Death, Laughter, Promises – Genesis 18:1-15

A text – Genesis 18:1-15

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaksof Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. ² He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground. ³ He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” ⁶ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷ Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. ⁸ Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I be fruitful?” ¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

A reflection:

You probably know this story. God has promised Abraham (and cut a formal covenant with him) that Abraham will be the father of many nations. This promise has been repeated for several chapters preceding this one in Genesis. Abraham grows impatient, and God promises again. This particular time, the Lord comes in person to deliver the news that within the coming year the promised child will be born to Sarah. Fourteen years earlier Sarah and Abraham had decided the promise could be fulfilled if Sarah’s servant Haggar had Abraham’s baby. Ishmael was already 13 on this occasion of the visit from the Lord. Sarah was 90 and Abraham 100, “as good as dead,” according to the Apostle Paul in Romans.

As to laughter, Abraham also laughed at the repetition of the promise in Genesis 17. We think Sarah is kind of naughty to laugh in this story, but it was a laughable idea, and she was not alone in laughing. Both she and her husband had trouble keeping a straight face thinking about childbearing in old age. So she laughed. She was embarrassed and fearful about her laughter when confronted about it, so she denied it, but I might easily have done the same thing. And the Lord did not let her off the hook. He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”  They had waited for 25 years since the promise had first been made.

So why? Why did God wait so long to keep the promise? To prove nothing was impossible for God? To prove God could bring new life out of dead human organs? To prove that God could do things no one could remotely imagine possible – so impossible-seeming that a person would naturally laugh at the thought of it? To be faithful even when everyone was incredulous? Perhaps so. How unbelievable was it that a baby could still be born to Abraham and Sarah? How unbelievable was it that Jesus could be raised from the dead? How unbelievable is it that God promises us eternal life when nothing we could ever do would make that possible? You might even laugh and shake your head. But nothing is too wonderful for God to deliver.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for bringing life out of death. Thank you for giving us your love and your faithfulness, even though we forget to love and be faithful. Help us to accept the wonder of your gifts to us. Amen.