HoHum:
A new preacher moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit some of the members. All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he knocked several times. Finally, he took out his business card, wrote on the back “Revelation 3:20” and stuck it in the door.
The next day, his business card was found in the offering plate. Below his message was this notation, “Genesis 3:10”- Opening the bible this was found. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20, NIV. “He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”” Genesis 3:10, NIV.
WBTU:
Everyone enjoys a good laugh. A person who does not like to laugh is indeed in the pit of depression. Laughter is understood across humanity. Laughter is universal because it knows no international boundaries. Laughter knows no ethnic or racial restrictions. From the burning desert of the Sahara to the frigid wastes of Siberia, from the Eskimo in the North to the tribes of Africa to the South, people all over the world experience and enjoy laughter. I enjoy it. I often say that if I didn’t have laughter, a sense of humor, I would have gone crazy a long time ago.
Many theories of humor today. Trying to understand this mystery that is unique to humans.
Psalm 2:4- The one enthroned in heaven laughs. One of few instances in the bible in which laughter is attributed to God. God is not frequently thought of as possessing a sense of humor. There are critics of our faith who say that we have a lack of a sense of humor, and they can point to the fact that there is little laughter in the Bible. Why is it that the Bible, even though filled with joy and songs of praise, is lacking in the expression of laughter? There are many sayings of Jesus which show an ironic sense of humor, but on the whole one must agree with the critics who do not find much humor or laughter in the Bible.
Bible is against crude joking- Ephesians 5:4- Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. Much humor today is based on this, heaven forbid.
Let’s focus on laughing with vs. laughing at. Some comics make themselves the object of laughter. They talk about funny things involving themselves, they make fun of themselves. This way the laughter they get from the audience is laughing with them. They beat others to the punch line by being the first to laugh at themselves. Thomas Szasz- “When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.” We do not like to have others laugh at us. Being laughed at by others can be a miserable experience. One time had a nice pair of boots, the trendy designer kind of boots that everyone else wanted, but had to have one boot ground down because one leg longer than the other. Showed them to a couple of kids at school and they laughed at me. I said but these are the nice kind of boots but they said they could not be because of having one ground down so they laughed at me- the future president of our class...
Now here in Psalm 2:4 I do not believe that God is laughing at these people from a teasing, bullying or humiliating kind of way- laugh of disgust- kind of a snorting laugh- laugh of pity
“The Lord ridicules them”- Other translations say, “The Lord scoffs at them, the Lord holds them in derision”; Good News Translation says, “From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans” God’s laughter here is not the gentle, good natured chuckle of a friend. It is the laugh of someone who knows the whole story; someone who knows that in the end, everyone will be held to account and justice will prevail.
What is the Lord laughing at? Vs. 3- People are saying “Let’s tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.” What chains and ropes are being talked about? The instructions of God on how to live. We want to live our way and how dare anyone tell us any different! Many are laughing at God today.
Thesis: In what ways are people laughing at God?
For instances:
1. “Go to church, we have to work or play on the weekend to get ready for Monday.” While there is nothing wrong with work or play, it can be dangerous when it drives our lives to the point of completely ignoring the need to assemble and worship. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25, NIV. Difficult nowadays, but need to meet together as much as we can.
2. “Read the Bible and pray”- LOL- I have more important things like Facebook to indulge and to keep up my online image. In the age of Facebook and Instagram, we can be obsessed with projecting the image of the perfect life, perfect relationship, perfect kids, perfect holidays, perfect friend groups. However, in all those pictures of all the great things in our lives, are there any pictures of the church or anything that would speak to the world of our faith in God? How much time do we devote to prayer and the Word vs. online with Facebook? 2 Timothy 2:15- Be diligent (study- KJV) to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
3. Sexuality, “God’s ways are so old fashioned and out of date, must be kidding me.” Sex and gender were designed and created by God, but people have distorted all of this until sex has become an idol that drives us to make decisions that lead us far away from Christ. Ephesians 5:3- “But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you.” No premarital sex and no gender bending. Ephesians 5:31- For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 1 man, 1 woman coming together in the covenant of marriage before God for as long as they both shall live
4. “Money, give my money to God’s kingdom, you must be crazy.” Can’t make ends meet now, too much month left until the next paycheck. 1 Timothy 6:10- “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Ephesians 5:5- For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Proverbs 3:9- Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest. When get income, first thing need to do is write check or in some way set aside money for the Lord’s word, the church. God says test me in this...
5. People laugh at the concept of salvation. “What is important is the here and now not some pie in the sky years from now.” Some in faith circles believe that the important thing is to meet people’s needs in the here and now. People need the basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter. Yes, the Bible does talk about meeting needs such as “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’” Matthew 25:35, 36, NIV. These things are important but for what reason? Just to fulfill our God given responsibility to our fellow man? Much more than this, it is to have the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Receive updates from a college friend of mine, Tom Killian, who is involved with missions work in Africa, Mercy Partners. Tom met with an official from Ethiopia to talk about future mission projects. The official from Ethiopia said some eye opening things to Tom. The official said that Christians are not reaching some of the remote tribes in Ethiopia. Americans and not for profit organizations have been in contact with these tribes but have failed to make a difference in their way of life. The official is concerned because many of these remote tribes still carry on the practice of sacrificing their first born sons to their God or gods. Good intentioned people come and help these tribes with their basic needs such as food, clothing, building houses, and many times supplying them with clean water and electricity. Their physical needs are met but what will change their practice of sacrificing their first born sons. Only thing that will change them is gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not need to sacrifice their first born sons because God has already sacrificed his only begotten Son for them. John 3:16
Without the gospel people are a mess no matter how good they look on the outside. As Titus 3:3 says they are foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. And Ephesians 2:12 says that they are without Christ, excluded from the covenants of promise, without hope and without God. May look good and have everything they want but the only thing they really need is the gospel. Eternity is a long time. The years of our lives are so short, just a vapor, a mist, that appears and then is gone.
Interesting that we view life from our perspective, we are the center of our world, but we are only here for such a brief time, not that important in the scheme of things, but still God sacrificed for us. Need to get serious about God and stop laughing these things off.
So What?
Start reading at the days of our years and then come back to vs. 9. “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Psalms 90:9, 10, KJV. Reminds me of words of Shakespeare that he gives to character MacBeth- “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Exaggeration to say our lives are nothing
People with a true sense of humor do not take themselves too seriously. They are able to “stand off” from themselves, see themselves in perspective, and recognize the ludicrous and absurd aspects of their lives. What is tragic about ourselves is that we take ourselves too seriously and we do not take God seriously enough? The ability to laugh at oneself can be the beginning of a sense of sorrow over our sins. The ability to see ourselves for how we really are. Christians should have the best sense of humor. The Proverbs 31 woman- vs. 25- Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. How? This woman does not worry about the future. She does not worry about death. She has planned ahead and she knows her destiny. She laughs because the thought of it brings her joy. How much laughter do we have? How secure are we in our salvation? Believe, repent, confess, be baptized.
People laugh at God and God laughs at people. The sad part is that God will get the last laugh with too many. “Kiss the Son... Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Psalms 2:12, NIV.
Must go through Jesus- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”” John 3:36, NIV.
Thoughout eternity, I want God to laugh with me. I dread the thought of God laughing at me at the Judgment and then departing from Him for eternity. Jesus can take God’s wrath away.
