The Last Laugh
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I love the sound of laughter.
I love the sound of laughter.
Nothing beats a little kid, just learning how to laugh.
Who knew a good game of peak-a-boo could be the funnest thing ever.
Sometimes I hear a little kid laugh, and he starts to absolutely lose it.
I love that sound.
It’s pure joy to listen to, because you know the child is having a ball.
But it’s so
A laugh says something.
The context and the laugh tell you something about the person and how they feel.
There’s the “My Life Is Over” Laugh.
It’s a nervous laugh, where you most embarrassing secret is out.
You’re caught.
And you can’t help but nervously laugh, and hope the moment passes you by.
There’s the “No one gets it, and I’m the only one laughing” Laugh
This is a Kirkendall Trademark.
You’ve said something that you thought would be funny … only it’s incredibly insensitive, and no one gets it, and no one finds it funny.
So you laugh … alone, and everyone else rolls there eyes and hopes it passes by quickly.
There’s the “Courtesy Laugh”.
It’s very similar to the “No one gets it, and I’m the only one laughing” Laugh.
Only this time, people laugh with you, only so they don’t have to stare at you laughing all by yourself.
They do the Courtesy Laugh only to eliminate the terrible silence in the room, then it’s quickly over.
There’s the “Overdone Fake Laugh”
This is a mean version of the “Courtesy Laugh”.
You are letting everyone know it’s not funny, by obnoxiously opening your mouth as wide as you can, and loudly mocking whoever told the joke.
There’s the “Tear-Crying Belly Laugh”
My first memory of this was seeing Robin Hood: Men in Tights with my mom for my 13th birthday.
There’s this scene where Robin Hood and Little John having a duel with staffs.
Up till that point in my life, it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen.
I thought I was going to pass out in the theater.
My stomach hurt, I couldn’t take it.
In today’s text, we have two laughs, that each tell a different story.
Just as the laughs I just told you about say something about the person who’s laughing.
This is a mean version of the “Courtesy Laugh”.
The laughs that we will see today, tell us about the faith of the individuals who are laughing.
Let’s open Bibles to and read to the end of the chapter.
Here we read about the first laugh, the Joyful Laugh.
Here we read about the first laugh, the Joyful Laugh.
God again appears to Abraham.
Through our journey in Genesis, God has reiterated this single promise over and over again to Abraham.
The promise is that Abraham would be the father of a great nation.
It has been made explicitly clear that the child would be a an actual, biological child of Abraham.
But this time when God gives this promise to Abraham, He adds a detail we haven’t heard yet.
The child will not only come from Abraham, but Sarah will give birth to the child.
God will build a nation, not just from Abraham, but also from Sarah.
Just as nations will come from Abraham, now they can trace themselves back to Sarah as well.
Abraham hears this, and you see his response in verse 17, “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed.”
This laugh says something about Abraham.
This was a good laugh.
This was a laugh of pure joy.
He saw the miracle of it all.
He’s 99 years old.
Sarah is 90.
And she’s going to bear a child?
He falls on his face and laughs.
When Abraham laughs, he’s not laughing out of disbelief.
He’s laughing out of joy, understanding that this is a blessing.
Why do I say that?
Because he falls on his face.
This is a position of reverence
The statement of falling on his face is a position of reverance, a position of worship.
It’s a position of worship.
It’s prostrating yourself before the Lord.
And while, he’s doing it, he’s laughing.
What a great first point to a sermon, the joyful laugh.
It’s good to find joy in Christ.
Our sin is real.
Our sin is offensive.
Our sin makes us enemies of God.
And yet, God has demonstrated His great love for us, by sending His Son to die for us.
And in this sacrifice, the justice of God is satisfied.
Our sins are paid for.
Peace is made with God.
The Great War is over!
That’s worth celebrating.
There’s that great picture from V-J Day, the day that the US had victory over Japan at the end of World War II.
It’s a picture of a sailor kissing a nurse on the streets of New York.
It’s a celebration.
The war is over.
It’s good for us to celebrate.
As much as we talk about our sin, we don’t talk enough about the peace.
Sometimes, we think that we need to be somber, and mourn.
Yes your sin is offensive to God.
But if it’s been paid for there is no condemnation.
Therefore, there’s no reason to sit and wallow.
Instead rejoice.
Be glad.
Celebrate.
It’s okay to have joy in your life, and it’s okay to have joy in your relationship with God.
One of my favorite books is called Desiring God by John Piper.
The subtitle of the book is controversial, Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.
It’s controversial because hedonism is bad.
It’s the love of pleasure.
John Piper’s goal is that we be Christian Hedonist, meaning that we get our pleasure from God, and that we actually pursue pleasure in God.
He takes the first statement from shorter catechism, which says, “What is the chief end of man?”
You are familiar with the answer being, “The chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy Him forever.”
He changes it to, “The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”
Do you enjoy God?
Then demonstrate it.
Abraham fell on his face and laughed.
A couple weeks ago, I went to a 2 year old’s birthday party.
It came time to giving him gifts.
There’s no one as honest with whether or not he likes a gift then a two year old.
On the gift giving side it’s an unspoken competition to see what he likes the most.
How do you know if he liked a gift?
He won’t put it down.
2 year olds also let you know if they don’t like a gift.
They won’t pick it up, he might even throw it.
If you find joy in God, then enjoy Him.
Many of us are more like the 2 year old who got a new outfit in a present instead of a new toy.
They play with it.
He won’t pick it up.
In fact, he’d rather not have it at all, because it’s a waste of his time as far as he’s concerned.
A coup
We look glumly at God and desire something else.
If you claim to worship God, then worship Him, and enjoy Him.
Piper also says, “God is not worshiped where He is not treasured and enjoyed. Praise is not an alternative to joy, but the expression of joy.”
I think we all agree that worship is essential to the Christian life.
But where there is no joy ...
Where the Christian does not enjoy God, then there is no worship.
God wants us to enjoy Him.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Isaac’s name is Isaac.
That name means He laughs.
There is joy with Isaac, and God wants there to be joy.
He wants Abraham and Sarah to be blessed and to know they’re blessed.
And Abraham demonstrates that he knows he’s blessed by laughing.
Do you know that you’re blessed?
If not, then go back to the very beginning.
Tell yourself the Gospel.
Think through what God has done to save you.
Think through how salvation is a very personal thing.
Christ calls His sheep by name.
We have 2 basset hounds.
They are those hounds that are full size dogs, only half as tall as a normal dog.
When we come home and our dogs find out we are home it’s the greatest thing in their life.
They let us know how happy they are to find out we are back.
And if Christ has found you, and if He has called you by name, then like our dogs, rejoice.
And then rejoice.
In our text we also see the love that Abraham has for his son Ishmael.
Piper, John. Desiring God, Revised Edition: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Kindle Locations 246-247). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
After hearing that Sarah will have a child and he is to name the son Isaac, he then says, “What about Ishmael?”
But God makes it clear, the covenant is with Isaac.
Ishmael was the product of human action.
There’s no miracle in the birth of Ishmael.
God wants it to be crystal clear that He is the one who is supernaturally building a nation from Abraham and Sarah.
Sarah is physically unable to have children at this point.
If she were to have a baby now, it would have to be a miracle.
You could only give one reason for her having a child and that would be because God did something spectacular.
Verse 22, it says that God finished talking to Abraham and He went up from Abraham.
This reminds me of the ascension at the beginning of where Jesus goes up into the clouds, and all the disciples are left staring up.
Abraham’s having a conversation with God, it’s actually a Cristophany, it’s Jesus, and then all of a sudden He goes up, up into the clouds.
And to demonstrate Abraham’s understanding of all this, he then obeys God.
We saw it last week, God had commanded Abraham to have himself and all the men with him circumcised.
Which he does in obedience.
As we go through Genesis, we are starting to see how Abraham is changing.
He’s going from an idolater, into someone who genuinely has faith.
Let’s continue into the next chapter to see how he continues to have joy.
Follow along as I read
This is a separate occasion.
God again appears along side Abraham.
The text says that there were 3 men present.
One was another Christophany, which is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.
The other 2 were angels.
Some have wrongly thought this was an occurrence of the Trinity in the Old Testament.
Just because there are 3 doesn’t mean it’s the Trinity.
Why isn’t it the Trinity?
First, because God the Father is Spirit.
Second, because the Holy Spirit … is Spirit.
And third, because later in the text, 2 of the men will leave and go down into Sodom and Gomorrah.
There they are called angels.
And one of the men will stay and He is called Yahweh.
We’re starting to see a change in the character of Abraham.
In the last chapter, he fell down and laughed.
This time, he meets God, and he begs God not to leave so quick.
Verse 3, “Oh Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.”
He laughs when he’s near God.
God brings him joy.
He wants to be in the presence of God.
He offers to wash the Lord’s feet, eat some bread, followed up by a hamburger.
The Lord agrees to this little barbecue, and in verse 8 it says that Abraham “stood by them under the tree while they ate.”
This becomes a nice little picture of the Christian.
When we first encounter God, we learn that we have sinned.
We learn that we have offended God.
There is fear.
But then, once you understand the Gospel, there is a change.
We still have a deep respect for the Lord.
But we don’t fear our destruction anymore.
The Christian doesn’t have a fear of Hell.
Instead, we are like sheep.
We know the shepherd’s voice and we feel safe when He is near.
Notice Abraham’s joyful response to God, he wants to serve.
If you find pleasure in the Lord, how are you serving Him?
We have seen Abraham’s expression of joy. He fell down and laughed.
We have seen Abraham’s expression of joy. He fell down and laughed.
He desired for God to remain in his presence.
He served the Lord.
But not all moments of laughter are out of joy.
But not all moments of laughter are out of joy.
There is also the Mocking Laugh.
There is also the Mocking Laugh.
Let’s move a little deeper into this chapter to see another laugh, which isn’t so confident as Abraham’s.
Let’s look at .
Read
One of the men asks Abraham where his wife is.
This is a separate occasion.
Abraham says she’s in the tent.
This wasn’t a Coleman tent that we use when we go camping, it was much heavier than that, but still sound carries, you can hear what is going on outside.
God again appears along side Abraham.
What God was going to say here, was for Sarah’s ears.
She was meant to hear what he says.
The text says that there were 3 men with him.
He says in a year, she’ll have a son.
One was another Christophany, which is an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.
Verse 11 says that she was old and advanced in years.
The other 2 were angels.
She even says that she is worn out.
Some have wrongly thought this was an occurrence of the Trinity in the Old Testament.
Just because there are 3 doesn’t mean it’s the Trinity.
Basically, it’s impossible for her to have children in her current state.
Verse 12 says she hears God saying these things, and that she laughed to herself.
Why isn’t it the Trinity?
First, because God the Father is Spirit.
This wasn’t a laughter of faith.
This was a laughter of doubt.
Second, because the Holy Spirit … is Spirit.
Her laugh was nothing like her husband’s.
And third, because later in the text, 2 of the men will leave and go down into Sodom and Gomorrah.
His was loud.
There they are called angels.
The man who stays is called Yahweh.
It was bold.
It was supposed to be heard.
He fell on his face in the presence of God and laughed.
We’re starting to see a change in the character of Abraham.
In the last chapter, he fell down and laughed.
He didn’t hide his joy.
Sarah laughed, but she didn’t advertise it like her husband.
This time, he meets God, and he begs God not to leave so quick.
It was under her breath, in hiding.
Verse 3, “Oh Lord, if I have found favor in your sigh, do not pass by your servant.”
It wasn’t for the world to hear.
But the Lord heard her laugh and knew she doubted Him.
I’ve been caught doing this many times.
He laughs when he’s near God.
Someone says something, or says what’s on his heart.
I don’t even think about it, I laugh, as if I don’t believe what’s being said.
That’s what Sarah did.
At the end of verse 15, she denied doubting God.
In fact, she even said, “I did not laugh.”
God brings him joy.
He wants to be in the presence of God.
And what does God say, “No, but you did laugh.”
He offers to wash the Lord’s feet, eat some bread, followed up by a hamburger.
She was in a tent.
She didn’t think anyone could hear her.
The Lord agrees to this little barbecue, and in verse 8 it says that Abraham “stood by them under the tree while they ate.”
This becomes a nice little picture of the Christian.
She might have even covered her mouth when she laughed to herself.
But you can’t hide anything from God.
When we first encounter God, we learn that we have sinned.
We learn that we have offended God.
“No, you laughed.”
There is fear.
She was caught.
But then, once you understand the Gospel, there is a change.
Why wasn’t she as bold with her laugh as her husband?
Because she didn’t believe God.
Sarah had demonstrated her doubt in secret, and the Lord responded to her from outside the tent.
We still have a deep respect for the Lord.
Look at verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
But we don’t fear our destruction anymore.
The Christian doesn’t have a fear of Hell.
He then goes on to explain that next year, He’ll return and she’ll have a son.
Instead, we are like sheep.
Where it says “Is anything too hard ...” in the Hebrew, the word there actually means wonderful, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
You see, God has promised her a tremendous blessing.
We know the shepherd’s voice and we feel safe when He is near.
Not just a child, but an actually blessing for her.
Her status will change with the birth of a son.
In that culture, being able to have children meant you were more blessed than someone else.
In that culture, being able to have children meant you were more blessed than someone else.
To be barren was a curse.
It meant something was wrong with you.
Remember, when Hagar became pregnant with Ishmael?
She became proud.
She thought she was better than her mistress.
By Sarah becoming pregnant, she would not only become a mother, but her position would be changed.
But at 90 years old, she lost faith.
She had given into the depressed thought that she was forever cursed.
And not even God could change that for her.
She doubted God’s ability to do something wonderful for her.
She doubted it so much that she laughed at the idea.
You know why I think we don’t have more joy in our life, because we are too much like Sarah.
We doubt.
We have settled into the notion that God doesn’t care for His creation, and we are what we are and nothing’s going to change that.
If you disagree with what I just said, then may I ask you this question, what is your prayer life like?
Prayer is the affirmation that God is able to do whatever He desires.
Prayer is the affirmation that nothing is too hard for God; after all, we are asking Him to do the impossible, what we cannot do ourselves.
Prayer is the affirmation that nothing is too wonderful for God.
I ask what your prayer life is like, because when I talk to people about what their relationship with God is like, one of the number one things that people say needs to improve on is prayer.
What does that tell us?
It tells us that we don’t pray enough.
It tells us we don’t think God really works.
Sure on paper, or in belief statements we do, but in secret, in practice, we don’t.
We are more like Sarah, who giggles when no one is watching.
May I be honest with you.
This past year, the Lord has taught me more, than in any period of my life.
And one of the things that I am seeing is that nothing is too wonderful for the Lord, nothing is too hard for the Lord.
I am seeing things within this church, that I’ve been praying for for 8 years.
We have team of people who go out every month, and knock on the doors of our community for the purpose of spreading the Gospel.
Just that, is an answer to prayer.
We’ve encountered some interesting people.
Just in the groups I’ve been with, I’ve encountered 3 homes, where someone had just died, and one time a funeral was about to take place.
That’s just 1 group in 10 months.
30% of the time, we’ve found a home that needs prayer because they are grieving.
We’ve prayed with people.
We’ve laughed.
And we’ve preached the Gospel.
You have a team of elders who eagerly care for the church.
Recently, we’ve experienced major victories.
We successfully refinanced the building.
The infamous sprinklers were approved by the city.
These things make me want to laugh out loud, because it’s wonderful.
I want to continue praying for big things and watching the Lord answer prayer.
My big prayer for the last 2 months, and I’m praying for it every day until the new year, and I won’t stop then, but my big prayer is that the Lord would help you identify your spiritual gifts, and that you would use them to serve the church.
That’s been my prayer.
And I’m already getting a taste of that one being answered.
You’re seeing it happen on Sundays.
Jason has very affectively been leading the music team, using his own gifts.
The Cajudos have been an awesome addition.
And different people are using their gifts.
There’s others who are being trained and desiring to be used by God.
These are tremendous things.
When people ask me how things are at Southwest, these are some of the recent things I tell them.
We’ve refinanced the building, finished the sprinklers, and people are starting to serve.
All that to say, we’ve experienced big victories from God, so why don’t we live like it?
I’ve got a list of things on my computer that I’m praying for, and it’s exciting to see the Lord answer them.
But what I’m seeing, is that I still don’t ask for enough.
There are somethings that I don’t know why I’m not praying for them.
There are people who need to come to the Lord, people that I know, family.
Why don’t I pray for them more? I don’t know.
And I’m not alone.
Is it because I’m more like Sarah?
Laughing in disbelief at God’s ability to do wonderful things.
As we bring our time to a close, I’d like you to think through, what type of laughter describes your life.
As we bring our time to a close, I’d like you to think through, what type of laughter describes your life.
Are you like Abraham, falling on your face, boldly praising God?
If not, what’s it gonna take to get there?
It begins with the Gospel.
Knowing that you have a kind God, a loving Savior, who gave His life to achieve something because of his great love.
That’ll make you laugh for joy.
It does at a wedding.
Or are you more like Sarah, laughing under your breath, because you aren’t sure He actually can do wonderful things?
I’m going to close this sermon in prayer, and I’m going to pray a bold prayer.
It’s that this church would become a church that’s a fall on its face, in love with God, kind of church.
I’m going to pray for our Sarahs, that the Lord would give them a boldness, and a faith that trusts Him.