Imagine that you are 90 years old. Your husband is 100 years old. And God promises you that you are going to have a child. That is what happened to Sarah in our Scripture lesson for today. She was late in her life and had never given birth to a child before. Then God said that within a year, her dreams would come true. What was Sarah’s reaction? She laughed like God could never make it happen. If you were Sarah, how would you have reacted? Today, as you view Sarah’s momentary weakness of faith, ask yourself the question, “What do you do when you hear God’s promises?” Do you laugh to yourself like Sarah? Or do you laugh out loud in joy?

1. Do you laugh to yourself like Sarah?

As Abraham sat at the entrance of the tent, he saw some strangers approaching from a distance. Being a man of great faith, he understood that whatever he did for people here on earth he really did for our Lord. So Abraham rushed out to greet the travelers. Even though Abraham was one of the richest people in that part of the world, he bowed down before them in humility. With rich generosity and great hospitality, he placed a huge feast before them so that they could be rested and nourished for their journey.

Who were these three guests? They were none other than God himself and two angels. Abraham had opened up his home to the Lord. While they were dining on this feast the Lord asked where Sarah was. When Abraham told him that she was nearby in the tent, the Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Remember that Abraham would be 100 hundred years old. Sarah would be 90 years old. And God promised them a baby!

Again if you were in Sarah’s sandals, what would you have done when you heard God’s promise? The Bible tells us that Sarah laughed to herself. And then she said, “After I am worn out and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?” God promised her a great blessing and she laughed. Sarah scoffed that this could really happen.

But it was the Lord promising her this, how could she not believe it? How could she laugh at God himself? Why didn’t she trust in his promise? Hindsight is said to be 20/20. It is easy for us to look down on Sarah for laughing at God. But what about us? When God promises you something, do you always take it on faith? Do you always believe what he has to say to you? Or do you laugh to yourself like it could never happen?

Let me give you a few examples. God promises, “Surely I am with you always.” Do you laugh at God by living in worry and fear? Do you spend your life trying to make your own security? Do you find yourself afraid of the worst possible scenario all the time?

God promises you that he makes all things work for the good of those love him. Have you laughed at God’s promise by convincing yourself that your life stinks and it won’t ever get any better? Have you laughed at God by thinking that your marriage is going to make you miserable for as long as you live? Have you laughed at God by making up your mind that you can never happy?

God promises you that you will reap what you sow. Have you laughed at God by holding back the precious gifts he has given you instead of giving them back to God for the work of the great harvest? Have you laughed at God by thinking that you couldn’t possibly help someone in need because then you would have to go without something? Have you laughed at God by fearfully saying to yourself that you need store up your treasure for a rainy day instead of scattering far and wide?

God promises you that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Do you laugh at God by living a life of mourning and sorrow, instead of joy and happiness? Do you laugh at God spend more time longing for those who have gone to their heavenly home already than you do reaching out with the promise of heaven to those who are still here.

What do you do when you hear God’s promises? Yes, we all have been filled with doubt, fear, and sorrow that makes us laugh at God’s promises. For that lack of faith and distrust in our Creator, we must repent of that sin. We must ask God for his forgiveness. We must place ourselves at his mercy.

2. Do you laugh out loud in joy?

At this point it is important for us to look deeper into the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah. The Lord elaborated on his promise when he said, “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” Now what did all of this mean? God would give them a child but this was a miracle child and not just because they were elderly. This was a miracle child because from this child God would make a great nation of believers. And that’s not all, by this child all nations would be blessed because the line of the Savior would continue from Abraham to his son, Isaac, to Jacob, to Judah and all the way down until the Messiah was born in Bethlehem to Mary.

Yes, God promised the Savior to Adam and that promise was passed down from generation to generation. And Abraham believed that promised and when God told him the first time that he would have son, Abraham laughed also. But his laughing was not out of disbelief. He trusted God’s promise and he laughed in joy. For the Savior would come to take redeem the world. The Savior would come from his family to save him also.

That was God’s promise to his Old Testament people and he delivered on that promise. In the town of David, a Savior was born. Humbly he came to be what we could not be – perfect. In humility he allowed angry and spiteful men to nail him to the cross. With a deep commitment to save us he took all our sins upon him and died for our forgiveness. With magnificent glory, he rose from that cold, dark grave to grant us life everlasting. Yes, Jesus Christ fulfilled God’s promise.

When you see what Jesus has done for you, do you laugh out loud with joy? Are you filled with gratitude, excitement, wonder, and praise at the promises of God. Do you laugh out loud with joy when your pastors pronounce to you that your sins are paid for, that your debt has been erased, that heaven is yours? Do you laugh out loud with joy when you think of your baptisms, when God brought you into his family and blessed you with an eternal inheritance? Do you laugh out loud with joy when you receive Holy Communion which grants you the forgiveness of sins, which fills you with peace and comfort? When you hear the Word of God, when you remember your baptisms, when you kneel at the Lord’s altar, you hear God’s promises. And he keeps them all because he loves you. Believe those promises like Abraham did and laugh out loud in joy.

Now what does it mean to laugh out loud with joy. Sure you can smile as the gospel is read to you. You can even chuckle at how much God’s loves you. But what I am really getting at here is an attitude in your heart – an attitude of joy. It is in an attitude that trusts God. It is an attitude that does not worry about the things of this world, what you will eat, what you will wear, storing up treasures for tomorrow. It is an attitude of the Christian who has been set free by God’s promises and lives in true contentment with the blessings that God has given. It is an attitude that says I will give all that I have to God because he has given me everything. It is an attitude that steps out on limb once in a while trusting that even though things don’t look great from your view, God will take care of everything.

Laughing out loud with joy means that we have a positive outlook. Sure there will be trials and troubles in this life. But God has promised you that you are saved. He has promised you that he is with you always. He has promised you that he will work all things for the good of those who love him. God has promised you that you will reap what you sow. God has promised you that you can do all things in Christ Jesus. So what will you do when you hear God’s promises? Will you laugh to yourself like Sarah? Or will you laugh out loud in joy? Amen.