Wednesday, March 12, 2025  

---

Today's Scripture
Genesis 18:1–15

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on — since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to 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.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.” (NRSV)

---

Reflection

By this part of Genesis, you have to feel for God. Eighteen chapters in with these humans God created, and God has already dealt with disobedience, murder, dishonesty; God has meted out punishments, including an epic flood; God established a new covenant; and now this — outbursts of laughter? Humans are so unpredictable!

You can relate to God’s impatience: here God was, trying to establish a lineage as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but on hearing this news, Abraham (Genesis 17:17) falls on his face laughing. It’s no surprise that Sarah has the same, albeit subdued, reaction (Genesis 18:12).

You have to feel for Sarah. She had come to accept that Hagar’s son, Ishmael, would be Abraham’s heir. But suddenly, all understandings were upended. Her laughter — a comic relief? Or did both Sarah and Abraham picture themselves as stars of their own slapstick comedy, in their absurdly old ages, awkwardly cradling the new life they had brought into the world? Here was yet another thing God didn’t quite understand about humans, and so God mistook laughter for ridicule.

Most of all, though, you have to feel for Isaac. Even before his birth, he was treated as a mere commodity — a son. And don’t you think he was just a little embarrassed by his ancient parents? Surely his friends had young-ish mothers, but no, Isaac’s mother looked like a great-grandmother! And then that incident with the sacrifice (Genesis 22), where Abraham nearly slaughtered Isaac for a burnt offering. In spite of all this, though, the very name of Isaac is rooted in the Hebrew Yitzhak, “he who laughs.”

Given the joy that laughter brings, the Bible too often fails to explore its nature — misinterpreting it as irreverence or mockery. Let’s set the record straight. Isaac’s story shows us that laughter is a balm. A spontaneous liberation. A physical release. A gift of Creation. May this hymn sing in our hearts:

Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph song of life.

(from “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” Henry Van Dyke)

---

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come before thee in reverence and in joy. Drive the dark of our doubt away, and fill us with the light of day. Amen.

---

Written by Sarah Forbes Orwig, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church  

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email