Let There Be Laughter

Dr. Richard Bimler, President, WheatRidge Ministries

Laughter is a gift of God.  Listen to Psalm 126: “When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like people who dreamed.  Our mouths were filled with laugher, our tongues with songs of joy. …The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

     God points us to the cross and empty tomb and helps us to focus on our total dependence on the Lord.  Laughter is a way of saying to the Lord and to life, “I surrender!  Help!  I’m in trouble without you!”

     Laugher reminds us of our own weakness and not that of others.  It makes us rely on forgiveness.  Laughter is a bold, brave, brilliant affirmation of God’s presence among us.

     Laugher is a source of healing in the Lord.  As a sign in my doctor’s office states, “Laughter may be hazardous to your illness!”  Joy and laughter help us focus on the presence and goodness of the Lord rather than on our own struggles and problems in life.

     Laughter is another way of “crossing ourselves”!  It reminds us that we are totally dependent on the Lord for His grace and forgiveness.  Laughter reminds us that we are Baptized and marked forever as God’s people, through the Water and the Word.

     How can we help and encourage ourselves and others to share the joy of the Lord in our daily lives?  Try these three joy-filled ideas on for size at home, school, staff meetings, and even at church:

Lighten up!  No need to take ourselves too seriously.  The statement “Lighten up” is not a mandate but rather an affirmation of God’s presence among us and His forgiveness for us in Christ.  We are able to celebrate life and keep our lives in perspective as we are led by the Spirit to know through faith what Christ has already done for us.  He has risen!  We are Easter people!  And even in the midst of the Good Fridays in our lives, there is always an Easter.

     We can laugh at ourselves.  We start with ourselves because there is so much to laugh at!  We know and see our failures and foibles.  Instead of being destroyed by them, we learn to rely on Christ’s forgiveness and presence in our lives, and this moves us to celebration.  To laugh at ourselves is a big first step in enjoying life in the Lord through laughter!
    
     The following is a true story of a pastor in Florida who learned to laugh at himself.  This pastor was urged to chant one of his first worship services in this congregation, according to their worship custom.  He knew he was not a gifted chanter, but he wanted to please the congregation.  As he began, he soon realized that not only was he chanting the wrong notes but also the wrong words!  In the midst of this embarrassment, he quickly pulled himself together and chanted, as best he could, “I don’t know what I’m chanting … please forgive me!”  After that experience he was able to laugh at himself more often, and his congregation was able to see their pastor as human – and forgiven!

     As we lighten up and laugh at ourselves, we also give other people permission to laugh.  After one presentation, an elderly usher came forward, looked at me seriously, and stated, “One of your stories almost made me smile!”  Heaven forbid that people smile!

      We can help people smile and celebrate their faith externally.  One sign suggests, “If you love Jesus, why don’t you tell your face about it!”

     I recall a young person reflecting on her pastor’s sermon one day by asking, “Why is she always angry?”  We need continual reminders that truly “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3).

     Christ has indeed called us to be “lights to the world.”  We literally “lighten up” as we share the joy and forgiveness of the Lord with others, through words, actions, smiles, and laughter.

     Who needs a special smile and pleasant chuckle in your life today?  Help people sense the joy you have in the Lord through your words and also through your celebrative presence among them.  Pray that the laughter around you is rooted in the cross and the resurrection.  The resurrection is the focus of our joy, our celebration, and our laughter.  Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.  Laughter is God’s hand on the shoulder of a troubled world.  Laughter is a gift of grace, a defense against sin and despair.  We laugh because we know how it all turns out in the end – Christ is victorious!  Christ has risen!  Jesus shares these joy-filled words in John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete!”

     To paraphrase an old hymn, “Laugh, then, wherever you may be – I am the Lord of the laugh, said He!”

     Let there be laughter!  In us, through us, around us, for us, in the name of the healing Christ!

Dr. Richard Bimler is President of Wheat Ridge Ministries in Itasca, Illinois and author of many books, including Let There Be Laughter, Concordia Publishing House, 1999.

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