AND SHE LAUGHED
GENESIS 18: 1-15/ 21: 1-7 (17: 15-19)
MOTHER’S DAY MAY 11, 2003
INTRODUCTION: WHAT MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
My mother taught me RELIGION: When I spilled grape juice on the carpet, she instructed, "You better pray the stain will come out of the carpet."
My mother taught me LOGIC: From her decisive words, "Because I said so, that’s why."
My mother taught me FORESIGHT: "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident."
My mother taught me IRONY: "Keep laughing, and I’ll give you something to cry about."
My mother taught me about STAMINA: "You’ll sit there ’til all that spinach is finished."
My mother taught me about WEATHER: "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room."
My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: "Stop acting like your father!"
My mother taught me about ENVY: "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have a wonderful Mom like you do!"
THANKS, MOM! Contributed by: Dana Chau
TEN THINGS A MOM DOESN’T WANT TO HEAR
1. I swallowed a goldfish.
2. Your lipstick works better than crayons.
3. Does grape juice leave a stain???
4. The principal called...
5. But DAD says that word all the time.
6. What’s it cost to fix a window???
7. Has anyone seen my earthworms???
8. I painted your shoes pretty, huh Mommy?
9. The dog doesn’t like dressing up in your clothes.
10. I’m moving out. (Well, maybe some days.)
TRANSITION THOUGHT: If a mother doesn’t have a sense of humor, she just might not make it? Today we gather to celebrate motherhood. We gather to realize that we would not be here without her. We gather to celebrate the goodness of motherhood and blessing of God realized through the gifts of moms. If any Secular Holiday could be considered sacred, I believe this is one of them. God surely knew that the plight of human kind would never be blessed or civilized without the gift of mothers. Today, with fear and trembling, I want to direct our thoughts toward what motherhood must be within the perspective of our faith in God.
I also want us to lighten up a bit and learn to laugh. Our heroine of the faith, Sarah, teaches us to laugh! Let’s dig into our text and learn to Laugh with Sarah!
THESIS SENTENCE: A MOTHER’S LAUGHTER IS PRAISE TO GOD!
I. A MOTHER’S LAUGHTER COMES FROM HEARING GOD’S PROMISE [Gen. 18: 9, 10, 12, and 14] (HIS PROMISE FORETOLD)
A. HEARING IS BEING CALLED BY NAME
1. Our text begins with a unique encounter. Abraham is a typical man. Sarah is hard at work in the tent and Abraham, having lost his remote for his television decides to kick back on the porch and take a lode off.
2. And who should appear, out in the middle of nowhere? Surely Abraham thought to himself, where did these three come from?
3. But in typical Bedouin fashion, Abraham greeted his guest and went about preparing something for them to eat and drink. He did not know who these strangers were.
4. Then something very interesting happens, they asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah (18:9)?” The text does not tell us that Abraham had told of his wife and according to the culture of the day, it would not have been appropriate to engage in such conversation.
5. God knows your name Ladies. He knows where you are and who you are. He knows your every need. Just listen to the text!!
B. HEARING IS THE PROMISE
1. If not overwhelming enough that these strangers knew Sarah’s name, “Then the Lord said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son (18:10).’”
2. In Genesis chapter 12, God called Abram, a seventy-five year old man, and promised to make him into a great nation. Sarah would obviously have a great part to play in this call.
3. According to Genesis chapter 15, at the age of eighty-five, still no offspring. 4. According to chapter 17, Abram is now ninety-nine years old and still has no offspring. BUT in verse 16 of chapter 17 we read, “I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
5. The promise is given to Abraham, his new name, and to Sarah, her new name, but did she know? Abraham laughs and maybe didn’t want to inflict any more pain on his barren wife and does not tell her the promised news.
6. In verse 10 of our text in chapter 18, Sarah now officially hears the promise. “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.”
7. Now ladies, the point is that sometimes what we know God wants to do for us is just to far out there. We hear HIS promises for our lives and we think, “YEAH RIGHT.” AND THE REALITY IS, WE LAUGH!
ILLUSTRATION: A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M, and I pick up things. What am I?” When the grades were all in the teacher was astounded to find that almost fifty percent had written in, mother.
Contributed by: Preston Duvall
ILLUSTRATION: The young preacher was shocked to hear the well-known evangelist utter the words; “Yes, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” Then, following a pause, the evangelist added, “That woman was my mother.” A few weeks later as the young pastor was speaking to a civic group, the phrase leaped into his mind. He exclaimed, “I have spent some of the happiest days of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” Then after a long pause, the young man muttered meekly, “But for the life of me I can’t remember who she was.”
Contributed by: Martin Wiles
II. A MOTHER’S LAUGHTER COMES FROM DISBELIEF OF GOD’S PROMISES [Gen. 18: 11 – 15 (Gen. 17: 15-19)] (HER CIRCUMSTANCES)
A. DISBELIEF COMES FROM LIFE EXPERIENCE
1. If we look back at chapter 17, we start to see the problem. The newly named Abraham and Sarah are not spring chickens. He is one hundred years old and she is ninety (verse 17)!!
2. Life experience tells us that this is not the traditional child bearing years. 3. Chapter 18 verse 11 tells us that Sarah had already experience menopause, “Sarah was past the age of childbearing.”
4. Come on folks, life is life. Reality is reality. Life experience teaches us some basic truths and one of those truths is that ninety year old women do not have babies!!
B. DISBELIEF COMES FROM PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
1. “You did laugh (vs. 15).”
2. “I did not laugh (vs. 15).”
3. Yes, ladies, Abraham laughed first and he is guilty of that, but now Sarah shows her disbelief.
4. Yes life experience tells us that a ninety year old lady can’t have a baby, but life experience and the very word of God, especially verse 14 should help us realize that God can do what HE wants when HE wants regardless of the circumstances of life.
5. Hear verse 14 again, “Is anything too hard for the Lord.”
6. The real question here is not have you heard the promises of God, but where is disbelief at work in your life. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Do you question the word of God? Do you laugh in disbelief when you hear the promises of God and say, “Surely God’s promises aren’t for me and if they were they would never work in my life!”
7. The reality is that often in life we live in disbelief because we just don’t trust God to be able to work beyond our life circumstances. Yes we believe in God, but “OUR” god is not big enough to change our situations. THIS IS NOT REALITY!
ILLUSTRATION: A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their mom with a houseplant. They had used their own money to buy it and she was thrilled.
The older of them said with a sad face, "There was a bouquet at the flower shop that we wanted to give you. It was real pretty but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest.
Contributed by: A. Todd Coget
III. A MOTHER’S LAUGHTER COMES FROM CELEBRATING GOD’S PROMISES [Gen. 21: 1-7] (HIS PROMISE REVEALED)
A. CELEBRATING IS THE NAME OF A SON
1. Isaac is the name to be given to this son (Gen. 17: 19).
2. Now who had a hand in naming this son? Yes, Dad is the one who started it all, and I guess this is the reality of life. Mom’s don’t have babies with out dad’s help. And the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
3. Isaac is given the name laughter, but it is not a curse, it is a blessing. 4. I had written a note in my Bible some time ago that reads, “God redeems laughter.” Maybe I was needing some solace, I often laugh when I should cry. Sometimes I laugh when I should be serious. Sometimes I laugh when I don’t know what to say and sometimes I laugh when I don’t believe God.
5. Now for Sarah, Laughter becomes the name of her son and she is ready to celebrate! God has delivered on HIS PROMISE and has proven himself to be the God worthy of our trust.
6. “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised (21: 1).”
B. CELEBRATING IS AN INVITAITON TO SHARE
1. Not only had God redeemed Sarah and Abraham’s laughter, now this laughter becomes a call for others to join in the celebration.
2. “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? Ye I have borne him a son in his old age (21:6&7).” 3. Do you know what Sarah was saying? She is praising God for being God! She is celebrating her faith in the one and only true God and calling others to do the same. She is telling others of a miracle working God.
4. Ladies, is your life an invitation to others to know the Living God? Is you faith so real that others see HIM in you? Sarah, our heroine in the faith calls us to follow her example and allow our laughter to be a source of invitation to other so know our God!!
ILLUSTRATIONS: WHOM DOES A MOTHER SERVE?
Mother...a quiet servant of necessity...doing the work no on would notice or thank her for--no one, that is, except Him to whom it could be offered as a daily sacrifice of love.
Source: "The Shaping of A Christian Family" by Elisabeth Elliot.
Contributed by: SermonCentral PRO
CONCLUSION: THE QUESTION OF THE DAY LADIES, IS WHERE ARE YOU DISBELIEVING GOD AND WHAT DO YOU NEED HIM TO DO FOR YOU? IS THERE ANYTHING TO HARD FOR THE LORD (VS14)? YOU CAN ONLY CELEBRATE WHEN YOU HAVE ALLOWED GOD TO BE GOD AND TO DO WHAT IT IS HE HAS PROMISED! AMEN!
