Day 5 -- Genesis 17-19

In our reading for today the Lord asks Abraham --"Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son" (Genesis 18:13-14).
Why did Sarah laugh?
If she had known what she was in for as an elderly parent, her laughter would have been more of a nervous titter than the big horse laugh she undoubtedly gave. She did laugh, nevertheless, though she denied it later (verse 15). The story of the birth of Isaac, the child of the promise, is in fact surrounded with laughter. Abraham laughed when he heard the promise (17:17). It was just so unlikely, under the circumstances. He was "as good as dead, " as St. Paul puts it, and he knew it. Sarah laughed at the very idea--it was so preposterous--she was long past "the change." In a somber and disappointing world, how could such a happy ending happen?
Our Bible reading for today includes some very somber material. We see Abraham bartering with God for the survival of Sodom and Gomorrah in what is surely one of the most impressive passages in all of scripture. He fails, of course, and we witness the destruction of the cities of the plain. We hear of the vicious sexuality of the men of Sodom and the incest of Lot's daughters.
But all the while there is laughter behind the curtain. Life is a comedy and not a tragedy--that is the gospel. The essence of the new life is laughter.
Life presents us with many hard questions, but the only question that matters is the rhetorical one--"Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"
God's grace is too good to be true, and it comes in funny ways. The life of every believer, frankly considered, is a joke. Laughter is the only right response.
When God made a promise to give them the Child of Laughter--the name "Isaac" means "laughter"--Abraham and Sarah--Mr. and Mrs. Great--both doubted it. They wanted to believe it. The grace of God working in us always wants to believe the impossible. And they cooperated, as far as was humanly possible. (They say the babies are made in heaven, but we know better.) All we any of us can do is what is in us--and wait for the suprise.
But we need to remember--don't sell life short. To believe in God is to leave room for the impossible to happen. We need to say with the Virgin Mary--"Let it be with me according to your word"--and then expect to burst out laughing at what can happen.
The universe is filled with laughter--the truth is just so unexpected and so beautiful.