The Laughter of the Redeemed

Have you ever been in a church where there wasn't much laughter? If you're one of the ones who thinks it's a sin, don't raise your hand. Church is supposed to be serious. Sunday School is supposed to be serious. I mean, good grief, when I conduct the Lord's Supper, I try my best to look as somber and solemn as I can.

Laughter. You don't hear it very often in a church. Looking at the congregations of many churches, you'd think the people hadn't had a smile crease on their face in years. What's worse is when the same people will laugh and joke and smile before the service starts, but then it's all business.

What if... not only is it ok to laugh, but what if believers are the only ones with something to laugh about? Let me say that again. What if believers, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, and have had their sins completely wiped away, and in its place a perfect, spotless standing with God... are the only ones with something to laugh about?

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful. - Psalm 126:1-3 (HCSB)

This is the response to the forgiveness, the restoration, of people by a gracious God. Do you see the joy? Do you see the gladness? The relief? The freedom? The happiness? The laughter?

That's what grace does. That's what God's mercy does. It has to generate a response of sheer joy and celebration. Amusement. Delight. An innate sense that we can relax because everything's going to be fine because as bad as we are, Jesus was better.

Tim Keller said, "You're more sinful than you could possibly imagine, but you're infinitely more loved and accepted by God than you could ever dare hope for."

That's worth celebrating. That's worth lightening up about. That's the laughter of the redeemed. The laughter of God's people, who are the only ones with anything to laugh about. The only ones that can sit back and say, "Yeah, things are bad. But God's on the throne." "Yeah, I missed up royally. I really screwed this thing up. But God has moved that as far sad the east is from the west."

"We are as those who dream." It sounds almost too good to be true. We laugh because it's entirely too good to be true.  Yet we laugh because it is true. It's absurd. It's ridiculous. It's true.

"The Lord has done great things for them." The gratitude of a forgiven people causes the world to take notice. Not our good works. Not our attempts at spiritual perfection. Our awe-filled response to the utterly free and radical grace of God. 

 

No matter what you're going through, what you've done, or what you're facing. If you've got Jesus, you've got something to laugh about. 

So now, I think a good barometer of a church's health is whether you hear laughter. The laughter of the redeemed.

By His Grace,

Adam