HOLY HUMOR Today’s message is titled, “Holy Humor. The subtitle is, “Conversation with a Donkey.” Does God have a sense of humor? Absolutely! In today’s Old Testament text, the Israelites are camped in an oasis near Jericho. They have just finished winning a war and word has spread among their enemies that they are mighty warriors. King Balak of Moab panics when he sees how many Israelites there are, so many people it’s frightening. He sends representatives to Babylon to find one of the regions most popular sorcerers: Balaam. The king loaded them up with money. Their message in today’s language was this, “Stop what you’re doing, come and cast your best curse on these Israelites. They are such a powerful army I don’t believe my army can stand a chance. We need extra help. We need the powers of sorcery.” Now listen to how God uses everyone. Balaam was not part of the righteous community, but he sought the Lord on the matter. In verse 12 God said, don’t go with them and don’t curse my people.” Twice that king tried to get Balaam to put a curse on the chosen people. Twice he prayed and received the same answer from God. Have you ever wanted something so badly you convince yourself, “maybe if I keep praying, God will change his mind and give me what I want?” That was this king’s situation. I think the promises of silver and gold and granting promises started to sound good to Balaam. God said if the ambassadors call you again go with them but do only what I tell you. They didn’t call. Balaam just got up the next morning and said I’m going with you (verse 21), and God became angry. Yes, God has a temper that produces righteous anger. Disobedience displeases God. Here’s where the humor comes in – Balaam’s donkey is smarter than his master. Trying to save his master’s life, he sees the angel ready to kill Balaam, goes to the side of the road, and gets a beating for it. It didn’t happen once, or twice, no this wise, sought-after-sorcerer beat his donkey three times. And the humor turns holy in verse 28, when God gave the donkey the power of human speech. And, by the way, no one is surprised when the donkey talks. Conversation. Donkey: “Why do you keep hitting me?” Owner: “Because you’re making fun of me, and I’m so angry if I had a sword I’d kill you.” Donkey: “I’ve served you for years. Have I ever run off the road, up against a wall or laid down in the middle of the road before?” Owner: “No.” Then the angel jumps in: “Why did you beat your donkey? Don’t you have sense enough to know she was just trying to save your life? My goodness, your animal has more sense than you. So I was going to kill you and let the donkey live.” So Balaam confessed his sin, and obeyed God. Instead of cursing the Israelites, he blessed them again and again and again. I encourage all of you to read Numbers chapters 21-25 for the complete story of how God takes care of his people. It’s fascinating. When human beings won’t obey, God will use any and all parts of creation. Search the scriptures: in today’s lesson God used an animal. In Luke 19:40, Jesus proclaimed that rocks would cry out if people don’t praise him. When God told Abraham and Sarah they would be the parents of the chosen people, Sarah laughed, but God had the last laugh. He always does. She became pregnant at age 90. God has a sense of humor and I truly believe he wants the same for us. The fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22, lists joy second, right after love. Ecclesiastes 3:4 states, “There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.” Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may last for a night but joy comes in the morning.” Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Psalm 100:1 tells us to, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance,” and on and on. But, have you noticed that some people seem naturally more joyous, funnier and more playful than others? I marvel at people like Bob Knight, Jim Phillips, Don Toft and Colin Long. And my husband had a great sense of humor. I wasn’t so blessed so George brought balance to my life. I don’t want God to have to send a talking donkey my way to get me to lighten up. Do you? So let’s see if we can find some Holy Humor within our congregation. It’s okay. God doesn’t mind if we have fun in church. Amen? Amen. |