If I Could Ask One Question of Sarah, I would ask “Why Did You Laugh — and How Could You Tell G-d You Didn’t?”

 “God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in your sight!”  Genesis 17:15-18

 “They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”  Genesis 18:9-15

When G-d told Sarah and Abraham that they would have a child in their old age, they both laughed. Their laughter at G-d’s plan showed their disbelief that G-d could do such an amazing thing in their lives — but could you blame them.  The Bible tells us, “Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, not that I am old?’ Is there anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.’ Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But he said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’”(Genesis 18: 13-15).

We like to think that both Abraham and Sarah would have believed G-d at once — we like to think they would have had no doubts, but why should Abraham and Sarah be any different from you and me? If you and I received a message from G-d stating something completely out of what we believed was the realm of possibility, would we not also question? And in our disbelief, we might also have burst out in laughter. Abraham and Sarah simply find G-d’s word nearly difficult to believe — and they react with scoffing laughter. After all, Sarah is well past the age of childbearing — who wouldn’t scoff? But of course Sarah takes it a step further by denying that she laughed. That, my friends, takes courage — though it seems she was more afraid than courageous.

However, Abraham’s response to the Lord does not display total disbelief in the covenant promise. He falls on his face, symbolic of submission, trust and worship. Abraham shows us that real confidence in G-d doesn’t rule out times when G-d’s promises are hard for us to see. We sometimes forget that “anything is possible for G-d” while you and I are limited by our humanness. It is a challenge to always remain open to the limitless possibilities of G-d’s sovereignty and providence.

But this is the one question I would ask Sarah. What is your question?

Pastor Dave

 If I Could Ask One Question of Joseph, I would ask “How Could You Be So Oblivious?”

 “Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.” Genesis 37:1-8

If you are familiar with the story of Joseph and his beautiful and mysterious coat, you know that it leads to a terrible but necessary (according to G-d’s providence) journey. It seems that of all of his sons, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. There are theories as to why?, including he was Rachel’s child, he was so much younger than his other brothers, and he was a good boy. For his special attraction to his father, Joseph received from Jacob a special coat. It was made somewhat like a long cloak, it had wide sleeves, and contained many bright colors. It would have been seen as a special mark of favor by his other brothers. And as we all know, when there are jealousies and assumed special favors shown to some members of the family and not to others, trouble can be brewing underneath relationships. 

But it wasn’t just his coat that created tension within the family, he also had special dreams — dreams that seemed to place him above his brothers, even his parents, as some sort of leader. “Listen to this dream that I have dreamed. I dreamed that we were out in the field binding sheaves, when suddenly my sheaf stood up, and all your sheaves came around it and bowed down to my sheaf!”

And Joseph wasn’t afraid to share those dreams, as if he was  completely oblivious to how the family would perceive the dreams. Could Joseph have been that clueless?

One day Jacob wanted to send a message to his other sons, and so he sent Joseph: “Your brothers are near Shechem with the flock. I wish that you would go to them, and take a message, and find if they are well, and if the flocks are doing well; and bring me word from them.”

As soon as his brothers saw Joseph alone, in Shechem, they took advantage and grabbed him, bound him, and sold him into slavery. You will need to read the rest of the story if you are unfamiliar with the ending. His dream is a precursor to how the story ends…just before the 500 years of slavery for the people of Israel.

But this is the one question I would ask Joseph. What is your question?

Pastor Dave