Open the Word

How a word from God can turn lives upside down.

• Abraham and Sarah had been travelling for many years. They were childless, both were old and beyond childbearing age. For Sarah, this was the ultimate humiliation — the whole point of her life in her culture would have been as a mother to her family.

• Abraham and Sarah are rich in the eyes of the world, but lack the one thing that they truly desire in life — a child of their own. There may be folk in your congregation for whom this is also a painful reality. The condition of childlessness is one that families continue to find hard to address. Childlessness cannot always be sorted out through IVF, and some couples spend their life savings following this path. How do we cope when God doesn’t give us what we desperately want and society implies is now our right? How does your church community embrace such couples and support them? How do you welcome those for whom childlessness is a decision?

• Barrenness may not be a lack of children. How many people, looking back over their lives, feel that they have achieved nothing? How many couples have children who have gone ‘off the rails’ or partners they are separated from? Are there people in your congregation who have lost money or businesses? Most people have some ‘barrenness’. How do we let God transform these parts of our lives, which may well be hidden from friends at church?

• Retell the story of Abraham and Sarah in order to place this scene in context. What does their story reveal about the way God works? Ponder on the juxtaposition of Abraham’s desert experience and God’s promises to him. Consider, too, Sarah’s reaction to the news she is given. In what ways do we find this ‘God of surprises’ in our own lives and how do we respond? What can we learn from Abraham and Sarah?

• Abraham and Sarah were both recognised as old (v. 11). How much does your community value the elderly? Reflect on the history of your church and see how the present older members have played their part over the years.

• Old age can be a time to do new things. Many churches would die overnight without the wealth of experience and energy that the older members bring. But does your community encourage the older folk to try new things in church? Or do you stick to ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’? If God was bringing a radical change for Abraham and Sarah, what about us?

• The good news of Jesus Christ offers total transformation for all, old and young. A grandmother was amazed to discover there was no upper age limit on baptism and confirmation within the Anglican Church. She immediately asked when the next course began. How is your church valuing the elderly whom you live and worship among?