Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 18:1-14
Colossians 1:21-29
Luke 10:38-42
O Lord, your word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path; let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
When I was a young lad, one of the joys of going to the grandparents’ house in Iowa was reading through the stacks of Reader’s Digest. I remember thoroughly enjoying reading and then reading out loud to the relatives the jokes and stories that were in the humor section. They called it then, and I think they still call it, “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” In the midst of great seriousness, because life is serious, laughter and joy and the occasions that induce mirth help lighten the load a bit.
We also know that laughter is not always an expression of amusement or joy. Laughter is a complicated thing. It can be triggered by embarrassment or other social discomforts. Laughter can express relief or satisfaction. It can also be used to mock others or convey suspicion, skepticism, and even disbelief.
In the Old Testament reading from Genesis 18, Sarah laughs. She laughs a bitter, skeptical laugh when she overhears the Lord promise Abraham that Sarah will soon be pregnant and will bear a son. She is 90 years old. When Moses wrote Genesis, he was himself, no longer a spring chicken. He courteously says, “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advancing in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.”
This is Sarah’s reality. What is being promised here is preposterous and beyond the scope of human possibility. And, I am certain, the Lord’s promise stirs up a lot of emotion that she thought she had made peace with. So, upon hearing the words spoken authoritatively by the Lord, she laughs to herself and states the obvious. “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” Her skepticism is born out of common human experience and her own disappointment.
This is a moment of God’s miraculous grace. Despite the reception of the Lord’s words upon Sarah’s ears and heart, the Lord holds firm on His promise. A miracle child is going to happen.
In all fairness, this is not the first time that the promise of a child comes to aged Abraham. In the chapter before, Genesis 17, when God spoke to Abraham to establish the covenant of circumcision and changed Abram and Sarai’s name to Abraham and Sarah, the Lord God said to Abraham in verses 15 and 16, “15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Verse 17 records Abraham’s reaction. “17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Abraham laughs for the same reasons that Sarah does.
God’s grace and mercy are present there too. God insists that His promise is true. The miracle occurs. A 90-year-old woman becomes pregnant and delivers a healthy boy. In their old age, Abraham and Sarah have joyous laughter. Their life and faith are enlarged by holding in their hands the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. The baby is named Isaac. Fittingly, in Hebrew, the name Isaac means “laughter.”
There are a host of events that occur in the Old Testament that are beyond the possibilities of ordinary life. God has established certain predictable rhythms and patterns to life. There are seasons and cycles of life. Yet God, being God, can and does usurp the order and processes of creation for His own greater purposes. As King and Creator of the Universe, all things are possible to Him. When we read these miraculous things in the Old Testament, they prepare us to receive the miracle of God’s Son, Jesus, becoming man and dwelling among us. When we learn of God’s ability to give 90 year old Sarah a baby boy, and God reigning terror upon the Egyptians through the ten plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea so that Moses and Israel can walk safely through it, and the daily replenishment of the food in the Widow of Zarephath’s kitchen while she cared for the prophet Elijah, we can joyfully receive the Good News that the angel Gabriel announces to the virgin Mary that she will bear God’s Son by the Holy Spirit.
I believe that God continues to work miracles in our midst. The problem is that we can get so busy with daily life and its demands and pressures, that we forget to pay attention to what God has done and is doing in our lives. In today’s Gospel we are kindly reminded through Jesus’ gentle and loving words to Martha that there comes a time when we need to simply stop. We need to dispense with normal activities and just stop, listen, focus on the Lord and only the Lord because He is the one thing truly necessary for our life. Jesus offers valuable instruction on how to live a God pleasing life. Jesus offers profound solace for the afflicted in body, mind, and soul. Jesus desires to give us joy and renew our spirits so that we can laugh anew as we behold God’s gifts all around us. Jesus believes so firmly in us and loves us so deeply that He endures a horrific humiliation and sacrificial death so that we can know the peace of God through the forgiveness of our sins. On account of Jesus, we can laugh again because of the lightness that we feel. The burdens and heaviness are lifted.
Today, we are blessed to participate in a miracle. Holy Communion is a miracle because Christ is present with us in the consecrated bread and wine. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive Christ Himself. When we receive Christ Jesus, we receive the grace of His forgiveness and the renewed promise of eternal life with Him. We enjoy God’s peace and the freedom that He brings. We are free to have joy. And to laugh because God works His grace in us.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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