Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
The Birth of Isaac Genesis 21:
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.’ And she added, ‘Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’”
Felicia and I spent several days with our five grandchildren in Victoria, British Columbia. Five children ranging from 3 to almost 9 years of age. The long daylight hours of June allowed time for considerable discovery and play. We took all five to see a T-Rex movie at the IMAX theatre. What kid does not like dinosaurs? The grands spent time biking, scootering, playing catch in the park, swimming, eating ice cream with Bapa, and most days we walked 20,000 steps. There were a few meltdowns along the way. Those meltdowns were age appropriate and somewhat predictable, after all it is not easy going all day long. The cousins loved being together and we loved being with them. At the end of the day, the kids were exhausted, and the grandparents were in a similar state.
And there was laughter. Every waking minute there was laughter. Kids laugh. Kids laugh at dumb Bapa jokes and pranks. Kids laugh when they find a frog, pass gas, eat food, or fall down. They laugh playing games, pushing Gigi in the pool, stealing their dad’s towel, and playing hide and seek. Kids laugh all the time, all through the day, it is a part of their DNA. I think that our God, the creator of these little people, intended for humans to laugh, to laugh more than we do. To find humor every day.
The birth of Isaac brought both joy and laughter to his elderly parents. The Hebrew word “Isaac” means literally “he will laugh/ he will rejoice.” The Apostle Paul, a man of trials, trouble and persecution wrote “rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” We were born to laugh; babies laugh long before they learn to talk. But somewhere along the line, in the progression to adulthood, our ability to laugh is stunted. We take life so seriously, spend far too much time worrying, and hurry around filling the hours of our day with tasks and appointments. We lose our wonder, and flowers, bees and the movement of clouds no longer capture our attention. The inquisitive nature of our younger years gives way to adult habits and rituals. Habits and rituals that offer us little time for rejoicing and laughter.
Every Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church the people of God put themselves in the path of the Gospel. We come to worship, to pray, to share the journey of life with others, to hear words of grace, to cry and heal. We have built a community together. We make a difference on Whidbey Island and in a world that needs us. But let us not neglect the lighter side or our DNA. Let us not forget that God gave us the gift of laughter long before we learned of the anxieties of the grown-up world. Let us not hesitate to rejoice, to laugh, and to find humor even in a season of uncertainty.
“You have as much laughter as you have faith.”
― Martin Luther“Laughter is carbonated holiness.”
― Anne Lamott“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”
― Mark Twain“It was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
One beggar, telling another beggar where to find bread, one beggar rejoicing at everyday gifts, I am your,
Pastor Jim
PS: If you would like to respond directly to Pastor Jim, please email rvlindus@whidbey.com.
