Sarah's Contagious Laughter

Sarah’s Contagious Laughter

Intro—Laughter—not something we associate with Church, or …with God!
I hope today that God laughs out of joy and that we are made to laugh as well.

SUMMARY:
IN our present story, God hears a different sort to laughter from Abraham and Sarah, a laughter that VEILS TEARS.
Sara and Abraham laugh not because they are full of joy and delight, but because they are childless; the promises of God to make Abraham the father of many people have exaggerated their despair. Perhaps it might have been easier to accept their barrenness had God not spoken so certainly about their prospects for parenting.

However, God does not leave Abraham and Sarai in despair…

God transforms sorrow into joy, working His good intentions through the lives of real people, even those without faith(!).

I. God honoured his promises to Abraham.

II. Cynical laughter was changed into joy.
a. God is a God of joy.
i. God laughs.
1. Sarcastically—Psalm 2—“the nations plot against ME?”
2. Joyfully—Behold my Son, in whom I am well-pleased

ii. God stimulates joy and laughter in us.
Psa. 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
b. God worked in Abraham and Sarah to transform their sorrow into joy.
i. Abraham laughed at God’s promise.
1. Abraham believed God early on.
p. 10 Gen. 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

2. Abraham lost heart after 24 years of waiting.
p. 11 Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

3. Abraham did have faith.
a. He believed God’s promise.
b. He followed God to a new land and lived there as an alien.
c. He lost faith over time.
d. He regained his faith after Isaac’s birth, such that he was able to trust God to raise Isaac up.

p. 924 Heb. 11:8 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb. 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
Heb. 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Heb. 11:17 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; Heb. 11:18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac Your Descendants Shall Be Called.”
Heb. 11:19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
4. Abraham’s faith waned over time, much time.

ii. Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
1. Evidenced by her cynical laughter:

p. 12 Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

Cynical laughter is a veil for tears.
Cynical laughter happens when the tears are exhausted, when hope is dashed, after despair has set in.

Wikipedia: Bono's lyrics evoke helplessness and frustration:
“Running To Stand Still” Bono: “cry without weeping,
talk without speaking,
scream without raising your voice”

Sarah did not believe that God would fulfill His promise to be good to them.

LESSON--we must believe that GOD HAS GOOD PURPOSES FOR US, ESPECIALLY IN THE STORMS OF LIFE.
Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
Evidenced by her cynical laughter:

2. Evidenced by her lack of laughter:
a. No laughter left in their marriage.
b. No physical intimacy?
Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

THEN…
3. God heard Sarah and Challenged her cynical laughter:
a. God challenged the cynicism.
b. God challenged the false laughter because He is a God of genuine pleasure and laughter.
Gen. 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
Gen. 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

iii. Sarah responded with some faith.
1. Hearing with faith was needed to experience conception…

Gen. 18:15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

2. Sarah believed God’s promise…
a. We know that because Hebrews says so.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
b. We know that because she conceived the promised child

3. Sarah laughed again, transparently.
4. Sarah had a contagious kind of laughter.
Sarah wanted to share her joy with others.
p. 14 Gen. 21:6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Sara understood little of the purposes of God swirling around her.
Sara’s anguish then Joy transforms US as we hear of it.

5. They name their son…Isaac = He laughs!
a. The Laughing Son
b. The Essence of Joy

Lessons:
1. We experience sorrow because…
a. We live in a broken world that brings us sorrow.
b. We are broken, which causes pain for those around us.
c. We break people and things, causing sorrow.
Therefore, We should not be surprised at sorrow, even long-term.

2. We worship a Laughing God.
a. God is pleased with His Son:
Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Matt. 12:18 “Behold, My Servant Whom I Have Chosen;
My Beloved In Whom My Soul is Well-pleased;
I Will Put My Spirit Upon Him,
And He Shall Proclaim Justice To The Gentiles.

b. We can please God, we can bring God to laughter:
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Heb. 13:16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

3. We can expect God to transform our sorrow into joy, if we are His.
a. God turns sorrow into joy in people whom He loves.
b. Does God love us?
c. Do we believe that He does?

4. Joy and tears happen simultaneously.

5. We can expect God’s joy if we are awaiting & fulfilling His good purposes.
a. God transforms circumstances in people whose purposes are His purposes.
b. God will create a world without tears, but we do not yet live in that world, that world where heaven and earth are intimately connected.
c. God only uses barren people, husbands and wives such as Abraham and Sarah, so that He receives glory for the offspring.
d. God worked in and through Sarah.
Another BARREN ONE lived a difficult life, died an ignominious death, left this life Bereft of offspring, Yet, for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM, ENDURE THE CROSS; His catastrophic end became the reason for our HOPE; His joy in US became our reason for joy.

6. We don’t laugh enough. We might laugh more if we knew the lengths to which God works daily in our lives to provide his good gifts, just in time.

a. He did provide Seed, giving us reason to hope.
b. God works in and through us…
i. To nurture Christ-like character.
ii. To reproduce according to His kind.
iii. To bring JOY to others as they see our anguish and relief.
iv. Romans 4—reason to laugh: We are no longer under the wrath of God.

CONCLUSION
Intro—quads laughing
Those babies laughed in response to their father and their dad enjoyed their laughter as much or more than they did.


REVIEW:
1. Sarai’s problem: no children and no prospects; she was without hope.
a. BARRENNESS AS CENTRAL to the story.
Waltke: Sarai is barren; she has no children (11:30)

Gen. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age;
Sarah was past childbearing.

b. Brueggemann: barrenness in any ancient text is the metaphor for HOPELESSNESS.

2. God’s exceptional blessings benefit ONLY the barren woman.
a. Abraham and Sarah
b. Rebekah and Isaac
Gen. 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
c. Rachel and Jacob
Gen. 29:31 ¶ Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
d. Hannah, mother of Samuel
e. Samson’s parents, Manoah and Zorah
Judg. 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.
f. Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.