The Lord of Laughter: No, it is not "Heeerrrsss Johnny," nor is it any of the great comedians of the 20 century. It is one, however, who has something in common with the majority of them, and that is that he too was a Jew. If Jesus is Lord of all, then he is Lord of Laughter. If Jesus is the perfect man, and all Christians agree on that, then he had to be a man of laughter, for all agree also that laughter is part of being human.

1. THE LORD OF LAUGHTER
By Pastor Glenn Pease
INTRODUCTION
The Lord of Laughter: No, it is not "Heeerrrsss Johnny," nor is it
any of the great comedians of the 20 century. It is one, however, who
has something in common with the majority of them, and that is that he
too was a Jew. If Jesus is Lord of all, then he is Lord of Laughter. If
Jesus is the perfect man, and all Christians agree on that, then he had
to be a man of laughter, for all agree also that laughter is part of
being human. No person is considered having an ideal personality who
does not have a sense of humor. Let me share with you some quotes that
show it is considered basic to the good life to be one who enjoys
laughter.
Martin Luther "It is pleasing to the dear God whenever thou rejoicest or
laughest from the bottom of thy heart."
Charles Gruner "Human societies treasure laughter and whatever can
produce it. Without laughter everyday living becomes drab and lifeless;
life would seem hardly human at all. Likewise, a sense of humor is
generally considered a person's most admirable attribute. Indeed, few
people would be willing to admit that they are deficient in this
quality."
John Wesley "A sour religion is the devil's religion."
Reinhold Niebuhr "What is funny about us is precisely that we take
ourselves too seriously."
Terry Lindvall "The joy of heaven incarnates in the humor of earth."
Samuel Johnson "The size of man's understanding might be justly measured
by his mirth."
George MacDonald "It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that
is afraid to laugh in His presence."
There is a tradition, however, that suggests that Jesus had too
serious a task in life to be humorous. Many are convinced that he never
laughed. They point out that the Bible says that he wept, but never says
that he laughed. It also never says that he smiled, and so if we go by
negative evidence Jesus was the only man in history likely who never had
any sense of humor, and never found anything funny enough to bring him
to a smile or a laugh. This is pure nonsense, and this book is designed
to show how clearly that it is nonsense, and that those who have such a
pathetic view of the perfect man have a problem with their own sense of
humor.
Rev. Sam Trumbore wrote, "Christianity lost much of the spirit of
humor and satire at the time of the Reformation. Calvin felt religion
should be concerned with reason and law, not the foolishness celebrated
by the Medieval Church. And we today inherit Calvinism through
Puritanism, which continues to define us. Modern religions have
dismissed humor and satire as blasphemous and irrelevant in the context
of ritual. Many religious leaders, leaning toward formality, sacredness,
reverence, rationality, and authority, have helped to develop religious
structures that are hierarchical, heavily structured, overly serious,

2. dogmatic or impersonal."
This is not a biblical perspective at all as we examine the context
of the life of Jesus.
I. HIS HERITAGE.
A. He has a Heavenly Father who laughs.
God Has a Sense of Humor!
When we imagine what God is like, most of us picture Him as serious,
caring, stern, or loving, but rarely do we think of Him as laughing. Yet
Scripture shows us that
God has a sense of humor. Consider the evidence that someone has
compiled:
God sanctions laughter. Ecclesiastes 3:4 >tells us that there is "a
time to laugh."
God used a donkey as a mouthpiece! "Then the Lord opened the donkey’s
mouth, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you to make you beat
me these three times?’" (Numbers 22:28
God gave a woman who was more than 90 years old a child! Her comment
was, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this
will laugh with me" (Psalm 21:6
Our laughter is a great testimony to God’s goodness. As the Jews
returned from exile in Babylon, the Psalmist recorded this observation:
"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for
them’" (Psalm 126:2
God made us in His image, so our laughter (unless it is cruel in intent)
is a reflection of God’s nature. A God who creates people like Lucille
Ball, Bill Cosby, and Dave Dravecky certainly must love to laugh!
God promises laughter in eternity. Those who "weep" now will laugh in
heaven (Luke 6:21
The ability to laugh is one of God’s greatest gifts. Humorist Barbara
Johnson calls it the "cheapest luxury we have." So go ahead, enjoy the
blessing of laughter. God just might be laughing with you!
Dr. Harvey Cox wrote,
"In a passage in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, one monk furiously
upbraids another one for presuming to think that Christ ever laughed. We
may dismiss his rigidness as excessive, but the question remains: Why
does laughter hold such a meager place in our religion?
“In the church I attended as a boy, a snicker during the sermon was
ample proof that you must have been thinking of something else. Laughter
and faith seem incommensurate. But are they really? It has not always
been so. In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri reports that after he had
made the tortuous ascent from hell to purgatory, and had then drawn
close to the celestial sphere, he suddenly heard a sound he had never
heard before. Stopping and listening, he then writes, "me sembiana un
riso del universo." It sounded "like the laughter of the universe."
God will always have the last laugh, for He not only knows how the
story of history turns out, He plans to make eternity an eternal
banquet, and who ever heard of a banquet without humor and laughter. It
is a vital part of being joyful, and God plans to make heaven a place of
everlasting joy. There is a time to weep in this life, just as the
followers of Jesus did at the cross, but after the resurrection there
has been continuous laughter and joy, for the last enemy of man had met

3. its match, and Jesus conquered death. In heaven all that led to tears
will be no more, and so their will be eternal laughter.