For You Shall Laugh

Good morning,

Have you ever been so stunned with joy and amazement that you laughed?  Perhaps it was when you received your husband's marriage proposal or ... guys... when she said "yes".  Perhaps it was when you learned you were about to become a parent.  Or, when you learned you had received a tremendous gift - - - the laughter just came bursting out of you, like so many bubbles or so much confetti.

At first glance, laughter does not seem to be a deeply theological topic, does it?  I had sort of a what-the-heck? moment upon seeing that this was the topic for Dec. 6, in Ann Voskamp's Advent devotional book.1  Laughter? Of all things!  

Probably the most memorable Scriptures about laughter revolve around Sarah, Abraham and Isaac. When eavesdropping Sarah heard the LORD proclaim to Abraham that she would give birth to a son at age 90, she began to laugh (whether in disbelief, derision or joy, we do not know) (Gen. 18:12-15). Furthermore, Abraham laughed so hard at the news, he fell on his face!  (Gen. 17:17)  Abraham was nearly 100 at the time.  When the promise was fulfilled, about a year later, and they held their beautiful baby boy in their arms, they named him Isaac, which means ... oh yeah..."laughter".  It was to this boy God promised He would make his descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky (Gen. 26:4).

Erick Erickson used a big theology-school word in one of his recent posts, protoevangelium.  That is just plain fun to say - - seven syllables.  It means "first gospel", and refers specifically to Genesis 3:15, where God promised to send Christ, the "seed of the woman", who would crush the head of the serpent (Satan).  More broadly, it refers to instances in Scripture where the gospel of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed.  The story of Isaac's conception and birth is one such place where God gives us a peek into His gospel of amazing grace.

Abraham, Sarah and Isaac are touchstones on the path to Jesus Christ - -  forebearers in Jesus' human lineage.  They are pictures of God's miraculous grace.  The same God who miraculously kindled the womb of a much-aged woman also infused the womb of a virgin teenage girl with the One who created all things (Colossians 1:16), including His own human mother.  INCONCEIVABLE, is it not?  It almost makes you laugh!  {Okay, some puns are too good to resist...}

Laughter is always an emotional response, always.  The thing is, we can't be certain which emotion is producing it.  Laughter is often misunderstood.  Most of us have innocently found humor in a situation, yet been accused of "laughing at" another person, thereby hurting their feelings.  There are several references to laughter in the Bible - - some are negative, others are positive.

Oddly, there are no instances recorded in the New Testament, where Jesus laughed.  I had never thought about that!  He did, however, mention laughter in Luke 6:21 (ESV)

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."

The Greek word used here is "gelesete" γελάσετε  .  It is the only time it occurs in the New Testament!  There are Old Testament mentions of God laughing, although most of those occur in conjunction with his derision over the schemes hatched by the wicked (Psalm 37:13).  But look!
Zephaniah 3:17 - -

The Lord your God is in your midst;;

He is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you;

he renews you by his love;

he shouts for joy over you."

Doesn't "shouting for joy" sound an awful lot like joyful laughter?

Here are some other OT references to laughter.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.

Job 8:21

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

Psalm 126:2

And, this last one, Proverbs 31 women:

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

Proverbs 31:25

This last one really gets me.  Often, OFTEN, when I think of the future, I don't laugh.  In fact, I have to push back my fear, like when you think you are going to vomit, and you are trying to hold it back? Or, I have to battle sadness, which wants to cover and stifle me, like those lead jackets they put on you at the dentist's office before x-rays.  Sarah laughed at the LORD's pronouncement, at "the time to come".  Could this be why she is listed in the book of Hebrews, as one in the "roll call of faith"? (Hebrews 11)

What makes joyful, incredulous, miraculous laughter in uncertain times even possible?

What makes it possible is remembering grace, His miraculous grace to you and to me.  It is remembering and believing that every, single circumstance touching our lives is an evidence of His grace to us.  Laughter is made possible by remembering His sovereignty, that "His ways are perfect", Y'all (Psalm 18:30).  PER-FECT.

Ann says it like this (so beautifully!):

"The gigantic secret gift that He gives and we unwrap, that we never stop unwrapping - - we who were barren now graced with the Child who lets us laugh with relief for all eternity.  There is nothing left to want.  There is nothing left to fear; 'All fear is but the notion that God's love ends.' And His for you never will.  So loosen up, because the chains have been loosed, and laugh the laughter of the freed.  Laughter - - it's all oxygenated grace."

"You have as much laughter as you have faith."  Martin Luther

Father, please fill our hearts and souls and minds with joyful laughter this Advent season, so that our spirits may dwell in the oasis of your generous, bounteous grace, rather than remain imprisoned in the deserts of fear, depression, worry, faithlessness.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

1 Voskamp, Ann. The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. Print. 

2  https://abrahamsseed.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/proto-evangelium-and-the-two-seeds/

3  http://www.gotquestions.org/holy-laughter.html