Watch on YouTube
Since it’s Father’s Day, let’s start with some “dad” jokes:
Q: Who was the only person in the Bible without a father?
A: Joshua, because he was the son of Nun (none).[2]
Q: Where did the most talkative people in the Bible live?
A: Babylon (babble on).[3]
Q: Why were the deer, the chipmunk, and the squirrel laughing so hard?
A: Because the owl was a hoot![4]
Q: How do you get a skeleton to laugh out loud?
A: Tickle its funny bone.[5]
And, finally, how do you get a ninety-year-old woman to laugh?
Tell her she’s going to have a baby.
That’s what makes Sarah laugh in our reading from Genesis 18. In this story we tend to focus on Abraham’s exemplary hospitality, which inspires the verse in Hebrews 13:2 that says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” But Sarah becomes the focus in verse 9 when one of the visitors asks, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”
Then one of the visitors said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!”
Sarah, who is long past the age of having children and who has never been able to bear a child, laughs to herself. But the visitor, who is now in verse 13 identified as Yahweh, says, “Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord?” No, but it’s still funny.
Sarah denies laughing because she’s afraid. “I didn’t laugh.”
Yahweh says, “Yes, you did laugh.”
There’s some good comedy here.
For one thing, remember that this conversation is happening through the walls of a tent. It’s an intense moment. Sarah is in-tents. (She’s in the tent.)
Sarah is, in essence, speaking from off-stage. And she’s arguing with God, who IS seen. Usually, it’s the other way around and God is the one who is unseen, but here is God having dinner in Abraham and Sarah’s camp.
Adding to the comedy is that God and Sarah are bickering:
Sarah says, “I didn’t laugh.” God says, “Yes you did.”
We can imagine how it might have continued. “Did not.” “Did too.” “Did not.” “Did too.”
Why did Sarah laugh? Because the idea of having a baby at 90 after all this time is absurd. Sometimes an idea is so ridiculous and unexpected that all we can do is laugh.
Sarah laughs because it sounds like a joke. To get the joke, it helps to know some of their history.
In Genesis 12 we read about God calling Abraham and Sarah to leave the land where they’d been living up in Haran, in modern day Turkey, and go to a new place that God would show them, which is how they end up where we find them in Genesis 18, in Canaan, what we now know as Israel.
When God called Abraham to go to Canaan, God made Abraham a promise. God said, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:2,3) It’s a beautiful promise, but Abraham and Sarah have no children. Sarah is barren, and long past the age of having children.” (Gen. 18:11)
In Genesis 16, we find that Abraham and Sarah have gotten impatient about waiting for God to give them children, and so Sarah has Abraham spend time with her slave Hagar. Hagar conceives and has a baby named Ishmael.[8] But God says that although he will bless Ishmael and give him many descendants, God will still keep his promise to give Sarah a child.
Then in Genesis 17, God comes to Abraham to restate the promise to make him a great nation, and asks Abraham to show his trust in God by being circumcised and having every male in his household circumcised. Then God says again that Sarah will have a son, and this time it’s Abraham who laughs.
“How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”
Then Abraham has a nice dad moment. He sets aside his disbelief and asks God, “What about Ishmael? Will my son Ishmael be a part of this blessing?”
God says, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I will bless him also, just as you have asked. I will make him extremely fruitful and multiply his descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will be confirmed with Isaac, who will be born to you and Sarah about this time next year.” (Genesis 17:17-21)
Which brings us to the part we read today in Chapter 18. It’s been 25 years since God first promised Abraham in Chapter 12 that he would make him a great nation. That’s a long time to wait. Surely it’s too late now. But here is the promise again. “When I come back to visit you next year, Sarah will have a son.” (Genesis 18:10)
Sarah laughs. The man must be making a dad joke. But he isn’t. Sarah gets caught being real. And that’s one of the reasons I like Sarah’s part of the story the best. Her authentic response.
In chapter 21, we see that God kept his promise. She bore a son and they named him Isaac, which is the Hebrew word for laughter. And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:6)
Sarah’s laughter goes from disbelief at the ridiculousness of the situation to joy at the reality of experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promise. Sarah finds that Laughter is like grace.
Can you think of a situation in which you laugh unexpectedly? What sort of things might make us laugh like Sarah?
- “Some days it feels like nobody likes us. Then one person smiles and says, ‘glad to see you.’
- And we laugh inside.
- When it seems like we cannot do anything right and someone likes us anyway,
- And we laugh inside.
- Some days we feel dark and stormy and hopeless inside. Then, we see a beautiful sunset or a rainbow or a perfect flower,
- And we laugh inside.
- When we feel, like Sarah, that the thing we want most will never happen and it finally does. And we laugh.”[9]
I wonder if the slaves in Galveston, Texas in 1865 laughed when they heard the news that they had been emancipated, set free from slavery, two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law. Tomorrow is Juneteenth, the holiday that celebrates that announcement of emancipation. After all the years of living through the horrors of slavery, it must have seemed too good to be true that they would be set free. If they didn’t laugh out of disbelief, they laughed for joy.
Opal Lee is the woman who set out to make Juneteenth a day of joy for us all. She was 75 when she led a march for 2.5 miles in Washington DC, symbolizing the two and a half years it took for the news of emancipation to reach Galveston. Lee wanted Juneteenth to be made a federal holiday. Dionne Simms, Lee’s granddaughter, says it was joy that inspired the movement to make Juneteenth a day we all celebrate. Lee and her granddaughter Dionne Simms stood with President Biden in 2020 when he signed the bill into law. Simms said, “You know when you smile a lot and your cheekbones hurt? That’s how it was that day, because I’m just smiling, seeing her having a dream fulfilled.”[10]
Juneteenth, as well as June’s Pride month and other heritage month celebrations, are great examples of celebrating as a form of protest. I’ve never thought of joy as an act of protest before, but it is. In celebrating the vibrancy and comradery of Juneteenth, Black communities refuse to accept suffering and oppression. Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and growth and hope for the future.
We can all join in their joy!
In 1872, four ministers who were former slaves[12] collected $800 to purchase ten acres of land in Houston to create Emancipation Park. The four men wanted to establish a place where Black communities could gather in peace. Today the park conservancy ensures that Juneteenth and other celebrations continue in Emancipation Park. This picture is from one of their jazz nights that happen throughout the summer.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) – A cheerful heart is good medicine.
Laughter is a gift from God. Laughter is good for our health. It relaxes the whole body, and relieves physical tension and stress. Laughter boosts the immune system and releases endorphins, helping us to have a sense of well-being and some relief from pain.[13]
“We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh.” – Philosopher William James[14]
People sometimes think of Christians and church as somber and serious, but the Bible tells us over and over to rejoice in the Lord. I visited a church once in Atlanta where I was greeted by so many smiling people. Their worship was joyful, and the people were joyful. It doesn’t mean they had perfect lives or that they had no troubles, it means they were joyful anyway.
What if, instead of worrying about being correct, or having things a certain way, we were finding ways to enjoy the grace of God. We do this when we gather on Wednesday mornings for two hours of creative time. We do this when we gather with our friends for conversation, like we’re doing next Tuesday at 2pm at Clive’s. And our worship is also to be a time of joy.
What makes you smile? What gives you joy? May this be a place where God’s joy overflows among us and carries out into the world.
Thanks, God.
[1] Photo by Dan Cook on Unsplash
[2] Elliott, Rob. Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (p. 17). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[3] Elliott, Rob. Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (p. 30). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[4] Elliott, Rob. Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (p. 71). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[5] Elliott, Rob. Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids (p. 32). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[6] Photo by Janaya Dasiuk on Unsplash
[7] Photo by Ulyana Grishina on Unsplash
[8] Abraham was 75 when God called him to leave Haran (Gen. 12:4) and 86 when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:16). Covenant restated in Genesis 17 and Abraham is 99 (17:1) and Sarah is 90 (17:17)
[9] Carolyn C. Brown, Worshipping with Children http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2017/05/note-yes-date-for-this-post-is2017.html
[10] https://abcnews.go.com/US/black-joy-juneteenth-act-resistance-racism/story?id=85443442
[11] Photo by Lawrence Crayton on Unsplash
[12] Reverends Jack Yates, Elias Dibble, Richard Allen, and Richard Brock
[13] https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm#:~:text=Laughter%20decreases%20stress%20hormones%20and,can%20even%20temporarily%20relieve%20pain.
[14] Ukiyoe Inspirational Journal: Timeless Ukiyoe … book- Japanese Woodblock Print https://a.co/d/4gT0Gnb
United Presbyterian Church 