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Good morning, Christchurch. My name is Carrie Moulton, and I'm a member of the Welcome Team.
And today's reading is from the book of Genesis, chapter 18, verses 1 through 15, and chapter 21, verses 1 through 7.
A reading from the book of Genesis.
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.
When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said,
If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass by your servant.
Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
Let me get you something to eat so you can be refreshed and go on your way, now that you have come to your servant.
Very well, they answered.
Do as you say.
So Abraham hurried to the tent to Sarah.
Quick, he said, get three sias of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.
Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice tender calf and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it.
He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them.
While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
Where is your wife Sarah, they asked him.
There in the tent, he said.
Then one of them said,
I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son.
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought,
After I am worn out and my Lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?
Then the Lord said to Abraham,
Why did Sarah laugh and say,
Will I really have a child now that I am old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said,
I did not laugh.
But he said,
Yes, you did laugh.
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah, as he had said,
and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.
Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,
at the very time God had promised him.
Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
When his son Isaac was eight days old,
Abraham circumcised him as God commanded him.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Sarah said,
God has brought me laughter,
and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.
And she added,
Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have born him a son in his old age.
The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.
Good morning, Christ Church.
When we first moved here about 20 years ago to Berkeley to start this church,
I read a book by Bill Bryson.
Anybody read Bill Bryson?
Phenomenal writer.
He wrote a book around that time called A Short History of Nearly Everything.
And I thought maybe this will help me as I'm preparing to be a pastor here in Berkeley.
And he said this.
He said,
It appears that if you wish to have a planet suitable for life,
you have to be just awfully lucky.
And the more advanced the life, the luckier you have to be.
We are to an almost uncanny degree,
the right distance from the right sort of star.
One that is big enough to radiate lots of energy,
but not so big as to burn itself out swiftly.
We are also fortunate to orbit where we do.
Too much nearer and everything on earth would have boiled away,
much farther away,
and everything would have frozen.
And what he's talking about there is that we live in a Goldilocks universe.
We live in a Goldilocks solar system.
It's not too big.
It's not too small.
Not too hot.
Not too cold.
Everything is just right.
And the Christian interpretation of that data
is that we're neither lucky nor fortunate,
but rather that we have someone above us to thank.
And, you know, when we explore this first and foundational book of the Bible,
and we meet this God in Genesis 1 and 2,
this God who said,
Fiat Lux.
Go Bears.
Fiat Lux.
Let there be light and bang.
There was light.
And this God who said,
let there be a fine-tuned universe
with physical constants that are precisely calibrated
within an incredibly narrow range
so as to make the existence of life possible.
Let there be DNA.
Let there be this double helix structure
that encodes the biological information
and instructions for making you, you.
And let there be within that DNA
all the incredible things that would make for the human eye
and all of its brilliant complexity
and all the human hand
and its functional sophistication.
You see, the creator God of Genesis 1 and 2
who made this massive universe we live in
and these marvelous bodies that we inhabit
and who formed us in His image
and breathed life into us,
as Andrew prayed a minute ago,
He's the same Redeemer God
of the rest of Genesis,
from Genesis to Revelation,
that, in other words,
the maker of heaven and earth
is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
And from these people
that God has put Himself in a relationship with
will come Israel's Messiah
and the world's true Lord
through whom salvation will come into the world
and He'll remake reality
into a new heavens and a new earth.
He'll resurrect our bodies.
He'll grant us new and everlasting life
in this new space, time, and matter universe.
And we need to hold on to that big picture
and this sweeping grand metanarrative
when we, anytime we dive into the details
of a text like this,
the details of Abraham and Sarah
and this life of faith
that God is inviting them to journey into today.
And as we dive into this,
I want us to think about a couple things,
three things, as always.
I want us to think about God's power
and God's grace and God's Son.
God's power, God's grace, and God's Son.
Now, I need your help today
because I didn't get my day off this week
and had to spend it all day Friday
with a bunch of Presbyterians.
So, I'm sort of riding on your enthusiasm
and your intentiveness today.
This will rise and fall
on what you bring to the sermon.
So, we're going to talk, first of all,
about God's power.
Okay?
And in verse, chapter 18,
we can see here that Abraham
is a typical ancient Near Eastern Bedouin.
He's living in a intense,
this semi-nomadic life
with his family and his flocks
in this harsh desert conditions.
There's no police force.
There's no justice system.
There's no hospital or urgent care.
There's no Trader Joe's.
And these three visitors,
these three travelers come to Abraham
and he has no idea who they are.
We do as readers.
We're told in verse 1,
but Abraham doesn't have a clue.
The only thing he knows
is that these are three guests
in these same harsh desert conditions
who are in need of welcome
and in need of hospitality.
Now, we all know that xenophobia,
the definition of xenophobia
is the fear of strangers
and that it's opposite.
Xenophilia is the love of strangers.
And in Abraham's day,
it was your highest duty.
It was a sacred virtue
to practice xenophilia,
to lavish hospitality
on guests and strangers,
to roll out the red carpet
for people you didn't know
to make them feel at home and at rest.
And these guests received from Abraham
this warm, gracious, royal welcome.
Now, just pause as an aside right here
to say that part of the mission
of God's church
in the midst of this epidemic
of loneliness
that we're living through
and the erosion
of all of our communities of trust.
What we want to do
and what we want to be
is like Abraham
where when guests arrive,
we hurry over to them
and we speak with them.
Right?
And you don't have to do like Abraham.
You don't have to bow down on the ground.
You know,
a warm smile,
a friendly handshake will do.
But Abraham
assesses the needs of these guests
and he says,
you know,
what would honor them?
What would make them feel refreshed?
And again,
you don't have to go bake bread
or wash their feet
or barbecue some choice meat.
You just have to say,
hey,
what are you doing for lunch today?
Hey,
you want to come to our coffee hour?
I want to invite you
to my table
and I want to invite you
into my life.
Again,
Abraham has no idea
who this is.
He just gives them a welcome
that's fit
for God himself.
And the book of Hebrews
in the New Testament says,
do not forget to show
hospitality to strangers
for by so doing,
some people have shown
hospitality to angels
without knowing it.
A direct reference
to our text today.
So it's not immediately apparent
who this is,
but we're told in verse 1
it's the Lord
and we're told in verse 13
that the Lord is the one
who's speaking.
So it's clear that this is Yahweh
and these are his two
angelic messengers
that he's brought with him
and why has he come?
Well,
look at verse 9.
It says,
where is your wife Sarah?
There in the tent,
he said.
And then the Lord said,
I will surely return to you
about this time next year
and Sarah your wife
will have a son.
Now Sarah was listening
at the entrance to the tent
which was behind him.
Abraham and Sarah
were already very old
and Sarah was past
the age of childbearing
so Sarah laughed to herself
as she thought,
after I am worn out
and my Lord is old
will I now have this pleasure?
We've seen the Lord
come for Abraham
the past few weeks.
But in this text,
the Lord doesn't come
for Abraham,
he comes for Sarah.
And we said last week,
this is remarkable
because in ancient
Near Eastern literature,
women hardly exist.
But in the Bible,
the first book of the Bible,
they're part of the main
cast of characters
from Eve to Hagar
to Sarah to Rebecca
and Rachel and Leah.
You get into Exodus,
Shipra, Puah, Miriam.
It's astounding.
And the Lord doesn't come
to talk to Abraham.
He's sort of talking
through Abraham at points
because he wants
a personal relationship
with Sarah.
Verse 9,
where's Sarah?
Verse 10,
he knows that Sarah's
listening at the entrance
of the tent
so he speaks a word
to her
and she becomes
the focus
of his attention
for the rest
of the text.
What we know so far
is that God
has called Abraham,
he's made promises
to Abraham,
Genesis 12,
Genesis 15.
Sarah knows
this information
but the question is
where is she
with the Lord?
Does she know
the Lord?
Has she come
to lean the full weight
of her trust
on the Lord?
Because the scriptures
tell us it's not
good enough
to just know
the Lord
through other people
and everything
she knows so far
is through her husband
Abraham.
The question here is
Sarah knows
about the Lord
but does she know
the Lord?
Has she had
her own personal
encounter and experience
with the Lord?
Now I've been a pastor
long enough
to see many girlfriends
and wives drag guys
to church
and many parents
drag their kids
to church
and I've seen it
work in the opposite
direction.
Kids sometimes drag
their parents to church
and guys sometimes
drag their significant
others to church
but what matters
is have you met
the Lord?
Do you realize
that he's seeking you?
Do you realize
that he knows
your name?
Where's Sarah?
The Lord
it's interesting
he comes into her life
in such a different way
than he came into
Abraham's life
because if you remember
back to Genesis 15
the Lord
appeared to Abraham
in this super dramatic way
in the darkness
God is this
you know
this smoking pot
and fiery torch
sort of image of God
and he's walking
through these broken bodies
and all this shed blood
and you know
how does
how does God come
to Sarah here?
Totally different
he comes in the middle
of the day
he comes in
in such a personal
such a familiar
such an accessible
and approachable
way
that they don't even know
it's him
for like most of the time
and if you compare
Genesis 15
with Genesis 18
you can see
that the Lord
comes into our lives
in a variety
of different ways
sometimes dramatic
and sometimes
just natural
and normal
sometimes suddenly
and a lot of times
gradually
sometimes it's super obvious
sometimes it's just
so subtle
but he's a
he's a God
of both infinity
and intimacy
right
and we've got to be careful
we don't make one
of those two
more normative
than the other
we've got to be careful
not to try to emulate
someone else's experience
of God
or not to project
our own experience
of God
onto other people
and say
well you're not
a real
spiritual person
you're not a real
Christian
unless you've encountered
God in the way
that I have
it's clear that
the Lord wants
a personal
and direct relationship
with Sarah
and notice how
he gets her attention
he says
where's Sarah
and she must be
thinking to herself
okay how does
this stranger
whom I've never met
know my name
and then
verse 10 says
the Lord said
I will surely return
to you about this time
next year
and Sarah your wife
will have a son
now the Lord knows
Sarah's listening
and the Lord also knows
that Sarah's had a lifetime
of infertility
and barrenness
the Lord knows
that now she's 90 years old
she's well past
the age of menopause
Abraham's 100 years old
the Lord knows
that conception
is impossible
for this couple
that's well beyond
childbearing age
the Lord knows
that even if
conception were possible
a safe delivery
a healthy birth
would be out of the question
the Lord knows
that this couple
is procreatively dead
and that it would take
a divine intervention
it would take
a supernatural work
of almighty God
for them to have
a child
and so the Lord
reiterates
his word
and his promise
knowing how ridiculous
it sounds
knowing how impossible
it seems
to see
how she'll respond
and verse 12
says that
Sarah laughed
to herself
as she thought
after I'm worn out
and my Lord is old
will I now have
this pleasure
have any of you
ever laughed
at God
you ever laughed
at his word
you ever laughed
at the promises
that he's made
Sarah was not
the first person
to laugh at God
if you go back
to Genesis 17
God tells Abraham
he says
your wife Sarah
will be the mother
of nations
and kings of peoples
will come
from her
and the text says
that Abraham
fell face down
laughing
with incredulous
laughter
Abraham laughed
but the Lord
transformed
his unbelief
into belief
but Sarah's laugh
is an indicator
that Abraham's
not been able
to persuade her
not been able
to convince her
not been able
to win her
over the way
the Lord won him over
her laughter
means that
her interest
in the Lord's promise
the Lord's covenant
is not very deep
that her belief
in the Lord's power
the Lord's ability
is not very strong
and secure
at all
and that's why
he comes seeking her
where's Sarah
because he wants
to draw her
into this
relationship
of believing
participation
and establish her
in his promises
so how does this
apply
how do we apply
this to our lives
what does God
say to Sarah
listen
you little mortal
how dare you laugh
at me
the Lord
of the universe
no he says
in verse 14
he says
is anything too
hard
for the Lord
it's one of the
great verses
in the whole Bible
it's repeated
over and over
and that word
hard
that word
difficult
can also be
translated
wonderful
is there anything
too wonderful
for the Lord
the Psalms
use this
word all the time
if you read
the prayer book
of the Bible
you'll see
it says
it talks about
the God
who works wonders
and it says
be filled
with awe
at his wonders
tell of all
his wonders
praise his
wonderful person
praise his
wonderful works
and the question
is anything
too wonderful
for the Lord
reveals Sarah's
basic problem
it reveals
our basic problem
because her laughter
is a laughter
of incredulity
and skepticism
it's a laughter
that's devoid
of wonder
a laughter
that's devoid
of awe
and astonishment
and adoration
at the almighty
power
of the living
God
another place
this text
is repeated
is in the
prophet Jeremiah
the prophet
Jeremiah says
in Jeremiah 32
ah sovereign
Lord
you have made
the heavens
and the earth
by your great
power
and your
outstretched arm
nothing is too
hard
for you
now one of the
things I'm
fascinated by
and maybe
some of you
can come and
help me with this
after the service
but the James
Webb telescope
is sending back
information
and it's telling
us that there
are either
100 billion
or 400 billion
stars
in the Milky Way
galaxy alone
which is a big
difference
and a lot
of stars
and then it
says that
there's either
100 billion
or 200 trillion
galaxies
out there
and we know
that just our
star
our sun's
energy output
every second
is equivalent
to the explosion
of 91 billion
hydrogen bombs
right
we know
so much
more
about
the wonders
of God's
creation
and the
point here
is this
that if God
can create
all of this
if God
can make
this massive
universe
and these
marvelous
bodies
then he
obviously
does not
find things
difficult
or stressful
or overwhelming
or exhausting
the way
that you
and I
might
giving life
to the
procreatively
dead
becoming
incarnate
in the
womb
of a
virgin
dying
on a
cross
for the
sins
of the
whole
world
defeating
death
on the
third
day
regenerating
a sinner
like me
glorifying
a sinner
like you
it's not
a problem
for him
there are
no difficulties
there's no
barriers
there's no
opposition
that would
render him
impotent
or unable
to keep
his promises
and so what
the Lord is
doing is he's
seeking Sarah
and he's
challenging Sarah
and he's
converting
Sarah
from unbelief
to belief
in his
wonderful
power
and perhaps
he's asking
you the same
question
is there
anything
too
wonderful
for the
Lord
some of
you are
facing
big
things
difficult
things
but is
your God
too small
have you
put God
in a box
are you
imposing
unnecessary
limitations
on God's
power
is God
able to
do
beyond
what all
all that
you can
ask or
imagine
and where
is your
wonder
where
where's
your
awe
where's
your
astonishment
and adoration
of the
almighty
power
of the
living
God
he delights
in exercising
his power
to do
things that
are hard
and to
do things
that are
wonderful
and not
only can
he bring
about the
supernatural
birth
of this
promised
son
Isaac
but
he's
also
able
to affect
the
supernatural
rebirth
and conversion
of Sarah's
heart
and if he
did that
for her
man
he can
do it
for anyone
he can
do it
for you
he can
do it
for all
the people
in your
life
so
God's
power
again
I was
with
Presbyterians
all day
on Friday
so
help
help a
brother
out
let's
talk about
God's
grace
the
Hebrew
name
that
Abraham
and Sarah
gave
to their
son
means
laughter
Isaac
laughter
and
if you
look at
chapter 21
verse 6
it says
Sarah said
God has
brought me
laughter
and everyone
who hears
about this
will laugh
with me
well wasn't
she already
laughing
well
I want
to
more closely
examine
the different
kinds
of laughter
here
because
in the
first
part
of the
story
Sarah's
laughing
with a
laughter
of
incredulity
and skepticism
but it's
clear by the
second part
of the
story
God has
transformed
her
laughter
into a
laughter
of belief
and a
laughter
of wonder
and how
do we
move
from one
kind of
laughter
to the
other
how did
that work
for Sarah
how
might it
work
for you
again
chapter 18
verse 12
so Sarah
laughed
and she
laughed to
herself
and she
thought
this
to
herself
she
thought
after I
am worn
out
and my
Lord is
old
will I
now have
this
pleasure
now what
is she
laughingly
thinking
to herself
she says
I am
worn
out
and that
word
means
I am
useless
I am
worthless
I am
good for
nothing
I am
a nobody
perhaps
you've
had that
thought
run through
your head
she says
will I
have
pleasure
will I
have
the
blessings
of
motherhood
see
after a
lifetime
of
barrenness
and
infertility
this
has
become
her
identity
her
core
self
is
defined
by
what
she
is
not
rather
than
by
what
she
is
and
a
life
of
long
disappointment
has
taught
her
this
unbelieving
hopelessness
and
despair
which
of course
she
doesn't
share
with
anyone
she
just
keeps
all
of
these
emotions
hidden
and
buried
in
her
head
and
in
her
heart
she
dares
not
laugh
out
loud
she
laughs
on
the
inside
to
herself
and
she
laughs
not only
because
God
is
unable
she
laughs
because
she
is
useless
and
she
has
this
strong
inner
critic
this
inner
voice
of
devastating
self
hatred
I'm
worthless
not only
disdaining
God
but deriding
herself
and too
many of
us
know
what
that
is
like
can
any
of you
relate
to
the
complexity
of
Sarah's
story
world
I
we
had
time
to
explore
it
together
but
how
does
the
Lord
respond
how
does
the
Lord
look
upon
us
and
relate
to
us
does
he
say
Sarah
great
point
you
are
you
are
spot
on
you
absolutely
are
nothing
you
are
worthless
you
are
useless
no
he
says
in
verse
13
the
Lord
said
to
Abraham
why
did
Sarah
laugh
and
say
well
I
have
old is anything too hard for the Lord. I will return to you at the appointed time next year
and Sarah will have a son. Now there's a mild rebuke in there because the Lord is astonished
at her unbelief and he's astonished when we fail to believe in him.
But it's a gentle rebuke because he knows he's asking us to believe big things and wonderful
things. And so he gives her this reassurance. He says, I'm going to come back to you because I'm
the Lord. I'm the Lord who's chosen you. I'm the Lord who has a plan for you. I'm the Lord who's
planned an entire timeline for your life. And so did Sarah respond and say, well, wow, what a relief.
Now I see myself as you see me. Now I trust in your trustworthiness. No. Verse 15 says,
Sarah was afraid so she lied and said, I did not laugh but he said, yes, you did laugh. And it's
like one of the most awkward, uncomfortable scenes in the whole Bible. Like the nervous laughter when
it was read is just telling. Somehow this mysterious stranger outside whom she cannot see is powerful
enough to read her mind and verbalize her innermost secret thoughts. And this means that whether you
like it or not, you're known. You're known. And does the Lord explode at her when she lies?
When she denies the truth and deceives? No, it's, the scriptures say that God's a wonderful counselor.
And he comes in this gentle way. I imagine him kind of smiling and putting his arm around
Sarah and saying, yeah, you did laugh. And he's not just speaking the truth and love to her as we
must do. Not just trying to hold her accountable for her words. Not just wanting his people to be
truth tellers. No, he's saying, I want you to acknowledge the wonderlessness of your laugh.
And somehow over the next 12 months, between Genesis 18 and Genesis 21, the Lord amazingly
transforms Sarah's laugh from that laughter of incredulity and bitterness and cynicism and despair
and hopelessness into a laughter of joy, a laughter of grace, a laughter of faith and wonder and hope.
And you can see it in chapter 21. In verse 1, it says, now the Lord was gracious. The Lord was
gracious to Sarah. And he said, and the Lord, the Lord did for Sarah what he'd promised. And Sarah
became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, the very time God had promised. And Abraham
gave the name Yitzhak. He laughs to the son that Sarah bore him. He's a God of grace.
He graciously gives the son of laughter to show Sarah that he's sovereignly in control.
And that his word is reliable. He does not make empty promises, but he makes gracious promises. And
then he faithfully fulfills those promises precisely as he said he would. And Sarah's response to this is
she breaks out into poetry to express her wonder and to express her joy at the grace of God, the grace
of what God has done for her. She says in verse 6, God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears
about this will laugh with me. And she added, who would have said that to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have born him a son in his old age. She says, who would have said that Sarah would
nurse children? She's looking beyond this singular child, Isaac, to children, to Isaac's children,
and to their children's children, and to the great nation that God had promised, and to the kings of
nations, the peoples that would come from her womb that would bless the whole world.
And she's inviting everyone who hears this story to contemplate the power and the grace of God.
God causes the laughter of incredulity to give way to the laughter of grace. And that God causes Sarah's
hopeless despair to be transformed into joyous praise. Now friends, again, how do we apply this to
our lives? Well, first of all, it's kind of a picture of when you become a Christian, right? When you become
a Christian, you get a new identity. You get a new self-image in the way that Sarah does here. She gets this
new joyful relationship with God. She says, God has brought me laughter. God has been so gracious to me.
But you also get this new joyful relationship with others. She says, when people hear the story of God's
gracious intervention and God's salvation in my life, they're going to laugh with me. I'm going to be part of a
community of laughter. And then she gets a new joyful relationship with herself. She who called herself
worthless? She says, who would have thought that my story would have turned out this way? And that's how
you feel when you become a Christian. You say, who would have thought that me, of all people, would be a
Christian? Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me? Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.
God of glory. God of glory, Lord of love. It's a new identity. But secondly, the second application is that
when you become a Christian, you get a new relationship with your failures. Right? Because the one time God
comes to Sarah, she laughs in his face. And it's like her one moment. It's her one moment. And she, it's
probably the greatest failure of her life. Right? And yet her son's name is what? Laughter. Right? From
now on, every time Abraham and Sarah say Isaac's name, they're going to remember that they laughed at God
in disbelief. But they're also going to remember that God always has the last laugh. That we do not live in
a tragedy. We live in a comedy. The child's name is a memorial to remind Sarah and Abraham both of
their faithlessness and of God's faithfulness. And you see, grace enables you to look upon your past
failures. It enables you to look at your bitter laughter in the face of God's promises and to realize
that he loves you. And that he accepts you in spite of all your failures. And then that the memory of
all of your past faithlessness shows you just how good and how gracious God really is. And that only
increases your gratitude to praise him more and more for his faithfulness. And then it in turn makes you
into a person who's humble and compassionate toward the failures of others. That's God's grace.
So, I'm running out of time. Blame the Presbyterians on Friday. But I do want to talk not only about
God's power and God's grace, but just close with a word on God's Son. And as we close, I want to caution
you against a particular way of interpreting the Bible. Because we can read this and we can say,
oh, okay, I got it. Sarah was old. She wanted something. She wanted a child. She believed. And
she got what she wanted. Therefore, if we really believe, if we pray, if we trust God who says,
is anything too hard or too wonderful for me, then we should expect all the impossible things to become
possible. And we should stop settling for less. We should have greater visions, greater, bigger goals.
We should ask God for amazing things. We should trust God for physical health and material wealth
and unbroken prosperity and happiness and success in a life that just goes up and to the right.
Anybody ever heard Christians suggest this? Well, I want to point out two things. First of all, that this text
does not teach us if we believe like Sarah, then God will do incredible things. Because the whole point of the
story is that Sarah didn't believe. She's not seeking God. She's not on her knees. She laughs in God's face.
And when God comes down to bless her and do incredible things for her, he does it in spite of her unbelief.
She does eventually believe, but my goodness. And the second thing I want to point out is that this text is
wanting us to look at what happened to the son of promise. And of course, in this story, the son of promise is Isaac.
But who's the real son of promise? Who's the true and better Isaac? That son of promise that was born
in a ridiculous and laughable situation? Who was born to that woman who wasn't just infertile. She had no husband.
In the Gospel of Luke says that the Lord came to her and through his angel, he said to her,
the Lord is with you and you will conceive in your womb and you'll bear a son. And Mary said to the angel,
she said, how can this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered her, nothing will be impossible
with God. Nothing's too wonderful for God. And what happened to this promised child? Did he get physical
health? Did he get material wealth? Did he get unbroken prosperity and happiness and success and a
life that goes up and to the right? No, the greatest person who ever lived in the history of planet earth
this man who had more faith than all of us combined, this man whose prayer life was a trillion times
greater than any of our prayer lives,
this man who trusted that nothing's too wonderful for God. What happened to him? He died on a cross,
abandoned by his friends, mocked by his enemies, forsaken by his God. And why does God,
in his wisdom, put the cross at the center of history and the center of reality? Why does he want us to keep
our eyes fixed there? Because he wants us to see that the ultimate Isaac, the ultimate son of laughter,
the one in whom we hear the laughter of God, the one who lived in a world of heavenly laughter, the one
that says he was at the father's side, he was in the father's bosom from all eternity. They were
infinitely laughing and rejoicing in each other. That he came into this world to become a man of sorrows,
to become acquainted with grief, to be overcome with weeping at the tomb of his friend Lazarus,
to be torn apart by the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, to be crushed under the agony of
Gethsemane and to cry out on his cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
And the whole point is that Jesus lost the divine laughter so that you and I could get it.
And he took our place of misery and condemnation
to deal with sin and death so that we could live forever with him in laughter.
Friends, God and Jesus Christ has trampled down all the impossibilities of our situation
so that we can say like Sarah, who would have thought?
Who would have thought? Who would have said that we who were trapped forever in sin and death
would be liberated to live with God everlastingly?
Who would have thought? Who would have said that in spite of all the ways that we have lived,
we'd be adopted into the very family of God?
See, friends, God has done the ridiculous.
God has done the laughable.
He's welcomed us strangers.
Indeed, he's welcomed us enemies to his feast at his table.
And so I want to encourage you with Paul's words in Romans 8, 32.
He says,
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.