Are You In or Out?

June 22, 2014

Genesis 21:8-21 Romans 6:1b-11 att!e" 10:24-#$

This morning we are gong to do something a little different. We are going to begin with a history quiz.
I am going to say the names of six famous persons from history. To be more specific, these are all
persons who commanded armies or navies in famous historic battles. As I read these six names, see if
you can figure out what battles they might have fought.
! Tiberius "empronius #ongus
$! %ietrich &raiss
'! (obert )arclay
*! Tamon +amaguchi
,! "epp %ietrich
-! .harles d/Albret
0nless I miss my guess, most of you have never heard of any of them. 1owever, you have probably
heard of 1annibal of .arthage. +ou 2ust had no idea that Tiberius "empronius #ongus commanded the
forces that tried to 3eep 1annibal out of Italy. +ou recognize names li3e 4isenhower, )radley,
5ontgomery and 6atton, but you didn7t remember that they faced %ietrich &raiss at 8maha )each on
%9%ay and "epp %ietrich at the )attle of the )ulge. +ou remember :imitz, ;letcher and "pruance but
forgot that Tamon +amaguchi commanded half of the <apanese forces at 5idway. We remember that
8liver 1azard 6erry won the )attle of #a3e 4rie during the War of =$ but had no idea that (obert
)arclay commanded the )ritish forces. And although you have almost certainly heard of &ing 1enry >,
and there is some small chance that you might have heard of the important )attle of Agincourt in *,,
you absolutely never heard of .harles d/Albret whose forces were annihilated by 4nglish longbowmen
under 1enry > when the longbow was first used in combat.
It is a sad fact that we forget history all too easily but it has long been understood that the losers are
forgotten even faster and these facts are as true today as they were centuries, even millennia, ago. As we
read our scripture this morning, let us 3eep this in mind as we try to understand what Abraham7s wife,
"arah, might have been thin3ing in Genesis 21:8-21%
8
The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
9
But
Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egytian had borne to Abraham was moc!ing,
"#
and she said
to Abraham, $%et rid of that sla&e woman and her son, for that woman's son will ne&er share in the
inheritance with my son Isaac.(
""
The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
")
But %od said to him, $*o not
be so distressed about the boy and your sla&e woman. +isten to whate&er Sarah tells you, because it is
through Isaac that your offsring will be rec!oned.
",
I will ma!e the son of the sla&e into a nation also,
because he is your offsring.(

"-
Early the ne.t morning Abraham too! some food and a s!in of water and ga&e them to Hagar. He set
them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the
*esert of Beersheba.
"/
0hen the water in the s!in was gone, she ut the boy under one of the bushes.
"1
Then she went off and
sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, $I cannot watch the boy die.( And as she sat there,
she began to sob.
"2
%od heard the boy crying, and the angel of %od called to Hagar from hea&en and said to her, $0hat
is the matter, Hagar3 *o not be afraid4 %od has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
"8
+ift the boy u
and ta!e him by the hand, for I will ma!e him into a great nation.(
"9
Then %od oened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the s!in with water and
ga&e the boy a drin!.
)#
%od was with the boy as he grew u. He li&ed in the desert and became an archer.
)"
0hile he was
li&ing in the *esert of 5aran, his mother got a wife for him from Egyt.
4ven though ?od had promised them a son through his wife "arah, Abraham got impatient and had a
son by his servant Tamar. While our modern sensibilities may be shoc3ed by this, these sorts of
arrangements were relatively common at the time. )ut when ?od delivers on his promise to give "arah
a son, the problems start. In this passage of scripture, as soon as Isaac is weaned from his mother7s
breast, Tamar7s son begins to ma3e fun of him. 4ven though Isaac is the promised son, and even though
"arah is Abraham7s legal wife, Tamar7s son is the oldest and "arah is worried. "arah is worried that
these two sons will fight and that her son might lose. In her world she 3nows that the eldest sons and
winners are remembered while younger sons and losers are often forgotten. "he is worried that the life
and the investments that she and Abraham have built over their lifetimes will not go to her son, but to
Tamar7s son. 1er fear ma3es her want Tamar and her son to go away forever.
Abraham is obviously conflicted. #i3e any husband, he wants to 3eep his wife happy and he certainly
wants to do what is right for his son, but both of these children are his sons. As he tries to decide what
to do, ?od tells Abraham that he should do whatever "arah tells him to do, but that ?od will care for
Tamar and her son, and will ma3e them into a great people as well. The problem that arises is that
although ?od cared for both sons, and those sons grew into two great nations, one chose to follow ?od
and only that nation received ?od7s full blessing. )ecause of Abraham7s impatience and disobedience,
the conflict between those two nations continues still today between the people we 3now as Israel and
those that we 3now as Arabs.
And so the question that has been raised from the time of Abraham is, @Who is your masterAB or @To
whom will you swear allegianceAB ?od wants to 3now, are you inC or outA In att!e" 10:24-#$,
<esus saidC
)-
$The student is not abo&e the teacher, nor a ser&ant abo&e his master.
)/
It is enough for students to be
li!e their teachers, and ser&ants li!e their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beel6ebul,
how much more the members of his household7
$
)1
$So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that
will not be made !nown.
)2
0hat I tell you in the dar!, sea! in the daylight4 what is whisered in your
ear, roclaim from the roofs.
)8
*o not be afraid of those who !ill the body but cannot !ill the soul.
8ather, be afraid of the 9ne who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
)9
Are not two sarrows sold
for a enny3 :et not one of them will fall to the ground outside your ;ather's care.
,#
And e&en the &ery
hairs of your head are all numbered.
,"
So don't be afraid4 you are worth more than many sarrows.
,)
$0hoe&er ac!nowledges me before others, I will also ac!nowledge before my ;ather in hea&en.
,,
But
whoe&er disowns me before others, I will disown before my ;ather in hea&en.
,-
$*o not suose that I ha&e come to bring eace to the earth. I did not come to bring eace, but a
sword.
,/
;or I ha&e come to turn
$<a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter=in=law against her mother=in=law>
,1
a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
,2
$Anyone who lo&es their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me4 anyone who lo&es their
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
,8
0hoe&er does not ta!e u their cross and follow
me is not worthy of me.
,9
0hoe&er finds their life will lose it, and whoe&er loses their life for my sa!e
will find it.
<esus tells us that students are to be li3e their teachers and servants are to be li3e their masters. If the
head of a house acts li3e the devil himself, then how would you expect the rest of the family to actA )ut
if <esus is the head of your house, then what sort of behavior should we expectA When we were growing
up, we were often reminded that our family was under a magnifying glass. There were certain
expectations of behavior because your father is the pastor of your church, but more than that, we were
reminded that there were certain things that we simply did not do because we were 6artridges, and
6artridges were expected to behave in a certain way. As the followers of <esus .hrist, there are
expectations on our behavior. We are always to 3eep in mind that we belong to this family, the family
of ?od Dand the apple doesn7t fall far from the tree!. <esus reminds us that we cannot act one way in
public and then act another way in private, hoping that no one will find out, saying, @there is nothing
that is concealed that will not be disclosed.B
As members of ?od7s family, there are expectations on our behavior. <esus wants to 3now, are you inC
or outA
%oes that mean that it is always safe to proclaim the words of <esusA 8bviously, the answer is no.
There are times and places when spea3ing the words of ?od are distinctly unsafe, dangerous, and even
life threatening. In those times and in those places, <esus says, @*o not be afraid of those who !ill the
body but cannot !ill the soul.( We should be more concerned about our eternal destination than on our
approval ratings in earth. ?od 3nows if you are in a dangerous situation, and if for his own reasons, he
chooses not to rescue you, you will remain in his care nonetheless. If you are beaten, he 3nows and he
cares, and if you are 3illed then you will go to live with him in paradise. In ?od7s master plan there are
two groups, those who follow and those who do not and following will always come at a cost.
;ollowing ?od and doing his will may turn your friends or your family against you. There are many
'
places in the world today where declaring your allegiance to <esus .hrist will not only cause you to be
disowned by your family, and put out on the street, but will require your family to 3ill you in order to
retain their family honor. 6atti and I have a friend who is a missionary and for his protection I cannot
tell you where. In his wor3 he has come to 3now a student who was away from home, in another
country studying for an advanced degree. While there, he and his wife became followers of <esus
.hrist. As a result, before his graduation, he applied for asylum. If he returns home, his own family has
made it clear that they intend to 3ill them both. 1ere in the 0nited "tates, for as much as we might
complain about the loss of a few religious liberties, compared to many places on earth, we are indeed,
truly blessed.
<esus calls us to love him. We are called to love <esus enough to follow him regardless of the cost. +ou
may lose a friend, or a family member may disown you, or, in some places, you may even lose your
country or your life, but regardless of the cost, we are still called to choose.
Who is your masterA
<esus wants to 3nowC
Are you inC or outA
*

+ou have been reading a message presented at Trinity 0nited 5ethodist .hurch on the date noted at the top of the first
page. (ev. <ohn 6artridge is the pastor at Trinity of 6erry heights in 5assillon, 8hio. %uplication of this message is a part
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