Is that funny?

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Margaret

Nate had a fabulous laugh. If he thought something was funny and once got going, there was no stopping him till he’d slapped his knee pink and used his hankie to wipe tears away. He had what I used to call a “Three Stooges Sense of Humor,” laughing with gusto at slapstick comedy. Although I don’t find the stooges that funny, watching Nate go all-out laughing at them was hilarious.

Laughter, however, can communicate all sorts of things that aren’t especially funny: sarcasm, mockery, scorn, fear, disrespect. We see all of these laughs mentioned in the pages of Scripture (40-some times) but no one would characterize the Bible as a funny read. The several times God himself laughs, it’s out of derision toward nations that rejected him.

Because God is our heavenly Father, he probably enjoys watching our moments of joyful-laughter much like any parent delights in seeing their children happy. But there are times in the Bible when a laugh is inappropriate, and in that context, he disapproves. One interesting example appears in Mark, and though I’ve read the story multiple times, I didn’t notice the laughing part until a week ago.

Jesus was walking from one town to another, healing people along the way as he often did, when he entered the home of a 12 year old girl who’d recently died. The official mourning period had begun with a crowd of people loudly weeping and wailing, but when Jesus walked in, he stopped them. “What’s all the commotion about?” he said.

His comment made no sense to the mourners, but he was about to perform an incredible miracle and was laying the groundwork for it. Knowing that Jesus was a worker of wonders, the wailers ought to have stepped back in silence, expecting him to say or do something incredible.

But when he said, “She’s not dead, just asleep,” their response was just the opposite. They laughed. (Mark 5:39-40)

Jesus didn’t appreciate their disbelief and immediately insisted everyone leave (except the girl’s parents). Because of the mourners’ mocking laughter, they missed out on what would surely have been the highlight of their lives: witnessing Jesus bring a dead person back to life.

A good question for all of us is, “If I had been there, would I have laughed, too?” Even today, when God tells me something illogical or even preposterous, do I inwardly think, “Like that’s gonna ever happen!”

Or do I drop my jaw in believing expectation and say, “I can’t wait!” God is looking for people who believe in him all the way. No caveats, no partial approval, just full-on acceptance of everything he says.

As for those loud wailers in the little girl’s house, they missed a rare opportunity to have their faith personally strengthened by Christ himself…. all because they laughed.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Genuine or Counterfeit?

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Margaret

Today is a special day for anyone who deals in Benjamins: hundred dollar bills, that is. A newly designed model was put into circulation today, since too many counterfeiters have figured out how to make the old ones.

The Feds are bragging that this bill with a blue, 3-D security ribbon will “make it easier for the public to authenticate, but more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.” Apparently the blue ribbon is made of thousands of tiny lenses magnifying objects beneath them, causing an illusion of movement. Sounds complicated. And foolproof.

They were so foolproof, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had trouble making them at first. The Benjamins have other new security features, too, and surely Ben Franklin would be proud. Nevertheless, counterfeiters have probably already begun trying to duplicate the new bills.

Counterfeiting was a problem 2000 years ago, too, not with bogus money but with something far more important: counterfeit religious faith. Scripture warns us to be on the lookout for fakes:“There were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them.” (2 Peter 2:1)

Just like today’s counterfeit money-makers, false teachers will do their sinister work in secret, substituting “destructive heresies” for God’s truth. Although getting tricked into accepting counterfeit Benjamins causes financial loss, believing false heresy does something far worse, leading us to base our lives on lies.

None of us want to put our trust in an untrustworthy religion or, worse yet, an untrustworthy god. The trouble is, counterfeits always look pretty good on first inspection.

Our family visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington DC a few years ago. We watched money being created on an automated assembly line from behind a glass partition much like watching a car move through a car wash. What appeared to be white paper “pages” about a yard square were stamped with the familiar green ink, transforming them into dollar bills. Afterwards they were flipped, printed in black on the reverse side, and cut into bills. It looked like anyone could do it.

But at the end of the line, the bills were authenticated, inspected to be sure the engraving was legitimate and the printing was done on the correct linen/cotton paper. But who inspects our religion? How do we know we’re not being duped?

The Bible tells us how.

We’re to believe only in a Gospel that puts forth the name of Jesus Christ as the God who came to earth in man-flesh and sacrificed his life for ours. When we hear that, we know we’ve found the real deal.

And Jesus Christ will never need a 3-D security ribbon to authenticate him.

“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” (1 John 4:1-3)

Greeting Card Guidance

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Margaret

God is an undisputed pro at surprises. This morning during my prayer time, I spent 20 minutes going round and round with him about a problem I’m having. I needed his solution, and as I prayed, I listened for his answers to my questions. As Henry Blackaby says, as soon as we pray out a request, we should pay close attention to what happens next. Those circumstances may contain God’s answers.

As I left that topic and began praying for others, the edge of my mind continued to listen for the Lord. I had asked, “What should I think? What should I do?” And I knew he’d let me know.

Half an hour later, still praying, I jotted down several “solutions” that had come to mind, figuring they were probably from God. Most involved two things: (1) how I could justify my own position, and (2) how I could superimpose that over another person’s opinion.

Toward the end of my prayer time, I usually close my eyes and pull a “random” (i.e. Spirit-selected) greeting card from a box I keep under my bed, so I can pray for the person who sent it. Right now the box contains Christmas cards from 2011, but the dates don’t really matter, just the people.

As I opened today’s card, the signature made me smile. It was from one of Mom’s good friends, Stella Eklund, and in the time since Stella had sent her card, she’d left Chicago and gone to heaven. I smiled because I knew how eagerly she had looked forward to that relocation day.

So I didn’t pray for Stella today. She’s leading a life of complete fulfillment and exuberant joy with a decided absence of prayer requests. Besides, if she has anything to say to the Lord, she can talk to him directly.

But that didn’t mean God wasn’t planning to use Stella’s card in another way. While I was still holding it, I thought about her sparkling optimism and her quick sense of humor. But most of all I thought about how Stella radiated grace toward others. Without a trace of judgment in her twinkling eyes or her tone of voice, she always looked for the good in people and focused every conversation on them rather than herself.

Right then I realized God was answering my earlier questions, and he did it very creatively with a Stella-prompt:

“Handle it like she would have,” he said. “Give grace. More than you have been. And for goodness sake, get your eyes off yourself.”

Through seeing this lovely lady’s signature, which caused me to remember what she was like, God answered my prayers. He showed me how I’d been part of the problem rather than The Great Problem Solver I’d envisioned myself to be. I understood, and accepted his loving (and well-deserved) reprimand.