Emphasis Preaching Journal

Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
The road-weary business traveler steps out of a taxicab, suitcase in hand, and climbs the steps of a downtown hotel. "I'd like to check in," he says to the doorman.

"Right this way, sir," the doorman replies, ushering the man through the revolving door. He directs him not to the front desk, but to a machine resembling an ATM. A sign posted on the machine instructs the traveler to insert his credit card, punch in his room preference, and the machine will issue him his key.

They say these "automatic check-in kiosks" are the wave of the future in major hotels. No human interaction necessary.

There's something troubling about this rush to efficiency that replaces the smile of the desk clerk with a glowing computer screen. Hotel chains take pride in belonging to the "hospitality industry" -- but there's precious little hospitality in inserting a credit card into a slot. The new machine may be able to greet you by name (at least, once you've swiped your card), but can it smile back? Can it chat about the weather? Can it share a few sympathetic words on a bad day?

Of course it can't. Sometimes, there's nothing to replace old-fashioned human interaction -- which is, after all, at the heart of hospitality.

Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
There's a whole lot of laughter going on in our Genesis passages for today. First, Sarah laughs when she hears one of the visitors who has come to their tent telling Abraham that he, Abraham, and Sarah are going have a son.

Sarah's 90 and Abraham's 100! -- no wonder Sarah laughs! Have a baby at her age? Impossible!

But the guest replies, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" (18:14).

Then the required number of months passes and Sarah does indeed have a son, and Abraham names the boy "Isaac," which means "laughter." And now the laughing turns to a laughter of joy that is engaged in by the whole community around them. Sarah says, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me" (21:6). It reminds you of the strong woman of faith in Proverbs 31:25 who, instead of fearing the future, "laughs at the time to come."

Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
Throughout the year, a mission distribution center needs volunteers to help sort donated items. There is clothing to separate by gender and size. Businesses donate school supplies that have to be packed up. Some of the items are sent overseas while others are sent to inner cities around the nation.

Volunteers come in from all over the United States, representing many churches. Some of the volunteers did not quite know what to think about Keith. Keith's arms were covered with tattoos, from the base of his hands to his shoulders. While he was balding in the front, he had a ponytail. One day, one of the volunteers began conversing with Keith, learning that he was from a large Midwestern city. When asked what he did for a living, Keith replied that he was a tattoo artist. That admission caused some discomfort among the group.

Keith sensed their uneasiness. He told them that while he is tattooing someone, he has a captive audience that provides an opportunity to witness to his faith. With a smile on his face he says they have to listen, "They cannot escape." Keith is able to reach young people that most likely many churches and individuals could not. Keith's passion to lead young people to faith shined through the conversation.

Three visitors told Abraham and Sarah that they would indeed have a son. Sarah laughed to herself. God asked Abraham, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"

Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
Dr. Drew Cottle wrote the following prayer based on the story of Sarah's laughter:

Dear Creator and Lord: Often, when we are presented with opportunities beyond our own imagination, we laugh and disbelieve. Sarah's laughter then is no different from our own now. When you present us with some amazing new possibility, be it love, faith, trust, or any other of your many and manifest blessings, often we disbelieve. We disbelieve because we cannot imagine success outside of our own expectations. Help us, Lord, to see not what we can be, but to see what you would have us do, and help us to trust you, so that your will for us is successful. Amen.
(From http://umaffirm.org/spiritual/saralaff.html)

Romans 5:1-8
More than one mother during the Civil War was allowed to speak with President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's cabinet wasn't pleased with the president's choice of whom to see and how to use his energy. At times, they also disagreed with his merciful decisions concerning the mothers' sons who were soldiers who'd done such things as sleeping on guard duty.

The amazing experience of being ushered into the president's office to speak about the most pressing and personal of issues is comparable to our having peace with God and access to God's grace. Because God through Christ has set us right (justified us) we could just saunter in to God and chat. However, the very thought of meeting God face-to-face and receiving mercy fills us with such awe and gratitude that we come to God humbly, even trusting God to work for God's glory through our very suffering.

Romans 5:1-8
"And hope does not disappoint us." People who run out of hope usually give up on life. Some run from life. Some turn their backs to the wall and resign from living. Others angrily back folks against the walls of malls, schools, and fast food restaurants and start shooting. We all need hope. The question is, "In what do you hope?"

The exceptional thing about hoping in God is seen first in the fact that the hope that God supplies never runs out. Why not? Because the Holy Spirit endlessly pours God's love into our hearts. The Lord never stops giving believers hope. It comes through having faith in Jesus and his ability to keep his promises. Those who rely on him are never disappointed. The second side of hope is that God expects us to assist others in times of need. God's love requires that we remember those who are hurting so they don't reach a point of desperation. Real love and hope never disappoint.

Romans 5:1-8
God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. We were hopelessly lost, still sinners, in rebellion against God and his Son, our Savior. Rarely in human history has someone gone, risking their life to save the life of another.

In 1915, T. E. Lawrence was traveling across a formidable stretch of desert with some Arabs. Normally hoods are used to protect from cold, but in the midst of burning heat they were wearing hoods over their heads to protect them from the blazing hot, blowing sand.

"Where is Jasman?" someone cried in alarm. "His camel is here, and his gun, but he is gone." No thought was given to going back, no one would survive. After all, Jasman was a fugitive from justice; he had killed a tax collector and fled into the desert. "He must have fainted and fallen from his camel." The Arabs agreed to ride on.

Lawrence, alone in the blazing heat and at the risk of his own life, turned around. After an hour and a half, he saw someone. It was Jasman, staggering and nearly dead, blinded from the heat, and thirsty. Lawrence lifted him on his camel and gave him drops of the precious water. Later in the day, to the amazement of the others, Lawrence gave him back to the traveling group.

In a way, even more dramatic than the story of the prodigal son. The loving one goes to the far country himself to seek and save the lost.

Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)

"Compassion" literally means "passion with." The word "passion" means something very different from what it used to. To most minds, the word conjures up an image of Rhett Butler sweeping Scarlett O'Hara off her feet with Atlanta burning in the background. Passion, to most people today, is an overwhelming force of emotion. Back in the old days, it meant simply "suffering." In the church, we preserve a remnant of that meaning when we speak of "passion week" -- the week of Jesus' suffering. To have compassion for others is to share their suffering.

One December, a group of parents stood in the lobby of a nursery school waiting to claim their children. It was the last class session before Christmas. As the boys and girls ran from their rooms, each one clutched a brightly wrapped package. It was the project they had been working on for days, a Christmas present for their parents. One little boy slipped and fell. The surprise flew out of his hands and hit the concrete floor. There was the terrible sound of shattering ceramic.

The room suddenly fell silent, and then the boy let out a wail of grief, which turned into a flood of tears. His father knelt down beside him and said, "There, there, it really doesn't matter."

The boy's mother, who was wiser in such things, also knelt down. She put her arms around her son and said, "Oh, but it does matter. It matters a great deal." And tears came to her eyes, too.

Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
It's appropriate, on this Father's Day, that in our gospel lesson Matthew lists the names of the men who are Jesus' twelve disciples, and we hear Jesus sending them out to spread the good news that the kingdom of God -- the community of God, the close-knit family of God -- has come among us.

That's good news! You and I are not left to drift alone in this big universe; our lives have meaning and purpose! We're part of what God is doing: gathering a community of people who will care, who will love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and who will try to love each other as we love ourselves.

In his book, Loving Jesus, Mark Allan Powell says:

Don't wait for the kingdom -- experience it! The kingdom (that is, the rule or reign of God) is already here, and people who associate it only with heaven or with life after death risk missing out on what is available here and now.

But Jesus also spoke of God's rule as a future reality. He told his disciples to pray for the rule of God to come (Matthew 6:10). He said that when the rule of God is established, the poor will be blessed, the hungry will be filled, and those who weep will laugh (Luke 6:20-21). When God rules, people will come from all around to enjoy table fellowship with such notables as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 8:11).
(From Mark Allan Powell, Loving Jesus, p. 83)

Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
On the Sunday that Ray and Karen joined the church, Lois shared her hesitancy to visit first-time guests to the church. She said that when the pastor told of a new program to visit guests she thought he was crazy and that it would not work. In spite of her reservations, Lois and her husband agreed to be part of a team to make visits.

Lois and her husband visited with Ray and Karen on the Sunday afternoon after they visited the church for the first time. Lois would look for them and make a point of talking with them every Sunday. She introduced them to other people in the church as well. The two couples soon became friends. Their friendship was unique. Lois and Gordon are in their seventies while Ray and Karen are in their early thirties. When Gordon was in the hospital, Ray stopped to see him on his way home from work. When Karen and Ray had their first child, Gordon and Lois hosted a baby shower for them at church.

Not only did the program yield new members to the church, Lois said they also made new friends in Ray and Karen. As Lois spoke she was choking up with emotion.

Jesus told the disciples and tells us, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Jesus sends us out. Who are the people you know who with some effort might come to know Jesus?

Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
Choosing the right team is essential for project management, obtaining financing for a new business, or winning the Super Bowl. For example, a project manager overseeing a new project might need a team that consists of a technical advisor, finance manager, quality assurance manager, and a commercial manager. Each has a specific role to play in the success of the project.

Jesus too, had to pick a team and the success of his ministry in large part depended upon how the team would carry out his mission. Of course, at Pentecost Jesus came to indwell his team in the person of the Holy Spirit.