God Himself Will Provide
Genesis 22:1–14 & Matthew 10:40–42
“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.”
How many of you learned that mealtime prayer as kids? How many of
you still use it – or something similar
How many of you know the next two lines of the prayer?
“By His hand we all are fed; give us, Lord, our daily bread.”
Diane and I were in Amish Country for three days this past week –
and parts of or all of that prayer were visible almost everywhere we
went: on plaques, tea towels, trivets, plates, and serving dishes –
even in beautiful script on a restaurant wall.
It’s good to give thanks to God for His provision for us. It is equally
important to have the underlying feeling of gratitude that causes us to
thank God for His good gifts to us.
In our Hebrew Bible Lesson today, God tests Abraham’s faith –
and Abraham passes the test with flying colors. God promised him
a son – an heir who could help him with the flocks and land – and
continue the family enterprise after Abraham died, so that Sarah
would be well cared-for.
We have to remember that Abraham and Sarah were already well past
the age for having children when they were given this promise – but
God would keep His word and graciously give them this son, Isaac.
God’s promise was very important to Abraham – who would have had
no one to inherit his flocks and herds, servants and land when he died.
But God led Abraham out under a starry sky one night and promised
him that his descendants would outnumber the stars in that sky. There
were no streetlights or highways filled with headlights – so Abraham
would have seen far more stars that we could ever see around here.
The promise would have been mind-boggling for him.
Abraham told Sarah – but she thought that God might need some help
keeping His promise – since she was well past menopause. Sarah
told Abram to sleep with her servant girl, Hagar.
The result of that union was a boy – Ishmael – but that made Sarah
feel worse about not having a child of her own – so she bullied Hagar
until Hagar took Ishmael and ran away.
An angel found Hagar near a spring in the desert – and told her to go
back to Sarah and serve her faithfully. For her obedience, she would
be blessed with more descendants than she could count. She did
return – and tradition tells us that Ishmael’s descendants are the Arab
people of today.
God will provide. That’s the theme of our Hebrew Bible story for today.
It is also the theme of our Gospel reading for today – in which God
promises to provide for the work of His Church. In Matthew’s account
of the Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples that “He who receives you
receives me, and he who receives me receives the One who sent me.”
In other words, God the Father will provide receptive ears for their
Gospel message – and will provide for the disciples’ physical needs.
Earlier in Matthew 10, Jesus tells His disciples, “Do not take along any
gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey or
extra tunic, or sandals or a staff – for the worker is worth his keep.”
Later in the same chapter, Jesus tells them not to couch surf – but to
be content with the first home that welcomes them. Then He warns
them to be on their guard – because those who do not welcome their
Good News will turn them over to the synagogue leaders and civil
authorities. Brothers will betray each other – parents and children will
turn against each other – and everyone will hate them because of the
message they bring.
Thank God we only get a funny look or a snicker when we pray in a
restaurant – or strangers call us “Holy Rollers” because we worship
God with enthusiasm – or refuse to send our kids to practice on a
Sunday morning. We get off easily. Many if not most of Jesus’s early
followers were imprisoned or killed for their faith.
Even in the face of ridicule or estrangement, we see here how God
goes way beyond meeting our temporary physical and material needs
– because He cares so much about us.
On top of all that, He gives us the gift of His presence with us, with
generous doses of His grace and His love. We do not deserve any of
these gifts. They are given because God is love. God is the source of
all love. God is the embodiment of love.
God’s provision for us may come in times of great distress and need –
and they may come when we’re living pretty comfortably. He may give
it because we have been serving faithfully – or He may give it because
we have not been particularly faithful – and He wants to remind us that
HE has not changed, but we have – and we need His help to change
back.
Hagar and Sarah – in different ways – had to learn to trust God in
seasons of deep testing. And as the earliest disciples learned, God
will provide that same grace to us so that we can share it with others. Amen.