Sarah and a Child Called Laughter
Selected verses from Genesis 17 and18

(NOTE: I have removed references to Hagar and Ishmael from this account, so as not to confuse listeners. That story will be featured next week.)

Reading time about 6 minutes.

Reader one: Last week, we heard the beginning of the saga of Abram (ABE-ram) and Sarai (SAIR-eye) – how God told them to pick up and leave their home and go, but God didn't say where.

Reader two: We heard how Abram and Sarai got into trouble when Abram tried to save his own neck by passing Sarai off as his sister.

Reader one: This ancient tale lives in memory and mystery and legend. It doesn't ask us to think of this saga as history, but as a mirror. The stories, and the characters in them, are a mirror in which we can see ourselves – through which we can understand a bit about God – and in the process hear ourselves called by God to a journey of faith.

Reader two: God asked Sarai and Abram to begin a journey of faith. And the call came with a promise. God promised to make them the ancestors of a great nation.

Reader one: But the promise seemed to be a little far fetched because both of them were getting on in years, and the geriatric ward seemed more probable than the maternity ward.

Reader two: Often, when we read the scripture, we realize that there are two stories – two stories on the same subject but slightly different. The ancient scribes who wrote these down didn't try to harmonize the two accounts. They simply put them both in.

Reader one: So here, from the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, is the first story of God's promise of a child for Sarai, and how the child got to be called "Isaac" which means "laughter."

(SLIGHT PAUSE)

Reader two: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him:

Reader one: "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous."

Reader two: Then Abram fell on his face. And again God spoke to him.

Reader one: This is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.

I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.

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."

Reader two: Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed.

Reader one: "Can a child be born to me when I am a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

Reader two: Again God spoke to Abraham.

Reader one: Your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. And my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.

(SLIGHT PAUSE)

Reader two: That is the first story. It tells how Abram got his name changed from "Abram," which means "father," to Abraham, which means the "father of many." And Sarai got her name changed to Sarah which means "princess."
And in this second telling of the story, it is Sarah who does the laughing.

(SLGHT PAUSE)

Reader one: "The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, (MAM-ree) as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.

Reader two: "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. 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, and after that you may pass on – since you have come to your servant."

Reader one: "Do as you have said."

Reader two: And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah.

Reader one: "Sarah, make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes."

Reader two: Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then Abraham took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Then the strangers spoke to him.

Reader one: "Where is your wife Sarah?"

Reader two: "There, in the tent."

Reader one: "Abraham, I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son."

Reader two: 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.

Reader one: "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"

Reader two: Again, one of the strangers spoke to Abraham.

Reader one: "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."

Reader two: But Sarah denied, it.

Reader one: "I did not laugh!"

Reader two: Sarah was afraid. And the stranger said:

Reader one: "Oh yes, you did laugh."

(VERY SLIGHT PAUSE)
Reader two: Those are the two stories of how Sarah and Abraham came to have their names – about the promise God made to them, and how the child Sarah was to bare, was given the strange name of Isaac, which means "laughter."

Reader one: Lurking in the shadows of this story are two other people. Hagar and her son Ishmael. What is good news about a baby for Sarah is bad news for Hagar and her child. When Sarah gives birth to Isaac, Hagar and her baby are sent into the desert to die of thirst.

Reader two: But that is our story for next week.

NOTE: A poem called, "To Proclaim a Dancing God," can also be used.

NOTE: The above is written in the style of “Reader’s Theatre,” a very simple but effective way of presenting the biblical story that can be done in any church, large or small. For more information about how to do Reader’s Theatre, click on this link.

Note: You have permission to use this in any worship service. No credit line is required, though it would be nice if you put in something like, “A Readers’ Theatre presentation of the Story-Lectionary.com project.”

Ralph's list of readings and stories