I believe the three most powerful words put together in the second testament come from John 11:35 – ‘Then Jesus wept.”  It’s not only the human side of Jesus that we see here but the very human.  Then the people who saw Jesus weep went on to say, “This man healed a blind man, why couldn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?”  Good question.  And before Jesus wept, Lazarus’ sister Mary fell to Jesus’ feet and said, “Lord, if you had been there, my brother would not have died”. 

The reason I bring this up is because we are in a time at LCUMC where we are actively seeking  God’s presence as part of the Rule of Life and then writing about our experiences.  But sometimes God isn’t present in the way we are seeking.  When Jesus wept it’s as if Jesus’ grief goes so deep that it is for the whole world that Jesus is weeping and the tragedy of the human condition is to live in a world where again and again God is not present, at least not in the way and to the degree that man needs him. 

Well last Thursday I actively sought God’s presence.  I left work an emotional wreck.  I also wept.  I took a long walk and began questioning my place in life and where I should go?  I cried as I walked and hoped that God would comfort me in a  ‘way that transcends all peace and understanding’ and blah blah blah, the bible says that somewhere else I believe. 

Over the course of my weekend and in the process of trying to hear God’s direction for my life,  I thought of the opposite of the verse where Jesus wept.  It appears in Genesis and instead of crying, we see God laughing.  It begins in Genesis 18:12 and ends with God laughing at Sarah, Abraham’s wife.  Sarah just was told that she was finally pregnant.  Well into her elderly years and way past the time of being able to become pregnant, Sarah had to laugh.  The thought of being such an old lady and a new mother made her somewhat hysterical.  Perhaps the thought of getting into a job that she didn’t feel equipped with made her that way.  Who could blame her?  Maybe I felt that way last week.  I was working a job I felt I wasn’t totally prepared for and I freaked out.  There actually was a time when I was coming out of the downstairs catacombs and the railing to the stairwell broke off into my hands and I too let out a hysterical giggle.  As though, ‘this can not really be happening.’.  But it was happening and sometimes you have to laugh at the reality even though you really want to cry. 

And so in this passage in Genesis where Sarah laughs we see God as being quite human.  Sarah laughs and denies it and God confirms that she definitely did laugh and the exchange they make, back and forth, the arguing over laughter, is quite hilarious and quite human.  I need a God that I can relate to.  I seek a God that I can access and who will laugh and cry with me.  And although God doesn’t always give me the answers that I want nor does he always give me the guidance when I need it, I know that he’s out there laughing and crying with me and that feels pretty good.