A few years ago, I heard R. C. Sproul speak. I expected an erudite presentation from a somber theologian. But Dr. Sproul told one funny story and one-liner after another. His humor got our attention and kept us listening to God's Word.
In these email chats I try to talk about things that will help you in your daily walk with God. This week, I want to talk to you about the value and importance of humor. In fact, I want you consider adding more humor and laughter to your life. Here is why:
1. Humor is from God
. Psalm 2:4; 37:13; 59:8 all speak of God laughing. See the humor of God when He chose one of the most rebellious and stiff-necked people on earth to be His chosen people. See the humor of God when He uses the shepherds, the jokes of Galilean society, to announce the birth of His Son. See God's humor when He picked a former Pharisee and chief persecutor of Christians to be His chief missionary to the Gentile world. See God's humor when He picked unlearned Galilean fishermen to be the emissaries of His salvation to the world. It is the humor of God to use the foolish things to confound the wise.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is "a time to weep and a time to laugh." Certainly not everything is a laughing matter. But, I do laugh when I see the duck-billed platypus, the goofy chimpanzee, or the donkey. There is humor in God's creation that reflects His identity.
Helmut Thielicke observed that "if a church banishes laughter from the sanctuary, it banishes God from the sanctuary, and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub, and the toastmasters." Laughter is part of the nature of God so it needs to be in our lives and in our worship.
2. Humor is Christ-like
. Elton Trueblood wrote a great book The Humor of Christ "to challenge the conventionalized picture of a Christ who never laughed." Trueblood argued that Jesus had a powerful sense of humor. Trueblood saw humor in the way Jesus described the Pharisees as "whitewashed tombs" (Matthew 23:27) and called Herod a "fox" (Luke 13:32). There must have been a continual twinkle in the eye of Jesus as he used hyperbolic humor to describe the Pharisees who "strain out a gnat (out of their drink) "and swallow a camel" (Matthew 23:24) Trueblood sees the humor in Jesus' nicknames for His apostles. Jesus called hotheads like James and John the "sons of thunder." The ironic name "Rock" Jesus gave to Peter was funny as "Rock" crumbled into a pebble with his three denials. It was like naming your pet Chihuahua "Killer." When Jesus gave a great one-liner "Let the dead bury their dead," in my mind's eye, I see smirks on the disciples' faces as they pictured skeletons doing a burial. Jesus told funny stories about a judge who only gave justice only when he was hounded to act, a businessman who gathered wealth only to die the next day, and about a priest who was too pious to help a man who had been beaten up.
Every time I read Luke 15 about theprodigal son, a Jewish boy slopping the pigs, the irony brings a smile to my face. When I read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:3) about a "speck" while a "log" was protruding out of a person's eye, I chuckle. I picture audiences laughing out loud throughout the ministry of Jesus as He gave them secrets of the Kingdom. Jesus never compared the Kingdom of God to a religious service in the temple, but to a joyous party of celebration! (See Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 15:23-33; Romans 14:17; and many other places.) To me, parties and celebration mean laughter!
If want to study more on this, you might read The Humor of Jesus by Henri Cormier and The Humor of Jesus by Earl F Palmer. The more I read of Jesus' life and ministry, the more I want to laugh as He laughed and bask in the joy of my Father in heaven as He did. I want to develop the playful outlook Jesus had on life so I can live in the heavenly realms as He did.
3. Humor is Biblical
. The Old Testament uses many plays on words and puns in the naming of people and places. Sometimes the footnotes in our study Bibles will explain some of these meanings. Humor is in much of the Bible, but we don't notice it. Remember Elijah taunting the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? When the prophets can't get Baal to send fire on their altar, Elijah jokingly says: "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened" (1 Kings 18:27). Remember the funny scene when King Saul vehemently denies he took any plunder from the Philistines. 1 Samuel 15:14 makes me laugh as Samuel asks Saul, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
The Bible is fyou illed with wry quips, puns, and hyperboles. "You can tame every animal on earth, but not the tongue," is how I paraphrase James 3:8. I picture Micaiah the prophet rolling his eyes when King Ahab things thinks he will win a battle. I paraphrase Micaiah's sarcastic prediction in
1 Kings 22:15 this way: "Oh, yeah, you'll win the battle all right." Each morning, I see the Proverbs tell timeless truths with a wink and a smile. The godly woman of Proverbs 31 "can laugh at the days to come" because she is clothed in God's dignity. Laughing is good and godly so look for way to put humor into your life.
4. Humor is valuable in evangelism and Christian communication
. It was Mary Poppins who said "a little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down." Humor breaks down barriers. Jokes help people remember a truth or learn a concept. Humor lets you talk about threatening subjects in a non-threatening way. When people laugh together, they not only enjoy themselves, but they are more receptive to new ideas. That's why I tell jokes too.
Charles Spurgeon is called the "prince of preachers." He used a lot of humor in his sermons. Unfortunately, the published sermons from Spurgeon we have today have taken out his humor. Warren Wiersbe tells about a woman who complained to Spurgeon about all the humor in his sermons. He told her: "Madam, if you only knew the amount of humor I cut out of my sermons!" Spurgeon's emphasis on humor in Christian proclamation and living was so important in his preaching that humor occupies a whole chapter in his autobiography. Humor is important when we communicate the Good News.
5. Humor is good for fellowship
. The comedian pianist, Victor Borge once said: "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." If somebody makes us laugh, we are more apt to like them. Humor is a universal language that everyone understands. It breaks down barriers between people. If you can share a laugh with someone, you have connected with that person. Their defenses come down. They are more willing to talk and share. And that is the stuff that makes fellowship, kindness, and other good things thrive. Laughter is good in marriages, families, businesses, schools, military, government, and churches.
6. Humor helps you deal with yourself
. Humor can keep us from becoming joyless, boring, or arrogant. Humor forces a person to take the mask (so to speak) off and to be real. Sure, there are some people who think that Christianity should be serious and somber. But they are more like the elder brother in Luke 15 who could not feast, have fun or laugh. Humor helps you laugh at your own mistakes, accept justified criticism, and learn from it. Humor can cool tempers in heated situations.
7. Humor is good for the soul
. There is a Yiddish proverb that says: "What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." Humor helps me pray. Humor helps me serve. Humor helps me witness. Humor helps me be a better husband. Humor helps me get close to God. Allen Klein, who lectures on humor, claims that children laugh 400 times a day while adults laugh only 15 times a day. Is it any wonder that the news nightly programs seem so gloomy while Sesame Street while Ernie, Cookie and Grover are so happy? Could this be one of the reasons that Jesus told His followers (Mark 10:15) that we must "receive the kingdom of God like a little child?"
8. Humor is good for your physical health too
. Proverbs 14:30 says: "A relaxed attitude lengthens life." There are countless studies about the physical benefits of laughter. Laughter reduces the hormones and chemicals produced by stress cortisol and adrenaline. Laughter releases dopamine and endorphins, which are our feel-good chemicals. Laughter relieves and relaxes muscle discomfort. Laughter reduces inflammation, excellent for arthritis sufferers. Laughter reduces blood pressure. 30 minutes of laughter per day reduces the risk of a second heart attack. Laughter burns calories. Researchers are say that laughter can bring balance to the immune system and help us fight off diseases. Laughter provides a safety valve that shuts off the flow of stress hormones when we experience stress, anger or hostility.
In his book, Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins tells how the doctors gave him six months to live due to cancer. His chance for recovery was 1 in 500. C
ousins was no crazy loon. He was the
editor of the magazine, "Saturday Review." Cousins decided to make an experiment of himself. He rented funny movies from Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers. He read funny stories. He asked his friends to call him whenever they said, heard or did something funny. His pain was so great he could not sleep. But he found that laughing for 10 solid minutes relieved the pain for several hours so he could sleep. He fully recovered from his illness and lived another 20 happy, healthy and productive years. Cousins gave the credit to the power of laughter for his recovery. In fact, Cousin's experience with humor was so powerful that UCLA's School of Medicine had him teach about the power of humor and healing.
Sadly, I never heard that Cousins came to faith in Christ. But I do know that God's Word said this long before all this medical evidence. Proverbs 17:22 says: "A merry heart is good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones." Are you dealing with depression or some other malady? Let humor heal you!
9. Humor helps you cope
. If you ever worked in the funeral industry, medicine, or criminology, you have had to deal with terrible things. People who work in forensics, surgery, emergency, or oncology can tell us about some of the humor of their colleagues. Humor gets you through the chaos. Proverbs 15:15 says: "All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart has a continual feast." You can be in the middle of famine and hard things, but with humor you still have a feast of joy in your heart.
Laughter keeps us balanced and helps us rest in the sovereignty of God. If you step back from your problems, you will find yourself saying;
"This is pretty funny." One adage says:
"He who laughs, lasts."
Humor will help you deal with the disappointments, disasters, and the difficult people of this life. Joy is impossible without laughter. I expect that in heaven we will hear our Lord, the angels, the apostles, and the saints of the ages expressing their joy with laughter!
So here is my humor plan: Tell lots of clean jokes. Make life fun. Have lots of parties. Watch Laurel and Hardy, Jonathan Winters, Red Skelton, and Abbott and Costello on YouTube. Look at some Andy Griffith, and Lucy re-runs. Watch the old Candid Camera re-runs. Look for people who laugh and spend time with them. Hang around Christians who have a sense of humor and like to laugh. Read the Bible every day and see the humor of God!
As I have dealt with this coronavirus, lockdown, and the accompanying issues, I have been working at seeing the humor in it. Humor has been a wonderful elixir for my soul during this crazy time. I hope you will incorporate humor and laughter into your life and walk with God. And may we live for God with joy!!
I love being your pastor!
