Genesis 18:1-15 Common English Bible
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat. He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply. He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree. Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”
They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”
So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.
They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”
And he said, “Right here in the tent.”
Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”
Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old. Sarah was no longer menstruating. So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, I’m no longer able to have children and my husband’s old.
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Me give birth? At my age?’ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? When I return to you about this time next year, Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah lied and said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was frightened.
But he said, “No, you laughed.”
As many of you know, I am a pretty serious guy.
I take life and my calling seriously
I don’t easily laugh --- and doubt I ever have been, or ever will be considered the life of the party.
If anything, I am pretty steady and pretty consistent
Because of that, I am fascinated by stories like this one found in the book of Genesis.
This is the story of one woman’s laughter in the face of the unexpected.
Strangers come and visit Abraham and Sarah.
Earlier, the couple had left their home --- in the Tigris – Euphrates area for a new land that God had promised to them,
As they were leaving their home God had told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations --- even though he had no children.
After their long journey --- Abraham and Sarah welcome these strangers by showing hospitality.
They prepare a meal of cakes, milk and meat.
While they feast, the strangers share that Abraham’s wife Sarah will soon bear a son.
When Sarah overhears their table conversation, --- she laughs out loud at the idea of finally having a child in her old age.
Remember, earlier we were told that Abraham was currently 100 years old and Sarah was 90 ---
I think I would be laughing too!
But the truth is, her laughter is born not out of joy but rather out of her pain.
It’s not the laughter we would expect when being told that you would become pregnant,
even though at 90 years old, that is downright funny.
No, Sarah’s laughter is one that could just as easily be tears.
What was her pain?
Sarah was childless and God had made the seemingly ridiculous promise that Abraham’s offspring would populate the world and be in a special relationship with God.
Remember, Abraham already has a child --- born to Sarah’s slave Hagar --- Sarah gave her slave to Abraham because she was old and barren.
That son is Ishmael, and he becomes the father of the Muslims
When Sarah does have a child, she names him Isaac, which means, “he laughs.”
Sarah says:
“God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6).
Frederick Buechner describes this kind of laughter as the kind of comedy that brings
“tears at the hilarious unexpectedness of things rather than at their tragic expectedness.”
For each of us, God works in unexpected ways.
I have no idea how God has broken into your life --- your experiences are yours and NO ONE else can interpret them for you.
Neither I nor anyone else can tell you the meaning of your painful experiences or how to respond to them.
However, we can listen and laugh or cry with you.
But they are your experiences --- your reality
Sarah’s laughter and her choice to name her son, Isaac --- LAUGHTER --- were ways she responded to her experience --- and made meaning of it alongside God.
God promises that God is with us in the good and the bad of life and offers to help us make meaning of our experiences --- even when they seem ridiculous or unlikely!
Last week, Nancy and I celebrated 36 years of marriage.
I have been blessed with an amazing friend and partner on this journey.
We got married seven months after the death of my brother Stewart.
I was still grieving for his death.
And she was there every step of the way.
When I would share ridiculous stories about hearing him, or smelling him, or even seeing him on the street --- she didn’t laugh at me --- she laughed and cried with me.
There is no greater gift!
A couple of years later, our daughter Jessica was born.
As the doctor turned to me in the delivery room and asked me what her name was to be ---I quickly answered --- Jessica Hope Conger
As I said that, Nancy looked at me --- perplexed --- because that was not the name we had chosen
We had decided on Jessica Lauren
But in that moment, God whispered into my ear (and I listened!) and together we laughed at death --- because every time I look at my daughter --- actually any of my daughters, their partners and my grandchildren --- I see the HOPE for the world.
Together, as a community --- we have a powerful opportunity to listen to other people as we sit together at the table.
Listening, and encouraging them to feel the presence of God who is with them through the unexpected moments of their lives.
We aren’t there to tell them how to act or respond to their pain.
We are there to share
To laugh
To Cry
And to help see how God works in and through us --- in all aspects of life.
In a few moments --- we are going to honor and celebrate a giant of Meridian Street.
No she isn’t tall enough to play basketball with the Indiana Fever
But she is a giant in our lives for the gifts that she has shared.
So let us laugh --- and cry --- as we celebrate Miriam and the ways God has been present in her life --- making us all better for it!
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