God the comedian

My poor dad. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was only seven years old. He and his brother were farmed out to relatives. Dad's brother drew the long straw and ended up with his great uncle's family. They knew how to live - lots of parties and fun (not to mention money). Dad. well, you guessed it. He was taken in by his grandfather and grandmother. Granddad was, by all accounts, a strict and dour, dour (not to mention moneyless) Presbyterian minister with a prim, strait-laced, purse-lipped, no-nonsense wife. How dad ended up being the easy-going, fun man I knew I'm not sure. But I doubt that it ever entered his head that God - represented, in his mind, by his grandfather-of-the-cloth - would tell jokes.

God is surrounded by millions of adoring fans - He is, after all, the "Lord of hosts" (Ps. 84:12 and 234 other verses). What do we think God says to the angelic host who continuously "see His face" (Matt. 18:10)? Is He always speaking of the day of judgment to befall the wicked and constantly pointing them to the odious behavior of naughty children? Do the angels only see an angry and jealous God intent on visiting iniquity on numerous generations? Does He never crack a funny? Come, let us reason together.

To be sure, it would be a mistake (yet one committed again and again) for anybody to presume to understand the depths of the mind of God. Yet we are not left in a total quandary as to His character and "personality". We have three windows into God's mind - His Creation, His written Word, and the person of Jesus Christ. Now to be sure, Scripture doesn't tell us that "Jesus laughed", only that He wept. But when you read certain passages, such as Matthew 16:5-7, you can't help but imagine that He did laugh on occasion. Likewise, the historical-prophetic books speak of God hating sin, not of His loving comedy festivals. But we must remember that God's attributes are infinite in number and scope; the Bible must be, by its very brevity, selective in what it tells us about Him. But can you imagine that God watched Ezekiel lie on his side next to a model of Jerusalem for over a year without ever chuckling?

As for creation - well, you have to be circumspect in what you see about God there. Though tempting to point to monkeys to prove our contention that God has a sense

of humor, atheists would respond by pointing to the common practice of infanticide in nature, including among some monkeys, to prove His heartlessness. Romans 1:20 limits the insight-into-God value of creation to His "power and Godhead", while Acts 14:17 adds that His goodness is attested to by nature's provision of our needs. Nothing is said about His personality.

Creation does provide us one channel of insight into the divine personality - man. Being made in His image surely means that we can find points of contact between God and ourselves. If one can picture man with the crud stripped out we are left with a "lo-fi" icon of God. The universal appreciation of beauty (show me a single human being who would choose to live in a big house on a municipal dump rather than in a shack overlooking a rocky coastline) was put in us by God, and must surely reflect His sense of beauty. Ditto for our love of laughter.

This blog was inspired by an evening with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra performing "Dodgy Notes" under the conductorship of Rainer Hersch. We may be a hundred dollars poorer in the wallet, but are thousands of dollars richer in spirit. Best laugh we have had in ages. Rainer has clearly picked up the Victor Borge mantle. You should have seen him conduct by juggling balls. God has given tiny slivers of His infinite personality to each of us, His creatures (1 Cor. 4:7). Since He is infinite and we are finite, each of us reflects different aspects of His personality. Every soul provides a taste spoon of some aspects of divine personality; Rainer Hersch has been given a much bigger sliver of funniness than most. I truly thank God for him.

When Jesus returns He will lay on banquets for His saints at which, "He will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them" (Luke 12:37). Stop and think. Will He merely endlessly repeat, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Jesus is no dour Scottish Presbyterian. If Rainer Hersch reflects but a tiny skerrick of the divine sense of humor then surely Jesus will be bursting with fun and funniness. Get ready, not just for the wisdom of Jesus, but also for His wit. Move over, Rainer, the master is coming. Hmm. Wonder if Jesus will ever be dour.