Genesis 17:1–7, 15–17 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 17:1–7, 15–17 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 17When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. Verse 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." Verse 3Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,
Verse 4"As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. Verse 5No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. Verse 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
Verse 7I 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.
Verse 15God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. Verse 16I 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." Verse 17Then 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?"
Devotion
Are you familiar with the abbreviation #ROFL? It stands for “Rolling On the Floor, Laughing.” God showed up and repeated the covenantal promise to Abraham that his descendants would be exceedingly numerous. And Abraham—now 99 years old, with a 90-year-old wife—“fell on his face and laughed.” Abraham #ROFL.
Abraham simply did not believe that God could or would keep the promise. But here is the thing about promises: What matters is whether the promise-maker can and will keep the promise. God, miraculously, was able to keep the promise. And God, faithfully, did keep the promise. And the promise wasn’t just to Abraham, but particularly it was to Sarah. God was not content to leave Sarah out of the covenant. And so 90-year-old Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Abraham and Sarah were both #ROFL.
In fact, all of us are #ROFL. As Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Prayer
God of joy, turn our disbelieving laughter into the surprised joy of faith. Teach us to laugh with Sarah and Abraham and all whom you bless. Amen.