"Good Medicine" - Genesis 18:1-15 - June 13, 1999

When the men announced to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, that she would give birth to a son, she laughed. Sara was 90 years old and Abraham was 99. They had hoped for years to have a child but it never worked out that way. And now, late in life, God is promising them a son. Sarah laughed because the idea of her giving birth at her age was absurd. For Sara, laughter was good medicine. It helped her through this strange transition.

What is impossible for us is not impossible for God. Just when we think we are defeated, or there is no hope for us, God comes through in unbelievable ways. Life is full of many surprises. The problem is we don’t expect God to surprise us. We don’t live in anticipation that God can intervene and work wonders in spite of us. Perhaps we take life too serious. Perhaps we feel that letting our hair down is not spiritual or that to laugh is sacrilegious.

When you consider the story of Sara giving birth at her old age you have to agree that God has a sense of humor and God works in ways that surprise us. We want everything to make sense. We want everything to be logical. We are conditioned to be "dignified", stoic in our faith. Jesus was anything but stoic. This was a man who walked on water, turned over the tables of the money changers, recruited fishermen to be his first disciples. Even Jesus had a sense of humor. For example he used the expression, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter heaven."

One of the funniest men that ever lived had to be George Burns. For 40 years, he and his wife, Gracie Allen were a great humorous stage team. When Gracie died in 1964, most people believed that George would retire. Instead, he kept making us laugh. In 1975 he won an Oscar for the movie, "The Sunshine Boys." He continued to make us laugh until his death at 100.

Laughter is a vital human response that reduces tension, relieves anxiety and heals the soul. Do you ever notice that at family reunions it is always the funniest stories that are told? They remind us of those times we were most vulnerable. Retelling them helps us to cope and keep us more upbeat, especially during times of struggle.

It was about this time 35 years ago that I was on a fishing trip with my uncle, cousin and brother. We had ferried out to South Bass Island, off the coast of Lake Erie in northern Ohio. On the day we were to leave my cousin and I went for a bike ride on the island. We were to meet my uncle and brother at the ferry landing. We got a little carried away on our adventure and lost track of time. We headed back and on the way passed a sign that listed the times of arrivals and departures for the ferry. Suddenly, we realized that we had only five minutes left.

We hurriedly returned the bikes back and ran to the ferry landing. Just as we arrived the ferry was about 30 yards off shore, my uncle, brother and car aboard. We were stranded until the next departure. My uncle taught us a few new words that day and my brother just shook his head.

Whenever my relatives get together they tell that story. It wasn’t so terribly funny for us at the time but to everyone else it was hysterical. That story has been retold hundreds of times. It has always been an ice breaker for conversation when we are reunited. It doesn’t matter who tells the story, everyone laughs. To this day I can’t look at my cousin, or my uncle for that matter, and not remember the ferry incident of 1964.

Laughter can also heal. Leigh Allan, Dayton Daily News columnist, tells the story about Carolyn Milnac of Kettering, Ohio. She was diagnosed with non Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1992. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy but in 1995 she had a recurrence of cancer and needed hospice. Things looked very grim. Carolyn had always wanted to ride a horse and a social worker arranged it. She rode a little, got exhausted, then tried to get down from the horse herself. She started to collapse and people ran to support her. In the process she reached out and grabbed hard at what she could. It happened to belong to the body of the social worker, a body part that is unmentionable. The incident resulted in an outburst of laughter.

A little horsing around sent a woman who was about to die into total laughter. Since that time Ms. Milnac has greatly improved. Not only has she emerged from hospice, she has been cancer free for the last three years. Recently she spoke to a group of cancer survivors. She believes that laughter has played an important role in her recovery.

Laughter is good medicine. God wants us to laugh. God wants us to be reminded that life has a funny side and we are not in total control of everything that happens. Laughter can heal and help us to cope when life is hard. Sara laughed. Ms. Milnac laughed. My family laughed. And George Burns kept us all laughing for decades. And when we laugh God laughs with us.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio