So She Laughed

Genesis 18:1-15

¹And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth

³and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.

⁴Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,

⁵while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”

⁶And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.”

⁷And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly.

⁸Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”

¹⁰The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.

¹²So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”

¹³The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’

¹⁴Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁵But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

If you will recall last week I mentioned the time when Cliff and I signed the contract so that we could purchase our condo. Truly, it was something I thought would never happen in our lives together. We had lived in a parsonage for over 20 years of marriage and home ownership did not seem to be a part of who we were as a couple. I still remember the Board of Directors meeting where it was decided we were going to call an additional pastor. They looked at us and said that we could continue to live in the parsonage or we could go and buy our own home, whichever we wanted to do. I was shocked and amazed as we took the option to allow the associate pastor to have the parsonage.  We were going to become homeowners! When we walked through the door of the condo we now live in the very first time, I had to hold back tears. (Tears are not a good bargaining tool when negotiating the price of a home.) I knew that I was home.  It was my house. I wanted all the other people who were there to look at it at the open house to leave. They had no reason to be in my home. (I know – weird.) That day, God gave me a verse to seal the deal, for I was having trouble believing it was all actually happening to me. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21. The builder gave us the keys to the place after we had signed a purchase agreement. (I know that’s not how it’s done, but he didn’t care about waiting until the closing.) I went over there every day and thanked God for this incredible gift. I just sat in that empty condo and prayed. And I laughed – a lot.

Abraham and Sarah had been promised a child; something they believed they would never have. They had even taken the matter into their own hands, creating a hateful servant in Hagar and an illegitimate child with Ishmael. But now God was ready to follow through on His promise to make of them a mighty nation. And what does Sarah do – she laughs. You can interpret that laugh in a few different ways. It could have been a chuckle of disbelief. But it could also have been a laugh of joy and wonderment. Whichever it was, The Lord calls her out on it. (And when the baby actually arrives, he is given the name Isaac, which means “laughs”.)

This is really quite a story. God appears to Abraham, along with a couple of angels (I guess – there is some debate about that). Abraham apparently already knows that he is in God’s presence and behaves as a gracious host, calling for a feast to be prepared. The visit must have been a long one, as they had the time to prepare and entire calf. I don’t know about cooking practices back then, but it would take me several hours to pull a roast and fresh bread together. It was long enough for The Lord to reiterate His promise of a child. And this time, He’s given a timeline; something He had not done to this point. The child would be born within a year! What Sarah had longed to have for 90 years is about to happen. Nothing is impossible for the God who loves us. Absolutely nothing. Sarah didn’t need a team of doctors to help her get pregnant. God had a plan and God worked it out; the end result being something far greater than anything Sarah or Abraham could have imagined.