It was the middle of the day and it was hot...too hot. A dry heat perhaps, but still too hot to work...too hot to be traveling....too hot to do much of anything but sit and try to catch an imaginary breeze.

Abraham rests near the opening of his tent. Suddenly three strangers arrive. They seem to have come out of nowhere...Abraham looks up and there they are standing near his tent. He doesn't wait for them to approach further...he rushes out and greets them with a remarkable gesture of respect - he bows. And he bows not just with a slight nod of the head or a quick bow at the waist...he bows completely to the ground.

Abraham seems to be almost falling over himself in his hurry to make his strangers feel welcome.
- 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.

He runs into the tent to Sarah and tells her to quickly - make ready 3 measures of the good flour - not the ordinary, everyday flour - the good flour and make some cakes for the guests. Next, he runs out to the herd and takes a calf - a good calf - and gives it to the servant to prepare. The strangers will dine on meat today- a luxury in that time and place.

Curds and milk complete the meal and the strangers eat as Abraham stands by watching, prepared to get them anything they might need. Abraham is the model of a good host. In this arid land, traveling was dangerous. It was expected and even a matter of survival at times that travelers be given some hospitality.

But Abraham goes above and beyond to make his guests feel welcome. This story became such a powerful image and was told so often that when the author of the book of Hebrews urged the congregation community to show hospitality, they were told to remember Abraham's hospitality with the words, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it..."

Well, the strangers eat and don't seem to be in any hurry. Only after they've finished do they address the real purpose of their visit.

"Where is your wife Sarah?" they ask...

Sarah? How did they know her name?

Abraham tells them she's in the tent -- and one of the strangers says, "I'll come back in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son."

Meanwhile, Sarah is listening to the exchange. She laughs. How could she not? She and Abraham were old - well beyond child bearing years. Sure there was that promise ... but that promise was going on 24 years ago now! Due season indeed! Long past due!

24 years ago God told them to leave home and go to a place God would show them. 24 years ago Sarah and Abraham were told - yes, promised - by God that they would have children - more children than stars in the sky - more children than the dust on the earth. 24 years ago - and yet it hadn't happened. And now Sarah - and Abraham -- were 24 years older.

The stranger says, "I'll come back in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son." And Sarah laughs. Who could blame her?

Laughter can mean many things. It can be a reflection of joy or pleasure. It can be a reflection of stress or nervousness. It can even indicate sarcasm or scorn.

Sarah's laughter seems to be none of those things. Her laughter is the laughter of dismissiveness - of disbelief. Her laugh says "Yeah...right. I've heard that one before. It'll never happen."

It's the laugh of all of us who live in a time of waiting. A time of waiting which seems to never end.

It's the laugh we make when someone tells us, "Don't worry - the right job will come along soon." Yeah...right...we laugh.

It's the laugh we make when someone tells us, "It's okay - you will rebuild." Yeah...right...we laugh.

It's the laugh we make when someone tells us, "Take it one day at a time - it will get better. You'll see." Yeah...right...we laugh.

God's reply to Sarah's laughter is a question: "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says that this is the question which is asked over and over again throughout the Bible... "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" .. and how we answer it determines everything else.i

Sadly, with her laughter, Sarah's answer seems to be, "Yes, there are some things which are just too impossible, too hard for God." It's a heart-felt honest answer. One that she gives to herself but which she quickly retracts when she realizes that she has been heard.

By the grace of God, however, God's plan does not depend on her answer. God has promised a new future and it does not depend on whether or not Sarah and Abraham are ready yet to receive it. It's not a conditional agreement God has made. It's a promise....period.

And the story does not end with Sarah's laughter. Rather her laughter seems to be the beginning of something new. A deeper sense of trust.

In an essay on humor and faith, theologian H. Reinhold Niebuhr claims that humor often is a prelude to faith - it can lead to faith.ii Both humor and faith deal with the contradictions of life - the things which don't make sense in our world - things which do not seem to fit. And as we are forced to deal with these contradictions we can grow to trust God.

It probably doesn't surprise you that there is a field of study surrounding the science of humor. People actually research how and why we laugh. What makes something funny? Well often, apparently it's the combination of the element of surprise and the element of the absurd.

What's more surprising than the announcement to a nearly 90 year old woman that she will have a baby! 90 year old women do not have newborn babies. And Sarah doesn't expect herself to be any different. And so - for now -- she laughs at the impossible-ness of it all.

But did you notice...God doesn't chastise Sarah for her laughter really. There's a degree of amusement in Godself when she denies laughing!

Ah - but you did laugh! You laughed Sarah! Go ahead and laugh! You're right! It's not the way things usually are.

But while you're laughing - out of skepticism or even despair, don't close off your imagination. Be open to the possibility of being surprised. Be open to the possibility of the unexpected, unanticipated, grace of God.

Blessing can come in the midst of what seems impossible. Blessing can come in the midst of the long period of waiting. Blessing can come in the midst of our skeptical or even cynical laughter about the way things seem to be.

The promise given to Sarah and Abraham does come true. Sarah gives birth to a son named Isaac, meaning "he laughs" and through Isaac we are given a reminder that God is able to work through the absurd and in the surprise. The promise which for so many years seemed impossible, has now been fulfilled.

At Isaac's birth, Sarah exclaims, "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me." No longer ashamed of her laughter, she enjoys a new kind of laughter -- the joyous laughter which is the fruit of faith. Sarah shows us that laughter - even the laughter born out of skepticism or disbelief -- can lead to faith.

Is there anything too wonderful for the Lord?

Amen.