During worship on Father’s Day, we asked the kids and then the wider congregation if their fathers told any “Dad Jokes.” Several shared. There was this one: What has six wheels and flies? A garbage truck! And then this one my father would always tell every time we drove over a railroad crossing.
Dad: “Wow, a train just went by here.”
Gullible kid: “Really? How can you tell?”
Dad: “I can see its tracks!”
Did you know God has jokes? God certainly has a sense of humor. Take for instance the story of Abraham and Sarah. God made a covenant with Abraham and Sarah, “As many as the stars, so shall your descendants be.” That was when they were young. But as the couple grew old, no heir apparent arrived on the scene. Sarah became nervous. She felt like she was letting her husband down and letting God down. She wasn’t fulfilling her role as a mother.
Not long after that Abraham and Sarah are visited by three travelers who seem to have some divine knowledge. We soon learn they are messengers from God. The messengers tell them that Sarah, in her old age, would conceive and give birth to a son. Upon hearing this news Sarah laughs. Out loud. Belly laugh. What a joke.
You can hear the irony and even a hint of bitterness in her laugh. The promise of blessed offspring has outlived the biological clock. The years have taken their toll. The weight of failure is heavy and this renewed promise is silly at least; an insulting punch to the gut at most. But indeed, Sarah gives birth to a son and names him Isaac which means ‘laughter’.
Consider how often this happens. God makes plans. We laugh. This story is a powerful example of where we humans find ourselves when we are faced with the unbelievable presence and promise of God in our lives. And we laugh. Sometimes with joy and delight but more often out of sheer disbelief and astonishment. We laugh when we are faced with the possibility of more than what our minds can imagine, or what our rational beings think is possible. We know no other way to be in those circumstances. Unwilling or unable to accept the idea that God might actually accomplish what God has promised.
So ask yourself, what are the things you find yourself laughing at? What promises of God do you find yourself incredulous at the possibility of ever becoming true? What makes you chuckle in disbelief when we read the hopes of this world realized through our creator God who makes all things new? Or, put another way, what are the experiences you have had already that you first thought were implausible, impossible, never gonna happen. And you laughed. But the promises of God have been realized and come true.
We give thanks that God has given us a sense of humor, the ability to laugh, and the joy of unexpected surprises. And we hold in faith the promise that God makes plans, we laugh, but God’s promises and faithfulness to us are constant and true.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.
