Does God have a sense of humour?

I've got to be honest and say that I've been in some churches over the years where laughter was almost seen as ungodly; the belief seemed to exist that to laugh in church was likely to upset the Almighty!  Thank God that attitude has almost disappeared, and most Christians have come to recognise that laughter is part of the world which God created.  Some people point out that there is no record of Jesus having laughed.  That's true, but I'm sure that some of the stories he told had people laughing (How can a camel fit through the eye of a needle?  How can I remove a speck from my friend's eye when I have a plank in my own eye?)  His saying, 'Happy are you who weep now, you will laugh!' (Luke 6:21) surely implies that laughter is a good and positive thing?  

Scientists tell us that laughter can have many health benefits.  I like to think that I have a sense of humour, although if you asked my family they would probably disagree (somehow they don't seem to be on the same laughter wavelength as me!)  I find humour comes from lots of different sources.  For example, Sue and I are currently in the process of helping her elderly aunt pack her home ready for moving down to live near us.  With this in mind, we ordered a large roll of bubble-wrap.  It caused us both some laughter when the bubble wrap arrived wrapped in "fragile" stickers!!

A couple of weeks ago I was passing through Leicester market and witnessed a couple of examples of market traders' humour.  The first was capitalising on the recent publicity around the discovery of the remains of Richard III:

A tongue-in-cheek claim that the lamp for sale was used by Richard III in 1485 on the night before the famous battle of Bosworth!  I'm not sure whether anyone was gullible enough to believe the claim.

The other humorous notice in the market area was an advertising board for a shoe repairer:

I suppose that some might find it slightly offensive, but I saw it as a witty play on words, indicating that the creator of the sign knew the heart of the Christian gospel.  Very soon we move into the period which the Church calls Advent.  It is a time of preparation for the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ into our world.  God loved this world so much that he sent his own Son to live as one of us.  Jesus did come to bring healing to the sick and the offer of forgiveness and new life to all.  Yes, he did die a criminal's death.  But he rose from the dead, and is alive forever more.  He is still the source of Hope for the world today.

I appreciated the shoe repairer's humour, but let's not forget the true message of Christmas.