Does God have a sense of humour?
| And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Jonah2:10) |
Do you think He shares a laugh with the angels?
Can you imagine Jesus coming to the Father saying "did you hear the one about the man..."?
Have you ever thought about this?
When I consider the poodle, the ostrich and the antics of a troop of monkeys or a litter of kittens then I conclude that God has a sense of humour.
When I consider that we are made in the image of God and I consider how good wholesome laughter is for us then I must conclude that God has a sense of humour.
When I consider the story of Jonah there are copious clues to God's sense of humour:
- Jonah headed for Tarshish ("Where God is not") when he serves the Lord of heaven and earth.
- Rough sailors praying while Jonah is pouting
- The fish "ejecting", "emitting" or "expelling" Jonah after his pretentious prayer as if to say "that's as much pious pretence as I'm willing to put up with!"
- Or what about growing a plant over Jonah's head and then providing a worm to munch the plant?!? (See ch.4) Why not just say "the plant died" but now there's a worm and we can almost imagine his naughty face!
We have to read the account of Jonah as God dealing with Jonah with His tongue in His cheek. But at no point is Jonah reduced to being the butt of a series of jokes being made by a callous God who wants to humiliate him... Chapter 4 reveals God's tender concern for the prophet's heart.
Experts in communication and preaching tell us that warm and genuine humour fosters connection between speaker and audience and a good communicator can get us laughing at ourselves.
God is trying to get through to Jonah. He's trying to show him how ridiculous his racism and pompous pretentious piety is. He gives Jonah enough rope to hang himself, but each time Jonah paints himself into a corner God is there giving him another chance.
Does God have a sense of humour? Yes, I believe He does. It's holy humour that doesn't humiliate but the humour that disarms, discombobulates and dis-illusions (brings us to reality). He's at work in us and humour is a gentle tool that gets past our defences so that His love can reach our hearts.
