Humor

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  Based on Eccles. 2:1-11

       Tom Mullen begins his book, Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences with this story.  An engineer, a psychologist, and a theologian were hunting in the wilds of Northern Canada.  They came across a isolated cabin, and decided to check it out.  When no one answered their knocks, they tried the door and found it open.  It was a simple two room cabin with a minimum of furniture.  Nothing was surprising about the cabin except the stove.  It was a typical pot bellied cast ironed stove, but it was suspended in mid air by wires attached to the ceiling beams. 

     The psychologist was the first to speculate on this strange location for a stove.  He said, "It is obvious that this lonely trapper, isolated from humanity, has elevated his stove so he can curl up under it and vicariously experience a return to the womb."  "Nonsense!"  Replied the engineer.  "The man is clearly practicing laws of thermodynamics.  By elevating his stove he has discovered a way to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the cabin." "With all due respect," interrupted the theologian, "I'm sure that hanging his stove from the ceiling has religious meaning.  Fire lifted up has been a religious symbol for centuries." 

      As the three debated their theories, the trapper returned, and they asked him immediately why he hung his stove by wires from the ceiling.  He said, "Because I had plenty of wire, but not much stove pipe." The answer to many mysteries is much simpler than we think.

     Reading commentaries on the book of Ecclesiastes is often like listening to those three hunters speculate about the stove. They come up with complex and confusing theories to explain this book, and the theories are more difficult to grasp than the book itself.  The simple and obvious, and commonsense approach is the best.  All we have to do is recognize that Solomon is simply telling us how he really felt.  He is not saying he should feel this way, or that it is good to feel this way, but that it is how he really felt. He had himself a ball, and laughed his head off, and then he examined the experience afterward, and he concluded that laughter, like the rest of the pleasures of life, is of no use.

      You do not need any complex theory to explain this.  It is simple. He is depressed because laughter and pleasure are merely passing experiences, and they are not permanent, and so they do not fill the human need for the eternal.  The merry monarch found his mirth of little worth, and it left him melancholy.  This is no surprise, for we have all had that kind of experience where after a good time we become  to some degree depressed simply because the laughter doesn't last, and the pleasure of it does not persist.

      This is an universal experience, and that is why it is in the Bible.  It good for all of us to know that even the man with everything goes through the same experience we do.  This releases us from the burden of envy where we think we could escape this type of feeling if only we were somebody else, especially somebody with everything life can offer.  It also releases us from the burden of loneliness when we feel we have emotions that the rest of the human race does not have.  Paul said in I Cor. 10:13, "No temptation has seized except what is common to man." 

     What the Bible teaches is that the common man is the only kind of man there is.  Solomon was so great, wise, and unique in many ways, but he was still a common man. That was the kind of man Jesus became as well, for there is no other kind, and he entered into the same temptations and the same feelings that we all experience.  "He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." Jesus understood what Solomon was saying in this book. He had plenty of good times and laughter, but he also knew its limitations, and he endured the experience of depression, and was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

     Solomon was right, for laughter is not enough to give life ultimate meaning. But it is, nevertheless, a vital part of the meaningful life. Solomon is himself one of the key authorities in the Bible for supporting the value of laughter.  Why then, if he sees the worth of mirth, does he stress the worthlessness of it  here?   It is because, like all other values of life, if they are sought as goal of life, and one becomes as obsessed with them that they push God into a secondary position, they become sources of sickness rather than health, when this happens, as it did with him, then it is true as he says in 7:3, "Sorrow is better than laughter."  Jesus confirmed this when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn."  In James 4:9-10 we see Christians who have gone off the deep end in their search for pleasure, and they urged to, "Change your laughter to mourning, and you joy to gloom.  Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up." 

      The Bible makes it clear that there is a time to stop horsing around and having a good time, and get down to the serious business of living for a purpose in God's will. Those who never do, never discover the full value of joy and laughter.  So what we see in Solomon is both sides of the coin.  We see the futility of laughter, and the fruitfulness of laughter.  In 3:4 he says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh.  Both are good and valid.  Since we have been looking at some heavy subjects in our study of this book, I thought we should look at the lighter and brighter side, and reap some value from-

I.  THE FRUITFULNESS OF LAUGHTER.

     In Pro. 17:22 we read the most famous biblical precept on the value of laughter. Solomon there says, "A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones."  Laughter is the lubrication of life that keeps us from drying up and grinding to a halt.  Drain your life of humor, and it is like draining your car of oil.  You will not get far before you lose power and lock up the engine.  Laughter keeps the engine of life running smooth.  It allows us to keep making progress down the road to God's goals.

     What a blessing is the sense of humor for releasing of tension in times of stress. I visited Vern Miller before his by-pass surgery.  His room mate Virgil was facing the same surgery.  There was tension as they faced the unpleasant prospect of being cut open, but they were easing the friction by using the oil of laughter.  Together we were experiencing healing by anointing the whole situation with the oil of gladness.  It was good medicine.  The doctors have to take out the whole vain in the leg for the by-pass. Vern was having five by-passes, and the other man only three.  So he commented that he could use the extra he would have left over for bait.  I could see the potential for his practical mind, and I encouraged him to write a book on tips for what to do with your spare parts. 

     Vern then told of another man who was going into surgery at the same time as he was.  He said I am assuming he has a different surgeon, or maybe mine is ambidextrous, and will be doing one with each hand, and he stretched out his arms to illustrate.  We had a good laugh.  Sure, it was nonsense, and just a way to escape from the tension, but that is what medicine is for, and that is what laughter does. I do not take aspirin because I like the taste, but to escape the pain of a headache. Laughter can help us escape also, and it even tastes good.  The point is, laughter is appropriate even in the most serious times because it is a medicine, and it lifts and lightens the load. It is God's most natural drug. Thank God for laughter.

     Sometimes when life is on a disaster trail, and everything seems to be going wrong, you can be suddenly touched with a sense of humor, and it is like a shot in the arm to revive your spirit. Bonhoffer, the theologian, who died in Hitler's concentration camp could write, "Absolute seriousness is not without a dose of humor." Abraham Lincoln was able to survive his responsibility through the Civil War because of the aid of his sense of humor. Sometimes his cabinet felt his humor was out of place, but he replied,  "Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? If I didn't laugh with the strain that in on me day and night, I should go mad. And you need the medicine as much as I do."  Laughter is a life saver to many in times of unusual stress. My father lived in pain for many years and said that his sense of humor was the only thing that kept him from taking his own life to escape the pain. Laughter can be life saving medicine.

     Jesus said that we should face life's worst without letting fear dominate us. He said do not fear those who can kill the body, and that is all they can do. He made it sound like martyrdom was a minor matter. After they kill you, he is saying, the matter is out of their hands, and so don't worry. This can only be experienced by those who have a sense of humor, and who can laugh even at death. You have to be able to see beyond death, and see the joke involved in men thinking they can win by killing you, when all they do is send you into the presence of Him who has the keys of death, and who has a mansion waiting for you to enter and enjoy forever.  They think they are robbing you of life, and what they are doing is sending you to the ultimate life of joy.

     Faith in Christ and a sense of humor go hand in hand. Eugene O'Neill portrayed this in his play Lazarus Laughed. He had Lazarus say, "I heard the heart of Jesus laughing in my heart, and I laughed in the laughter of God." the crowd joined Lazarus in his happy mood and laughed with him, for the fear of death had been conquered. The play comes to a climax with Caesar threatening Lazarus with death. It was a joke to him, and he responded like a grandpa responds when his 4 year old grandchild threatens to pound him into dust. He laughs, and he dies laughing. It is the laughter of God when we laugh at the absurdities of life.

     In Ps. 2 we see the folly of man as he plots to overthrow the plan of God and take over the universe. Verse 4 says, "The one enthroned in heaven laughs." God has a sense of humor, and it tickles him to laughter to see puny men develop such delusions of grandeur. It is like a gnat organizing his fellow gnat to take over a tank. You get the same funny sensation when a small child in rebellion decides to defy the very powers that gave him life and sustain his life. The most Godlike response you can have to those deluded by their pride is to laugh. In Ps. 37:12-13 we read, "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming."

     Oswald J. Smith, the great preacher and hymn writer, puts the scene in poetry.
Methinks I hear God laugh, so let them rage. He'll hold them in derision till the day He rises in His wrath, and in His hot Displeasure, vexes those who vainly seek To tear Him from His throne for judgment set. What folly if a sparrow hurl itself Against a locomotive in its pride, Expecting thus to check it in its speed! As little hope have they who mock at God.

     Is life a joke? Yes it is when man takes himself so seriously that he thinks he can make it meaningful without God, and so sets out to dethrone God. It is good for us to step back once in awhile, and see the dark side of man from God's perspective, and join Him in a good laugh. Some people think the tower of Babel was where Solomon kept all his wives, but what it is, is a monument to man's silliness. He thought he could build a tower to the heavens and become a power that was supreme.  It was the Lucifer approach to life that says, I will exalt myself to the throne of the universe.  The funny thing about life is not the psychotic who thinks he is Napoleon, but the normal people who think they are God.  History makes all of man's pride a laugh.  One of the ways you can divide up the human race in two camps is this:  Those who laugh at God, and those who laugh with God.

     Jesus was a man of sorrows, but Jesus was also the Son of God, and the express image of the Father.  In Jesus we see the same sense of humor that we see in the Father.  Jesus saw the comical, the absurd, and the ridiculous side of life.  We are so brainwashed into thinking that Jesus was always serious, and even sad, that we miss all of His humor.  We refuse to give Him the balance life in our thinking, and by so doing we rob the only truly ideal man of what is vital to that ideal, and that is a sense of humor.  Most students of
the life of Jesus see it, but it is seldom stressed, and the result is that most Christians do not recognize the sense of humor in their Savior.

     G. Campbell Morgan, that prince of expositors, sees it in the most serious of setting even.  After the resurrection when Jesus is walking with the two on the road to Emmaus we see Jesus in this very serious setting playing the game of hide and seek with His disciples.  Morgan comments, "There is a tender and beautiful playfulness in the way He dealt with these men.  Humor is as divine as Pathos, and I cannot study the life of Jesus without finding humor there." 

      Tennyson said humor is generally most fruitful in the most solemn spirits, and, "You will even find it in the Gospel of Christ."  Elton Trueblood in his book The Humor Of Christ gives numerous illustrations.  We will look at just a few.  Jesus had a lot of fun with the humorless Pharisees, and often described them in ways that would make the people chuckle.  In Matt. 15:14 He calls them blind guides.  The very concept is ridiculous.  Who would ever have confidence in a blind guide?  Imagine a sign on the entrance to a cave that says, blind guides available-reasonable rates.  Jesus says, when the blind lead the blind they both fall into a pit.  Such is the folly of the Pharisees and their followers.  Follow me and I will make you fishers of men was the message of Jesus.  Follow them, and you will be pit filler.

     This form of humor was typical of Jesus.  He described them in all kinds of humorous ways.   They kept the outside of their cups shining and spotless. They were germ free, but inside they neglected to clean, but let that fill up with cobwebs, dirt, and dead flies.  They would choke on a gnat showing that they were super fussy with minute details of the law, but then they would swallow a camel, hump and all, without batting an eye.  That means they could by-pass the major purpose of the law if it was in their self-interest. 

     Jesus pictured the Pharisees seeking sympathy in the pity party method of looking dismal and pathetic because of their supposedly sacrificial fasting. Jesus said that His followers were to  have  nothing to do with such sad sack piety. They were to anoint their heads, wash their faces, and look presentable rather than laughable. Jesus had a sarcastic wit that has tickled me many times. My favorite, is in John 10:31-32 where we read, "The Jews took up stones again to stone him." This sounds like a serious situation doesn't it? It is no time for wise cracks, but Jesus responds, "I have shown you many good works from my Father, for which of these do you stone me?"  Jesus never did any bad works, and so He knew they had to be stoning Him for some good work that He did, and He was curious as to which of His kindnesses it was that provoked them to such hatred.  Jesus, just like His Father, saw the absurdity of man's folly, and the utter ridiculousness of his rebellion. 

     Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly.  He came that we might be reconciled to God and experience life in its fullness, and enjoy all that He has made, and especially the gift He has given uniquely to man-the sense of humor.  Animals do not have this gift, for it is part of the image of God given only to man.  Helmut Thielike, the greatest German preacher of modern times, said of Christians, "When they lose their sense of humor it is nothing less than a denial of their Lord." 

     What use is laughter Solomon asks, and the answer of the centuries is, it is our link with our heavenly Father that lifts us above the mere earthly to the heavenly perspective.  Those who see the humorous built into life by God enjoy life so much more.  I certainly enjoy being a grandfather more due to the constant laughter that comes from children.  Many great Christians point to the animal creation to show God's sense of humor.  Dean Inge in one of his many books wrote, "I cannot help thinking that the Creator made some animals and some  human beings just for fun.  The elephant, the hippo, the baboon with blue cheeks and scarlet stern are not ugly.  They are figures of comedy.  Why should not the deity have a sense of humor?" 

      I personally feel that children are the greatest proof of God's sense of humor.  To me they are God's clowns in the circus of life.  And they add more laughter than all the comedians combined.  Just the otheriew of God to the world, and a view that is not consistent with God's revelation of Himself.

     Take Devorah Wigoder for example. She rebelled against her Christian heritage and married a Jew. In her book Hope Is My House she writes, "To me, one of the most disappointing aspects in the life of Jesus was his lack of humor." What a shame that her Christian heritage never exposed her to the truth of Jesus' sense of humor. If she was only an isolated case, we could brush it off as of no consequence, but she is not. As I study the lives of people who have rebelled against the Christian faith, and have become skeptics and cynics, and even atheists, I discover that they see no humor in the Christian faith.  A writer for Christianity Today for many years confirms this when he writes, "I have learned that too many Christian people and organizations can't laugh at themselves. They take themselves too seriously, and this makes them stuffy. Some people are not serious enough about humor and this makes them shallow."

     The Christian who does not develop his sense of humor will not likely be an attractive person to the world, like Jesus was. He could fit into most every social situation, and bring joy to the guests because He was ever ready with a story or some humor. One of the best things we can have up our sleeve is a funny bone. Charles Aked said humor is a gift of God, and, "A face as long as a fiddle and a voice like that of an alpine crow will not be imputed to us for righteousness." Solomon said there is a time to laugh, and the time to do it is when you want to make clear to a sad and hurting world that in Christ there is really something to laugh about, for in Him life's blessings become all the more enjoyable, and life's folly's become all the more ridiculous. Both good and evil become causes for laughter in Christ. Tragedy and tears are only for time, but in Christ laughter is forever. Martin Luther said, "If you're not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there." He knew he was safe, for he knew of the laughter of  God, and of the laughter of Jesus. If you do not, then you need to take laughter more seriously and learn to pray "Give me the gift of laughter, oh, I pray, Though tears should hover near; Give me the gift of laughter for each day, Laughter to cast out fear.

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