PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

January 5, 2022

A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR

Almost fifty years ago Willis Wheatley was asked to do four sketches of Jesus.  Three of his renderings have disappeared into the dustbin of history.  The fourth lives on today in many different renditions.  Wheatley’s fourth sketch is known by most of those whom have seen it as the “Laughing Jesus.”

What made Wheatley’s sketch so unusual is Jesus is not usually associated with laughing.  He was far too serious for such mundane matters.  However, when one begins to look a little deeper into the gospels one finds traces of Jesus having a sense of humor.  This especially is when one looks at the examples He gives to make His point.

One of Jesus’ favorite targets for His imagery was the establishment of his day.  He calls Pharisees blind guides (Mat. 5:15).  In Matthew he accuses the Scribes and Pharisees of straining out gnats and swallowing camels. (Mat. 23:24) and being like whitewashed tombs (Mat. 23:27).  In His encounter with the rich young ruler he tells him it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  (Luke 18:25).  Talking about the sin of judging Jesus reminds all of us it is easier for us to see the speck in our neighbors eye than it is to see the log in our own eye (Luke 6:41-43).  In the Sermon on the Mount we find the imagery of a candle being lit and then put under a bushel (Mat. 5:15).

The original title for what we know today as the “Laughing Jesus” was “Jesus, the Liberator.”  Could there be a connection between the two apparently different titles?  Through His humor Jesus suggests that the religious leaders of His day take themselves too seriously.  They are victims of their own press.  In contrast to the Scribes and Pharisees is Abraham Lincoln.  On the one hand he took his office quite seriously.  On the other hand he was able to laugh at himself personally.  This self-deprecating attitude allowed him to deal with difficult situations freed from pressures of pride and self-worth.

Lincoln’s sense of humor also helped reduce tensions within his administration.  Lincoln had purposely chosen persons who were his opponents but very capable to be in his cabinet.  He was more interested in the survival of this nation than he was in any personal glory or affirmation.  He truly put country above self and it was his ability to laugh at himself that helped him do this.

Scientific research has shown that humor is good for one’s health.  “Jokes are funny precisely because they break our expectations and help us to accept the unexpected. Other people are one of the greatest sources of our uncertainty in our lives, so it is not surprising that much humor is used to manage and massage these encounters.”  (Book of Joy, Avery 2016, p. 221) In the Book of Joy both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu affirm that humor can be of tremendous help in dealing with very difficult and potentially explosive situations.

On the one hand humor can be a very helpful and therapeutic element in our lives.  On the other hand it can be very cruel and destructive.  All of us should work to foster the first kind and work to eliminate the second.  We can begin to foster the first kind of humor by taking ourselves a little less seriously and developing the ability to laugh at ourselves.  In doing so we are affirming our solidarity with the human race which does have its moments.