The Platypus and the Divine God

If anyone wonders if God has a sense of humor, just look at the platypus. A beaver with a duckbill, and a mammal that lays eggs…what a design! God is a lot of things. Adjectives fail to encapsulate Him. He is Holy, Good, Righteous, Just, and Sovereign. And, He is funny. Do you read the Bible the way I do? Then you know.

Consider Moses. Moses insists on a sign from God, and God says, “Take that stick in your hand and throw it on the ground.” Moses does and POOF, it becomes a snake. Moses runs and God has to call him back. That’s funny. I can picture Moses in mid flee, when God tells him to come back and pick up the snake. Now I have faith, but I might have kept running. When Jehu rides into Jerusalem to kill Jezebel, she does a Tammy Faye Baker and loads on the make up. I picture her with her hand on one hip, slightly turned toward the window saying, “Hey big boy.” (Think Mae West) Of course she was over 60 YEARS OLD! Not so inciting any more there Jez, baby. Jehu is 30 and he is not Ahab, and he sure ain’t interested. Which is part of the reason Jehu had her thrown out of the window. Now, that’s funny. Think about Elijah up there on Mt Carmel. The prophets of Baal are dancing around and cutting themselves trying to get their god to ignite some kindlin. Elijah…Lord love him…taunts them. He says, having trouble getting your god’s attention. Maybe he’s sleeping. Maybe he’s on vacation. And then, just as the prophets are getting their blood a’boiling (and a spewing) Elijah says, “hmph…maybe he’s in the john.” Now friends, that is funny.

Now here is something funny. I met with a man from Bethel Baptist Church in Olanta, SC. The search committee asked him to meet with me and so we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I interviewed with the full committee on the phone. This guy was really nice, and had a lot of nice things to say about his church. He also mentioned, just in passing really, about the “other” church in town. His comments about this sister congregation were less than flattering. The committee sent me an email Monday to tell me they were going to keep looking. Here is the funny part. Monday, I received a letter from the “other” church in Olanta asking me if I was interested in their search. Ahhh. You gotta love God.