Repurposed Vessel

Read Genesis 17:1-7, 15,16

I can remember when I was a senior in high school, nearing the end of the year. My friends and I were so anxious for the “end”. I remember listening to Alice Cooper’s School’s Out on repeat in my truck and singing it loud with my friends. Some people such as teachers or people at work would ask me, “What are you going to do after you graduate?” My response, “There’s a really big party at Wakefield’s. Probably gonna go to that.” Then graduation came and we celebrated the idea that school was out forever. Ironically, I have been in school every since.

I think it’s funny how people, particularly young adults, think that the end of all things challenging happens upon graduation. They shortly discover that the struggle continues either with work or college. If it is college, surely the end happens upon graduating from college. Lol, No. Then other significant things happen throughout life that create this illusion that the struggle is over. Life will surely get easier and the ride will be nice and smooth from here on out. But, then intentions are crushed with new struggles. “It’s going to be nice when the kids are off to college!” Most couples will say. Or, “When I get this promotion and raise everything will get better.” “All I have to do is pay off this debt and life will be different.” “When we move to the new place, our lives will be so much better.” “When I retire I will finally be able to rest and do whatever I want.” I heard this one recently, “When the income tax check comes in we will be good to go!” Have we figured out yet that it does not really work like that? Or, is it something that we just like to tell ourselves because it creates an illusion. We are all pretty good at convincing ourselves of things that are not real. But, I want to suggest that things don’t happen the way that we think they will because we are people of faith. They don’t happen that way because that is not the will of God for God’s people. When we reach a finish line of sorts, it does not represent the end of struggle and challenge in life; it represents a new beginning. These vessels (bodies) that God uses to accomplish God’s will are simply a means for the Spirit. When one task is complete, we have a new purpose.

Abram had many purposes or repurposes for the sake of this message. It wasn’t until his late age that his greatest purpose began. It all started with a conflict that Abram and his wife Sarai created for themselves and their household. Abram was loyal to God. He was a God fearing man and he wanted no more than to serve God. God told him that his name will be blessed and many people will be blessed because of him. He knew he had a purpose. He wanted to make a great family. He wanted people to be blessed for generations because of his offspring. He wanted to create a huge family for God because God told him that he would. But there was a little bit of a problem. His wife, Sarai, could not have a baby. They lived a long time waiting for the Lord’s blessing but it would not come. They were patient for Lord. They spoke to the Lord, asking for the time to come but it didn’t.

You must understand the implications of Sarai unable to have a child. In Jewish culture your offspring means everything. Your ability to leave your mark on the world with children is your purpose. For the people in this culture, if a person was unable to bear a child they were cursed. I believe that Abram and Sarai did not see themselves as cursed because they believed in God’s timing. But, what affected them the most was how other people in their communities saw them. I can only imagine the pain they had to endure from being judged by other people. When other people saw them they might have thought, “It don’t matter how Godly you are Abram son of Terah; you and your wife are cursed by God because you cannot bear a child.” The judgment of people in their communities and people in the families they came from was probably painful. Human nature does sometimes force us to judge people unjustly even when we do not know the whole story. We do that a lot. When we see a person on the street we think to ourselves, “I wonder what they did to get there?” When we see a person struggling to get by we like to think that they must have done something to be that way. Those are the implications of the situation Abram and Sarai are in. They lived many years through this grief and pain, patiently waiting on God’s blessing. Finally, Sarai had enough. She decided that she was finished waiting on God so she and Abram took things into her own hands.

Sarai gave her servant, Hagar to Abram as a surrogate to have a child. Hagar became pregnant and of course the plan backfired. Hagar had a child but as you would guess, it created a huge family conflict. It created a conflict between Sarai and Hagar and it created a huge conflict between Abram and his wife. But, lets look at what happened. Despite what they new of God’s promise to Abram (Gen 15:4) he still did not wait. There was a lack of patience, lack of trust, and they took the matter into their own hands. The product of that was major conflict. God’s timing was right; their timing was not. Do you know how that works? You get impatient and decide you are done waiting on the right time so you make a decision and regret it. Good Lord! You hear me? I know what that’s like.

Hagar’s child was Abram’s own. But, he was a result of Abram taking matters into his own hands. Abram was at a point in his life that he had a choice to make. It had been 13 years since the birth of his son Ishmael from Hagar. He has a choice to carry on waiting with Sarai or turn toward Hagar and Ishmael. The hard part is discerning God’s will between something tangible, Hagar and Ishmael, or something based on faith, a future with Sarai. Ishmael is a temptation to trust in the fruit of his own work rather than God. Isn’t that human nature, though? Humans like to trust in what we can see rather what we believe. That idea does a heck of job manipulating our relationship and communication in God. We can’t see it; it’s not tangible. So we are attracted toward what we can see. That creates a chasm between God and us.

Just when Abram was at the point of discernment between what he could and could not see, just when the chasm between God and Abram was opening up, God appeared. God said, “I am God Almighty; walk with me and trust me. The life you have lived is not over; it has just begun with a new purpose. You are not who you were before. You will have a new name and a new purpose. People will see you differently. People will not consider you cursed. They will see you with a different purpose. The old struggle is now over and a new struggle begins. Your wife, Sarai will also have a new name and a new purpose and she will bear your child. Your offspring will be many.”

His name was now Abraham and his wife’s name was Sarah. They both had a new purpose and a new relationship with God. They made a new covenant and promise with God. God and this family belonged to each other through a promise. God ordained a new creation through Abraham. Though, there life was one way for a long time, God gave them a new purpose to live and with this purpose they had a new relationship with God.

Can you recall a time when God gave you a new purpose? Can you recall living up to that point, searching for some kind of change because you were ready for something different? You might have been thinking if I can just get past this point in my life everything will be smooth. But, then you find out that there is a whole new set of obstacles waiting in this new purpose. Some of you might be at a transition point in your life. You might be ready to move on with a new purpose. I think we can learn that God uses us in various ways at multiple times in our lives for the will of God. Sometimes we might have to live out a struggle or wait patiently like Sarai and Abram. We might even fail at waiting and take matters into our own hands. In doing this it is likely that we will cause some conflict. But, God even knows our mistakes and how to create blessings out of them. Our Lord can make good of even our failures.

When we are repurposed for the Lord we are a new creation for the Lord. We have a new purpose, a new light, we walk a new path, and everything that has happened in the past is used for the path ahead of us. When we enter that new part of our lives, that new journey or new struggle, we enter it with a refreshed relationship with God. If you live for God’s will you are a vessel for God’s plan. That is a huge responsibility but we have a promise through our Lord. We have a new covenant through Jesus Christ. We are not just a repurposed vessel; we are renewed vessel through the grace of Jesus Christ. We are the light of Christ that shines in the world and ever time we reach a milestone for the Lord, we have another ahead waiting for us.

As we know and understand, God is with us in everything we do; but I have a question to ask you, friends. Knowing that God is with you in every shadow you walk through, through every obstacle you overcome, and in each dead end the world leads you into, knowing that God is with you, are you with God? The Spirit of Christ is with you, but are you with the Spirit. Have you ever been in someone’s presence but they ignored you. It is miserable. If God is with us, how could we ignore God? We have a promise to never be alone and this promise is an unbreakable covenant. Let us always be aware of the presence of the Lord. Let us always take delight in the Lord’s presence, and always patiently trust in God’s timing. God’s timing is magnificent. If we wait for the Lord, we will be prepared for every for every step, ever journey, and ever purpose the Lord has for us.