In our story today, Sarah overhears visitors tell her husband that she will have a baby….and she laughs. She is 90. Abraham is 100. Menopause is long past and is seems Abraham might have a few issues himself, according to Sarah. So the idea…makes her laugh. These strangers obviously don’t know what they are talking about.
But then God joins the conversation….Sarah…did you laugh? Uh…no. Um…I mean…well… uhh….but come on, Lord! It’s funny! Right? Do you not have a sense of humor?
Abraham got the joke. In just the chapter before….when God was the one telling him Sarah and he were going to have a son…Abraham fell on his FACE laughing. That’s what the good Book says. He fell on his FACE…he busted a gut….and probably wet his pants to boot, seeing as he was 100 years old, after all. This is funny stuff and Sarah knows it….Abraham knows it. The truth is…God’s questioning of Sarah cannot be serious. Obviously, God has a wicked sense of humor…because God is the architect of this ridiculous plan.
And so, when the ridiculous happens….when Sarah gets pregnant and Isaac is born…she names him laughter. God gave her laughter…the laughter of a baby boy….and she knows that everyone will want to laugh along with her….everyone will share her joy.
As we witnessed…laughter is contagious Joy is contagious. Like on the subway, It has the ability to make connections between complete strangers. It can effortlessly create bridges over the chasms that ordinarily divide us. Isaac is born…and laughter begins to heal the years of hurt and isolation that Sarah faced as a barren wife. Laughter creates a family. A future.
As part of my sabbatical this summer, I spent some time at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. They have themes each week…and I was there for half of two different weeks. The first was based on the importance of comedy…the other grace. I went assuming that the grace week would be the more meaningful. I was wrong. As the speakers and preachers reflected on the powerful role of humor in our lives together…creating community…challenging injustice… easing anxiety…healing broken hearts….I realized laughter was what I needed. I need to laugh more. Of course, Matt’s been trying to tell me that for years….but he’s right.
But I realized that the truth is… we ALL need to laugh more. But not that cruel, mean laughter that is at the expense of the weak. There is, of course, a derisive laughter that pulls us down, instead of lifting us up. We know it don’t we? People who laugh at someone else’s pain…the laughter of bullies and bigots. That’s not the laughter we’re talking about here.
We’re talking about the laughter that lifts our hearts….that makes us not take ourselves so seriously. The laughter that lightens our load. The laughter that realizes the absurdity of all our human foolishness — and calls a thing what it is… the Emperor has no clothes! What were we so worked up about anyway? We’re talking about the laughter of surprise. The laughter of babies. The laughter that bubbles up from the simple joy of a moment.
Kari, as many of you know, has always been a voracious reader. And she utterly delights in what she reads. She giggles and laughs out loud when she reads to herself…you can hear her downstairs when she is up in her room. Over the years, her reading in class was the topic of many parent – teacher conferences…taking Kari’s books away was the only threat that could get her to pay attention sometimes. She learned, finally, to only read when she was done with her assignments. But Kari literally cannot read without giggling…which still was an issue for some teachers. But some ended up appreciating it. The discovered that it brought some light into their classroom. Much like the man on the train. Everybody else…smiled. Shook their heads at her. Chuckled together. And it felt good…Laughter breaks tension. It heals.
Karl Barth, one of the most influential Christian theologians of the 20th century, said, “Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.”
Maybe because grace is also foolish… impractical…absurd…disruptive at times….and as out of touch with reality as a 90 year old woman having a baby. Grace giggles while we are all about our business, so serious about making a life for ourselves…working and worrying…striving and surviving. Isn’t that how that old Yiddish saying goes — “we plan…God laughs.”
Humor…is what keeps us from self importance and self righteousness. The court jester reminds us all that even the king is fallible. Laughter reminds us all that we are not God…so we can go ahead and quit trying. We can rest. We can laugh at ourselves. And it is grace.
Without laughter, we become fanatics…rigid…hateful. Westboro Baptist has no laughter. The church of the Inquisition had no laughter. Puritans had no laughter. Actually, for centuries, many church leaders in both Catholicism and Protestantism were suspect of “frivolity”, with Luther being a notable exception. He loved to laugh….and had a truly bawdy sense of humor.
But at the heart of it…the truth remains — We need laughter. Just as desperately as We need grace. You remember Mary’s Magnificat…the song she sang when she realized she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. It is her song of God’s grace….grace that sought her out…grace that fills us up when we are hungry…that brings hope when we are ready to give up…like the promise fulfilled to Sarah and Abraham…Grace that brings down the proud of heart and lifts of the lowly. It’s the court jester’s song. It’s a song of joy. A song of faith. A song of laughter… laughter that we need to hear today — on our subways, in our schools, in our homes and in our churches.
Laughter heals. It can be the best medicine, right? Laughter can heal wounds that we didn’t even realize were there….and here’s the odd thing about it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s genuine or forced. There’s a thing called “laughter yoga”. Seriously. I guess if there’s “goat yoga”, we really shouldn’t be surprised. But here’s the thing…people get together and just start laughing. They force it. They fake it. Awkwardly. Together. But guess what happens? In time…it becomes real. Just like it did in our children’s sermon.
Together…we laugh, even when we don’t feel like it…and it connects with something deep in our souls…and “Voila!”. Joy happens! We are genuinely laughing. Maybe that’s another way that laughter is a little bit like faith. Some days we just don’t feel our faith all that much. But when we come together and practice it anyway…. When we sing our hymns and tithe our money…. When we pray our prayers and share in the meal…. When we listen to our scriptures and greet each other with peace. “Voila!”…. It begins to connect with something deep inside our souls. Joy. Hope. The peace of God that passes understanding ….suddenly begins to take shape within us.
Sarah…laughed. In the midst of her barrenness…in conversation with God….she laughed. And the laughter gave birth to hope and joy. God can be trusted after all. And that …is faith.
Sometimes…we are so aware of goodness in our life. Blessings.
But other times…life is not so good. Like Sarah…it seems barren…hopeless. So much violence. So much division. So much depression. So much anxiety. So much loneliness. So much mean-ness. And we are weary. And then God comes, making ludicrous promises …of God’s love for all…of connection…of a future….of grace….of a baby’s laughter. And sometimes…we simply have to laugh at the impossiblity of it all. But laughter, in conversation with God, my friends, gives birth to hope. To joy. And that is faith. May laughter ring out in our homes and in our cars…in our workplaces and in our churches. And may it bring us grace. Amen.
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