What's So Funny?

What's So Funny?

Sarah lied “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And then He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

                                    Genesis 18:15

Laughter. What a concept. It can be an expression of pleasure and joy, full of hope and peace, or it can be like a slap in the face.  It is one of those gifts that we have been given that can be used or abused.

Abraham and Sarah are a case study in laughter. Think about an elderly couple finding out that they are going to get pregnant. Somehow that sounds like it constitutes a joke right there. How funny is that to think that it is even possible? Because of this news Abraham and Sarah laughed.

That is where the study in laughter begins. The angel who brought the news to her asked why she laughed? I am thinking that it wasn’t for joy or he would of just smiled. It was that smirk, that chortle or even a wheeze that comes when you think it’s all a big shame. What kind of joke is this person trying to pass off? God is going to be able to make this happen, yeah, right? I am thinking that was how it all was translated.

To be fair, God had told Abram, who would soon be renamed Abraham, the same thing a little earlier. “You will have a son in your old age.” How did Abe handle it? He did fall in his face in awe and reverence but he laughed with his face on the ground. It was not out of faith as much as it was disbelief. It was not the Father of Faith’s shining moment.

I love to laugh. I know how much of a release that is to be able to express a good belly laugh. I have heard even the medical profession dote on how much laughter is healthy and important to express. I quip (no pun intended) that my wife’s laughter was one of the factors why I fell in love with her. That’s no joke. You know when someone gets your humor. This can be a way to break the ice. A good sense of humor shares the fact that you are in fact human and can connect with real people. Pastors, in the opening lines of a sermons, are masters in that art.  

Of course timing is important in a joke. I am not talking about when to drop the punch line. I am talking more about how not to be in line for a punch. If someone who is hurting is standing near and hears two people pointing and laughing, they might take they giggling incorrectly. Picture a teacher correcting a student about their behavior. Another student is out right laughing for no other reason. That person has put themselves in a place of being suspect. Even if the joke wasn’t on the other person, the timing just really stunk at that moment. Laughter wasn’t as funny as it was intended.

So, when the tears of laughter were wiped away, and a year had passed, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. Isaac is the Jewish word for laughter. Sure maybe having a baby at 90+ years was unbelievable but it happened. Maybe there was shock and then came faith. The Lord can do anything He wants when He wants. He is serious and He wasn’t pulling their leg.

The Lord was making Abraham the Father of Faith. Maybe he left Isaac’s name as a reminder that God does have a sense of humor. He wants to encourage us to believe with our full heart. The Lord wants to turn our doubts into pillars of faith. When we do see the impossible happen we can burst out in tears...in a good way. Talk about comedic timing? God knows just when to drop in the punch line and get the audience to stand to their feet.

I hope you get to catch one of His shows. He’ll be here all week, folks. Thanks for coming.