“Inappropriate Laughter!” – FBC Morning Light (1/9/2025)

Well, a good morning to you. Hey, listen, I got a news flash for you. You know, I live in the upper Midwest, western Illinois, too close to Chicago for comfort in some people's way of thinking. And, you know, the Chicago sports teams haven't done so well in this past season.

The Chicago Bears, last place in their division, just a miserable season. One disappointing game after another. The Chicago White Sox, likewise, last place in their division. Okay, so here's the news flash.

This time next year, the Chicago Bears are going to have an undefeated regular season. They're going to win each of the playoff games, and they are going to win the Super Bowl. And the White Sox? The White Sox are going to have the best season they've ever had, better than when they won the World Series several years ago.

And they, too, are going to sweep in the playoffs, and they're going to win the World Series. The Bears are going to win the Super Bowl. The White Sox are going to beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.

Okay, now, how do you respond to that? How do you respond to that? I can hear the laughter all the way over here. Yeah, you say, that's ridiculous. In fact, that isn't even funny. That's so preposterous, it's not even funny.

Well, I totally understand. And given that, and your response to it, helps us have a little bit of insight into what we read in Genesis 17 and 18, all right? In Genesis 17, an angel of the Lord comes to Abram, changes his name to Abraham, and changes Sarai, his wife's name, to Sarah.

And then he says this. Now, Abraham is 100 years old, Sarah is 90 years old, and the angel says to Abraham in verses 15 and 16, or God says to him, God says to Abraham, Sarah's going to be her name, and I will bless her, and also give you a son by her.

Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall come from her. Now, wait a minute. How old did you say she is? 90 years old? And how many children does she already have that get a good head start on this making of many nations?

Zero. None. And when Abraham hears this news, what does he do? How does he respond? Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, shall a child be born to a man who's 100 years old, and shall Sarah, who's 90 years old, bear a child?

This is ridiculous. This is preposterous. This is impossible. This cannot possibly be. He's fallen on the ground laughing about it. Well, a little while later, in chapter 18, the Lord comes, and the appearance of men, the angel of the Lord comes, and Abraham sees him coming, and he says, let me fix you a meal, and Abraham goes and gets a meal prepared for the angel of the Lord, who's, again, he comes in the form of man.

It looks like just a man who's on a sojourn, and then the angel says to Abraham in verse 9, where's Sarah, your wife? Oh, Abraham says, she's here in the tent, and then the angel says this, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.

And then it's just parentheses that Sarah was listening in the tent door, which was behind him, and then you have this little, again, parenthetical note from the narrator here, who says, now, Abraham and Sarah were old, and they were advanced in age.

You think? 90 years old for the wife, 100 years old for Abraham, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. I should think so. Then verse 12, therefore, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also?

Now, notice, Sarah didn't fall on the ground laughing. She didn't have a rolling fit, you know, just trying to, you know, uncontrollable laughter. No, she laughed within her heart. She laughed within herself, and this is preposterous.

Well, she gets called on it. The angel of the Lord says, why did Sarah laugh? Why did Sarah laugh? And Sarah denied it. She said, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And the angel said, oh, no, but you did laugh.

You did laugh. But here's the punchline that gives her reason for not laughing. Is anything too hard for the Lord? That's a rhetorical question. The answer, of course, is, well, no. No. So the Lord said, he's going to give you a son.

He will give you a son. And it's interestingly appropriate that that son's name would be called Isaac, which means laughter. Laughter. Well, a few minutes ago, I made an announcement that should have provoked some laughter on your part, and reasonably so, because, after all, that was not divine prophecy.

I have no insight into who's going to win the Super Bowl next year, or who's going to win the World Series. None whatsoever. So yeah, if you laughed at the idea of the Bears and the White Sox winning those things, then you are absolutely on target.

But listen, here's the thing. When the Lord says, he's going to do thus and so, we take him seriously. He will. He will fulfill that which he says he will do. No need for laughter at such things. Only for joyful faith, receiving, believing, and receiving it.

Our Father and our God, we thank you that we can so trust you, that there is indeed nothing too hard for you. And we pray that you would bless these thoughts to our hearts today, in Jesus' name, and for his sake.

Amen. All right, listen, have a good rest of your day. I hope the Lord will bless you.