Humor In Heaven Series

W. Douglas Roe pastored a large Baptist church in Philadelphia, where he had a weekly radio

broadcast. He was also going to seminary, and the load became to heavy, and he had a breakdown.

He was out of the pulpit for many months. He had to learn to relax, and so he became a sort of

comedian. He discovered his sense of humor, not only saved him, by bringing healing, but it was a

useful tool for saving others for eternity.

He was asked to speak at a noon service in a large industrial plant. He was told about a certain

worker who was a ardent atheist. He would never attend the service. Roe deliberately walked up to

this man's bench, just before the meeting, and said to him, "Did you ever think how much we have

to thank God for?" Before he could respond, Roe continued, "Take your nose for example. If

anyone else but God had given it to you, it might have been turned upside down. Then if it rained,

you would drown, and if you sneezed, you would blow your hat off." Roe just walked on up to the

pulpit. The man was so intrigued by his humor, that he stayed to listen. He heard the Gospel, and

made a decision for Christ. Humor became his first step on the way to heaven. Humor never saves,

only Christ does, but humor may bring one to Christ.

A study of the great preachers of history, and the most popular in our contemporary world, will

reveal that humor is a powerful tool in bringing people to Christ, and thus to heaven. Spurgeon used

a lot of humor, and he wrote, "It always makes me laugh when I am called a sour Puritan, because

you know there is nobody with a quicker eye for fun, or with a deeper vein of mirth, than I have."

D.L. Moody loved to get together after an evangelistic service, and relax by telling jokes. A lady

once asked him how he could laugh so soon after the serious labor of dealing with souls. He said,

"If I didn't, I'd have a nervous break down at the pace at which I live."

Calvin and Luther, and even Jonathan Edwards, the hell-fire preacher, had a keen sense of

humor. Some of the great Christians of history had to learn to control their sense of humor. David

Livingston, who opened up Africa to missions, and who suffered enormous hardships, said to his

wife, more than once, as they would recover from their fits of laughter, "Really, my dear, we ought

not to indulge in so many jokes. We are getting to old. It is not becoming. We must be more staid."

It is almost universally accepted as a fact of life, that it is a great virtue to have a sense of humor.

The question is, will we go on in enjoying a sense of humor in heaven? Will we laugh forever, or

will laughter be to earthly to be a part of the perfection of the holy city?

The Bible is our only source for reliable information on heaven. Let me share with you those

texts which convince me that humor is not merely temporal, but eternal. I am convinced that humor

is a part of the image of God, and that it is not the result of the fall. Here in Revelation 21:4, John

tells us plenty about what will not be heaven. There will be no tears, no mourning, no crying, no

pain, and death will also be no more. The whole point of these negatives, is for the purpose of

magnifying the positives. If death is gone forever, then it follows, life is present forever, for there

can be no end to it with death gone. If tears and mourning and crying are gone forever, it follows

that there opposites, joy and laughing, are free to be experienced forever. There need be no fear that

some sudden tragedy will turn our laughter to sorrow, as is the case in time.

If it can be established that laughter and a sense of humor is good, then it follows, naturally, that

they will be a part of eternal life, for nothing that it good will be eliminated from heaven. Jesus

settles this issue for us in Luke 6:21 where he says, "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall

laugh." Jesus could not have called laughing a blessing if it were part of the kingdom of evil. It is,

therefore, a part of the goal of Jesus, for the redeemed to cease all weeping, and to enter into

laughter. The weeping prophet Jeremiah will weep no more, but enjoy the laughter of heaven's

final victory over all evil. Weeping and gnashing of teeth is reserved for those in hell. It is over forever,