It is suggested by those who are considered experts that a sermon for Holy Humor Sunday should start with a joke. Right, a joke… let’s see if I can do this justice.
Early one morning a minister of a small church in rural Manitoba woke up. Looking out the window, she saw that it was a beautiful day… there was no snow, the sun was shining, the sky was blue with those fluffy white stereotypical prairie clouds scattered through blue. This, thought the minister, is the perfect day to go golfing. And it would have been had it been any other day than Sunday – and the minister was very much expected at church.
Now, the minister had a spiritual and ethical quandary – go to preach or go to golf. After pondering for a bit she decided it was just too beautiful a day to pass up on so she called the church council chair and… lied… “cough, cough, sniff, sniff” I really don’t think I can lead worship today. Sneeze, I mean, Achoo.” The ever understanding and considerate chair said, “Oh no! I can totally take the service so that you can get back into bed and rest. I will take care of everything.”
With that out of the way, the minister grabbed her clubs and headed out to the course, which was empty due to the fact that everyone else was in church.
Meanwhile, up in heaven the angels had been watching this entire thing unfold. And quite honestly they were shocked and appalled! They went running to God – “Creator! One of your ministers told the church that she was sick, but she isn’t and instead of leading your people in worship she is out…golfing.” God wasn’t surprised.. it really was a beautiful day, God had out done God’s self in God’s own opinion. But the Creator could also see the tizzy the angels were in and that was never good, so God said “ok, I’ll take care of it.”
Back on the course, the minister was ready for the first tee and was above to make her drive. The angels hovered anxiously near by to see what kind of punishment God was going to reign down on the minister. The minister, unaware of the drama unfolding, swung her club and “crack!” a beautiful shot straight down the fairway. “Woah” exclaimed the minister, “that was the best shot I’ve ever made!”
Following her shot, she found her ball sitting perfectly on the fairway, and prepared to take her next shot. Taking it, she hit another stunning shot. She watched, the angels watched, and all were shocked to see the ball land smack dab in the middle of the green. “Wee! What a shot!” Now, the short game was never the minister’s forte, but when she took out her putter and lined up her next shot…a 25 footer… she was delighted to watch the ball head straight to the hole and drop in. The minister was delighted. The angels were livid.
For the next 17 holes things went the same way – beautiful shots, epic bounces, not one lost Titleist. Then came the 18th hole. The minister was having the game of her life and paused to think about how wonderful the entire morning had been. “It really can’t get any better than this!” she sighed as she stared out over the greens. She teed up for one last drive. Swack…. A beautiful line drive straight down the middle… it hit the ground, bounced once, twice, three times, and then landed with a satisfying plop, right in the hole. Dancing on the tee box she sang: “A hole in one! A hole in one, I got a hole in one! I got a hole in one!”
The angels by this time had had enough… they stomped over to God’s office, banging on the door they demanded an answer. “YOU said you were going to punish that minister for lying and skipping out on church! But instead you have her the best game of her life. She is so happy! How is that punishment!?” God looked at the angels with a smile and asked, “Guys, who’s she going to tell?”
In the ancient church, way back when the church was just getting going, the Sunday right after Easter Sunday was known as “bright Sunday.” The beginnings of this Sunday lay with the Greeks in the early centuries of Christianity and was meant to be a day where the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection continued. The faithful held parties and picnics. They danced, sang, told jokes, and oddly drenched each other with water. Don’t worry, that’s not a tradition I am going to share. There was also another tradition, which I hesitate to mention, where congregants played practical jokes on their ministers. It was just a grand old time.
The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom who thought that God played a huge pratical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead, calling it “risus paschalis” or “the Easter laugh.” In more recent years it has seen renewed popularity under the title “holy humor Sunday”. And seeing as how things have felt a bit bleak lately, what with threats of civilizations being destroyed, gas and food prices going through the roof, and well, snow in April… I feel we could use a bit of laughter.
For some this might feel inappropriate for a church service, but jouy was at the heart of what the writer of Peter’s First Letter offered the folks in Asia Minor. Written to a wide and diverse group of people his goal was to life them up, remind them that despite the struggles they were enduring, they could open their heart to the joy of God’s grace. Telling them to trust that not only would they be rescued by God in some distant future, but they could also claim hope and joy through God’s love even in the midst of the suffering.
Rev. Dr. Judith Jones wrote “In the meantime, the in-between time, they [were encouraged to ] live in hope. Such hope is not the mere wishful thinking that we express when we say, for example, “I hope everything goes well for you!” No, their hope is firm confidence grounded in God’s character and God’s saving actions. By raising Jesus from the dead and by giving them new life, God has showed them who God is and what God can do.”
My friend Nora was telling me a story the other day about a picture of Jesus that her friend Faye had in her seminary dorm room. Nora had never seen anything like it before… the Jesus she had been raised with was the traditional white, blue eyed, blonde haired , serious and pious Jesus… you know the on. But Nora’s friend had an image of a dark skinned, dark haired Jesus and he was, wait for it…. Laughing. This image caught the Son of God head back, eyes closed, full on mid guffaw. The thought of Jesus laughing had honestly never crossed my friends mind. Faye, who was a wonderful human, many years Nora’s senior, and clearly knew far more than Nora, said “oh Jesus must have laughed… and cried, and got angry and loved… but most definitely he laughed. Don’t forget this faith of our is meant to bring joy and hope to our lives even when everything feels like it’s falling part. That’s our job… as a minister you must cry with your people and laugh with them.”
You don’t have to look very hard to find places in the Bible where we are called to rejoice, celebrate, and yes, laugh, in the name of God. “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.” (Psalm 126). “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3). “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!” (Philippians 4); “God will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy” (Job 8); “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8)
In our reading from Peter we heard “We are to rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy” for the simple fact that we are all heirs to God’s gift of life, not something to wish for down the road but something to cherish and enjoy now. Jesus himself once said “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11) So may we all have a bit of a laugh in the days to come, may we find a joy in the drying out (directed to heaven) Yes, I said drying out, of the wet, the arrival of geese and nuthatches, and the return of community members from warmer climates, and the undeniable hope we have that in all things God is with us.
Okay, I want to end with this prayer… it’s called A Clown’s Prayer but I think it could be renamed “A Minister’s Prayer”…not that ministers are clowns…I mean… well… here’s the prayer and you can judge on the clown part….
As I stumble through this life,
Help me to create more laughter than tears,
Dispense more cheer than gloom,
Spread more joy than despair.
Never let me become so indifferent,
That I will fail to see the wonder in the eyes of our children,
Or the twinkle in the eyes of our elders.
Never let me forget that my total effort is to lift people up,
Make them happy, and forget momentarily,
Any unpleasantness their lives may hold.
And in my final moment, may I hear You whisper:
“When you made My people smile, you made ME smile.”
Amen.
