A Word about Laughter

Today I want to share a word about laughter, as I comment on Genesis 18:1-15. This passage reads:

Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.” And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Every pastor has stories they can tell about events when if they didn’t laugh, they’d cry. Many of these seem to stem from baptisms:

One pastor was baptizing a large man in a small baptistery. He banged the man’s head against the side of the baptistery, and the man came up out of the water cursing. He was saved, but he was not yet discipled!

Another pastor was baptizing a young girl who decided to do a “cannon ball” dive into the baptistery. The choir got baptized that day as well.

Finally, a pastor and a revival speaker did a joint baptism service together. After the baptism, the pastor rushed back to change clothes for the rest of the service. After he got back into the sanctuary, he noticed his feet were hurting. He didn’t realize why until the revival speaker almost fell on the way to the pulpit to preach. The pastor had put on the evangelist’s shoes, which were one-and-a-half size smaller than his own!

As we look at our Scripture for today, we find a find a time when Sarah, the wife of Abraha, also laughed. Let’s see what this event may mean to us today. m

Maybe Sarah Laughed Out of Disbelief:

When we are intimately involved in a situation, we often grasp it well. The details to us are crystal clear and they are very important. The details to us loom as big as a mountain. One thing that pastors and chaplains have learned is that people involved in a tragedy must “tell their story” until they have finished telling it.

The reality here was that Sarah couldn’t have a child. She was too old, and Abraham was too old. It was humanly impossible. 

I remember as a pre-teen working on solving a math word problem in a group work setting that included some girls. My solution had the mother giving birth at age 70, which caused a great deal of derision on the part of the girls. Even in the 21st Century giving birth at that age is unheard of, and Sarah was two decades older than that!

The thing is, Sarah forgot something vital: Nothing is impossible with God! God made the rules by which the world works and, He can also suspend them! As Jeremiah 32:27 tells us, 

"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” 

Maybe Sarah Laughed Out of Fear:

On the other hand, it is possible that Sarah believed God. Maybe she knew God could do impossible. After all, this was obviously a family of great faith. Maybe she knew exactly what God was going to do and it scared her to death! Giving birth is hard enough for a young woman, but for a woman over 90. . . ?! This is like watching a train wreck about to happen: you’re horrified; you can’t so anything about it, but your eyes are glued to the scene.

We are often that way, too when God asks us to serve Him or when God asks us to witness for Him. Maybe, when God asks us to live for Him, we are just too frightened.

Apparently, Sarah forgot who God is:

•  God is the Great Physician.

•  God is the Good Shepherd.

•  God is the Ultimate Counselor.

•  God is the Prince of Peace.

If God wanted Sarah to have a baby, she could have it safely, and without undue difficulty. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9: 

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Maybe Sarah Laughed Out of Bitterness:

There is no doubt that Sarah was bitter about her childlessness. She had no child of her own and her plan to get a child by Hagar backfired. She wanted a child so badly she could taste it so maybe she got angry with God!

Sarah as not the only person in the Bible to get angry with God. Jonah did. Job did. He did not curse God, but he was angry. The Children of Israel did on several occasions as Moses led them to Canaan. Even the great prophet Elijah did.

Many of us have also gotten angry with God. We can even see evidence of this in popular culture. For example, in the 1972 disaster movie, “The Poseidon Adventure,” Gene Hackman’s character was a minister who became angry with God because of the deaths of so many victims. 

Like we do from time to time, Sarah forgot some truths that would have helped her with her attitude. She needed to remember that God is good, loving and kind and that God is righteous and just. God never does evil and the evil that does exist is from Satan, and also from our own human sin.

Jesus Himself taught us in John 10:10 that:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Maybe Sarah Laughed Out of Resistance:

Maybe Sarah’s laugh was more of a snort. Maybe she thought, “No way Jose!” Maybe she thought, “There’s no way you are going to get me to do that!” Maybe she was looking around to see who else God was talking to. "Are you talking to me?"

Again, Sarah is not alone in resisting God: Cain resisted God. Jonah resisted God. The Rich Young Ruler resisted God. 

We also resist God 's leadership. A pastor I once knew was leading his church to reach out to their community, and to help people find their faith in God through innovative outreach ideas. Things had gotten off to a strong start until the next deacons’ meeting, in which the young pastor was told, “Preacher, if you want to go where no man has gone before, you’re going alone!”

By the way, that church is no longer open.

Sarah forgot that she was a part of God’s Plan of Redemption. She was a partner with God and she was given an opportunity to be an agent of salvation. She was offered a chance to share with God the glory of His work.

God, in His grace, has chosen to do His Holy work of salvation through people! The church is not just a civic club; what we do has eternal consequences. 1 Peter 2:5 and 9 remind us: 

“. . . you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light . . .”

Maybe Sarah Laughed Out of Joy:

Maybe Sarah was filled with the joy of what God was about to do. Maybe she was like my wife’s elementary school student who once wrote on his paper “100 A+, You Go, Billy!” 

After all, God’s glories are so big, our hearts can’t contain them, and we often burst out in to joyous songs of praise and adoration.

Like Sarah, many others in the Bible had reason to celebrate. David danced with joy at God’s victories. Mary burst out into praise after the angel told her she’d become to mother of the Savior. Simeon was so moved by seeing the baby Jesus that he cried out to God that he could now die happy.

In fact, we, too. need to get ready to laugh with joy. Revelation 5:13-14 tells us this about Heaven: 

And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

What About Us?

Why are we laughing today? 

Out of disbelief, or fear, or resentment, or resistance, or joy?

As Our Lord Himself said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear”

Every blessing, 

Dr. Otis Corbitt