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A Time to Laugh

Hello Church Family,

I hope you’ve had a fruitful week. Did any of you resolve this New Year to laugh a little more?  The Bible says that one of God’s gracious blessings is laughter. To a large crowd of troubled people, many dealing with debilitating spiritual and physical ailments, Jesus says in Luke 6:21: “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” Laughter is presented by Jesus as the height of spiritual joy. Similarly, Solomon, among the wisest of all men, said just as there’s a time to cry, there’s also a time to laugh.

Laughter is good for the soul. In the words of the King James Bible, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).

With that in mind, I offer today’s entry. Dr. Michael Wittmer, a friend of mine who teaches historical theology and philosophy at the graduate school I attended, recently shared the most humorous errors that his students committed during their just-completed final exams. Dr. Wittmer says, “I love my students, and they’re quite smart, but they write the dumbest things.”  Below are some of his (and my) personal favorites (in bold), along with his commentary. I realize that this “theological humor” may not appeal to everyone, but it’s good for a heart-edifying chuckle or two, even among the most serious-minded people.

“The Son is the Creator, El Salvador, restaurateur, the redeemer.”
Nothing wrong with opening a restaurant, but I’m not sure it belongs in the same list with Creator and Redeemer.

“He wrote for a wider audience than Anselm—who wrote only for rational people.
Who did he write for, morons?

“God allows evil to exist although He can easily defeat goodness.”
Sure, but why would he want to?

“Women are too qualified to hold church leadership positions.”
Okay then. Reverse psychology much?

“The decorative cause of evil is not a creation of YHWH, but us.”
So the cause of evil is … Martha Stewart?

“Before the tree, Adam enjoyed sex without knowing that Eve was naked.”
Adam was one dumb guy.

“Barth didn’t believe in original sin, which was transmitted by Adam and Eve to their posterior.”
The student meant “posterity,” but this does explain why Adam and Eve so desperately tried to cover their rears.

“Jesus will return in the clouds to remove the church from the earth.”
This makes sense. A secret rapture would require Jesus to hide in the clouds. “Hey, isn’t that cloud drifting a little too close? It might be Jesus, sneaking up on us!”

“Rogers has stumbled upon, what I believe to be, the side effects of the church’s attempt to beat believers into submission.”
Isn’t the point behind a beating the beating itself? Does one really care about the side effects? I’ve never heard anyone say, “Too bad about those side effects, otherwise I would have really enjoyed that beating.”

“God’s existence is independent from himself.”
Which would make him dependent. Some praise is so strong it’s weak.

Well, like I said, it’s not everyone’s type of humor. Nevertheless, in the words of the Psalmist: “May your mouth be filled with laughter, your tongue with shouts of joy, so that you say among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things.’”

See you on Sunday,

Pastor John