"God loves a cheerful giver"

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Pastor Tom Johnson, October 19, 2014

God loves a cheerful giver. The word love—agape is God’s unconditional, covenantal love. The word cheerful here is where we get our English word hilarious. God’s love is deep and strong toward those who give with hilarity. God loves a hilarious giver. This word for cheerful only occurs once in the New Testament; but it is used several times in the Greek Old Testament. It describes the beaming smile of King Xerxes as his queen steps into his court with her breath-taking beauty (Ester 5:2). This word describes the glisten in the eye of God when he hears his faithful pray to him (Job 33:26). This word describes the glimmer in the eye of the one who gives bread to the poor out of compassion and empathy (Prov 22:9). This cheerfulness is the facial expression that reveals a heart filled with delight and gladness. It is the hilariousness—the good sense of humor—that spills out through a smile, laughter, and tears of joy. God loves a cheerful giver.

God gets a kick out of those who get a kick out of being generous. It brings a smile to God’s anthropomorphic face when he sees the smile on ours. Laughter is contagious. God’s grace makes us laugh. And our laughter is contagious to God completing a wonderful cycle of grace—interaction—a relationship with God. You’ll remember that God named Abraham and Sara’s son Isaac—which means laughter—because Sara laughed when God said she would have a son in her old age. And so when she bore a son, God said his name will be Isaac laughter because, as you might guess, God has to have the last laugh. To put it another way, God wants us to have a sense of humor. He wants us to appreciate the ironies of the Christian life. He loves it when we get his jokes. He loves it when we participate in his divine comedy. He loves it when we see the Good News of Jesus Christ for what it is—a juxtaposition of incongruities. That is to say—what makes humans laugh are things that come together that don’t normally belong together. A person who is hilarious points out all the absurdities around us—of what we humans think, say, and do.

Jesus is hilarious when he is asked if we should pay tithes or taxes. He holds up a Roman coin with Caesar’s face and does not let himself get caught in their trap. Instead he traps them between the tension of living as dual citizens—of God’s Kingdom and our earthly kingdom. It is hilarious because even what Caesar has is not his but belongs to God. “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). God even owns the Roman Emperor—the person whose picture is on the coin. God is hilarious. He does the darndest things. His creates a universe that is far bigger than we can imagine, observe, or even describe. But he takes notice of us little humans. He sends his eternal Son—his only Son—to reveal his love for all creation. Jesus is hilarious. He knows our darkest secrets. He is tempted by all the sick and twisted things in this world. He confronts evil, sin, and death—he is sentenced to die for crimes he did not do. But it for the joy set before him that he endures the cross (Heb 12:2). And the mockery Pontius Pilate puts above his head, “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” which was meant to ridicule the claim that he is Messiah is hilarious because it’s true—and even more so, he is King of heaven and earth! The message of Jesus is hilarious. God dies so that we can live. God rises from the dead so that he can now ridicule and mock death, “O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?”

When I was in a Bible study in college, I was rebuked by the pastor leading the study because I said, “Jesus has the greatest sense of humor.” I said this after we studied how Jesus interacted with the religious establishment. “Where do you get that?” the pastor said. Needless to say, I never returned to the Bible study. I will not believe in a god who has no sense of humor. I want a God who laughs with me at all my flaws, brokenness, and wretched sin because he joyfully and lovingly forgives and sets me free from its power! Let me be clear: God does not celebrate darkness in our lives; God celebrates the light he brings to overcome our darkness.

Charlie Chaplain said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

Bill Cosby said, “Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”

Robin Williams said, “If Heaven exists, to know that there’s laughter, that would be a great thing.”

Laughter is good for the soul. It is great for our mental and physical well-being. Laughter releases serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins into our blood streams. Laughter is good medicine. God loves it when we experience the high of participating in his Kingdom. God loves it when we join our voices with the angels over one sinner who repents. God loves it when we give what is ours after we realize it is not truly ours but only ours on borrowed time. God loves it when we give—not because we have to—but because we finally have realized how much we have been given. God loves it when we Christians share this inside joke with one another in our family of faith. We are sinners and saints, mortals and immortal, receivers and givers. God’s grace and love toward us is hilarious.