Bible Studies

HUMOR IN ACTS CHAPTER 2

by GLENN PEASE
01/27/22
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It can be fun to study the Bible if you are not just looking for serious doctrinal teaching, or laws to follow to be acceptable to God. These values will be more easily discovered if you come to the Bible looking for what is humorous about human nature and what is humorous about the way God speaks though events and his spokespeople. With this perspective we begin to see things that we pass over and miss when we think all is very serious teaching. Take the humor out of the equation and you fail to see God's sense of humor and the folly of man that illustrates the very message that we most need to hear. The best way to escape or avoid folly is to see it in large print where its conspicuousness forces you to evaluate your own life in the light of its obvious commonness in the lives of all people. Ignorance, folly and stupidity are common to all of us at some time, and only when we see it clearly in the Word of God are we better able to be aware of it in our own lives. Studying the Bible from the humorous perspective does not blind us to the serious truths of it, but makes them stand out all the more in contrast to the laughable behaviour of people. The chapter of Acts 2 is an ideal place to begin because it is packed with so much actual and potential humor that it could take a full book to expound it all.

One thing we need to keep in mind is that humor is very difficult to translate from one culture to another, and so not all that seems humorous to one person will seems so to other persons. Humor is a subjective thing and varies, not just with the culture, but with individual differences. You may not find funny what I see that way, but if it strikes my funny bone, it probably will strike others and so you need to be aware that somebody might find funny what you would never dream of calling it so. What I call funny is not always laughter producing, but just an awareness of the cleverness and wisdom of God, and the folly of man. It is often very subtle, but when you grasp it you can see that it is humorous. One of the great examples of how hard it is to convey humor from one person and one culture to another is the joke of President Carter.

In an interview with David Letterman, Carter passed along an anecdote of a translation problem in Japan. Carter was speaking at a business lunch in Tokyo, where he decided to open his speech with a brief joke.He told the joke, then waited for the translator to announce the Japanese version. Even though the story was quite short, Carter was surprised by how quickly the interpreter was able to re-tell it. Even more impressive was the reaction from the crowd. Carter thought the story was cute, but not outright hilarious, yet the crowd broke right up. Carter was very flattered.After the speech, Carter wanted to meet the translator to ask him how he told the joke. Perhaps there is better way to tell the joke? When Carter asked how the joke had been told in Japanese, the translator responded, "I told them, 'President Carter has told a very funny joke. Please laugh now.'"

HUMOR IN ACTS 2
The humor of Acts 2 falls into three basic divisions based on the tongue. There is overlap in these categories, but for simplicities sake I will deal with these three as distinct focuses on the tongue and the humor connected with it.
I. THE TONGUE OF PARADOX 2"1-13
II. THE TONGUE OF PROCLAMATION 2:14-41
III. THE TONGUE OF PRAISE 2:42-47

Not all of the humor here revolves around the tongue, but most of it does, for it is by means of words that both man and God reveal their humorous side. The language of this chapter is more radical than most, for God is doing something that is way out of the ordinary and people are perplexed about it. Verse 6 says the crowd came together in bewilderment. The Greek word means they were confounded and confused and their minds were in an uproar. In our day we might use some of what are called the inherently funny words and say they were flabbergasted by such tomfoolery. In the next verse it says they were utterly amazed. The Greek here means that they were astounded and astonished and beside themselves with wonder. In verse 12 it says again they were amazed and perplexed. These words tell us that there was mass confusion and people were faced with a puzzle for which they had no clue as to its meaning. Emotions were running high with those filled with the Spirit, and they were running high also with those who were filled with the mystery. The mystery was how in the world these local hicks who have never been out of town can be speaking to us in our languages from all over the known world. Everyone speaking was a Galilean, and yet they know our native tongue. This is not possible. It is never heard of. It is as if God has become a vantriloquist and he is speaking through these people to us in our language. That is preposterous, but how else can we explain it? We have no idea how many theories were being batted around to try and make sense of what they were hearing. The one that we do have is that they were drunk and their incoherent babbling just sounds like some other language. That was really a weak and pathetic answer, and those who were sober would not buy it, for you would have to be drunk yourself to think they could be speaking fluent languages they did not know if they were not plastered.

So what we are seeing is words coming out of the mouths of the disciples that are confusing to the crowd, and they produce words of astonishment and skepticism from the crowd. The only way things can be explained is for Peter to take center stage and by means of words make sense of what was going on. Words are the tools that God uses to make his will known to man. By words we are saved, for it is only by means of words that we can know what Jesus did for us. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." God's Son is called the Word, for He is God's special message to the world. All through the book of Acts we see the importance of the spoken word to convey the mind of God.

The facts they were distorting
And to slang they were resorting,
And so Peter starts reporting
That with drunks their not consorting.
Do not God's actions be aborting
For His Spirit is importing
These great words of his exhorting.
With the help of God supporting
And the Spirit him escorting
He began the facts assorting
To bring a message so comforting.

I. THE TONGUE OF PARADOX. Acts 2:1-13

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"13Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

The humor of the unusual, of misunderstanding, of jumping to conclusions, of strange behavior, of self-defense, and of cleverness. All of these elements are involved in this first paragraph. Here is the first touch of humor in Acts. It was a wild scene for both the Christians who were speaking languages they had never learned, and for the visitors who had never seen anything like this. The behavior of the believers was so unusual and crazy that some joked about it and said they were drunk. It had to look funny to them to call the believers drunk. The tongues they were speaking sounded like gibberish to them, and so they assumed they were out of their minds with liquor in control. They thought it was hilarious to hear this foolish sounding group. Laughter had to be a part of this scene as people puzzled to figure it all out. It is funny that Peter has to defend them from being a drunken bunch of disciples by pointing out that nobody gets drunk by nine in the morning. It takes awhile and a lot of drinking to get so stinking drunk as we look like now was his argument. It had to seem crazy to the believers also, for they were acting in a way that was not natural, and so the Holy Spirit was responsible for making them act and sound like drunkards, and this is funny in itself. It is a paradox that the Holy Spirit, who frowns on drunkenness, creates a scene that makes people think these believers are drunk. The whole scene is humorous to both believers and unbelievers, but for different reasons. It was a comedy scene to those who did not know what was happening, and it was a comedy scene to those who knew it was the Holy Spirit’s doing because they would feel very strange in speaking in sounds they did not understand themselves. That is also paradoxical, that they were able to communicate in a language they did not know themselves.

We see the funny side of human nature here, for it is so common for people to see something and jump to the conclusion that they know just what it is. Some were just absolutely sure these disciples were drunk. They did not wait for any explanation of the unusual behavior, but just assumed that drunkenness was the explanation. History is filled with the humor of premature conclusions based on limited facts. A man walked into the drugstore and asked the pharmacist if he has a cure for hiccups. The pharmacist walked around the corner, reached out and slapped the man in the back. The pharmacist then hopefully asked the man, "Do you have the hiccups now?" As the man composed himself after such a sudden blow, he answered the pharmacist, "No, I do not! But probably my wife out in the car still does!" Jumping to conclusions is often quite funny, but it can also be a serious mistake. When we label people based on very limited evidence, we usually make value judgments that block our minds to be open to new evidence. Some of these people on the day of Pentecost may have just walked away disgusted with the antics of these drunks, and they would never got to hear Peter explain what was going on. Jumping to conclusions is folly because it blinds you to the reality outside your head, and you act only on what is inside your head and become foolish

This aspect of human nature leads us again to see the link between tragedy and comedy, for jumping to conclusions can be very funny in the telling, but sad for those suffering the consequences. For example, "A newspaper article told of a man who was walking toward an open New York subway car when he felt a body brush by him. Instinctively, he reached for his pocket and discovered he didn't have his wallet. Shouting and running, he grabbed the person who had bumped against him. He tugged wildly at the stranger's sleeve, trying to stop him from escaping into the departing subway. The subway door slammed shut, but not before he had ripped off the suspected pick-pocket's coat sleeve. Later that night at home the man discovered his "stolen" wallet had been on his dresser all day. He had left home without it." This makes it obvious why health advisors do not recommend jumping to conclusions as good exercise. Jumping to conclusions will not likely ever become an Olympic event, but it was a Pentecost event as people judged the disciples as drunk and were complaining of their behavior. They were delirious with the joy of the Holy Spirit, but were being condemned as fools for being drunk at such a religious celebration. It was the celebration of the harvest, but they were, said the skeptics, drinking the harvest. The essence of all prejudice is based on this trait of human nature in jumping to conclusions. It creates so much evil in the world, and that is why believers should be aware of its dangers and do all they can to avoid it. A Pastor I knew told of going to hear an evangelist and a woman in the seat behind him kept whispering. He was so angry that he almost turned and gave her a tongue lashing for being so inconsiderate. But when the invitation was given she and the girl she was whispering to went forward. He learned later that the girl did not understand English and the women whispering was translating the message. The girl came to Christ, and the Pastor felt like a heal, for he almost made a scene condemning this women who led her friend to Christ. Beware of jumping to conclusions.

The irony is that though it is foolish to jump to conclusions, it is of the essence of humor to get people to jump to conclusions, for it is the shock of being so much on the wrong track that produces laughter. For example: A 75 year old man went to his doctor's office to get a sperm count. The doctor gave the man a jar and said, "Take this jar home and bring back a semen sample tomorrow. The next day the 75 year old man reappeared at the doctor's office and gave him the jar, which was as clean and empty as on the previous day. The doctor asked what happened and the man explained, "Well, doc, it's like this: First I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing. Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her right hand, and then her left, still nothing. Yep, but no matter what we tried, we still couldn't get that dang jar open." Now, if you thought there was anything dirty about this story it is not because there was, but because you were deceived into jumping to conclusions based on incomplete information. You judged the patient as a dirty old man before you heard the rest of the story. That is what the skeptics were doing before they heard Peter set the record straight. It is so easy to jump to conclusions, but that is why we need to be patient in coming to conclusions that lead to judgment of other people. Fools make quick judgments, but the wise take their time and get all the information they can. Danny Kaye once said, "Your small minds are muscle-bound with suspicion. That's because the only exercise you ever get is jumping to conclusions." Don't let this be said of you, but avoid the folly we see in the skeptics at Pentecost.

The Pentecost experience is the very serious work of the Holy Spirit, but you cannot escape the fact that God was doing something here that was so radical and out of the ordinary that it was a day filled with laughter. Imagine yourself as an American who never spoke any language but English all of a sudden speaking German, and your wife next to you speaking French, and your brother speaking Spanish, and all your friends speaking languages they have never learned. It would be shocking, amazing and amusing, and you would all be laughing in a state of wonder at such a miraculous empowerment of speech. For the rest of your life this event would be one you could never forget, and it would be a matter of conversation every time you got together with all your friends of that day. I can just imagine that some day a man would come up to Peter and say, “Hey, have you ever put on a comedy skit with a group?” And Peter would say, “You bet I have! Let me tell you about Pentecost.” My assumption is that Peter and the guys had many a good laughs as they reminisced about this great day and the humorous way the Holy Spirit began the ministry of reaching the world with the Gospel.

This event alone makes it clear that God has a sense of humor. The very timing of the coming of the Holy Spirit was a sign of God’s cleverness. We see cleverness a number of times in the book of Acts, and the Holy Spirit starts off the series of clever acts by coming at Pentecost in this dramatic fashion. This was the time that people of many nations would be gathered in Jerusalem to be exposed to this marvelous event. Many would hear the Gospel proclaimed for the first time, and they would carry this message back to their people. He got the attention of more people this way, for there would be no such crowd of mixed races at any other time of the year. God is not haphazard, but very methodical and clever in his use of miracles. He could have chosen to do this extraordinary thing on some other day when it would have been a private experience, but he chose to do it when the greatest crowd would be present to be touched by it. God's cleverness is seen also in making the Christians act as if they were drunk, for this kind of behavior was a powerful attraction to the masses. It is all part of that foolishness of God that Paul talks about when he says, "God after all, has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise."

The Holy Spirit established it as just clever and wise planning to do your most extravagant events when the biggest crowds will be present. Numbers matter to God, and that is why most miracles are public events in the New Testament. Jesus drew great crowds with his miracles, and we see the Apostles doing the same thing in the book of Acts. Jesus made it a practice to go to Jerusalem on feast days when the greatest crowds would be present. Paul made it a goal to get to Jerusalem by Pentecost, and so he was always in a hurry, as we see in Acts 20:16. It is serious business to be clever in reaching people for Christ, but it is also humorous to see how being clever outwits the enemy who would keep people in darkness if he could. We will see that much of the humor in the book of Acts is based on the cleverness of God and the Apostles.

Nobody is more clever than the Holy Spirit when it comes to getting attention. He came appealing to as many of the senses as possible. The wind was both felt and heard. The fire was seen, and the tongues again were heard. The unseen Spirit makes his presence known through the visible and the audible. He chose this day of Pentecost to come into the history of the church because it was the feast of the harvest, and on this day there was a harvest of 3000 souls who were brought into the kingdom of God by means of the preaching of the Gospel. This was, again, the cleverness of the Holy Spirit. For an extended study of cleverness I have added an appendix called CHRISTIAN CLEVERNESS for those who have an interest in pursuing this subject.

Much of the humor in the Bible revolved around the paradoxes of reality, and we see it here in the tongues of fire. These tongues represent the power of the tongue to be used of the Holy Spirit to convey the greatest message ever given in any language. The Apostles were given tongues that could speak in many languages and set the hearts of people on fire with the good news of salvation in Christ. They were called to be witnesses, and that meant to use their tongues. The tongue has three primary functions in the life of a believer. It is to be used for praise, prayer and proclamation. But then we go to James 3:5-6 and read, “…Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” The very instrument the Holy Spirit uses to burn the truth of salvation into the hearts of men, in order that they might go to heaven, is used by the evil spirit to destroy lives and lead them into the flames of hell. The Holy Spirit uses this evil part of the body for the greatest good, and not only is this clever, but it reveals that nothing is so much a part of the lost and fallen world that it cannot be used for good. In this lies the whole vast record of God’s cleverness in bringing good out of evil, and in this we see so much of the humor of God and the humor of history.

God’s sense of humor is so often discovered by seeing how he uses the evil, the bad, and the negative to bring forth the good, the pleasant and the positive in our lives. The Bible and history is full of this reality, and I want to share some examples so that we see that it is not just a one time thing at Pentecost when he uses the greatest instrument for evil to produce the greatest message for eternal good. God will work in all things for good Paul says in Rom. 8:28. Evil and all of its consequences, including the last enemy to be destroyed, which is death, will finally be eliminated. But until then evil is very real and nobody escapes its cruel touch. To cope with it and overcome it we need to see God bringing good out of it.

St. Augustine said: “God judged it better to bring good out of evil, than to suffer no evil to exist.” In other words, in the long run we will be better off to have lived in this evil world if we can see the cleverness of God in bringing good out of its evil. It is in seeing this that we grasp God’s sense of humor, which makes it possible for him to laugh at evil, for he knows that in the end the good will endure and the evil will pass away. You can count on it that God is laughing at Pentecost as he sees that very instrument in Peter’s mouth that made him deny that he even knew Jesus, now being used to open the hearts of thousands to receive Jesus as their Savior. His tragic tongue has now become his triumphant tongue by the power of the Holy Spirit. The tongue that has cursed and blasphemed both God and man can, by the grace of God, be used to bless both God and man. Let your heart be tickled to laughter as you see the cleverness of God in bringing good out of evil. God always gets the last laugh.

One of the ways we see God’s sense of humor is in the discovery that a defect can be an asset in the battle of life. During World War II they discovered that men who were colorblind were a great asset. They were not fooled by camouflage that hid things from normal eyes. They could look down from a plane at an ordinary landscape and say, “Hey, there is a gun emplacement!” There disability made the camouflage disappear and all they could see was the thing it was hiding. Those with perfect eyesight could not see the gun at all. Their impaired vision enabled them to see what others could not see. It was a paradox of a positive defect that enabled them to benefit their cause by means of this evil thing in their lives. It is ridiculous to talk about a positive defect, for that is a contradiction, but God does it all the time in bringing good out of evil. The biggest joke in all of history is the joke God played on the devil by using the most cruel act of crucifixion of his Son to redeem the world of sinners held captive by his demonic powers. God used Satan’s most dastardly deed to provide the lost world with a Savior. To add to Satan's humiliation, he used his Son to come back from the dead having ripped off the gates of hell, and thereby making it possible for all Satan's captive to be liberated. It is beyond our comprehension to imagine the laughter in heaven at this amazing and spectacular victory of good over evil. I saw the awesome joy and laughter of people in the streets when it was announced that World War II had ended. How much more would all the angels of heaven laugh and rejoice at the victory of the cross? We must never forget, God always gets the last laugh.

E. Stanley Jones wrote on this very topic and said so eloquently, "Jesus took the worst thing that could happen to him, namely, the cross, and turned it into the best thing that could happen to humanity, namely, its redemption. He didn't bear the cross; he used it. The cross was sin, and he turned it into the healing of sin; the cross was hate, and he turned it into a revelation of love; the cross was man at his worst, and Jesus turned it into God at his redemptive best. The answer, then is: don't bear trouble, use it......Take whatever happens---justice and injustice, pleasure and pain, compliment and criticism---take it up into the purpose of your life and make something out of it. Turn it into a testimony. Don't explain evil; exploit evil; make it serve you. Just as the lotus flower reaches down and takes up the mud
and mire to the purposes of its life and produces the lotus flower out of them, so you are to take whatever happens and make something out of it.”

Numerous books are written about how problems and sickness and closed doors lead to positive conclusions. A great example of this is the case of a life changed by a single sock. A group of men were carrying on a friendly conversation. One of them remarked that he had learned to be especially careful about small things. "Would you believe," he said, that a little thing like a pair of socks changed the entire course of my life?" "I can hardly believe that," replied another man." Well, it's true! Once I planned to take a trip with some of my friends on a canal boat, but two days before we intended to leave, I injured my foot while chopping wood. It was only a small cut, but the blue dye in the homemade socks I wore poisoned the wound, and I was compelled to stay at home. While my friends were on their journey, a powerful preacher came to our town to hold revival meetings. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I decided to attend. The message touched me deeply, and as a result, I surrendered my heart to the Lord." Afterward I saw that I needed to change my life in many ways. New desires and purposes took hold of me. I determined also to seek an education, for I trusted that this would enable me to live more usefully for the Lord." The man who made these comments was a former President of the United States -- James A. Garfield! It is funny how the trivial can become so tremendous in the providence of God. I know this personally, for it was because the waitresses were to busy at a place I was waiting to get a hamburger as a teenager, that I drove to another town to get something to eat, and there I met my future wife. It was such a trivial thing, but changed my life completely, and now I have been married to her for 53 years. The best thing ever happened because of a trivial event.

It is funny, but it is true that God brings good out of evil because he has no other source of raw material to work with. It is a fallen world of fallen people and so almost all the good God produces in this fallen world comes from the weak, the defective, the inadequate, and all that is far from the ideal. If God was limited to bringing good only out of other good he would be limited indeed. And so we see the humor of God all through the Bible in using inferior tools to do the greatest job on earth in doing his will on earth as it is in heaven.

We know that God used all kinds of annoying creatures to plague the Egyptians so they would let the people of Israel leave and head to their promised land, but few realize that pesky flies also played a role in our own history as Americans. Donald Hall tells the story, "When the Declaration of Independence was before Congress thay had their meeting near a livery-stable. The members wore short breeches and silk stockings, and with handkerchief in hand they were diligently employed in lashing the flies from their legs. So very vexatious were these annoying creatures that they aroused impatience in the sufferers, and Jefferson said it hastened their willingness to sign the great document. Jefferson gives credit to the flies for their help that gave birth to a great nation. He told the story with glee as he revealed how they signed the paper and fled from the scene. Of course, they were convinced, but the flies moved them to action, whereas if they were comfortable they might have delayed." God in his providence, and with his sense of humor, can use any creature, no matter how negative we think they are, to achieve good purposes in history. A pastor was telling little Bobby how God uses all creatures for good. He said he could not figure out how flies are any good, but there must be some value. Bobby said "I know their value. Daddy say flies are the only thing that keeps him awake when you are preaching."

One of the greatest examples of this is from The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
“She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea-infested. Their Scripture reading that morning in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted. She finally succumbed. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference. It was several months later when they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.” The fact is, had they lived in a pure and clean environment they would have been abused and possibly even raped. It was the negative reality of the fleas that made their lives more positive. God is no respecter of persons, or of creatures, for he can and does use every creature for his purposes, even a fly, a flea, or a donkey.

The bottom line is to take all that you feel is weak and inadequate and defective and use it for the glory of God. This is especially true with the tongue that you know has often been your weak point in life. By it you have hurt others and possibly have even cursed the name of God and spread evil. Take control of that tool the devil has used and turn it into an instrument of praise and blessing. Every day consciously go out of your way to use it to speak words of love and encouragement to others. See what good God can bring out of that tool that has been often a tool for evil, and give Him the praise. Charles Wesley wrote,

O Thou who came from above
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart!
There let it for Thy glory burn
With inextinguishable blaze,
And trembling to its source return
In humble prayer and fervent praise.

Pentecost was a one time thing in the sense that never again did the Holy Spirit come upon the church with such a wind and fire, but the effects of that coming are to be reproduced in every age and in every believer as they yield themselves up to be instruments for God to use in blessing this lost world with the good news of the Gospel. Not all can be like Peter and preach it, but all can be users of the tongue to kindle the fires of love in the hearts of others. Make the devil cry and your heavenly Father laugh by using the cursed tool of the tongue to be a blessing to all around you. When you see how God can use your tongue for good, you will laugh with joy that such a dangerous weapon can be used for healing.

II. THE TONGUE OF PROCLAMATION ACTS 2:14-41

Peter Addresses the Crowd
 14Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
 17" 'In the last days, God says,
      I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
      your young men will see visions,
      your old men will dream dreams.
 18Even on my servants, both men and women,
      I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
      and they will prophesy.
 19I will show wonders in the heaven above
      and signs on the earth below,
      blood and fire and billows of smoke.
 20The sun will be turned to darkness
      and the moon to blood
      before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
 21And everyone who calls
      on the name of the Lord will be saved.'[c]
 22"Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25David said about him:
   " 'I saw the Lord always before me.
      Because he is at my right hand,
      I will not be shaken.
 26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
      my body also will live in hope,
 27because you will not abandon me to the grave,
      nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
 28You have made known to me the paths of life;
      you will fill me with joy in your presence.'[e]
 29"Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,[f] that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
   " 'The Lord said to my Lord:
      "Sit at my right hand
 35until I make your enemies
      a footstool for your feet." '[g]
 36"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
 38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
 40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

In this section we see Peter using his tongue to defend the tongue speaking of the believers, and it is funny, for how often does a speaker have to defend a body of Christians who are being accused of being drunk? This is hardly ever a good introduction to a speech that you have to assure the audience that the Christians are not just coming off an all night binge, or are not morning alcoholics who begin drinking at sunup. It is only nine in the morning Peter points out, and so lets give them the benefit of the doubt as I explain just why they are acting and speaking so strange. It is probably somewhat embarrassing to Peter to have to explain why his fellow believers are not drunk. That was a major reaction of the crowd, however, or he would not have felt it necessary to begin his message with this apology. Here is one of the most successful sermons ever preached on this planet, and it begins with an apology for what seems like drunken behavior on the part of Christians. Peter explains that this behavior is not of their own choice but is the fulfillment of what God spoke through the tongue of his prophet Joel. And then he quotes Joel 2:28-32.

The interesting thing about this proclamation of Joel is that it flies in the face of Jewish tradition, and just because of that it becomes humorous, for it is radical and even offensive to the leaders of Israel. This text says that both sons and daughters will prophesy, and that both men and women together will prophesy. This would never be allowed in the synagogue or the temple. This making both sexes equal in receiving the gifts of the Spirit of God was more radical than the signs of the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood. This was a shocking speech Peter was making, for it has many ramifications we can’t get into here. But then he goes on to the most shocking of all speeches, which has produced more humor in history than any message ever spoken by human tongue.

Peter proclaims the horrible news of the tragic death of Jesus, and the guilt of all the people for their role in this evil deed of nailing the perfect man to the cross. But he goes on to proclaim the greatest news ever as he describes how God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and made him Lord and Messiah. The horrible news cut them to the heart and they felt terrible, but they were told they could repent and be baptized and have their sins forgiven. Many did just that and were added to the body of Christ. Now what in the world is humorous about this most serious business? We repeat what we said above. It is simply this-the proclamation of the resurrected Christ has led to a whole history of humor and laughter, for it is the biggest joke God ever played on Satan, the greatest enemy of man. When God raised Jesus from the dead he pulled the rug out from under Satan, and he fell never to rise to the same power ever again. This event spelled his defeat, and like any great defeat of an enemy it has led to more joy and laughter than any other event in history. The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of all the joy in the Christian faith. The only basis for eternal joy and laughter is in this event. Because it is a reality there is a whole history of humor that revolves around the resurrection.

Easter laughter is common in many places, but I have to admit that I never experienced it as a part of Easter worship as many have. I have read some funny things about the resurrection, however. I read of a new pastor who had his first funeral and turned to the Gospels to see how Jesus dealt with funerals. What he discovered was that Jesus never had a funeral. All he ever had were resurrections. He never met a dead person he didn’t like, and so he raised them all from the dead. Now that is funny, and that is what has led to all the humor about the Easter message, for God by raising Jesus from the dead made it possible for Jesus to go on all through history raising the dead to be with him in eternity.

Many churches today are reviving the old tradition of the early church by having what they call Holy Humor Sunday. This is held on the Sunday following Easter Sunday. Let me share part of an article from The Joyful Noiseletter that will give you more insight into this tradition.

“For centuries in Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant countries, the week following Easter Sunday, including "Bright Sunday" (the Sunday after Easter), was observed by the faithful as "days of joy and laughter" with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Churchgoers and pastors played practical jokes on each other, drenched each other with water, told jokes, sang, and danced. The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. "Risus paschalis - the Easter laugh," the early theologians called it.

In 1988 the Fellowship of Merry Christians began encouraging churches and prayer groups to resurrect Bright Sunday celebrations and call it "Holy Humor Sunday," with the theme: "Jesus is the LIFE of the party. "Many churches from different traditions responded enthusiastically. Holy Humor Sunday services are bringing back large crowds to churches on a Sunday when church attendance typically drops dramatically. ”Early church leaders believed that a humorous story was appropriate at the beginning of an Easter sermon because laughter is a Christian response to all of life’s harshest realities. Resurrection is a hilarious surprise. Easter Sunday is a day for laughing. Many churches are calling it “Laughter Sunday”, or “Refreshment Sunday”, or even “Lighten Up Sunday.” It is popular because people love to laugh, and they love to believe that God appreciates his children having a good laugh just as most human parents do with their children.

Sherwood Eliot Wirt wrote, “What was Jesus’ first spoken word after His resurrection? According to Matthew, it was addressed to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. They had learned that Jesus had risen, and were running “with fear and great joy” to tell the disciples. His greeting has been variously translated as “Hail!” “All Hail!” “Good morning,” “Greetings,” “Don’t be frightened,” And “Peace!” None of these translations adequately render the Greek of Matt. 28:9. The word is chairete, and it means rejoice! The agony was finished; the arrest, the trial, the conviction, the sentencing, the mocking, the beating, the torture, the crucifixion, the final words had all become history. Now the resurrection had taken place as a hard, palpable fact, and everything was changed. From the risen Jesus’ own mouth we hear the word that tells us his joyous mood was returned: Rejoice!”

In Eugene O’Neill’s curious play Lazarus laughs, the resurrected Lazarus dramatically emerges from his tomb, still wrapped in grave clothes, and gives a mighty bellow of laugher-as if the last enemy, death, had finally been disarmed and vanquished.

The natural body is born of the womb,
The spiritual body is born from the tomb.
Out of the darkness of death comes light and life
that will never cease, but will be as eternal as the
one who makes this birth possible, for we shall all
be like him. The goal of God is not to get back to
Adam, but to get ahead to this second Adam. God
did not make his best in Adam, and so we are not
going back but on to the best which is in Christ.
St. Augustine said, "The divine became human in order
that the human might become divine."

To see the humor in many settings you need to see details and use your imagination. In these verses we see human folly behind the scenes, and it is funny in a tragic sort of way. Peter warns and pleads for people to believe and save themselves, but v. 41 says those who accepted his message were baptized and added to the church. The implication is that many did not accept his message. They did not believe and escape, but went away with the skeptical attitude that Peter and his friends are just drunken religious fanatics. The humor of such rejection of the greatest news in history is the unbelievable folly of a wasted opportunity. Opportunity knocked and they refused to open the door. It was such a great waste. We do not see the humor of it because we fail to grasp just how stupid these people were being. We need illustrations to bring it to our awareness. For example:

A rich man was determined to give his mother a birthday present
that would outshine all others. He read of a bird that had a
vocabulary of 4000 words, could speak in numerous languages and
sing 3 operatic arias. He immediately bought the bird for
$50,000 and had it delivered to his mother. The next day he
phoned to see if she had received the bird. "What did you think
of the bird?" he asked. She replied, "It was delicious."

The story is not likely true, but it illustrates the great folly of letting a great value slip through your hands because of being unaware of its worth. These people were being as foolish as the mother who cooked the rare bird. They had the good news in their hands and dropped it, and lost the key to eternal life. It is tragic comedy for it reveals the horrible waste of the greatest treasure God offers to man. It is a paradox that the good news is bad news to those who refuse to receive it. They are throwing away the greatest treasure as if it was trash.

I read a humorous story about a woman who fell out of a second-
floor window and landed in a slow-moving garbage truck. Half-
buried in the litter, she tried without success to get the truck-
driver's attention. A foreign diplomat standing on the sidewalk
saw her and quipped, "another example of how wasteful Americans
are. That woman looks like she's good for at least another 10
years."

He was misreading the situation, but we are not doing so when we see over and over through the book of Acts that the good news is spurned and rejected by people who have it in their grasp. They are one step from the gate of heaven, and they turn and walk the other way toward the gate of hell. It is not funny but it is humorous in that it is laughable that people can be so wasteful of the blessings God gives them.

III. THE TONGUE OF PRAISE ACTS 2:42-47

The Fellowship of the Believers

 "42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

You would have a hard time convincing anyone that people this happy with their lives and their fellow believers, and with their God, were not enjoying a great deal of joyful laughter with each other. I cannot conceive of myself, or anyone I know, having this kind of daily fellowship, and seeing miracles on a daily basis, not having much laughter. Their needs are met on every level with the favor of God and man. They are experiencing success with new people joining them daily. They have the nearest thing to heaven on earth, and with such peace and joy comes a sense of humor. I can just imagine my good friends and I breaking bread and one says, “Can you believe it? Thirty more families came into the fellowship this morning.” Another adds, “And that is not all. Four of the children in these families were cured of serious diseases, and the parents are weeping with tears of great joy.” We would all laugh with joy at such a sign of God’s presence in our midst, and we would all join in praising God with hearts filled with gratitude for being a part of the body of Christ. Joy and laughter would be a part of every gathering as we watched the Holy Spirit at work in building up the church. We would be praising without ceasing.

This paradise of praise was not a perpetual scene, however, for soon persecution came and they were made to endure pain rather than pleasure. This temporary time of triumph, however, made it clear what God's ideal for the church is to be. They were praising God for the teaching of the Apostles, for their fellowship, for their daily bread and times of prayer. They were constantly motivated to praise God for the many wonders of his miracles in healing. They praised God for all their needs being met, and for the favor they had in the community, and for the daily increase of their number. The tongues of praise never ceased in this awesome ideal setting.

The humor of the whole context is that in spite of the ideal environment these early Christians produced by their Spirit filled lives, the leaders of Israel were opposed to them and sought to bring this beautiful heaven on earth to an end. As we read on in Chapter 4 we see them arresting the Apostles for the good work they were doing. It is so laughable that men can be so blind to what is of God. It was as clear as a sunny day, and yet they called it darkness and of the devil. They tried to put the fire out that the Holy Spirit had kindled on this Pentecost day, but they learned that Solomon was right on when he wrote, "Water can't quench the fire of love." They sent a flood of hatred to drown out the fire of Christian love, but it went on burning until it has reached into all the world. God in heaven laughs at all the futile efforts of men to put the fire of His Spirit out, and the believers all through history have joined Him in laughter and praise for His endless stream of power and love that overcomes the forces of evil. The tongues of praise have never quit since this great day of Pentecost, and they never will in a world where God always has the last laugh.