Scripture/Sermon of the Day

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Matthew 9:35-36, 10:1, 5-8, 19-20

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’8 Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons.

Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

I. There’s a verse in The Letter to The Hebrews in the New Testament that says: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

II. That’s what happened to Abraham in the first reading. Three men “appeared” to him while he sat at the entrance of his tent. Somehow Abraham knew these “men” were not men — but messengers from God — angels — because before they said a word, he ran up to them and bowed down to the ground. They gave Abraham the message that in a year, Sarah will be pregnant with a son.

III. His wife Sarah was hidden but heard the angel she laughed —“to herself” — and said some words to herself that could be interpreted as disrespectful. Like — “What kind of fool tells a 90 year old woman that she’s going to have a baby in a year? Ha, ha….” She didn’t realize the “man” was an angel and heard her every thought. He asked Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh?” Abraham didn’t say a word.

The angel looked at Sarah in the tent — it freaked her out. In terror she told the divine messenger, “I didn’t laugh.” The angel said, “Oh Yes — you did laugh.” Then he said: “IS ANYTHING TOO WONDERFUL FOR THE LORD?”

V. I was trying to see the connection between the two readings today — the story we just heard and then the Gospel where Jesus —who was called by some the Son of God — goes around to all the villages and cities preaching good news of God’s blessing and that the kingdom of heaven has come near. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. He was the blessing given to all people.

VI. Jesus is the truth that makes us free. And it’s only Jesus and not America or anything else. Even though I love that song that Lee Greenwood sings, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free….” With the snare drums pounding a march and the chorus singing louder. Lovely, uplifting — but not true.

A lot of people hear that and don’t realize that song is a lie. We’re not free because we’re American. We’re free, Jesus said, only when we know the truth — the truth is what makes us free, not any country, not any leader.

VII. So we have to look at Jesus to see what the truth is that makes us free. And there he is in our Gospel this morning saying it and doing it. “The kingdom of heaven is near,” he says. And then he goes everywhere and heals people of all their sickness and disease. And what is the human sickness and disease? Anger, hatred, fear, getting even, revenge. If we are filled with these emotions all the time — we’re not free. The truth that is Jesus that makes us free is love. One expression of this love is something we will all celebrate tomorrow.

VIII. Tomorrow our nation will celebrate Juneteenth. In 2021 Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. It’s a federal holiday now commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Juneteenth derives its name from combining June and nineteenth because on June 19, 1865, MAJOR GENERAL GORDON GRANGER issued an order proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas. Even though President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves as of January 1, 1863 — the Civil War wasn’t over until May 13, 1865 — but word of the slave’s freedom didn’t reach some parts of the united States until more than a month later.

Unfortunately, it seems the word of universal equality and liberty and love has still not reached everyone.

IX. So this Sunday, in our gospel readings, we celebrate the emancipation — the freedom — of all of us, not given to us by Lincoln or Joe Biden or the United States — but by Jesus who said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Only when we do that are we free.

Jesus is still trying to get that truth out — through us — so all people can be cured from the sicknesses and diseases of their minds and hearts — the hatred and fear and rage which are the real causes of our bondage.