When You Laugh, the Whole World God Laughs with You
Genesis 18:1-15 June 12, 2005
Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. [2] And when he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, [3] and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. [4] "Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; [5] and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant." And they said, "So do, as you have said." [6] So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes." [7] Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf, and gave it to the servant; and he hurried to prepare it. [8] And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
[9] Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Behold, in the tent." [10] And he said, "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. [11] Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. [12] And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" [13] And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?' [14] "Is anything too difficult (wonderful) for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." [15] Sarah denied it however, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh."
Genesis 21:1-3, 6-7
Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. [2] So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. [3] And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.
[6] And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." [7] And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
CCI: When God’s promises surprise us, it brings God joy just as it brings us joy.
This is the story of one of God’s best jokes. Here we have a 90 year old woman, married to a 100 year old man who have no children. While in that day, it was every woman’s desire to have kids, this woman never had that privilege. Now she was certainly too old.
That is when three men came by. Abraham met them and offered them a light meal. When they accepted the meal he had 90 year old Sarah go get a whole bushel of fine flour and this 100 year old man ran out to the field and found a fat calf to be slaughtered and prepared. The light meal suddenly became a great feast!
As they were eating, one of the men said, “Abraham, we will come back next year at this time, (after being fed like that is it any wonder?) and when we do, Sarah will have had a baby.
Now this is not the first time Abraham has heard this. In fact the first time God told him he would have a baby he fell on the ground laughing! 100 year old men don’t have babies. But I don’t think he had told Sarah God’s plan. You see she was back in the tent, staying out of the way of the men’s business, but listening to it all. And when she heard the men suggest that she would have a baby before another year had passed, she just cracked up! It was probably something like this: “Yeah right, I’m going to have a baby. When cows fly!”
The men outside heard her snicker, which was not a very polite thing to do, and they went to the tent and said, “Why were you laughing just now? What was so funny? Don’t you know that nothing is too difficult or wonderful for God?” And Sarah, embarrassed that she had laughed, and perhaps a bit offended that they would make her the butt of their apparent joke, said something like, “He, he, he, I didn’t laugh.” And the men responded, “Oh, but you did. And she continued to laugh because she did conceive and she had a little boy in her old age and he brought her such joy that she named him laughter. That is what the name Isaac means. "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." Her son, the unexpected one, became the joy of her life.
Ciny Kuzma writes: “A truly astonishing thing happens when the stressor turns out to be funny. Your whole nervous system does an about-face, a highwire somersault. Instead of preparing you to run for your life, you legs, back, and abdominal muscles begin to spasm and contract, with such force that each passing minute you may as well have spent on a rowing machine. Your face becomes flushed with the blood flow – not an unusual response to anxiety. But then at least fifteen facial muscles synchronize and force a smile. Spasms in the diaphragm. . . push air out through your voice box and throat. Your epiglottis begins to shut over your larynx, you gasp and make a guttural “huh-huh-huh” sound. If you keep at it long enough, this bizarre behavior can activate your tear ducts, loosen the muscles that control your bladder, and lead you down the yellow brick road to hyperventilation. Welcome to the wonderful world of gelotology the study of laughter.”
The Bible is full of laughter. God’s promises are intended to bring us joy. The rabbi’s have said, that Breath is the first gift of God and laughter is the second. Laughter is not a sign of disrespect, it is a gift of God. Laughter is learned by children long before they learn to talk. It is basic to human communication. The writer of the proverb said, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” He understood the wonder of this gift and destruction that comes when we give it up. Yet, all too often we do give up laughter. We have permitted humor to degenerate into bathroom embarrassment and snickers at other’s pains. It has become a tool for denigrating the humanity of one another and inflating our own egos. This wonderful gift of God has been handed over to a world that knows little of its sacredness. It has been said that the devil hates laughter because it points to the goodness and grace of God. The devil hates laughter because it brings healing of bodies and of relationships. Can you have a good belly laugh with another person and remain angry with them. Yes, laughter is a gift of God, and something that God practices as well. Do you think it would have been possible for God not to laugh when he thought about creation of the Platypus or the pacific spookfish or the coffin fish. Our world is filled with wonders and the wonder of laughter is certainly one of the great gifts that God has provided.
The Bible is full of Laughter. The prophets laughed at the idea that a piece of wood could draw the worship of the nation. The Proverbs are filled with laughter, who could not chuckle when you hear an old man say, “It is better to live in a house with a leaky roof, than to live with a nagging wife, or as the KJV puts it in Proverbs 30:33 “Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.”
Surely Jesus did not lead a dower life. My favorite picture of Jesus is this one of Jesus laughing. It has been suggested at times that this picture is offensive, but it captures the joy that characterized Jesus. How could he have not laughed when he said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” “You strain to remove a speck of dust from your neighbor’s eye, and ignore the log in your own eye.” Think of the parables where strange things happen, a working man builds a debt bigger than the gross national product, and a farmer’s enemy plants weeds in his field. Jesus was a man of great emotion. He wept over the city of Jerusalem, he raged at the marketplace that had been created in the temple, he loved the outcasts with abandon and I believe he laughed with freedom.
Why is it that we avoid laughter today? Where have we gotten the idea that we need to serious in every aspect of our lives. There are times we need to be serious, there may be times when laughter is inappropriate, but always a cheerful heart is good medicine.
Sarah was embarrassed by her laughter, yet God was not offended. I can see the men standing around her as she denied that she was laughing simply saying, “He, he, he, oh, but you were laughing!”
Sarah had tried to put forward a serious face, and today we do, too. Why is that? I was playing a game a few days ago, and found that I wanted to hide it when I heard someone coming. I wanted to give the impression that I was doing something serious instead of playing a game. Have you ever done that? We want others to take us seriously, we want others to think we are important, and so we try to hide our laughter. We think we must be so serious, yet God’s second gift is laughter. He invites us to celebrate his promises and his creation. When we laugh, God laughs with us.
You see, laughter is good for us in every part of our being. It is good for our bodies as it relieves stressors and even aids in the production of hormones and chemicals that help fight cancers. After a great laugh, “Blood pressure drops and muscles loosen up. Some would suggest that frequent laughter could reduce heart disease, depression, and stress-related illnesses – and, not surprisingly, a study by cardiologist Michael Miller and colleagues at the University of Maryland has shown that those who recover fastest from heart disease laugh more, though which is the cause and which the effect remain unclear.”
Laughter is good for our minds as well. I once knew a counselor whose prescription was to rent and watch Adam Sandler’s movie “Happy Gilmore.” As I watched it, I found my mind relaxing and the things that had troubled me so much suddenly seemed unimportant. Laughter can be used of God to bring peace to our minds. It also will stimulate creativity. A group that laughs together is able to think in new directions.
OK, how many Methodists does it take to change a lightbulb? 21, one to change the bulb, a committee of 10 evaluate why the bulb went out and a second committee of 10 to plan a pot luck to welcome the new light bulb. And how may Quakers does it take? Who needs a light bulb if you have an inner light? What about Southern Baptists? One to change the bulb, and 16 million to boycott the maker of the old bulb for bringing darkness into the Church. And finally, how many Baptist pastors does it take? We will never know, everyone fell asleep while they were preaching about the need to change the light bulb.
But laughter is good for our beings, it is good for our spirits, it opens the door to truth that we often would like to ignore. It seals relationships and refreshes our hearts. Laughter is God’s second gift, don’t be afraid of it, don’t try to hide it. The promises of God are promises of joy, embrace them, and let the healing power of all of God’s gifts fill your heart.
Let us pray
Go in peace
and may God be in your head and in your understanding,
may the Father be in your eyes and in your looking
may the Spirit be in your mouth and in your speaking,
and the Son in your heart and in your thinking,
May the Trinity be in in your hands and in your working,
And the Three in One be in your feet and in your daily walking,
- both now and forevermore. Amen
