Sermons

Sarah Laughed
The Rev. Canon Kurt Wiesner
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
June 15, 2008

We hear this story of Abraham and Sarah on a fairly regular basis. The story is introduced with the words that God appears to Abraham, but the next thing we are told is Abraham sees three men. He runs to meet them, and offers them the best hospitality he has to offer: washing their feet and giving them his finest bread, milk, and a calf to eat and drink..

And then they begin to talk.

But the most memorable part of the story for me is what happens offstage, just inside the tent, where Sarah is listening at the entrance way. Sarah overhears what is said by the men, and laughs to herself at the absurdity of the idea of a 90 year-old giving birth. She is, however, overheard by the men and called out for her laughter. She denies it, but the story ends with the strange statement by God: "Oh yes, you did laugh."

It is all a bit odd, to say the least.

One might think the point of the story is to illustrate the lack of faith Sarah has in the power of God. Many a preacher has suggested that God is rebuking her with the response "Is anything too wonderful for God?"

Perhaps rebuke is the point, but before deciding it is important to put this event in the context of the story. In chapter 17 of Genesis, God appears to Abram and expands his promises, telling Abram again that he will be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. God renames him Abraham, and finishes the vision of the covenant by telling him: "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."

Now, to this point in the book of Genesis, Abraham's responses have been respectful silence, a question or two, and complete obedience to God's vision. And if we simply went by the Church lectionary, and stopped reading here at verse 16, that's the image we would have of Abraham until the episode of him bargaining with God over saving lives in Sodom. But does anyone know Abraham's response to God in verse 17, right after he is told that Sarah will have a son?

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, 'Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?'

It's the same reaction Sarah has: laughter! Furthermore, Abraham has the nerve to suggest an alternative plan to God by saying "O that Ishmael might live in your sight." (Gen. 17:18)

God responds to Abraham? "No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him."

(I wish to note that God does promise that Ishmael will also be blessed and will be made of him a great nation, which is covered in next week's story)

Now, this is what I'm wondering: if the point of Sarah's laughter is to simply show that she lacks faith in God, why is Abraham's laughter not used in the same way?

I have read commentaries that suggest that laughter symbolizes the lack of faith by both Abraham and Sarah, showing that God takes imperfect people and through them establishes great things. It's not a bad thought.

But again, I wonder why the dramatic difference of reactions from God concerning Abraham's laughter and Sarah's laughter?

It could be that the writer wished to draw more attention to Sarah's "lack of faith" than Abraham's. That certainly would be believable as far as the church choosing lectionary readings.

But I think there is something fundamentally different between Abraham's laughter and Sarah's laughter.

I tend to think of laughter in two general categories.

Laughter can be straightforward. It is the sound we produce when we find something funny. It is the joy expressed in the giggles of children. And, in Abraham's case, laughter expresses the skeptical disbelief in an absurd idea...that at age 90, Sarah will finally have a child.

God's response to this laughter is to dismiss it as unimportant, and tell Abraham that this is the way things are going to happen. And Abraham follows God, even if he remains skeptical.

Laughter, however, can also be extremely complex. Picture some sort of gathering or meeting, where someone asks a rather awkward but serious question. The response from some is often a nervous laughter--to hope the question goes away, or at least break the tension. Think about the laughter that triggers tears--not because of how funny it is, but how it connects to something in our past. Think of how we use humor and laughter to keep things at a distance, or to put down others, or to hide our insecurity.

The laughter of Sarah is the complex kind: Like Abraham's laughter, there is some level of incredulousness. She is of course skeptical that this will really happen.

But I have to believe that this laughter of Sarah masks something deeper. Thirteen years had passed since Sarah had sent another woman to Abraham to produce an heir. Her dreams of motherhood were long broken, and her life, in many ways, was now about listening at the entrance: living on the edge of someone else's great promise.

Her laughter contains years of anger and frustration, and hurt and great sadness.

Note how different God's response is to her laughter. First off, it's in the context of the laughter that God responds. God said to Abraham (remember, Sarah is still hidden, and not officially part of the conversation): "Why did Sarah laugh, and say 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for God?"

Sarah has to respond in some way...she is now drawn into the conversation. She responds with denial "I did not laugh." The text says that she does this because she is afraid. "Afraid of what?" I wonder. Afraid she's angered God? Perhaps, but I think it's more likely that she's trying to preserve Abraham's integrity here. He's gone through all of this to be a gracious host, and she was potentially messing things up for him. But I imagine her statement "I did not laugh" came off the way, for example, that it sounds when one of us starts laughing in church, knowing that we really should try and gain some level of composure, and really struggling not to laugh. "Me God, laugh? Noooooo, I'm not laughing."

God's response? An intimate and gentle moment: "Oh yes, you did laugh."

It's not only cute, but it also serves a deeper purpose.

God's insistence that Sarah laughed is God's testimony to her heart's desire--acknowledging not only the hurt caused by so many years of hoping for something that hasn't happened, but also recognizing that she never has been able to let go of the pain it caused.

In addition, God sees and draws attention to something else. I think that mixed into Sarah's laughter, amidst the absurdity of the idea and the underlying anger, sadness, hurt and regret, is a speck of hope, an ounce of belief that this great unfulfilled dream can somehow be reconciled, or even realized.

The ability to laugh means that there is, on some level, still a mustard seed of faith.

Sarah must now ask herself what her faith in God really means. God has given a vision as to what God will do, what God has promised to do. What comes next is now up to Sarah (and to Abraham): it is their choice whether or not to act on God's promise.