9th Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 18:10-15 10 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. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
God’s Word Is Nothing to Laugh At.
It happens almost every summer somewhere where the heat is oppressive - the number of deaths that have occurred during the hot days. In our air-conditioned cars, homes, and offices, maybe we laugh at the heat. No reason to fret when central air is blowing on us. But the dangers of exerting oneself in the heat hit are still there. When someone dies because of the heat all of a sudden, we realize that the heat wave is nothing to laugh at. We all become more cautious. We all take it more seriously.
God’s Word is to be taken much more seriously. It proclaims a God who created us and makes demands of all those he has created. It proclaims a God who will examine each person in the light of his law to see if there are any who have merited eternal life. It proclaims a God who has provided the only way sinners can be forgiven. It proclaims to each person where we can expect to spend our eternity, and why we should expect it. God’s word is nothing to laugh at, because God means what he says and God does what he says.
I. God Means What He Says.
When the Lord told Abraham to go to a new land, Abraham listened and went. He was 75 years old when he set out for the land of Palestine. The Lord told Abraham his descendants would inherit the land he sent him to. A gracious promise! It’s just that at age 75, Abraham had no children. The Lord had told Abraham he would have a son. About 24 years later, Abraham and Sarah still did not have a son. Even though the Lord repeated that promise to Abraham all those years, we might understand if Abraham and Sarah had given up hope. We might understand if Abraham and Sarah would sit together at night, talk about God’s promise to them, and have a good chuckle over it. But God’s word is nothing to laugh at. God means what he says.
When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord repeated his promise to Abraham. This time, God’s promise was a little bit different. This time, God delivered it in person. "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." (Genesis 18:1,2)
Now when the Lord comes to his people, it is always with a purpose. God did not come to Abraham just to shoot the breeze with him. God came to proclaim a promise he had given several times before. In the past, the Lord told Abraham that he would have a son. When? God did not say. This time, God spoke to Abraham face to face. This time, God pinpointed when he would fulfill his promise. "The LORD said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’" (Genesis 18:10) After years of waiting, God was going to fulfill his promise! Abraham and Sarah would have a son! God meant what he said.
What a shame that a moment of joy was turned to ridicule. "Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’" (Genesis 18:10-12) Who would blame Sarah for her reaction? She would have a son?! No way. Not at age 90. Not after hearing the promise again and again, only to be let down, again and again. There was only one problem with Sarah’s "reasonable" attitude. This was God who was telling her she would have a son. God means what he says. And God’s Word is nothing to laugh at.
Of course, Sarah is not the only one who has ever laughed in God’s face after hearing his word. We also have our "reasonable" objections to God’s Word. When God says "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2), we protest, "Yeah, right! Nobody’s holy." So rather than fear God, we laugh in his face. When God says, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18), we protest, "Come on, God. Some people should be ignored, not loved. They deserve every dirty look they get!" We laugh in God’s face. When the Bible says, "Among you there must not be a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people" (Ephesians 5:3), we find it hard to contain the laughter. "Are you serious, God? How about some advice for real life?!" There’s only one problem with our laughter. God is not laughing. God means what he says.
God’s Word is to be taken seriously. God also says this: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Galatians 3:10) God is very serious about his commandments. God means what he says; and he says that all who disobey him will be sent away for an eternity in hell. And though we may laugh in God’s face in this life, we will not so much as smirk when we see him face to face at the judgment. Jesus tells us that sinners shall be thrown "into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:30) God means what he says. And hell is nothing to laugh at.
II. God Does What He Says.
You have heard me say more than once: "God says it. I believe it. That settles it." That sounds good. But it is off by one phrase. "God says it. I believe it. That settles it." What if I don’t believe it? Does that change things? No, not at all. "God says it. That settles it." Whether I believe it or not, that settles it. Sarah didn’t believe that she would give birth to a son at age 90. But God said it. That settles it. God did not need Sarah’s approval to fulfill his word. Nor does God need us to ratify his plans in order to carry them out. God says it. That settles it. Why? God means what he says; and God does what he says.
The Lord wasted no time in pinning Sarah to the wall in her unbelief. "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?’" (Genesis 18:13,14) Then to drive home the fact that God means what he says and does what he says, the Lord repeated the promise to Abraham’s and Sarah’s faces. "I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." (Genesis 18:14) God does what he says no matter what anyone thinks about it! Sarah could laugh at God all she wanted. That would not invalidate God’s word. It didn’t matter that "Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of child-bearing." (Genesis 18:11) That did not nullify God’s promise. God means what he says. God does what he says. That is why God’s word is nothing to laugh at.
Just as God’s word did not hinge on Sarah’s opinion of it, so it is with us. God’s word applies whether we agree with it or not. It really is not any different when we disagree with the law of the land. If we break the law we may find ourselves in jail whether we agree or not.
We can reject God’s demand to be holy because we are not. But God’s demand still applies. We can laugh at God’s command to love others and to keep ourselves free from evil because we don’t. But God’s word still applies. We can’t laugh off God’s judgment. We can’t dodge it either. Sarah tried to. "Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But he said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’" (Genesis 18:15) Sarah could not evade God’s judgment. Neither can we. It is coming. It will apply to all people. And nothing we do can change it. The Bible reminds us, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him." (Psalm 115:3)
This is what pleased the Lord--to send a Savior to take away all of our sins. God does not laugh at sin. He is angry about it and must judge all who do it. But he sent a Savior to be the target of his anger and the object of his judgment. When Jesus was on the cross, he suffered the weeping and gnashing of teeth for every person on earth. The cross is nothing to laugh at, and Jesus didn’t. The Bible had promised, "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) God meant what he said. God did what he said. He put our sin on Christ. He put his curse on Christ. He handed our punishment to Christ. We don’t laugh at that; we find comfort in it.
But what about God’s command, "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2)? Does that still apply? Yes, it does. God means what he says; and God has every right to demand that of us. Remember, "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes." (1 Samuel 3:18) And the Lord has done what is good in his eyes. The Lord was pleased to send a Savior who provides us with the holiness we need. Jesus provided that holiness by applying every word of God to himself. When God demanded that Jesus keep himself free from all evil, Jesus didn’t laugh at God’s word. He did it. When God demanded Jesus show love to his Father with perfect obedience, Jesus didn’t laugh at God’s word. He did it. He was totally free from sin and completely holy. That holiness, or righteousness, has been given to you and me. The Bible says, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." (Romans 3:22) Jesus Christ has made us holy in the sight of God. That is what God says. God means what he says. God did what he says--through his Son, Jesus Christ. Again, that is not something we laugh at. It is something we rejoice in.
God means what he says. God does what he says. And God’s promises do not depend on how we feel. What awesome news! On those days when we feel that God has forgotten us, we know he hasn’t. He promises, "I will be with you always." (Matthew 28:20) God means what he says. God does what he says. When we don’t feel like a child of God, God assures us that we are: "You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ." (Galatians 3:26) God means what he says. God does what he says. When we wonder if we are doing enough so that God is pleased with us, God says, "It does not ... depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy." (Romans 9:16) God’s mercy has been poured out on us through Jesus Christ. God says so. God means what he says. God does what he says. That is our joy, our peace, and our comfort. God’s Word is nothing to laugh at. It is something to rejoice in. It is something to live for. Amen.
