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CONNIE: When’s the last time you had a good laugh while reading the Bible? Is it just a serious book, or does God have a sense of humor? Join us today as we look at “The Laughter of Heaven.”

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. You know, Connie, I think that most people consider the Bible to be a very serious book, but we’ve noticed on our program here that there are many joyful parts as well.

CONNIE: I remember when we did the series we called “The Joy of Jesus.” You talked with Bruce Marchiano, who played the part of Jesus in the Matthew video, about how the gospels reveal a Savior who was filled with joy in His daily activities.

LONNIE: One of the most memorable scenes in that film, I think, is when Jesus has healed a leper, and the two of them just run to each other and hug each other and roll on the ground laughing with joy at the wonderful thing Jesus has done.

CONNIE; There had to be a lot of joy around Jesus, when He was reaching out and touching so many people with healing. But some people think of Him only as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

LONNIE: Well, of course there’s that aspect of His ministry as well. And understanding that helps us see Jesus as a well-rounded person—a Man who can empathize with us when we’re going through difficult times. But as we’ve continued studying the Bible, we’ve noticed that there are also many indications that God not only has a capacity for joy—He must have the ability to laugh as well.

CONNIE: That’s fascinating—I know that our producer Ken Wade wrote a chapter in our Joy of Jesus book in which he tells about a time when he thinks Jesus had a good hearty laugh with the disciples. And David Smith, who produces our daily broadcast, did a chapter about how unique a talent the ability to laugh is, so we invited the two of them back into the studio for this broadcast, to explore this idea a little more deeply.

KEN: Well David, I wanted to get you in on this program today because frankly you are one of the funniest people that I know.

DAVID: Well if people laugh when I intend them to I’m happy with that, but if they laugh when I walk by that’s not so good, although if I can walk by and make someone spiritually happy by having all three of my hairs stand up…(Laughs)

KEN: …David, you’re to self denigrating. As our audience can plainly see, you have far more than three hairs on top of your head.

DAVID: Barely!

KEN: This morning it struck me as we were planning to have our worldwide prayer circle, praying for those who are in need and suffering and you told a good clean joke that made everyone laugh and kind of made the mood of the room feel closer, is that something acceptable as Christians? Is it alright to joke about things in the Bible or things in our everyday lives?

DAVID: If that were the case I would be fired and a lot of the pastors across the world would be as well. George Vandaman who used to work in these very halls for It Is Written, talked about how Charles Spurgeon, a great pulpiteer in years gone by, had people criticize him for some of the humor he used in his sermons, and he said “Boy if she only knew all the jokes that I left out”, but I think that joy and spirituality and humor are inextricably worn together and wound together, and it is such a blessing to be able to laugh.

KEN: I think the word joy resonates with Christians. But laughter?

DAVID: Oh sure! We were created to be able to laugh, and there is laughter all through the Bible, and I think that clearly this is one of the Creator’s great gifts to us.

KEN: The Bible does say a merry doeth good like a medicine, doesn’t it?

DAVID: I remembered once where somebody was very sick and the doctor said, “Fellow you just need to go home and watch two hours of the Three Stooges, and soon you will be well”, and two of laughs over a period of time he got well.

KEN: And laughter is also very important in our interaction with people isn’t it? When you have a friend that you can just laugh with, not at other people, but just enjoy some good laughs with, you actually feel closer to them.

DAVID: Well we noticed that this morning just in that little clean joke as you said, and we all had a good time and just laughed and came together. I remember once I went to the Paso Robles county fair many summers ago and Bill Cosby was going to appear, and so my wife and I decided to go and it was only 10 dollars, and we were sitting there and there was a warm up act on who was sort of funny and we clapped politely for him, and finally it was time for Bill to walk on stage. As he walked on, he hadn’t even cracked a joke or said a word, he hadn’t even flipped his microphone on yet, and the 1500 people there all just began to laugh. We knew he would be funny, we knew it would be good clean family humor, and we were bonded together by the anticipation of the fun and the humor. At that moment I felt very communal at that moment, no question, yes.

KEN: In our program today we are talking about the laughter of heaven and the possibility that God can laugh. Like you said earlier, humans are created with the ability to laugh, it’s unique. Monkeys can’t laugh, Hyenas can’t laugh, at least not in the same ways that humans do. It’s not the same as the bonding experience that humans share. Anthropologists have gone around the world and studied every culture and found that all of them laugh; it’s universal, not cultural.

DAVID: It’s just innate to how God made us.

KEN: And in every culture laughter is one of the ways that bonds people together. I think that Abraham and God had a lot of laughs together and that made the two of them closer.

DAVID: And one of the great theological questioning concerning when we get to heaven is whether or not we will still be able to laugh.

KEN: A great friend of mine Del Delker says that she will be turning kartwheels in heaven, and I’m going to be laughing watching her. How could we be closer in heaven if we just walk around with sour faces all the time?

DAVID: And when you get together with old friends and say remember when…laughs always come back and up to the surface, and in heaven I think that we will look back at our brief time on earth and that will be the thing that unites us together.

KEN: It’s supposed to be a happy kingdom after all.

DAVID: I’m looking forward to going and being there.

CONNIE: That was Cynthia Clawson with a happy song about a happy kingdom, and now’s a good time to remind you that when you hear music on our broadcast that you’d like to know more about, we post that information on our web page at VOP.COM, so you can find out who the artist was, what CD the music was taken from, and how you can purchase the music for your own library.

LONNIE: And speaking of libraries, we’d like to add a book to your library. It’s called The Joy of Jesus, and it’s our gift to you today. All you have to do is ask for it.

CONNIE: That’s right, you can call our toll-free line at 1-800-872-0055 to request a copy of The Joy of Jesus, or you can write to us as well, and we’ll be giving our mailing address a bit later in the program.

LONNIE; Let me just say how much we appreciate all of you who do take a moment to sit down and jot us a note from time to time. It really does a lot to encourage us, so you might want to have a pencil and paper ready to get that address down.

CONNIE: Right now though, let’s listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “The Laughter of Heaven.”

The Laughter of Heaven

Is it OK to laugh in church?

There’s a classic story that circulates around my own Seventh-day Adventist denomination, about a large convocation—a camp meeting—where 20,000 people had gathered to hear some good preaching. But before the preacher got up to preach, a pastor by the name of Belleau was to have the Morning Prayer.

The only trouble was that before he prayed another man made some announcements, and then tried to tell the congregation what was to happen next. And he got just two words reversed in order.

All he said was “Pastor Pray will now Bellow.”

Believe me. There was laughter in the church that day! It was almost impossible for the congregation to settle down long enough for a prayer—let alone for a sermon!

Now, what do you think God thought about that?

Do you picture Him up on his throne in heaven, scowling impatiently down at the laughing throng, saying “All right, already? That’s enough laughter! Let’s get on with the sermon!”

Or is it possible…is there just the slightest chance, do you think? That maybe, just maybe, God was up in heaven laughing right along with the saints?

H. M. S. Richards, the founder of Voice of Prophecy, was fond of saying that he was sure God must have a sense of humor. “After all, he made monkeys and people, didn’t he?” Pastor Richards would say. And as Art Linkletter is fond of reminding us, “People are funny!”

Laughter, it seems, is a uniquely human talent. Scientists have tried to find other animals that can laugh, but to no avail. It seems it’s a unique, God-given ability only we humans have. And since we’re made in God’s image—don’t you suppose God a good laugh from time to time, too?

If you’re still doubtful, let me share a Bible story with you that might change your mind. It’s found in Genesis 17.

We’ve been reviewing the story of Abraham on our program recently—trying to learn how this great patriarch became such a close friend of God. And I think the story in Genesis 17 is a very key part of his developing this close relationship to his Creator. It’s a serious story—but also one that involves a bit of laughter—quite a bit in fact.

By time we get to chapter 17, Abraham’s a very old man—almost a hundred years old. He’s been walking with God for about a quarter century, and he believes that God has fulfilled His promise of a son, because the boy Sarah’s handmaid Hagar bore—Ishmael by name—is a teenager by now, and growing into a fine, strong young man. Abraham has no clue that he’s made a detour off the path of faith by sleeping with Hagar and producing a son. He thinks all is right with the world, and that he’s done just exactly what God expected him to do—produce a son to inherit the land God has promised to him.

Then in chapter 17, Abraham’s world suddenly comes crashing down around his ears. Here’s what happened:

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless’ ” (Genesis 17:1, NRSV).

Now, that’s not much to ask, is it? Just walk blamelessly! Ha! If you think that’s easy to do, well, maybe you ought to sit down and have a little talk with Abraham. According to verse 2, when he heard that’s what God expected of him, he fell right down in the dirt! Face down!

But God picked him up and then started talking to him about a new covenant He was going to make with Abraham, and telling him that Sarah, his wife, was going to have a son, who would be Abraham’s heir.

Essentially God was saying “Nice try, Abraham,” your tryst with Hagar, I mean. “But you missed my plan. You’re like Frank Sinatra—you did it your way. Now I want you to do it my way.”

There’s a bit more seriousness in the story. In making the new covenant with God, Abraham is required to be circumcised—no small thing for a centenarian! And he has to get used to the fact that Ishmael isn’t the son of promise. Sarah’s going to have a son, and he’s the one who is to be Abraham’s heir.
“God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her’ ” (Genesis 17:15-16, NRSV).

Now, here’s where the story really gets good. Here’s where the laughter starts. How does Abraham respond to this news about what’s going to happen to his 90-year-old wife?

He laughs!

He laughs at what God has said!

Is it safe to laugh at God? What do you think? Mightn’t the Almighty just hurl a thunderbolt your way if you dared to laugh at Him?

But Abraham laughs at God and gets away with it. Mind you, this is no little titter. No carefully-concealed chuckle. This is a belly laugh. A “bend over double and guffaw” laugh. A fall-right-down-on-your-face-and-roll-on-the-ground-trying-to-catch-your-breath laugh. Here’s how the Bible describes it in Genesis 17:17: “Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ ” (NRSV).

You’d think God would get a little perturbed with a man who dared to laugh at Him, wouldn’t you?

But do you know what? Laughter is contagious when shared among friends, isn’t it? When you’re with someone you care about, and they’re laughing—you can’t help yourself, can you? You just get sucked right into it, and soon you’re laughing too!

Anthropologists who study different cultures tell us there is no human society where people don’t laugh. And they also tell us that laughter is used in every society as a way of strengthening relationships.

In short, you’re never really close to someone until you can laugh together with them.

Now, notice what happens when Abraham laughs at what God has told him: “God said, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son,’ ” and friend, here’s where I picture God coming very close to Abraham. In fact, I think I can picture God laughing right along with Abraham as He says this: “‘Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him he laughs!’ ” (Genesis 17:19, NRSV). You see, that’s what the name Isaac means: “He laughs!” And I don’t think God picked that name out of a baby-name book. I don’t think He chose it by accident. I think God went right along with Abraham’s reaction to His promise.

Scholars have pondered this name “He Laughs” for centuries, wondering what it means. Who laughs? They ask. And many have concluded it’s a reference to God Himself. God laughs!

I mean, it is funny, isn’t it? To think of a century-old man fathering a child by his ninety-year-old wife? When Abraham laughed so hard he fell on the ground, why wouldn’t God laugh right along with him? That’s what you do when a friend is laughing, isn’t it?

After Abraham and his friend God have shared this precious time of enjoyment—thinking of the wonderful thing that’s going to happen—God speaks again, and you can tell that He wants His friend to always remember this day. This time when they had such joy and mirth together. Because He says—when you name your son, name him in remembrance of this day. Name him “He laughs!” So that every time you call him to dinner you’ll remember that you serve a God who not only walks with you, who not only talks with you, who not only joins you in your suffering, but who joins you in your joy! Who wants to walk and talk and laugh with you as you go on your journey? I want you and your son to always remember that you have a God who wants to be a close friend to you.

Friend, there were serious moments; there were hard times, in Abraham’s journey with God. And sometimes we focus on those things—on the sacrifices God asked His friend to make—asking him to leave his home and his family behind, telling him to send Ishmael away, asking him to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering.

These were hard, serious times, and Abraham had to learn many difficult lessons as he grew to the point where he could be known as the friend of God.

But I can’t help but think that this day, when he and the Creator laughed together over the thought of a son being born to Sarah, was one of the times when his relationship to God grew by leaps and bounds. Because now he knew God as one who wanted to share with him in all of his humanness, all of his feelings, all of what it means to be a real person and a real friend.

It made Abraham feel comfortable with God. And a few days later, when God came down to visit again, Abraham felt so comfortable with Him that he invited His friend to come home for dinner. That story’s found in the very next chapter of the Bible, Genesis 18. Abraham is sitting in the door of his tent, relaxing at siesta time in the heat of the day, when he sees three men walking by. It doesn’t take him long to realize this is God Himself.

How would you respond if God came walking down your street? Run and hide under the bed?

Not Abraham. He ran right out and invited God and His angel’s home for dinner. No doubt looking forward to a great time of conversation with his Friend—the one who had brought him such wonderful news, and who had laughed together with him about it.

Is it OK to laugh in church? Is it OK to be joyful in your relationship with God? Well, ask Abraham—or better yet, ask his son—the one God named “He Laughs!”