Laughing With Sarah

"God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." Genesis 21:6

Laughing With Sarah
By Rev. William Dohle

Thanksgiving is upon us. The season of giving thanks to God has arrived.

But what a world it has arrived into! Already, for weeks now, we've heard, not of thankfulness for what we have, but of want for what we don't as Christmas sales have arisen earlier this year than they ever did before. The Halloween holiday was quickly followed, not by a quiet time to ponder and give thanks, but by the rush of wanting more as stores throughout the country compete for the coveted Christmas dollars.

On top of all of this, we hear of impending government crises, wild protests throughout the country, the stock market's rollercoaster, and the growing din of political jargon.

Where has the time to give thanks gone? Have we forgotten what we are thankful for? Have we been so consumed being consumers in this world that we've forgotten that it's all gift? Every last bit of it?

Sarah didn't forget that! Not in the slightest. As she gave birth to Issac, a boy named "he laughs" she says, "God has brought me laughter! And now everyone who hears about this will laugh!"

God has brought Sarah laughter...why? Because he has done as he promised. In the verses preceding this we read: "Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised." God fulfilled his promise to Sarah! And now Sarah laughs! Truly laughs with delight for all the joy that God has poured into her life.

What's more is that she sees this joy, not just affecting her, but affecting all who hear about what has happened to her... including us! "Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." That everyone includes you...and it includes me. We laugh because God has filled Sarah's life with joy. We laugh because God has done what he has promised to do.

For the same reasons we give thanks this thanksgiving as well. Our blessings are not just our blessings. We are blessed by the stories of old.

We are thankful that God fulfilled his promise to Sarah, just as he said, because it reminds us God fulfills his promises to us too!

We are thankful for the deliverance that God brought to his people Israel, for it is the same deliverance he brings to us too.

We are thankful for his love for his servant David, for it reminds us that God can love us too.

We are thankful this thanksgiving, not just for our personal blessings and what God has done for us and our family, but for what God has done for his people of old and for what he continues to do for his people in this place.

We are thankful for people throughout the world who are working for justice and mercy on behalf of God's people.

We are thankful for pastors and teachers, professors and scholars, who challenge us to see God's Word in a different way.

We are thankful for those who work in public service to others, those who sacrifice their own time to help us, and those who are working for God's kingdom in small ways.

We are thankful for them all!

This Thanksgiving, before you run out and join the consumer throng waiting outside the local store, give thanks for all God's blessings. Give thanks for the farmers who have brought your meal to your table. Give thanks for the workers who will be waiting for you in the stores. Give thanks for all the minds behind all the gadgets you buy. For they are all gifts of God. Give thanks...and laugh...for what God has done for Sarah and for what he continues to do for us.

Lord God, may our laughter join Sarah's laughter as we remember and see how you have so richly blessed us. Give us pause this thanksgiving that, despite the noise of commercialism raging around us, we may truly give you thanks, not just for our blessings, but for the blessings you have poured our on all your people, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.