May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way-now that you have come to your servant." "Very well," they answered, "do as you say." So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread." Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh." (Genesis 18:1-15)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: This is a very heartwarming and lovely Bible story. It makes us, if God gives us grace to see it, very much want to be like Abraham and Sarah, to have the blessings they enjoyed that day. And, praise the Lord, that is exactly why God made sure we have this account-so that we can have what Abraham and Sarah had! Notice how comfortable, how at ease, Abraham and Sarah were as they entertained the Lord that day. Moreover, notice how happy the Lord is to be there with them. We would say everyone felt "at home". The Lord is at home with Abraham and Sarah and they with him. I pray that we can go away from worship today with the certain knowledge that this scene is relived each day in our lives and homes. So let us explore together how we are AT HOME-God with us and we with him.

God is at home with Abraham, Sarah and us. There was a miracle in the making that hot afternoon in Palestine. The Lord of mercy appeared that day because his children of faith were doubting, weak, breaking the 1^st Commandment. You know that commandment-you shall have no other gods. No, Abraham and Sarah had not set up some idols in their tents; but the commandment is not just about idols. It is just as much about letting God be God, trusting him even when all evidence seems to say he will not or cannot keep his promises, fearing and respecting his timetable, loving him even if he is not leading us on pleasant ways now.

Yes, trust was lacking and wavering, and I guess we can understand why. We can understand but that does not excuse the sin. The Lord had told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son and that from the lineage of that son would be born the Savior. But now about 25 years had passed, and each day it seemed less likely that it would ever happen. In fact, Sarah was now past the age of childbearing. Now, in their doubting Abraham and Sarah did some things to try and help God keep his promise (as if he needed help!). First Abraham asked God if it was OK to have Eliezer, his chief servant, be his official heir. That was the custom in those days for childless couples. No, said God to Abraham, Look up at the stars. Can you count them? That is how many offspring you will have. Years passed and still no child. So Sarah and Abraham do something stupid. Maybe the Lord means you will have a son, Sarah said to her husband, but it will not be mine. So Abraham foolishly agreed to have a baby with Hagar, Sarah's servant. Well, you can well imagine what that did for family life. See what trouble we get into when we don't trust the Lord! Well now, 13 years go by. Both Abraham and Sarah must have been thinking-the Lord must be fed up with us. Now for sure he will not keep his promise of a child for us, not because he cannot but because he is mad and will not. And remember for them the promise of the Savior was connected to this child they were waiting for, so this was heart-wrenching and scary. Then, out of the blue again, the Lord appeared to 99-year old Abraham. This time he said, Today I change your name from Aram to Abraham which means "father of many." The Lord changed Sarai's name too to signify the same. The Lord also gave Abraham circumcision at this time as a token of faith in God's promises. But still, months passed and no pregnancy or baby was in the picture.

Then comes our story. One day, all unexpected but badly needed, the Lord came to wash away Abraham and Sarah's doubts and fears. It comforts us very much to see how at home and at ease the Lord is when he does this for his doubting children. He is not impatient with his own in their sin like we get impatient with our fellow sinners. We can just imagine the Lord speaking to the two angels he brings along-my children need me again. Abraham should know better, but I will rescue him from his fears. Sarah thinks she is good for nothing, and I want to tell her again that nothing is too difficult for me to accomplish in her life. The Lord, in keeping with his character, takes the time, patiently woos and comforts, condescends to his doubting children, in order to lift them up out of their sin.

And, dear friends, this is our life too! God is at home with us. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil-and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants (Hebrews 2:14-16). We ought to know better, yet we sin, doubt God's goodness, are not patient with him, and break the 1^st Commandment. However, God saves us from our sins through the death of Christ, and comes to each of us time after time via the Word and Sacraments to assure, reassure, and re-reassure. Is anything too hard for the Lord? He asks. I can and will keep you, save you, protect you, bless you even though you doubt me. How wonderful to have God so "at home" with saving us sinners!

Abraham, Sarah, and we are at home with God. As comfortable and at home as the Lord is in loving and saving sinners, just so he makes his saved comfortable and at home with loving, being very much like the God who saved them. Notice how Abraham is "at the door" of his tent. It was siesta time in the hot Middle East. Abraham and his whole household would rest until the hottest part of the day was passed. Yet even then, he wanted to make himself useful. Was there anyone who needed him? He would be on the lookout for changes to be kind and helpful and useful. God's children never really are off the clock, are they? Notice how he and Sarah are humble before these strangers. God's children know that they are not to think too highly of themselves (Romans 12:3). And notice how generous and hospitable and eager to go the extra mile in showing his love is Abraham.

Now, an important question: did Abraham know this was the Lord come to him? Certainly, by the time the afternoon was over, he knew; but did he know at first when he was humbly welcoming them, being so generous and hospitable to them? There is a little hint in the words that tell us that perhaps he did not know it was God come to him at first. He first addresses the stranger as "lord" (with a small "l") instead of LORD as if he did not know this was God. That is important. For you see it did not matter whether this was God come to him or just some stranger in need of help, Abraham would act the same regardless. For he and Sarah were at home with God's way of living-kind, generous, helpful-with everyone at all times. The Lord had made them that way.

If we would but remember our Savior's Word, we too would be reminded and empowered to be at home with the Lord's way of living-kind, generous, helpful-with everyone at all times. Remember Jesus says: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40) When we are kind to the people around us, we are being kind to Jesus. Sadly, when we are not kind to the people around us, it truly is as if we were being mean to Jesus himself for he tells us: I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Matthew 25:45)

This also applies to our work and responsibilities as members of this congregation. Now if we knew Jesus himself were coming on the first Sunday of September, we'd probably say: Hey let's get those weeds pulled out there...make sure the sign says "welcome, Jesus!"...let's call our friends and make sure they don't skip church-how embarrassing if only about _ our congregation here!...etc. But the fact of the matter is-Jesus is here in every strange and familiar face we see every week. So let's be acting accordingly today and everyday; let's be "at home" with living God's ways. Or think of this-the roof needs repair. It's a big bill but not for the combined income of almost 300 families in the NW subs. It comes out to about $200/family. We just paid over $300 to fix our old van a few weeks ago. I'm sure you have similar, unexpected but manageable bills often. Now we hear "St. Paul's" needs to reroof and we moan. But hey, it's not for "St. Paul's". We do not want water dripping on Jesus' head when he comes (and he's here every Sunday!). This applies to all our giving-we do not give to St. Paul and the budget but to Jesus himself. You see, it is all in how our hearts look at things. We stumble and doubt and act foolishly because we act based on what we see. God today says, Look at this with your heart. See, you are entertaining me, you are being kind to me, you are giving your money to me and for my work, Jesus says to us; be at home with me and my generous ways as I am at home being generous and loving to you. God make it happen!   Amen.