Here's a sample chapter of A Different Kind of Laughter, and the inspiration for the
front cover ...
Laughing in the Deep end of the Pool
If there has ever been a place where I’ve been patient with each
of my three daughters, it has been in a swimming pool. Learning how
to swim, learning the fine art of diving, and mastering the deep end
of a pool must be some of the toughest lessons of trust in all of
life.
I was petrified in the swimming pool of my childhood. Like most
of the boys in my neighborhood, I was drawn to the city pool the way
a bug heads for bright lights. It was hot in South Georgia, and the
pool was just around the block. The only problem with that city pool
was with me. I didn’t know how to swim! It took an entire summer for
me to slowly advance from floating in the shallow end to finally
swimming with confidence in all corners.
Before the days of watery success, however, there were many
failures. Once, I backed a long line of swimmers down from the water
slide. I climbed to the top of the slide, but the fear of what
awaited me was greater than the embarrassment of climbing down
backwards in front of my peers. Now that I’ve thought of those days,
I also remember being the only kid in my Red Cross swimming class to
fail diving. I just couldn’t do it. At the time, the pain of belly
flopping seemed less severe than the unknown pain I feared would
come with a head-first dive. It took weeks before I mastered it.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the deep end of the
pool. I trusted my teachers, and discovered how much fun swimming
can be. Ever since I sliced through the water with a painless,
head-first dive, and ever since I experienced the exhilaration of a
slide into the pool, I’ve never gone back to failure. Belly flops
really are painful. I’ll do no more of those, thank you. And who’d
want to back down from a water slide? Give me bigger, faster slides!
Those memories from my own childhood are why I was patient when
each one of my daughters forgot how to float as soon as I let go of
her back. For all three of them, I’d tread water and wait at the
receiving end of the slide, or near the diving board when they each
took the first big plunge. That’s why I shouted encouragement when
they belly-flopped 99 straight times.
"Who knows?" I thought. "Number 100 might be the magic dive!
When it came to His disciples, Jesus picked a bunch of
belly-floppers.
Thomas and Philip heard the truth as plainly as children hear
swimming instructions. They had both seen the miracles and the
evidences of the supernatural. They had both heard Jesus speak very
plainly about how to have eternal life, and abundant life. They had
been held afloat for three years, but now that Jesus was ready to
let them go, they acted as if they’d never been in the water.
Jesus even refers to past lessons. "You know the way to the place
where I am going" (John 14:4).
Thomas looks at Simon Peter, who’s probably still wondering who
the betrayer is. Philip has a puzzled look on his face, and behind
him is a collage of blank faces.
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going,
so how can we know the way?"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew
me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know
him and have seen him."
(John 14:5-6)
Philip is having trouble with the deep end, too. He frames it as
politely as possible, but Jesus doesn’t hesitate to keep the
intensity level high.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be
enough for us."Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen
the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you
believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the
Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I
say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least
believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you
the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been
doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am
going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name,
so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me
for anything in my name, and I will do it."
(John 14:8-14)
Time is running out for Jesus. We can hear the frustration in his
voice that the men He has hand-picked haven’t made enough progress.
In a few hours, they’ll be swimming for their lives, and swimming on
their own.
Think of all Thomas and Philip had seen. Think of all that James,
John, and Peter had seen. None of the other men scold the two who
spoke. They’re all having trouble at the moment, even though they’ve
all seen incredible evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.
For example, some of them have heard an audible voice from
heaven, when the Father confirmed that Jesus is His Son. The record
of one of those events leaves no doubt that the disciples were
profoundly shaken by that experience. (See Luke 9:34-36.)
They have seen Jesus …
Heal several people with leprosy, the most gruesome disease
of the day (Matthew 8:2-4; Luke 17:11-19).
Heal a centurion’s servant by simply announcing the healing
(Matthew 8:5-13).
Heal countless individuals with a spoken word, or a simple
touch, including one who was healed when she secretly touched
Him (Matthew 9:20-22).
Heal at least seven blind men, the first time in history such
healings had ever taken place (Matthew 9:27-31; 12:22; 20:29-34;
Mark 8:22-26, and John 9:1-7).
Heal several people who were crippled, including at least one
man who was paralyzed (Matthew 9:2-7).
Calm a storm at sea (Matthew 8:23-27).
Walk on the water (Matthew 14:25).
Feed huge crowds with ridiculously small amounts of food
(Matthew 14:15-21, 15:32-38).
Some of them had felt the weight of their nets, full of fish only
when Jesus gave them instructions for a miracle.
They were all present when Jesus spoke a quiet word to a dead
girl (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25). With her grieving parents nearby, he
brought her back to life! They were all there when Jesus stopped a
funeral procession and gave a grieving mother back her son (Luke
7:11-15). Just a few weeks before, they had been just two miles
away, standing amazed in front of an open tomb. Four days before
they had arrived, Lazarus had been buried. However, after Jesus
shouted his name, there was Lazarus, stumbling over the grave
clothes and soon rubbing his eyes in the bright sunlight of life.
All of those events, and hundreds more not recorded for us, are
wrapped up in a single sentence. Jesus said, "Believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe
on the evidence of the miracles themselves" (John 14:11).
Doubt is a terrible thing. Though it must pain God to see our
doubting, doubt never hurts God. It always hurts us!
Do you remember the day when Jesus returned to Nazareth? He
worshiped in his hometown, spoke to the crowd when He was asked, and
then listened to the cries of criticism. The people there simply
could not believe that the Jesus who grew up in their community
might actually be the Messiah.
Both Matthew and Mark record the results. Because of the unbelief
of the people living there, Jesus couldn’t perform his usual array
of miracles (see Matthew 13:54-58, Mark 6:1-5). Imagine the reality.
There were people in Nazareth with arthritis, hearing deficiencies,
sight loss, and intestinal disorders. If they had shown the
slightest amount of faith, they could have been healed. Their
neighbors in Magdala and Capernaum had already, or soon would be,
healed of such things. Folks in Nazareth, on the other hand, hurt,
limped and squinted just as badly the day after Jesus left them as
they did the day before He arrived. Their doubt didn’t hurt Jesus.
Their doubt hurt them.
Doubt hounded the disciples all the way to the cross, to the
empty tomb, and even beyond it. At the site of the Great Commission,
Matthew tells us that there were still some there, doubting, after the resurrection (Matthew 28:17).
If eyewitnesses had trouble believing what they were seeing, it’s
little wonder that so many Christians today struggle in their effort
to swim in the deep end of faith. But how frustrating it must be to
the Lord when Christians today watch the evidences of God at work
all around them, and continue to wonder if what they’re seeing is
real. How frustrating it must be for the Holy Spirit to hear a
Christian assume that the abundant life is available for everyone
but himself. How frustrating it must be for Christ to see us
standing on the foundation of 2000 years of amazing church history,
and at the same time wonder if Christianity is relevant to the world
today. How frustrating it must be for God to hear the prayer of a
Sunday regular, saying, "Maybe next week I’ll make the decision ..."
Here’s the good news. Despite the fact that practically every one
of us has had times when we’ve covered ourselves with doubt, God is
patient with us. Like a swimming instructor calling out
encouragement, Jesus tells us what could happen, if we’d just move
beyond our doubt.
Do you remember what Jesus said?
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do
what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than
these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever
you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the
Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do
it. "
(John 14:12-14)
Some of the disciples got it. Peter and John became famous for
the miracles they performed, as did some of the other apostles. In
time, the apostle Paul would perform amazing miracles, including
saving one young man who had fallen out of a window as Paul preached
an exceptionally long sermon, which lasted late into the evening
(Acts 20:9-12). Perhaps another miracle is written between the lines
of that Scripture. From that point on, Pastor Paul preached shorter
sermons!
James, the half-brother of the Lord, came to understand this
particular blessing. Years later, when he recorded the wisdom in the
book that bears his name, he said it this way: "The prayer of a
righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b). No doubt
about it, James had learned that from years of experience.
In short, it really is true that if we will believe in the
promises of Jesus, and if we will trust his instruction to us
through the Holy Spirit, we’ll be blessed in amazing ways.
What’s the key? Obeying the commands of Jesus. That’s all we have
to do. Jesus gave us the example, by obeying the father. "I do," He
said, "exactly what my Father has commanded me" (John 14:31b).
Months before, Jesus had said it this way:
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son
can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his
Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also
does."
(John 5:19)
So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then
you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do
nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me."
(John 8:28)
Jesus was so immersed in doing exactly what the Father was doing,
He was constantly speaking of the Father. When Jesus was quoted in
John’s gospel, Jesus spoke of the Father more than 90 times!
Here’s the key. With the same kind of constant passion that Jesus
forced his mind to dwell on the Father, let your mind dwell on the
things of Christ. Take on, as Scripture says, "the mind of Christ."
Know what will happen then? You’ll love Jesus more and more, and
you’ll find yourself naturally doing what Jesus would do. As that
happens, you’ll begin reaping the blessings, the joy, and the peace
Jesus promised. That’s the deep end of the pool.
Jesus said it should, and would happen … in your life.
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with
you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for
he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as
orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see
me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will
live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and
you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and
obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be
loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to
him."
(John 14:15-21)
There are so many ways to take the leap of faith that can send
you on the way to what Jesus referred to as the "abundant life."
The way a beginning swimmer works hard on the coordination of
hand motions, breathing techniques, and foot motions, you could work
hard on the coordination of Bible study and prayer. The way a
beginner keeps going back to the pool, you could continue attending
a church that helps you understand. The way that new-to-the-water
swimmer finally closes his eyes and dives head-first into the deep
end, a person could take a deep breath and make a public declaration
of his or her faith in Christ.
Perhaps you’re further along than that in your spiritual
swimming. Maybe you’re feeling as uncomfortable as those 11
disciples were in the Upper Room, hearing a clear challenge from
Jesus to take a deeper faith walk, right now.
That was really the problem in the Upper Room. For the better
part of three years, these men had been very comfortable simply
riding on the coattails of Jesus. He had done the miracles, and they
had watched. He had healed the sick, and they had assisted happy
family members. They brought the sack lunches, but Jesus had prayed
them into feasts for thousands. Jesus had done the preaching, the
teaching, and all the confrontation. These disciples didn’t like the
idea that within hours, Jesus would no longer be with them.
They didn’t want to think of swimming in the deep end.
There is amazingly good news here, however. If you fast-forward
the pages of your Bible just a little more than seven weeks, you’ll
see Peter boldly proclaiming the gospel, and the other 10 disciples
baptizing 3,000 new converts on a single afternoon. Within days,
you’ll see miracle after miracle, all performed by these
once-doubting disciples. People were healed not only by their words
or touch, but according to Acts 5:15, even by Peter’s shadow!
God did incredible things through them. The church grew faster than
the record-keepers could keep the numbers straight, and the new
converts did wonderfully selfless acts. They sold land and property,
giving the money to others who had need. They shared their food,
their resources, and their friendship.
The difference? The Holy Spirit had arrived in a new and personal
way. Jesus had promised that the Counselor would come, and that this
Helper would make all the difference. Jesus was gone, and the Holy
Spirit was present. The book of Acts is so filled with the resulting
miracles that some have suggested that it be called "The Book of
Miracles."
To complete the illustration, these 11 disciples became excellent
swimmers. They mastered the pool, moved to the lake, and then
tackled the ocean. They were the Iron Men of the faith, those who
could endure and compete, and win great championships. Despite their
continuing faults and weaknesses, they overcame all their doubts and
became known as great people of faith.
That could be you.
If you haven’t learned how to swim, learn. If you’re still
waiting to take that first frightening dive, jump. If you’ve
mastered the pool, tackle the lake. If the lake is easy for you,
move to the ocean. Do not fear, for Jesus is watching over you, even
as a lifeguard would watch over the beach. His last words, according
to Matthew’s record, should give you comfort ...
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"
(Matthew 28:20b).
Why are you waiting? Go on, get in the water!
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