1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,600 I love this, these two passages that we've read this morning 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,760 about laughter and and laughing and Sarah getting caught 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,160 laughing in Genesis chapter 18. Oh, I didn't laugh. 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:14,400 I don't know. Yeah, you laughed. 5 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:15,400 I heard it. I heard it. 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:22,400 And then Sarah openly laughing in Genesis 21 as God's promises 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,440 at last fulfilled, and she has given birth to a baby, a boy 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:34,280 that she and Abraham named Isaac and name Isaac means laughter. 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,920 Laughter. They named their son laughter. 10 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,080 And it's fitting because God can be funny sometimes. 11 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,920 Now, to say that God can be funny sometimes begs this 12 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,640 question. Do we mean funny, strange or 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:50,520 funny? Ha ha. 14 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,320 And, and the fact is, yes, we mean both. 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,880 Sometimes God can be funny, ha ha, and we can laugh with 16 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:04,920 incredible joy gut, you know, bouncing, belly laughing, you 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,600 know, full throated, just laugh out loud funny. 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,880 God can be sometimes. And sometimes God can be so 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,400 strange and so weird and so different than what we expect 20 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,120 that we just have to laugh because it is so strange and so 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,480 weird and so different than we expect. 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,040 And we get both ends of the spectrum that we get to look at 23 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:31,400 and and reflect on this morning. So God's promise to Abraham and 24 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,800 Sarah in Genesis 18 was definitely funny. 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,520 Strange. Abraham was about 99 years old 26 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,960 and Sarah was about 85 years old. 27 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:48,400 And for 15 years now, God had been promising them that Sarah 28 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:53,080 was going to have Abraham's baby and that that through that line, 29 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,360 great nations would come and all of the world would be blessed. 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,440 And by this point, after 15 years of hearing the same 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,760 promise repeated over and over again, Sarah's 85 years old. 32 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,000 She knows she can't have babies anymore. 33 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,040 It's biologically impossible. People were not stupid back 34 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:14,880 then. They knew how the human body 35 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,080 worked in these things. And she knew. 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,920 And she heard the promise again, and she laughed. 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,120 Now she was quiet about it. And she wasn't even standing 38 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,880 with the folks or sitting with the folks where God was having 39 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,560 the conversation with Abraham. She was in the tent overhearing, 40 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,080 listening to what was going on and laughed to herself. 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,880 But God still hurt and God knew. But it was strange, it was, it 42 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,080 was funny, strange. Abraham and Sarah, both very old 43 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,000 by this time, Sarah long past the age of having children. 44 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,280 So she laughed silently to herself. 45 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,880 How could a worn out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, 46 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,240 especially when my master, my husband, is also so old. 47 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,840 I, I took the mind master out in one of the slides. 48 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,960 I didn't want to get into that Business Today. 49 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,640 I forgot to take it out of this one young. 50 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,680 Talk about that on your own when you get home. 51 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,520 I want to talk about the laughing part. 52 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,720 And I think there's a lot of humor and light hearted hearted. 53 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,440 I mean, there's so much dark at times in the scripture and and 54 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,640 it's easy to miss the humor and light heartedness. 55 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,840 But but when Sarah says how could a worn out woman like me 56 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,400 enjoy such pleasure, that's what she's talking about. 57 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,280 I mean, she we all know childbirth itself is not 58 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,560 pleasure. It's it's the making the baby 59 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,520 part that she's talking about here. 60 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,680 She's like, my husband's old. I'm old, how is this ever going 61 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,200 to happen? And this is this is what she's 62 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,560 laughing about in the tent to herself. 63 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,640 It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. 64 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,520 And she can't help but laugh. There are times when God 65 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:56,320 interacts with us in this kind of way, when God makes promises 66 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:02,160 that seem so extravagant, so ridiculous, so impossible that 67 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:07,720 that the impulse is to laugh. Laugh because it's just dumb. 68 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,520 And and I think the church is kind of in the midst of that. 69 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,280 I mean, this was 15 years of promise here, right? 70 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,440 15 years since we know the first recorded promise that God made 71 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,280 to Abraham. It's been 2000 years since Jesus 72 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:29,320 said I'll be right back. And we still are waiting for the 73 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,720 fulfillment of that promise. And I don't know what else might 74 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,320 be happening in your personal lives, whether you've ever 75 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:41,240 experienced God promising you something and, and, and you're 76 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,080 still waiting and waiting and waiting. 77 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,920 And it seems like it, it might be impossible for that promise 78 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,600 ever to be fulfilled. I know of a woman, she's since 79 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:56,520 passed, who loved her son. She had a large family, 5 kids 80 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:03,040 and and her youngest son made some disastrous decisions early 81 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,480 in life and became significantly addicted to very powerful drugs, 82 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:15,040 blew through multiple marriages and and the the last the most 83 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,800 recent time she saw him after he was gone for years and years and 84 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,360 years. He came back and told her he was 85 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:26,520 dying of cancer and and would she please cash in the insurance 86 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,560 policy that she had for him. She had for some reason bought a 87 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,360 policy specifically to insure for treating cancer and turns 88 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,440 out he didn't have cancer. He just wanted the cash and and 89 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,280 that was the condition he was in when she died. 90 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,520 And it wasn't till after her death that he was sent to prison 91 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:54,560 because he had so many DU is And in prison he found Jesus again 92 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,480 and his life was dramatically changed and transformed and we 93 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,040 got out of prison. He was very much a different 94 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,720 man, became a pastor, a lay pastor and served a church and 95 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,160 cared for people and and and lived a wonderful, beautiful 96 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,040 life from that point on. He has since passed as well. 97 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:23,600 But that that mom never saw the promise fulfilled when her son 98 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,840 was born, when he was growing up, when he gave his life to 99 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:32,880 Christ, when he was baptized and and the hope that she had for 100 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,800 him, the dreams that she had for him, the prayers that she said 101 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,240 for him, and none of it was filled fulfilled in her 102 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,720 lifetime. God is strange. 103 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,920 Sometimes. God is weird. 104 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,320 God will, will, will promise things and we think we know what 105 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,840 we're being promised. And it turns out that God's 106 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,440 going to fulfill the promise in a way that's completely 107 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,600 different than we expect. Sometimes we try to make the 108 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,240 promises work out on our own. That's what Abraham and Sarah 109 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,480 did after years of not receiving the promise and then everyone 110 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,080 knowing Sarah's too old to have a baby anyway. 111 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,240 So, so Sarah gave her slave Hagar to Abraham and said, have 112 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:19,640 a baby with her. And and that has had that had 113 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,360 disastrous consequences for generations and generations and 114 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,440 generations afterward trying to make God's promises come true 115 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,320 instead of waiting for God to fulfill his promises. 116 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,880 And it's so hard. It's easy for us on this end of 117 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,440 it to look at Sarah and Abraham's situation and say, 118 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,000 well, they should have just been patient and trusted God. 119 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,280 But think how you would react if an 85 year old woman came and 120 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,800 told you, you know, God promised me I was going to have a baby 121 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,160 before I die. It's going to happen next year, 122 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,720 God promised me. You'd think this lady needs to 123 00:07:54,720 --> 00:08:02,120 be receiving some care, right? You, you would think that it's 124 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,800 easy for us on this side of the story because we know how the 125 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,880 story ends. But when we're in the middle of 126 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,560 the story and we're waiting for the promise or God seems to have 127 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,760 promised something that's so extraordinarily impossible that 128 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,040 it can't possibly become come true. 129 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:21,720 And, and, and we despair or we give up or, or, or we, we just 130 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,320 laugh it off and say this whole thing is just crazy. 131 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,840 God can be funny sometimes and very strange sort of ways. 132 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,320 God can also be funny, ha ha. And God was funny, ha ha. 133 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,600 By Genesis chapter 21, just about a year later, Sarah had 134 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,840 apparently enjoyed that pleasure and Abraham too. 135 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,120 And now there's a baby and Sarah's nursing and she can't 136 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,320 help but laugh. She can't help but laugh. 137 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,280 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he said, and the Lord 138 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,360 as he said. That's, I think, one of the most 139 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,080 important phrases in the Bible. The Lord was gracious to Sarah 140 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,920 as he said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 141 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,920 And Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who 142 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,320 hears about this will laugh with me. 143 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:19,600 When God fulfills a promise, there is tremendous laughter, 144 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:24,240 there can be tremendous joy, tremendous surprise. 145 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,160 I mean, Can you imagine Sarah's relatives and friends and family 146 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,240 when they say Sarah's, Sarah's, Sarah's pregnant, Sarah's, 147 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:35,920 Sarah's? I will believe Sarah's pregnant 148 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,400 when Sarah has the baby. Sarah had the baby. 149 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,280 And wow, folks were just overwhelmed with joy as Sarah 150 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,040 was. What did she have to laugh about 151 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,840 at this, at this point? You know, I mean, there's a lot 152 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,800 of work going on with the raising a baby and 85 years old 153 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,400 and wow, now I got to raise a baby. 154 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,240 There's a lot of work going on with that. 155 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,600 What did Sarah have to be laughing about? 156 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,400 Sarah had the joy of being a mother, the absolute joy of 157 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,400 being a mother. Clearly she'd been longing for 158 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,480 this, for she was in her 8th decade. 159 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,600 I don't know how old she had to get before she started wanting 160 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,400 to have a kids of her own. But in a culture in which that 161 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:22,160 was what was expected, that that was the purpose of life for for 162 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:27,200 human beings to get married, to have children, to be fruitful 163 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,800 and multiply. This was this was still part of 164 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,960 the ethos then, as it is in many places still today, that one of 165 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,520 the reasons we're here on this earth is just what God said, be 166 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,440 fruitful and multiply. And here's Sarah for 85 years 167 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,920 with no multiplication, with no addition. 168 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,480 And now she gets the joy of being a mother. 169 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,800 She gets the joy of holding a baby and saying this is my baby. 170 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:57,040 The joy of nursing a baby, saying I'm giving this child 171 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:02,520 life from my own body. The joy of his first laugh, the 172 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,880 joy of his first kick inside the womb. 173 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:08,040 The joy of his first steps, the joy of his first words. 174 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:13,320 And Sarah was at that moment anticipating all of those joys 175 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,280 that she had given up all hope for. 176 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,480 God bless Sarah with the joy of being a mother. 177 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:27,000 God bless Sarah with the joy of a lifelong desire come true. 85 178 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,120 years or let's, let's, let's give her ten years of, of being 179 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:32,120 a kid and saying, you know, boys are yucky. 180 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,160 Maybe even, you know, 1215 years of that. 181 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:42,120 So everything. 70 years. 70 years of wanting a child, 70 182 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,920 years of wanting to participate in God's good creation in this 183 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,040 way, 70 years of wanting to fulfill what she felt she was 184 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,760 born to do. However many years she'd been 185 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,920 married to Abraham, of wanting to provide her husband with the 186 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,000 child. This lifelong desire that she 187 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,760 had given up all hope of ever coming true. 188 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,120 It was impossible. It was a laughable, It was 189 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,240 ridiculous. And now here it was, this thing 190 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:13,440 that she had hoped and longed for and dreamed of, and now here 191 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,880 it was. And God had done it in a way 192 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,960 that neither she nor anyone else could have ever anticipated, 193 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,720 predicted, or planned for. Nothing like this had ever 194 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,000 happened before. Ever. 195 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,400 A joy. A joy of the lifelong desire 196 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,160 come true. And Sarah had the joy of being 197 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,480 honored by those around her. Let's make no mistake about it. 198 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,640 In that culture, in that time, in that place, a woman's 199 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:50,640 purpose, a huge part of a woman's purpose, was to bear 200 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:57,320 children not here to judge or condemn or bless or praise 201 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,000 another culture that existed in another part of the world 202 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,640 thousands of years ago. But that was what she was living 203 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:08,840 in, and in her culture, surrounded by her community, she 204 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,880 would have been deemed inadequate. 205 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:17,560 She would have thought herself inadequate, not up to the task, 206 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:24,040 not good enough. Not good enough for God to bless 207 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,600 her with the simplest and most basic thing that most women get 208 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,000 to experience and do, having a child. 209 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,120 It would have been a shameful thing for her. 210 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:38,760 She would likely have been filled with guilt. 211 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:44,000 Guilt and shame that drove her to do to Hagar what she and 212 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,520 Abraham did to Hagar, and then be so angry about it afterwards 213 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,200 that she made it worse by abusing Hagar and and and 214 00:13:52,280 --> 00:14:00,000 kicking them out. The shame, the indignity, the 215 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,120 inadequacy that she had experienced for decades in her 216 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:09,240 life now vanished in an instant. Well, nine months vanished. 217 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:14,760 Gone. No shame, no indignity, no 218 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,680 inadequacy. She has now done what no other 219 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:21,240 woman has done before. She has given birth after her 220 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,680 childbearing years. She has brought life into this 221 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,360 world, and she's nursing that life with her own body. 222 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,640 And now, far from being dishonored, she's being honored. 223 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:40,200 Far from being put down behind closed doors and in conversation 224 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,160 on the other side of town, now she's being lifted up and 225 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,760 praised and celebrated. Honored. 226 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,320 One of the most honored women in all of human history. 227 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,680 Sarah has become, and she has that joy. 228 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,800 Is it any wonder that she laughed that day? 229 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,880 Is it any wonder that she couldn't contain the joy that 230 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:09,480 was within her? And knowing that her experience 231 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,720 would bring joy to others, she laughed even more. 232 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,640 God can be funny, strange. God can be funny, ha ha, and can 233 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:23,120 give us reasons to laugh from deep within our souls, but we 234 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:28,680 need some clarity and accuracy here or we we stand to take away 235 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,320 the wrong things from the story. The point of this, one of the 236 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,560 amazing things that happened in this story is that Sarah 237 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:43,520 received what she had longed for and dreamed of her entire life, 238 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,640 that God gave her that. But that's not the point of the 239 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,480 story. That's a side effect of the 240 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:55,720 point of the story. The essential thing to take away 241 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,440 here is not if we pray hard enough and we just don't give up 242 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,000 hope that God will eventually give us what we are longing for 243 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,360 too. That message is not in the 244 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,160 Bible. Name it and claim it not, no. 245 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,880 If you believe it, you can achieve it. 246 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,560 No, that is not the lesson to take away from this. 247 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:25,800 That will undermine entirely and thoroughly the lesson and this 248 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,840 point of this entire experience that God shares with us in the 249 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,560 Scripture for clarity and accuracy, we have to get because 250 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,200 many, many, many faithful people die without getting the things 251 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:40,720 that they longed and dreamed for. 252 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,600 And sometimes they don't even happen after they die. 253 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:50,360 They never happened. There are faithful people who 254 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,640 live and die and will spend eternity in heaven without 255 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:58,360 getting things that they really, really good things that they 256 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:06,119 longed and hoped and prayed for. This, The essential take away 257 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,599 from this story is not if you name it, you can claim it. 258 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:12,240 If you believe it, you can achieve it. 259 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:17,119 The essential point here is about the faithfulness and power 260 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,200 of God, not the fulfillment of Sarah's hopes and dreams. 261 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,040 The main thing is the faithfulness and power of God. 262 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:29,720 God did what God said He would do. 263 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:36,520 And that's what God wants us to hear in this story, That God 264 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,360 made a promise that everyone thought was stupid and 265 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,840 ridiculous and impossible. And Sarah at least had the 266 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,040 courage to respond to that promise authentically and 267 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,400 realistically in that way. Even if it was quiet, she was 268 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,400 laughing at it. But God did it. 269 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:05,280 God did what he promised. God always does what God 270 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:09,400 promises. God will always do what God 271 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,120 promises. And even if all of the 272 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:16,720 circumstances in front of us seem to deny the reality of that 273 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,560 promise, that either is saying, I don't care what God said, he 274 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,760 won't do it or he can't do it. This is one of the, this is one 275 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,360 of the, the, the number one arguments of atheists against 276 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:33,200 Christianity that that God has not fulfilled all his promises. 277 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,520 And there are lots of promises and prophecies about Jesus 278 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,920 himself that are not yet fulfilled, not the least of 279 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:44,760 which is be right back 2000 years. 280 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,840 I used to have a watch there and that gesture worked much better 281 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,480 than it does right. There we go, 2000 years. 282 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:58,520 That's where I live now. God is faithful and God is 283 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,480 powerful and God will keep his promises. 284 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,920 If God has promised it, God will do it. 285 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:15,160 And, and God has made promises. I go to prepare a place for you, 286 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:20,600 a dwelling place for you, he said to his followers, many of 287 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:25,600 whom had no place to live. If it were not true, I wouldn't 288 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:31,160 have told you. Jesus said, come to me, all you 289 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:35,640 who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. 290 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:41,280 I know a lot of people that I've worked very very hard and 291 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,280 labored under great toil and great burdens till the day they 292 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:50,400 died. I will return. 293 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,040 I will never leave you or forsake you. 294 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,120 I have been and will be king over this entire universe. 295 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:05,280 My Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. 296 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,120 When? I don't know. 297 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,640 I don't know. Since I was a little kid, I've 298 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,080 had preachers and, you know, on TV and other places telling me 299 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:20,720 it's almost here. It's all the prophecies, the 300 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,680 signs are fulfilled. There's birds in Israel and 301 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,320 there's war and it's just be. And we don't know. 302 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,000 It might be in 10 minutes, it might not be for another 2000 303 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:39,320 years. We don't know, but as people of 304 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:46,040 faith, we don't have to know when we don't have to know how. 305 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,480 All we are asked to do is believe that God will do what 306 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,160 God has promised he will do. And he one day will wipe away 307 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:01,040 every tear from every eye. And we'll all laugh together. 308 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,240 We'll all laugh together. If God has promised it, we will, 309 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,080 he will do it. So until then, let's be open to 310 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:14,600 the impossible. I I, there is this constant 311 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:21,440 tension in life. You know, we as parents, we know 312 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,240 we got to tell our kids often. Be realistic. 313 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,840 You know, I had very unrealistic expectations at Christmas time 314 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,760 every year because I believe Santa could make anything in his 315 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:38,400 shop. Couldn't understand why I didn't 316 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,760 get what was on my list. What's holding Santa back? 317 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:45,360 He can make socks. Why can't he make me? 318 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:54,920 ATVI don't understand. We got to teach our Yeah, and 319 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:56,080 I'm naughty. Let's. 320 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,280 We're going to leave that part aside for now. 321 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:03,920 Never even thought of maybe I was on the naughty list. 322 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:11,480 That didn't occur to me. So we, we, we at some level, we 323 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,840 teach, we teach our kids to be realistic, to temper 324 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:20,440 expectations and at the same time, at the same, and, and 325 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,840 that's important and that's valuable and that's necessary. 326 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:28,000 And at the same time, we have to cultivate within ourselves, if 327 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:37,760 within our kids, the capacity to be open to the impossible that 328 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:42,840 that God can do anything. I've spent a lot of time working 329 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,320 with kids and youth. I've heard the number of kids 330 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,080 that I have met that are going to be professional athletes is 331 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,040 extraordinary. And I don't want to crush 332 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,160 anyone's dream. God can do anything that God 333 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,720 wants to do. I always tell them have a Plan 334 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,480 B. I have a Plan B. 335 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,360 So I don't want to stomp on anyone's dreams. 336 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,200 But the number of times when God calls his people to do a thing 337 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,320 and the response is simply I can't do that. 338 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,640 I can't do that. That's impossible. 339 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,160 I don't have the influence. I don't have the wealth, I don't 340 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:22,440 have the money. I don't have the opportunity. 341 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:23,800 I don't have the time. I don't have. 342 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,280 We don't have. We can't. 343 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:26,120 We can't. We can't. 344 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:32,240 What's God calling us to do? What has God promised us? 345 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:40,640 Be open to the impossible. Trust in God's promise even when 346 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,280 it seems impossible and way overdue. 347 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:50,000 And then we can be igniters of joy by giving the gift of God's 348 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,440 impossible love, forgiveness and adequacy to others. 349 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,280 Here's one of the things that a lot of people, there's a lot of 350 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:02,000 things that people believe are impossible, that that they're 351 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:08,000 lovable, that they'll ever have anyone in their life that will 352 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,520 simply love them for who they are, not what they can do or 353 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:18,120 accomplish. That they can be forgiven that 354 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,120 the wrong that they've done the shameful thing or things that's 355 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:24,400 in their past, that it can be forgiven, it can be washed away. 356 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,880 It can be made so that their life is almost like it never 357 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:33,640 happened. A lot of people cannot believe 358 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,440 that they are adequate to the tasks that are in front of them. 359 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,200 If you spend time on social media today, there is an awful 360 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,920 lot of despair and dread about the future right now. 361 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:49,480 There's a lot of reason for that. 362 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,760 And I'm not going to get into all of the politics that behind 363 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,120 that's behind it. But when when everyone's 364 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,600 screaming about all of the disasters that are going to come 365 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:04,320 if they don't get their way and no one's people are, it's one of 366 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,160 the first generations, at least in American history, that has a 367 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,120 gloomy outlook for the future. That the future looks 368 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:13,080 impossible, that they're not adequate to it. 369 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,880 I'll never have enough money to own a home. 370 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,080 I'll never be able to afford an education. 371 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,520 I won't be able to afford the healthcare for the people that I 372 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:29,840 love. I can't raise a kid and make 373 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,640 them feel safe and loved and welcome and whole. 374 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,760 In this world, there are a lot of things that people believe 375 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,560 are impossible, but because we can believe in the impossible, 376 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,840 we can say to whoever, whenever, wherever, you can be forgiven. 377 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,600 You can be forgiven. You are loved. 378 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,280 I'll show you that. God can love you because I'll 379 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,800 love you. And if I can love you, God can 380 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,200 love you even more. And you are adequate. 381 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,920 With God, nothing is impossible. And no, we're not adequate, 382 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,520 maybe on our own, but you can take the next step. 383 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,480 You can trust in God. You can walk into the future 384 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,320 without knowing how the bills are going to be paid or where 385 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,280 the money's going to come from or where you'll find the energy 386 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,160 and the strength to do these things. 387 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:25,240 But just take the next step, do the next thing and trust in God 388 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:30,920 along the way. And God, God says that with His 389 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,880 Spirit in you, there is nothing you can't do. 390 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,560 That doesn't mean we can't take that hyper literally. 391 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,640 I will never be an opera singer or an NFL player. 392 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,920 Not going to happen. Not going to happen. 393 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,480 Good news is, that's not what God wants me to be. 394 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,400 I'm really glad that's not what God wants me to be. 395 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,120 Whatever God has called you to, whatever life God has put in 396 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:06,920 front of you, God will give you whatever you need to do and be 397 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:13,040 to live that life. And so we can face tomorrow with 398 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:19,080 hope and expectation because God has not brought us this far to 399 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,680 leave us. And that's true as individuals. 400 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,880 It's true as a society, it's true as a people, it's true as a 401 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,080 church. God has not brought the world 402 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,800 and the universe this far to wash his hands and be done with 403 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,200 it. God will do what God has 404 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:39,400 promised for the world and for us and for the people that we 405 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,560 meet. And by the grace of God, we 406 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,640 could ignite that joy in the people around us. 407 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,880 Nelson Mandela, I think, might be one of the greatest examples 408 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,480 of this kind of living that there is. 409 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,480 He spent 27 years in prison, 27 years. 410 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,120 And for most of that time he experienced horrible abuse and 411 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,200 deprivation. I'm and I'm forgetting there was 412 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:09,720 an I just just a reminder and I can't remember the island where 413 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,840 the prison was. Spent most of that 27 years 414 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:18,160 there with inadequate food, inadequate shelter, inadequate 415 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,920 clothing, often in solitary confinement, cut off from the 416 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,320 outside world. Allowed one guest and one letter 417 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:32,280 every six months. Made to sleep on a cold stone 418 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,360 floor with nothing but a thin straw mat. 419 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:39,400 Did hard labour in in quarries, quarrying limestone without 420 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,440 adequate protection that permanently damaged his lungs 421 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:54,640 and his vision. 27 years in prison and and during that time, 422 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,640 somehow, by the grace of God, did you know he was a Methodist? 423 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:00,840 There's something a lot of people don't know. 424 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,600 Nelson Mandela was a Methodist. He grew up a Methodist, raised 425 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,640 in the Methodist Church. We learned the grace and hope 426 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:13,960 and trust and power of God and, and during that time, he never 427 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,840 gave up hope. He even when guards were abusive 428 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,000 to him, he refused to be abusive back. 429 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,280 He treated them with dignity. He treated them respect. 430 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,720 He treated his fellow prisoners in the same way. 431 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,320 He took law classes. He he taught his fellow 432 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:36,280 prisoners how to live lives of dignity and respect and hope and 433 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,080 peace. In his book Long Walk to 434 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:46,520 Freedom, he had this to say. OOP, I closed that app boy, 435 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:56,920 messing up my timing here. I never lost hope that this 436 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,920 great transformation would occur. 437 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,960 His hope was the transformation of South African society from 438 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:09,880 horribly abusive, racially divided, dictatorial apartheid 439 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,600 in which he and everyone that looked like him was a second 440 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:20,360 class citizen at best. There have been that way for his 441 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,600 entire life and and it looked like there was no real hope or 442 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:28,840 possibility of change. But in prison for 27 years, I 443 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,760 never lost hope that this great transformation would occur, not 444 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,240 only because of the great heroes I've already cited, but because 445 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,160 of the courage of the ordinary men and women of my country. 446 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,280 I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there is 447 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,840 mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another 448 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,600 person because of the color of his skin or his background or 449 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,080 his religion. People must learn to hate, And 450 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,880 if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. 451 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,840 For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its 452 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,160 opposite. You know what's impossible? 453 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,600 Someone to be imprisoned for 27 years as a political prisoner 454 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:15,040 and come out still believing that by the grace of God and God 455 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:20,200 eventually fulfilled that dream and that hope for Nelson 456 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:24,360 Mandela. Now here's the thing, if we, if 457 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:28,040 we follow God, if anyone decides to follow God for the laughs, 458 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:30,760 they are going to be sorely disappointed. 459 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,320 Much of the time when people come to me wanting to get 460 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,160 baptized, they often spend a good amount of time trying to 461 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,320 talk them out of it, or at least making it clear to them that 462 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,400 what they are committing to is not happy. 463 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,840 Happy joy, joy, life where everything hope and dream they 464 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:49,760 want is fulfilled. Our leader is described by the 465 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,800 Holy Scripture as a man of sorrows who experiences grief. 466 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:58,600 And how can we expect lives then, that are free from sorrow 467 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,760 and grief? But there are those times. 468 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:08,480 There are those moments when we see God's promises fulfilled in 469 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,240 our lives or in the world around us, and the joy just is 470 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,040 overwhelming. And we have the opportunity to 471 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,720 ignite that joy in others by sharing the impossible with 472 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:25,240 them. Hope, love, forgiveness, 473 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,840 adequacy, these are the promises that we have. 474 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:35,320 God can be funny sometimes. Because God can be funny, we can 475 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:39,080 laugh and help others to laugh as well. 476 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,760 In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.