Sunday March 30th 2008

MESSAGE  BY THE REV. PAUL MULLEN

AT

SCARBORO UNITED CHURCH, CALGARY

 

“THE LAUGH SHALL BE FIRST” 
 
 
 

      In addressing ministers who are preparing to preach this second Sunday in Easter, Ralph Milton encourages us to lift up

“ . . . the celebration of humour, of laughter, of Godly giggles, for their own sake. Laughter is a means of grace. It is only one of the many graceful gifts of God, but it is easily abused and often undervalued. Laughter can, of course, be wicked, vengeful, cruel or simply mindless. But genuine laughter is always inclusive, always caring, always loving. My definition of a "dirty" joke is one with a victim. Someone isn't laughing. When humour is healthy, everyone enjoys the laughter, and it is a moment of grace.

           We pay so little attention to laughter, that we often don't realize we are misusing one of God's great gifts. We need to take laughter seriously. No, that is not an  oxymoron. Laughter is not the opposite of seriousness, as Conrad Hyers says in

           his books, ‘It is the opposite of despair.’ ” 

      In our scripture reading today we heard about the disciples of Jesus trapped in their doubt, huddled in fear of the religious authorities. They were afraid, probably because they thought that they would be the next on the cross. The atmosphere is tense. Jesus appears among them (I think with a big grin on his face) and says, "Peace be with you." Yeah, right! The atmosphere is suddenly even more tense. They have every reason to doubt that this is Jesus. He shows them his wounds. They are filled with joy, but they are still not at peace. Jesus says again, "Peace be with you." And then he reminds them of their mission to meet everyone with a forgiving love.

      But Thomas is not there. When the others tell him of their experience he does not believe it. He has his doubts. Things are again tense. Again Jesus appears and says, "Peace be with you." Again he shows his wounds. He doesn't tell him to stop all doubts and simply believe; he tells him to stop doubting that he, Jesus, is with them and that his spirit will empower them.

      Doubts are important. As Frederick Buechner has written, "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith." Doubts create tension. And where there is tension there is an opportunity for grace to enter. An opportunity for the risen Christ to appear.

      Humour touches on the tension between our personal sense of certainty and the huge world of doubt. Humour enables us, in the twinkling of an eye, to realize the folly of our certainties. Good humour calls our attention to our imperfections, not in a malicious way but in a gentle accepting way. Good humour reminds us that we are all human and that is OK. There is an acceptance of imperfection and a forgiveness for it. 
 
     The place of humour is to keep us from taking ourselves too seriously. The great theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, tells us that “the very essence of sin is that we take ourselves too seriously”. The great philosopher, Nietzsche, stated that “the devil is the spirit of gravity.” G. K. Chesterton reminds us not only that “angels can fly because they take themselves lightly” but also that “the devil fell by force of gravity.”

      I believe he was reflecting on a comment made by Jesus when his disciples came back from their first mission and were a bit too serious about their spiritual power to heal the sick.

      The 70 returned with joy, impressed with their own abilities, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"  And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke10:17-18)

      There are times in life when we get thinking that we know the answers and that our side must win. In order to do that we must all be serious. Humour has a way of reminding us that we are created in God’s image, not that God is created in our image.

 In August 2006, it was reported from Libreville, Gabon, that a congregation's 35-year old pastor insisted one could literally walk on water, if one only had enough faith. Big and bold was his speech. He extolled the heavenly power possessed by a faithful man with such force that he may well have convinced himself. Whether or not he believed in his heart, his sermons left room for only shame should he leave his own faith untested. Thus, the pastor set out to walk across a major estuary, the path of a 20-minute ferry ride. But the man could not swim.

      Lacking the miraculous powers of David Copperfield or Chris Angel, let alone Jesus Christ, this ill-fated cleric found only a Darwin Award at the end of his final path. He could have used some humour. He might have avoided the Darwin Award if he had only had a Bobble Head Jesus.

      Humour helps! Without it the world would not only be a somber place but a tedious place. Without humour we take ourselves so seriously that creativity gets stifled and perfectionism sets in. With perfectionism comes criticism, with criticism judgement, with judgement guilt and with guilt, depression. We take our Christian joy so seriously that we dare not crack a smile, let alone a joke. So prepared we go forth to let the world know how happy we are that Christ has come into our lives.

      While much of life pulls us from the sublime to the ridiculous, humour has a way of taking us into the ridiculous so thoroughly that we don’t even notice that we have been tricked into the sublime.

      Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad."

      Instead of being mad or going mad, we have the gift of humour. There is very little humour in insane asylums. Humour can keep us from ending up there.

            Humour gives us a perspective on what otherwise might overwhelm us. Even God and Jesus need to be taken a little lightly at times or our faith can become oppressive.

      A few years back some fellow clergy and I were reflecting on the downsizing and “dumbing down” of the church and worship. The idea, still being touted today under the label “seeker-sensitive worship”, is to give people what they want, to make it convenient and easy to go to church. Some congregations have actually removed the cross from the front of their worship centres because it is a violent image which people have trouble understanding.

      It occurred to me that the ideal church of the future will be called simply “McJesus.” The symbol would be three golden crosses. The slogan: “Billions and Billions Saved.” 

Advertising would say:

•“You deserve some faith today!”

•If there is a cross in the worship centre it will have the body of Jesus on it with the slogan “I’m lovin’ it!”

•To ease your guilt, not that we encourage guilt, there will be a drive-through confessional open 24 hours for your confessing convenience.

•When you give your offering you will get back something you had forgotten about, change. At special Tuesday services the maximum offering accepted will be $2.49.

•Communion will be called the “McHappy Meal”;  the sermon – “The Full Meal Deal:.

•For those who are watching their faith intake there will be a cutback sermon available – no carbs, no fat, just the beef  - for a slightly larger donation.

      Because few people actually believe in demon possession any more, the new demons will become the calorie and the carbohydrate. For a small fee McJesus will send out an exorcist each week to perform a ritual and drive all the calories and carbs out of your fridge.

Of course, if you gain weight eating large amounts of your calorie and carb-free food that will be a miracle and out of gratitude, you will be expected to make an even larger donation.

      Because clergy were involved in the design of the McJesus worship centres, when you come in there will be only one pew available at the back, much to everyone’s relief. Once it is filled however, an usher will push a button and it will silently glide to the front and another empty one will pop up at the back.

      Because lay people would be involved in the design, if the sermon goes more than 10 minutes a trap door will open and the minister will disappear to the basement.

      I predict that McJesus beneath the Golden Crosses will never be short of funds and will have to franchise itself around the world to accommodate its happy, satisfied customers ... I mean parishioners.

      Just in case you think this sermon hasn’t been biblical enough, I’ll tell you the whole story now:

God made, Adam bit,

Noah arked, Abraham split.

Jacob fooled, Joseph ruled,

Bush talked, Moses balked.

Pharaoh plagued, People walked,

Sea divided, Tablets guided. 

Promise landed, Saul freaked,

David peeked, Prophets warned,

Jesus born. 

God walked, Love talked,

Anger crucified, Hope died. 

Love rose, Spirit flamed,

Word spread, God remained.

Amen.