Please pray with me.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing
in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The
message from God’s Word today for this 9th Sunday after Pentecost
comes to us from Genesis 18:1-14 and is entitled, “God Has a Sense of Humor?” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Maybe you’ve heard someone say or even thought for
yourself that God must have a sense of humor. We know the word joy is
found frequently in the Scriptures. What about the word laugh?
Laughter is mentioned 33 times in the Old Testament and 6 times in the New
Testament. Sometimes laughter is brought about by doubt and unbelief, almost a
laughter of mockery. At other times, there’s a laughter to salvation. This is a
laughter of joy over the salvation God has won for us.
God wants us to laugh out of joy for the salvation he has
won for us. Jesus tells us in his own words in Luke 6:21, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” There may be
sorrow in our earthly lives, reasons for us to weep. There will come a time
when the weeping will be replaced by laughter over all that God has done for
us, and we will weep no more.
In our text we find that Sarah laughs. And, in Genesis 17
we hear that Abraham laughed. The world laughs at our faith. We laugh in
response to God’s promises, sometimes in Christian joy and sometimes in
unbelief. But, the question is who gets
the last laugh? After all, the maxim
says, “He who laughs last laughs best.”
Consider for a moment Abraham laughing at God’s promise.
When God promised Abraham a son in Genesis 17:17 it says, “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son
be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of
ninety?’” Abraham didn’t think it could be. Abraham had a son by Sarah’s
maid. Maybe God was talking about him. God wasn’t. God was talking about Sarah
his wife. God had invited Abraham in Gen. 15:5, “look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can
count them. So shall your offspring be.” Is it surprising that at age 100
Abraham laughed at such a promise? But, God would work a miracle. Abraham
laughed in doubt when the promise was made. God would keep the promise. Abraham
would laugh again, not in doubt but in joy over the birth of his son. God kept
his promise.
In our text three visitors came to Abraham. Who were they?
We know that one was the Lord himself. The other two were angels. God was
now going to let Sarah in on all of this. God wanted Sarah to laugh for joy.
God wants us all to laugh for joy in his amazing promises.
God tells the events that will occur. Sarah would have a
child by the time they returned a year later.
Genesis 18:10 says, “I will surely
return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a
son.” All the while Sarah is listening behind the tent flap. When she hears
these words she couldn’t help but laugh. Only, it wasn’t a laughter of joy. By
no means! It was the laughter of doubt. It angered God. The laughter of
unbelief always angers God. He asked, “Why
did Sarah laugh?” (v 13). To Sarah, the promise seemed utterly ridiculous.
Sarah was just too old to have children. It couldn’t be possible. Sarah didn’t
believe. God’s promise brought the laughter of unbelief, not the laughter
of joy.
Remember that people laughed at Jesus too. Remember how
he came to the house of Jairus, whose daughter had died? When Jesus told
them she was just sleeping, they laughed in unbelief. But the laughter of
unbelief changed to laughter of joy when the Lord Jesus raised the little girl
from death.
How about us, do we laugh at God’s promises? Do we laugh
in unbelief that sinful people like us will actually wind up in heaven? Do we
laugh at the promise that Christ has done all to save us? Do we laugh at
God’s promise to forgive us for the sins that we do over and over again in our
weakness? Do we laugh when we think God will provide for all we need every
day? We at times have laughed at the promises of God. When we’re struggling
with temptation, when we’re beaten down by the world, when we’re sick,
when we’re fighting financial troubles, we laugh inside at God’s promises. They
just can’t be. They’re too good to be true. No way! God asked Sarah and Abraham
a question, and this question is for you and me too, Gen. 18:14 says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Is there a time when your troubles are too
big for God? No. God can change your laughter of unbelief to laughter of joy.
Sarah would soon be laughing for joy. God convicted her
unbelief that day. She came to believe the promise made. For the writer of
Hebrews says, “By faith even Sarah
herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life,
since she considered him faithful who had promised” (Heb 11:11 NASB). How
was that again? By faith! By faith in the promise of God, promises he always
keeps, the laughter of unbelief is changed to the laughter of joy. Abraham and
Sarah did laugh for joy when their son was born.
There would be another special Son born. A Son of
promise! Promised by God to the world. In him all nations of the world would be
blessed. This, too, was the promise to Abraham. From his seed would come forth
one who would be a blessing to all people. Yes, they would laugh at this
Son. They would laugh because Jesus said he was the Son of God. They would
laugh at him when he would not come down from the cross. They laughed in
unbelief and mockery. Still the promise is sure in John 6:40, “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes
in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” No
way, they said. But, God keeps his promises. The most astonishing promise is
that through Jesus Christ you have eternal life.
Through faith in Christ you are sons and daughters of
God. Just as a son of promise was born to Abraham and Sarah, so we are children
of the promise made to us in Jesus Christ. He was the Promised One from
Abraham’s line, from David’s line. He has conquered our unbelief! He is living
proof that God keeps his promises, for he rose again on the third day and
is alive today. John 1:12 says, “To those who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God.”
Today God wants you to laugh for joy. He wants you to
know he will keep his promises made to you. Sarah confessed, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone
who hears about this will laugh with me” (Gen 21:6). God has brought you
laughter too. Others laugh at your faith, your witness in this world. But who
cares! You are laughing for joy in his promises. You will stand before the
throne of God someday and laugh for joy for you are in heaven forever. God
fulfills his promises so that over and over again now and forever we can
laugh for joy.
So, Who got the last laugh? Sarah laughed at God, and
Abraham did too. But God got the last laugh. For he said the name of the son
born to them would be Isaac. In this we find a touch of God’s sense of humor, because
the Hebrew name Isaac is translated “he laughed.” God got the last laugh. God will give you the joy of
laughter in his forgiveness, in his salvation, and in his promises.
Believing in his promise, you will laugh forever. Amen.
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