Sermon: Strategies for Escaping Babylon (Part Three)
Cultivating Humor to Escape or Endure Babylon
#1721A
David F. Maas
Given 05-Aug-23; 38 minutes
description: Ecclesiastes 3:4 assures us that the full panoply of emotions, from grief to elation, mirror the emotions experienced by our Creator (Genesis 1:26), and that He has a playful side as well as a somber side, displaying the full range of His composite personality at the right time. There are times when something fictional, made-up, or playful would be okay for a follower of Christ to say or do because we would be following in the steps of our Heavenly Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, both master practitioners of humor. Creating a sense of humor will make it easier to escape the satanic lies of Babylon, or at least make it more endurable. It has taken the medical community centuries to realize the truth of Proverbs 15:15, substantiating that laughter stimulates the body's organs activating the stress response, soothing tension, improving the immune system, relieving pain, improving mental health, warding off depression, and improving cardio-vascular health. The establishment of God's Kingdom will permanently end death, pain, and sorrow, but in the meantime, we should assiduously cultivate our sense of humor.
transcript:
Please turn over to Ecclesiastes 3:4, focusing on a verse which Robin Gallaher Branch, in her insightful article, “Laughter in the Bible? Absolutely!” characterizes as the umbrella verse on the biblical niche for humor or laughter, acknowledging the full panoply of human emotions, ranging from the depths of despair (Psalm 69) to the heights of elation and joy (Psalm 150) and all parameters of feeling in between, experienced by human beings, mirroring the identical feelings and emotions experienced by our Creator (Genesis 1:26), God Almighty, in whose image we were created, for the purpose of acknowledging the boundaries for their proper use within the vast panorama of emotions. Ecclesiastes 3:4 assures us that there indeed is:
Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
We acknowledge Almighty God as the Creator of humor and laughter. To be sure, there are specific times when it is better to refrain from levity, such as described by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7:2. Let us look at that passage.
Ecclesiastes 7:2 Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.
The Benson Commentary enlarges upon that passage adding these salient details:
It is better to go to the house of mourning where mourners assemble to celebrate the funerals of deceased family or friends; than to go to the house of feasting, where people meet to indulge their appetites in eating and drinking, in which they frequently go to excess. For that namely, death, the cause of that mourning; is the end of all men—is a lot that awaits all mankind, and to see instances of it tends to bring them to the serious consideration of their own last (we could say mortal) end, which is their greatest wisdom and interest; and the living will lay it to his heart will be seriously affected with it, and awakened to prepare for it; whereas feasting is commonly attended with levity and manifold temptations, and renders men’s minds indisposed for spiritual and heavenly thoughts.
Last week, Julie and I attended a memorial service for her uncle in Woodland, Washington. During the service, an abundance of tears were shed grieving his death, but also, we had an abundance of wholesome and contagious laughter when family members recalled happy and humorous events from his life. Likewise, we are grieved by the death of our dear brother in Christ, Kim Myers, but are simultaneously buoyed up by the joy of remembering his immense legacy of good works and generosity on behalf of God’s people.
We are thoroughly familiar with the prophetic sketch of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53:3-5 describing Him as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, smitten by God, and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and chastised for our peace.” Indeed, according to Mark Driscoll, in his insightful article, “Does Jesus Have a Sense of Humor?” (September 6, 2017) suggests that
because the death of Jesus is the centerpiece of our theology, it has in some ways so dominated our thinking about Jesus that His life prior to His death is seen as little more than one of avoiding sin and being an acceptable sacrifice, which means that sadly His humor and fun are too often overlooked. But the fact that Jesus was often invited to parties because people liked Him, and His fiercest critics falsely accused Him of being nothing but a party animal, suggests He was fun to hang around with (Luke 5:33; 7:31-35).
I thoroughly appreciated Mike Fuhrer’s CGG Weekly May 5, 2023, in which he described an incident at a previous church of God fellowship in which he was reprimanded by a fellow member for telling a joke because we are allegedly not allowed to tell anything that was not the truth. That incident reminded me of a time when I had invited a new member to the Duluth Spokesman Club in the spring of 1968. He looked at the cartoons in the Spokesman Club Manual drawn by Basil Wolverton, a man who used to contribute to the Mad Magazine, as well as the Bible Story for Children and the gruesome pictures in 1975 in Prophecy. This prospective club member looked at these drawings in horror and said, “I didn’t think we could have anything that wasn’t true.”
Several hours after my baptism in April 1966, I attended my very first Passover. After using the restroom in the basement of the Laidlaw Legion Hall in Minneapolis, I walked through the door (before Passover had begun) and began absentmindedly whistling to myself. A woman with an extremely angry countenance accosted me saying, “This is a somber evening; you should not be doing that.” Startled, not knowing whether I was reprimanded for using the restroom or for whistling, I felt smitten for the rest of the evening, thinking I had committed the unpardonable sin.
As I have repeatedly told Julie, if God does not have a sense of humor, Dave Maas is in heap big trouble.
Thankfully, as Mike Fuhrer brings out, there are times when something fictional, made-up, lighthearted, or playful could be okay for a follower of Jesus Christ to say or do because we would be following in the steps of our heavenly Father, as well as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, my specific purpose for this message is that cultivating a wholesome sense of humor constitutes an important strategy for either escaping Babylon or making it easier to endure the satanic lies attempting to deceive, dispirit, or disorient all the world’s inhabitants, including God’s called-out saints (Matthew 24:4). (The title of this message is “Strategies for Escaping Babylon (Part 03)” with the subtitle: Cultivating Humor to Escape or Endure Babylon.)
In his September 22, 2002 sermon, “The Witty Side of God’s Inspiration,” Martin Collins declares that the Bible contains myriad forms of humor, including God’s own wry sense of humor and wit. Paradoxically, learning to laugh makes us see more seriously. Among the Bible’s examples of subtle humor include situation comedy, intoxication humor, picaresque humor, satiric humor, and taunt songs, verbal irony, dramatic irony, name humor, incongruous situations, spontaneous shock, and subtle wit. Jesus Christ was a master of satire, word play, absurdity, irony, sarcasm, and exaggeration. Humor in the Bible reveals a significant dimension of God’s personality—a personality He expects us to emulate.
Almighty God uses abundant irony and incongruity to make a point. We are all familiar with the story of the naming of our second patriarch Isaac (Yitzhak) meaning laughter (Genesis 21:5-6). Earlier in Genesis 18:10-15, when God informed Abraham and Sarah that they will have a son “by this time next year,” Sarah openly laughs incredulous that she would ever experience sexual pleasure again—really? An 89-year-old? Abraham was even more over the hill, 99 years old, reproductively speaking dead (Hebrews 11:11-12). Consider the incredible irony of this miracle—from a post-menopausal woman and a man probably riddled with ED come descendants as numerous as the stars and countless as the sands of the seashore (Genesis 15:5, Genesis 22:17, Genesis 26:14, Exodus 31:13).
We also see the irony and incongruity that the next patriarchs (Isaac and Jacob) consisted of a mama’s boy and a schemer and conniver, providing a pattern in which God chooses the flawed and broken vessels to accomplish His work (I Corinthians 1:26). In the words of my late mentor, Bob Hoops, “God really enjoys a challenge.”
In his hilarious May 10, 2020 sermon/article, “Jonah: Most Pathetic Sermon You’ve Ever Heard” (a message which incidentally fits hand and glove with James Beaubelle’s recent message “Jonah: A Worldview Correction,” delivered June 24, 2023), Matt Goodale commented on the incredible irony that while the major prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—with their polished and crafted messages that sadly fell on deaf ears, Jonah’s pathetic proclamation, given half-heartedly, under duress, a mere five words long, got such dramatic results that even the animals were compelled to fast and wear sackcloth.
Hyperbole (or exaggeration) is another form of humor used abundantly throughout Scripture. In his March 25, 2023 sermon, ‘But I Say to You’ (Part Six), as well as in all his subsequent sermons in this series, Richard Ritenbaugh asserts that Jesus uses hyperbole to shock His disciples into a change of behavior or attitude. Jesus uses hyperbole, exaggeration, or overstatement to demonstrate that it is futile to try fixing someone else’s problems if we have not gotten help with our own—such as the plank and speck metaphor in Luke 6:41-42. He again uses hyperbole with the camel attempting to go through the eye of a needle in Matthew 19:23-24.
Sarcasm and mocking occur throughout the Scriptures, such as in I Kings 1:27, when a group of pagan Baal worshippers challenged Elijah, God’s prophet, to see which deity could perform the best miracle. After a lengthy period of silence, during which nothing of consequence happened, Elijah sarcastically mocked them, suggesting that their god might be sleeping, taking a vacation, or perhaps using the outhouse to relieve himself!
Absurdity is another form of humor God uses as a tool for instruction. Consider the absurd situation in Numbers 22:28-30, when an angel blocked the path of Balaam. But the donkey Balaam rode clearly saw the angel and stopped. When Balaam tried to goad the donkey forward, the donkey was enabled to speak to Balaam, evoking a response from the thick-headed rider on his back. Similarly, when we become stubborn, adamantly refusing to heed His word or direction, we should not be surprised if God does some bizarre thing to get our flagging attention.
We learn through these examples that faith and humor are not mutually exclusive. We even learn that God has no problem with playing an occasional prank like withering the gourd plant over Jonah’s head. Consider the amusing account in I Samuel 5:3, when a nation opposing Israel captured the Ark of the Covenant, placing it in a temple devoted to Dagon, a pagan god. The pagan idol fell on its face before the Ark, breaking off its head and hands.
Psalm 37:12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.
God’s laughter in this context shows a mocking scorn for the foolishness and impotence of the wicked and their evil plots against the righteous, assuring His people that they will inherit the earth while the wicked will face a less pleasant reckoning. God directs the same kind of laughter against any earthly pompous hotshot (describing the despicable behavior of all the rebellious governments of Jacob’s offspring) who arrogantly believe that their puny power exceeds that of their Creator. Psalm 2:2-4 declares that when the kings of the earth (including the reprobate current leaders of America and Canada) marshal themselves against the Lord and His anointed one, the One enthroned in heaven laughs [and holds these arrogant upstarts in derision].”
Almighty God uses humor to puncture arrogance and the tendency we have when we take ourselves and our problems too seriously. Humor instantaneously deflates a feeling of foreboding and dread, an affliction all of us feel from time to time. Up in Woodland, Washington last week, I noticed a church marquee which read: “Faith can move mountains; Fear creates them.” When humor is mixed with faith, the process of melting fear and discouragement speeds up exponentially.
In my March 1999 Forerunner article, “A Time to Laugh,” I suggested that we could easily consider humor a facet of joy, one of the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit. Humor, especially the self-effacing variety, helps us to puncture an inflated ego, allowing us to esteem others above ourselves. Humor expert Joel Goodman has performed an instructive word play on the word “humor,” breaking it down into “you-more.” He explains, “For me, humor is something that makes ‘you’ feel ‘more’ self-confident, more connected to other people, more relaxed, more part of a group.” We could add to Goldman’s mnemonic that humor helps us to develop the humility to esteem “you more” than me (Philippians 2:3).
Humor instantaneously punctures stress, fear, anxiety, foreboding, and dread. In October 1970, about a week before the Feast of Tabernacles, I was hit by a drunk driver as I stood next to my stalled car up in Superior, Wisconsin. The next conscious thing I realized I was lying on the pavement in what seemed to be, at least to me, gallons of blood. My lower leg and foot I could move back and forth like a piece of sliced Bratwurst. Needless to say, I was panic stricken. By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital my nervous system convinced me I would not make it to the next morning. When we arrived at the emergency ward, a crusty old Jewish doctor Max Levine started to examine me. I grabbed his hands and pleaded, “ Doctor, am I going to die? He replied, “Sure. So am I. So what?” This unexpected reply brought a sudden sense of calm. I could not help laughing at his “inappropriate” response. Momentarily, my anxieties returned, and I asked, “Are you going to amputate my leg?” “Not tonight,” he said in a rather bored, but soothing tone.
Though I did not realize it at that time, Dr. Levine was dispensing some of the most reliable therapeutic techniques known to man. Proverbs 17:22 teaches us that, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Strangely, the medical and scientific community have taken centuries to validate this valuable Biblical principle.
Nearly 36 years ago, Dr. Laurence Peter (the originator of the Peter Principle) wrote in his book, The Laughter Prescription:
For a long time, medical doctors have known that happy patients generally respond more favorably than do cheerless and complaining ones . The evidence is overwhelming that laughter, confidence, and hope have significant therapeutic value, while sadness fear, and despondency tend to produce negative outcomes.
Dr. William Fry of the Stanford Medical School says, “If it were not for laughs, we might be much sicker than we are. Without our realizing it, day to day humor may be making a significant contribution to our physical well-being.” Fry merely substantiates one of Solomon’s godly inspired proverbs, “All the days of the afflicted are evil [because of anxious thoughts and foreboding] but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances]” (Proverbs 15:15).
Since the publication of The Laughter Prescription in 1986, the medical community has done extensive research on the relationship between a sense of humor and improved physical and mental health. Some of the findings of the Harvard Medical School, Web MD, and the Mayo Clinic include the following:
Regarding the short-term effects of laughter, the Mayo Clinic observes that when we start to laugh, it doesn’t just lighten our load mentally, but it actually induces physical changes in the body, including:
Stimulating many organs—Laughter enhances our intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulating our heart, lungs, and muscles, increasing the endorphins (the body’s natural pain killers) that are released by our brains.
Laughter activates our stress response—A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down our stress responses, and it can increase and then decrease our heart rate and blood pressure. The result? A good, relaxed feeling.
Laughter has the capacity to soothe tension—Laughter also stimulates blood circulation and aids muscle relaxation, both of which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress.
But the Mayo Clinic also informs us that laughter is not just a quick pick-me up, but has highly significant long-term effects, including the following:
Laughter Improves our Immune System—Negative thoughts manifest into chemical reactions that can affect our bodies by bringing more stress into our systems and decreasing our immunity. By contrast, positive thoughts can release neuropeptides that help fight stress and potentially more serious illnesses.
Laughter Relieves Pain—Dr. Robert Bonakdar explains that laughter eases pain by causing the body to produce its own natural painkillers, improving our pain threshold, due to an endorphin- mediated opiate effect independent of our moods, meaning that endorphins produce a positive effect even when we are down.
Laughter Boosts Heart Health—Barbara Field, in her article, “The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter,” explains that as we laugh at hilarious events, our overall cardiac health improves. Laughter simultaneously increases our heart rate and lowers our blood pressure.
In addition, clinical evidence has substantiated that humor and laughter significantly reduces stress hormones, including cortisol, the major stress hormone that wildly circulates through our body when we are zonked out or discombobulated. Barbera Field insists that decreasing levels of cortisol is important because high levels of cortisol tax and drain our immune systems. However, when we preoccupy our nervous systems with something funny, we cannot simultaneously focus on negativity. Humorous interludes give us a much-needed break from worrying.
After the tragic death of America’s secular prophet and watchman on the wall, Rush Limbaugh (the articulate voice who could blend humor and sarcasm, neutralizing the poisonous woke propaganda), I started cutting back on attention to the toxic propaganda called news from three hours a day to 20 minutes a day, hiring Mark Dice, a competent news analyst, a brilliant young man about my son Eric’s age to filter out the toxicity of leftist propaganda, replacing the vitriol with genuine humor, enabling me to stay halfway sane since the leftist takeover of virtually all of the governments of Jacob’s offspring since 2020 to the present. I have replaced that radio time with classical and polka music which I indulge in daily while I carry on my work.
The Mayo Clinic has also collected significant data substantiating that laughter and humor improves mental health and wards off depression, asserting that “many people experience depression (chronic and clinical) often due to chronic illness. Laughter lessens stress, depression, and anxiety making us feel happier, improving our self-esteem.
Last week, Ronny Graham, in his sermon on “Where are the Children?” asserted that Jesus loved to be around children and their playful antics. One reason for this affinity may have been recently chronicled by the scientific community. According to her April 24, 2020 article, “The Health Benefits of Laughter,” Elizabeth Scott reported that one study suggests that healthy children may laugh as much as 400 times per day, but adults tend to laugh only 15 times a day.” Elizabeth Field contends that, considering how beneficial a good laugh can be for our stress levels, all of us could use a little more laughter in our lives.
Our Creator has populated the flora and fauna with humorous characteristics, including penguins, platypuses, and puppies, establishing His sense of humor. When Mike Fuhrer described the horse which playfully took the hammer from his friend, dropping it down ten feet away and then removing the ladder trapping his friend on the roof, I realized that the proclivity for humor is distributed throughout His creation.
Personally, I feel that one of the most precious traits of my spouse Julie is her wholesome, contagious laughter, which has bailed me out of many negative moods. When Richard and Beth visited Colton two weeks ago, there was so much spontaneous laughter from the south end of the room where the women were assembled, it brought joy and a sense of well-being to the entire room.
To conclude this message, please turn over to Jeremiah 31:13, an event which happens concurrently with the establishment of the New Covenant, describing the joy and the upbeat humor of a people released from the captivity of sin.
Jeremiah 31:13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.”
And to learn about our ultimate destiny concluding our rigorous sanctification process, we read:
Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
May God speed this process along, but in the meantime, we must cultivate our sense of humor.
DFM/jjm/drm