Now, That's Just Funny!

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22 ESV). I must confess to enjoying some of the humorous posts I see on social media. This morning as I was posting the day’s issue of Morning Devotional I scrolled to one particular post from a friend who notoriously regularly posts satirical humor. My response is typically, “Now, that’s just funny!” And, I mean that with much more emphasis than is possible to communicate within the confines of the sterility of a Face Book response. So, I also, posted a response gif of a baby laughing so hard that they fell over (https://tenor.com/view/laugh-laughing-baby-die-laughing-gif-14156799) . I’m sorry y’all; once again, that’s just funny! The Scripture is full of funny stories even though it is not generally regarded as a humorous book. And, if my life is any gauge of the level of God’s humor, He is funny! Maybe that's because humor doesn't always travel well, in time or space. The Bible was finished almost two thousand years ago, in languages and cultures that are strange to us. Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that we miss some of the cues. And of course, we're conditioned to that “not-a-humorous-book” approach. However, since the Bible itself says, “a merry heart is good medicine” (v. 22a), let me give you some good medicine today. When the writer of the death of King Jeroham recorded his demise, he said, "He passed away, to no one's regret" (2 Chronicles 21:20). I’ve been to a lot of funerals, and I’ve officiated at many more, you would never say that today, even if it were true. That’s funny! And what about David when he pretends to be insane before Achish, king of Gath, to avoid being returned to Saul. Achish says to his servants: "Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here?" (1 Samuel 21:15-16). C’mon, that's funny. The prophet, Elijah, is fond of sarcasm, too. His great contest with the prophets of Baal over which God could light his own sacrifice – a pretty comical idea in itself – sees him mocking them (cf. 1 Kings 18:27) with the suggestion that he might be on the lavatory, though politer translations tend to obscure this point. I've always enjoyed Balaam’s conversation with his donkey (Numbers 22: 21-30). I can't believe that the words: "Am I not your own donkey? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" were written with a straight face. And then there's Jonah. Not only was he thrown into the sea and sucked up and spit out three days later, the inhabitants of Nineveh wouldn't perish in fire and brimstone after all. They actually repented. The image of the prophet sulking under the shade of a vine because God spared the people is just priceless. Then when "God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered", the comedy is complete: all this, and sunstroke too! Now, that’s funny! Proverbs is a goldmine of humor, not all of it very politically correct: "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion" (Proverbs 11:22); "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife" (Proverbs 21:9). Oh, there’s lots more. The point is simple today. Live a little, laugh a lot. Laughter is good medicine. And, after all, our end is heaven with our Eternal Father! And, that’s no joke!