abraham and Sarah both believe in God.

Abraham demonstrates his faith by welcoming the strangers with kindness, respect, and dignity. He does not wait for them to approach him. He goes to them. He bows to the ground taking a position of humility and respect, honoring them as God’s traveling creatures. He extends an open invitation of hospitality providing food, water, and shelter. A place of recovery and rest from their weariness. He offers the finest of what he has, not what he thinks he can spare, or the bare minimum, but the best he has to offer. Choice flour, a calf that is tender and good, fresh milk and cheese. The first charcuterie board for guests is prepared. Then, they eat together in the shade. He doesn’t throw food at them and walk away. He offers the most important aspect of hospitality: friendship. Abraham makes only one mistake.

“Where is your wife, Sarah?” Oh, she’s in the house. God includes women in their plans. God includes EVERYONE in their plans. God isn’t there to see the head of the household. God has come to visit the household. God isn’t about the greatest. God is about the least of these. Those whom others have deemed unworthy. It is not enough that you believe. Does your household believe too? Do you treat them as you treat your guests? Is your love for God demonstrated in the way you treat your family, friends, and servants as well as how you treat strangers?

When Sarah laughs, it isn’t Sarah he directs his question to. “The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’”

When we marginalize people, they question their own worth. Imagine being treated as a second-class citizen your entire life. Suddenly, a rich, powerful, being comes up to them and says they will also receive great blessings in this life. Would you believe them? This isn’t a K-Drama where a Chaebol marries their secretary. This isn’t a fairy tale where the peasant marries the prince. This is reality. Real-life, not a fantasy.

God asks ABRAHAM why Sarah laughs. We know God speaks to women. In the near future, God is going to have a nice conversation with their servant Hagar, who will be the first person to give God a name. God is asking Abraham why Sarah is laughing because Sarah does not yet believe she is important enough to receive a blessing from God. God asks Abraham about Sarah’s laughter because Abraham is treating strangers better than he is treating his own wife who is serving him. Abraham is being hypocritical.

Remember the rich man from choose your Gospel, Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, or Luke 18:18-30? The rich man who confidently replies that he has kept every commandment since his youth but is unwilling to give up his wealth? Abraham’s hypocrisy has just been challenged by God. You say you love me that you are willing to do almost anything for me except the one thing I truly want. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love the least of these as yourself. All of your neighbors, including the ones in your own home.

Sarah responds as those who are marginalized or feel stuck in a demeaning relationship generally do. She immediately jumps in to offend her oppressor.

How many of you are feeling uncomfortable right now? Thinking to yourselves in some form or another, “How dare she talk about Abraham, the Father of Israel, that way?” Getting your panties in a bunch leaping to his defense? I’m not saying Abraham is involved in a domestic violence suit here. I’m saying that Abraham is living out the white-male-patriarchy of today but thousands of years ago.

Abraham is treating Sarah the way he has been raised to treat a wife. She is property after all. He owns her. He never strikes her and will even lie to Pharaoh in the future in an attempt to protect her. But just because Abraham is not aware he is not treating her respectfully doesn’t mean he is being respectful toward her. Just because everyone else treats their wives worse than he treats Sarah doesn’t mean he is treating her right. Just because Abraham is not aware of his bias doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

In Genesis 21:1“The LORD dealt with Sarah as he had said.” God does not punish Sarah. He does not mute her like he does Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah or blind her like Saul. God does not punish Sarah because her laughter was not the sin in this scenario. It takes a while, but “the LORD did for Sarah as he had promised.” Those who are hypocritical before the Lord. Those who lie. Those who do not act in accordance with their stated beliefs. They suffer direct and immediate consequences for their sins. Sarah does not. Now, when Sarah knew better and tried to enact God’s plan on her own, failing to trust in what had been promised, offering Hagar to Abraham, then there are consequences, but not for her laughter.

God wants us to act in accordance with our beliefs. God punishes hypocrites. To say you believe one thing and then to go and do something that does not honor that belief is to commit hypocrisy.

Society has taught Sarah that the only way she can be fruitful in this life is to produce children. If she cannot produce a son for her husband, she has no value. Society may not see her but God sure does. God speaks directly to her saying only the truth “Yes, you did laugh.” It is not a cast of blame and I wish I could be there to hear the tone of God’s voice. I suspect it would be far sadder than most people think.

I have heard the saddened voice of the marginalized lie. A child being bullied lies to the teacher to protect their perpetrators: “No, sir, there’s nothing wrong here.” A woman lying about the fourth or fifth time she has fallen down the stairs. A member of a minority lying about why they didn’t get a job or were not welcome somewhere, or that they did not hear some derogatory term they were called. Someone saying it’s okay that they were overlooked, or their opinion doesn’t matter. The oppressed lie to protect those who oppress them. And quite often, they laugh it off. They laugh because they believe they are not worthy.

I believe in this passage, God is telling Sarah, “I see you. You are worthy. You do not need to lie to protect Abraham. I’m not going to harm him. I want him to learn. I want him to be a better person. Your protecting him will not help him grow into the man I need him to be.”

Hypocrisy benefits no one. Hypocrisy perpetuates systemic discrimination and imbalance of power. We laugh in the face of miracles because we have accepted someone else’s opinion of us rather than God’s. God will speak directly to us. God wants to know why we are not at the hospitality table. God wants us to love them and to love our neighbors. God wants us to treat one another with respect and dignity. God wants us to be humble and serving toward one another. I take care of you and you take care of me. God wants us to rely upon one another.

God wants us most of all to live what we believe in every way, to everyone, in every circumstance. ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ God wants you to know that you matter and are worthy of miracles. Those who believe in their own worthiness do not laugh at God’s promises.

Imagine a life where you believe good things will happen to you. A life where you believe you will be blessed. A life where you are comfortable serving and being served. A life where you rely not upon yourself but trust in others and trust in God. That life doesn’t have to be imaginary.

God calls Abraham out on his hypocrisy. Not to be cruel, not to be mean, but to invoke change. I wish I could say Abraham gets it on the first try, but he doesn’t. It takes a few tries. And there’s a learning curve; sometimes he gets it, sometimes he does not. And ultimately, we all know how this story turns out: the Israelites live in a patriarchal society that treats women as property for thousands of years. But that doesn’t stop God from trying to get through to them to get them to understand that you don’t just follow the commandments you want to follow; you follow them all; to do anything less is hypocritical. To do anything less than follow all of the commandments is to not love God. To not love your neighbor is to not love God. Therefore, the greatest commandment is to love God. The greatest sin is to say that you believe that, but not to act like it.