Proper 6A

15 June 2008

The Rev'd Lloyd Prator

New York City

Today we hear a part of the story of Abraham and Sarah which we have not heard for many years. This Sunday is one of the days when we can see why the church changed its lectionary last year. Today we get to hear the story of Sarah—her part of the Abrahamic saga.

Imagine the scene. Abraham and Sarah were out by a famous oak tree called the Oak of Mamre, and it was hot, so he was sitting in his tent, looked up and saw God. Well, sort of. What he thought he saw was three men. It is tempting to grin knowingly and think we know what that means. Maybe an early sign of the Trinity? No. Let’s leave that statement where it is, not Christianize it. This statement is a somewhat unreflective statement about a powerful appearance event. Leave it where it stands: They saw God that day, and it was like seeing three people, it was three times the impact of a usual epiphany.

The story begins with Abraham rushing around trying to be the perfect host, getting water to wash feet, a little bread from the larder to ease your hunger, and then, later, a calf, tender and good, which was killed and roasted for the visitors. They had some curds and milk, so he prepared that for them, noting that one day, people would call that dish “cottage cheese” and it would become the staple of every dieting American.

Now God, who is equally concerned with women as he is with men, asked for Abraham’s wife. Abraham said, “she is back in the tent” and she probably was, because there had been a lot of food to fix, and it is reasonable to assume that Abraham dumped some of that duty on her, as well as the servants.

But, it was Sarah, with whom God was concerned and so he pronounced that they would return “in due season” and she would give birth to a son. The writer tells us that such a pregnancy would be an unlikely event, because, as he convolutedly puts it, “it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.” Of course, that pile of prepositional phrases is heaped up to avoid saying that Sarah had already gone through menopause and her child bearing days were behind her. Little did she know.

What is going on here is a thoroughly charming exploration of the Abrahamic story from the point of view of Sarah. What we hear here, is Sarah’s laughter, her speculation about –to put it bluntly—the delight of having sex again, and her embarrassment about being caught laughing at God.

Shall I again have pleasure, she wonders to herself. Perhaps at that moment she recalled the young Abraham, who was known as Abram in those days, with his curly dark hair and his deep


penetrating eyes which made her feel like the only woman in the world. That would be worth trying again, she thought, and perhaps it is that, in addition to incredulity, which inspired her laughter.

But, the important thing about this story is really its understanding of God and how God works, and how the great figures of faith responded to God. Initially, their response was negative. She laughed at God, and then lied to God about having laughed. And in that way, the story is unresolved. The laughter of disbelieve seems to refute the invitation offered in the question “Where is Sarah?” The laughter and the skepticism seem leave Sarah and Abraham in the position before faith. Sarah seems to have pushed away the onslaught of God, leaving their simple, one-dimensional world intact.

But, God keeps his own counsel here, the story ends, and we know that as it turns out, the resolve of God to open up a new future for humanity does not depend entirely on Sarah and Abraham’s readiness to accept the new world.

God is prepared to go onward, the promise has been made, and Abraham and Sarah, although they will not know it for a few weeks, life will be forever changed.

This story is important.

It reminds us that god is about birth and new life. Isaac, born to Abraham and Sarah, is just the beginning; there will be Samuel born to Hannah, and finally Jesus born of the virgin Mary. God works through unusual birth and new life.

The stuff of human passion is actually the colors with which God paints the story of salvation. Never tell yourself that Christianity and Judaism are skeptical about sex. They are not. Properly understood human passion is part of God’s plan. And when Sarah was brought to grin with happy memories about being held in the arms of her husband, she was doing what God had in mind.

And perhaps most important: You do not have to have it all down pat in order to be a Christian or a Jew. Even if you are skeptical, even if you cannot take a full step into faith, a laugh of possibility, the offer of a dish of broiled beef and cottage cheese, the willingness to hear the next part of the story—that is all that is needed. Just open yourself to another way of living. God will do the rest.

In the end, of course, the word of God was good, as it always is. That night, life was a little more, shall we say, passionate, in the Abraham and Sarah tent. And a few weeks later, Sarah noticed something was missing—whether or not she laughed about that, no record shows. But nine months later, a baby boy was born, and they named him “He laughs” to serve as a reminder how they had responded when God had told them an absolutely incredible story.

Next time you are moved to laughter, consider for a moment how God may use that merriment; it can be a first step into God for you and those whom you love.