Humor in Heaven
Good Morning Friends,
There’s nothing in the Bible that is written as a joke. But sometimes when we read the Bible there are certain things that might strike us as odd or funny. The secret source of humor, I think, is the surprise of sorrow not so much the jolt of joy. I would have to say that it is a way of coping, for if one can find humor in something you one can survive it.
I would have to say that God gave us humor to compensate us for what we are…pathetic people. It is interesting though that God laughs even while by all logic there may be no need for Humor in Heaven.
Scripture: The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
Psalm 2:4 (NIV)
So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Genesis 18:12 (NIV)
When two men are fighting and the wife of one of them intervenes to drag her husband clear of his opponent, if she puts out her hand and catches hold of the man by his privates, you must cut off her hand and show her no mercy.
Deuteronomy 25:11-12 (NIV)
Message: Of course it depends on one’s perspective but from the right vantage point Jesus walking on water is really pretty humorous. Somehow humor takes the pain of what we do not have and turns it into laughter. It is reason turned on its side to prove a serious point in a funny way. God through humor gives us perspective and awareness that some things are important and others not. It is one of the ways souls communicate here on earth…Its honesty makes us civilized but paradoxically the pathway is often uncouth. There is, interestingly, a state of tension between piety and the joy that fills the heart when we have a good laugh. The Bible has its moments where we can choose to laugh. Whether we maintain decorum or control the impulse is really a personal choice. I think the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24 is amusing. A donkey talking… That is pretty funny. Then there is the story of Eutychus, a young man who, while listening to Paul preach for hours, dozed off and fell out a third-story window in Acts 20:9. The image is funny with a serious message. Or in 1 Samuel 24, when Saul inadvertently enters David’s hiding place to relieve himself. And David, instead of killing Saul, as Saul is doing his business, instead cuts off a corner of Saul’s garment as future proof he was not seeking to murder the King. There is humor in that story.To sum up today’s message friends, the good news is that Christ is risen…. The bad news is that he is really pissed. Just kidding!
Pray we realize that God has a sense of humor and so should we. Pray we be prepared to laugh in heaven at the life we have lived. Pray we realize as the writer of Ecclesiastes shares, that there is a time to laugh and a time to weep. Pray we are at peace with the past. Pray for a new heaven and a new earth. Pray for a time when Jesus will wipe every tear from our eyes…for a time when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Pray we realize that Jesus has the last laugh.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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