Humor Sunday sermon - The Reversal of All Things

Acts 5:27-32,

Revelation 1:4-8,

John 20:19-23

A mother listening to her son praying said to him, “Honey, that’s no way to say your prayers!”

The girl responded, “But mom, I thought that God was probably tired of hearing the same old stuff every night.  So I told him the story of the Three Bears instead!”



Pastor, “So, your parents say your prayers with you every night?  What do they say?”

The boy responded, “Thank God, he’s in bed!”

               Today we celebrate humor Sunday, the day when we remember that God had the last laugh over evil, and frankly, over all of us as well, by reversing what all of us know to be the only truth we can absolutely count on: that life ends with death.  Instead, death was the beginning: the beginning of the resurrection, the beginning of new life, the beginning of Christianity, the beginning of the faith that we have come to know and follow for the last 2000 years. 

               This should be an amazing and wondrous thing to celebrate and yet we often “celebrate” the resurrection with solemnity and ritual.  It is as if we cannot really accept the irony, the ridiculousness, the JOY of death being overcome, being destroyed, being reversed.  But that reversal of all we know should do exactly that: it should confuse us, it should turn our lives upside down, it should force us to question everything that we have ever known to be true, and to celebrate again with laughter, with humor, with music, with delight that God loves us so much that even death is no longer a solid steadfast rule; that everything we know is up for grabs, but that we need not fear because the God of love has promised to carry us through it all.

On humor Sunday this year we are literally practicing the reversal by reversing the worship service.  I hope that as we go through the service, you will find meaning in doing this.  First of all, it is often only those things which are different and unexpected which catch our attention enough to bring about genuine change.  Since we have not experienced physical resurrection first hand, sometimes we need a little help to remember the scandal of that day and of that experience for the disciples.  Reversing what we know invites us to experience both the confusion but also the possibilities inherent in life being other than what we expect.  That confusion can help us to see differently, to put ourselves in a place to hear in a different way.  The possibilities that open up for us, then, from a place of not knowing, but of seeing anew, can be amazing.

Secondly, I hope that today especially will be a reminder that church is not the goal.  Going to church is not what gives you stars in your crowns.  It is not what pleases God most.  As you may remember from my Amos sermon during lent, God said to Amos, “I hate, I despise your solemn festivals.  But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” What pleases God most is when we follow Christ and do what he has called us to do: be the hands and feet of God, healing, loving, uplifting, feeding, visiting, making the world better for everyone; be the mind of Christ – wise as serpents and gentle as doves; be the heart of Christ, loving those we would call “sinners” because we have hearts of compassion that can do nothing less than treat even our enemies with love and grace.   The point of church is to ground us in the love of God, to center us in the reason for all we do, to remind us of our call and the support we have from God and this community for doing the call, and to feed us so that we can then do the work of the world with energy and passion. 

When seen this way, it is therefore more than appropriate that our “welcome and announcements” lead us into being the church in the world out there; that they come at the end of the service, inviting us into the work of Christ.  It is appropriate that we enter this place with the benediction, and the reminder that it is a temporary leaving of our work for Christ that we do when we come into this place to be fed so that we can go back into the world again at the end of the hour.  It is appropriate that we hear the words of scripture AFTER the sermon so that we can hear whether or not our thoughts and our reflections actually have anything to do with what God is saying to us through the books of the Bible.  It is appropriate that we give of our best gifts in our offering before we have been fed in this place so that it is not somehow a measurement of what the hour has provided us, but instead a pledge to give our best to God no matter how we are feeling or what we face in this moment.  It is appropriate that we greet one another with the peace of Christ: coming into this place as forgiven people forgiving each other before we can hear what God would say to us in this hour. 

And finally, it is very appropriate that we celebrate Christ’s resurrection with laughter, with a recognition of the absurdity of life that ends for most of us in death; and the delight in death that ends with the scandal of life.  We will hear today from the book of John that Jesus’ message to the disciples was peace, was one of sending forth, and was one of forgiveness.  That continues to be Christ’s message for all of us who would follow: to find peace so that we may go forth loving, forgiving and doing the work that God calls us to do in the world.  Christ is the one who was, who is and who will be.  It is in that wake, in that understanding, in that deep and undeniably powerful call that we are told to go and do what he did: healing, loving, freeing, raising up the valleys and bringing the mountains low.  And so we will, as we step forward into our lives from this place.  But before we do that, it is appropriate that we boost ourselves with a bit of laughter, with joy, with celebration.

So towards that end, we begin with the jokes that you have to share.  These two come from Scott Lewis who could not be here today:

Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company.  One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, 'Father, my dog is dead. Could ya' be saying' a mass for the poor creature?'

Father Patrick replied, 'I'm afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature.'

Muldoon said, 'I'll go right away Father. Do ya' think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?'

Father Patrick exclaimed, 'Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic?”

Father O'Malley answers the phone. 'Hello, is this Father O'Malley?'

'It is!'

'This is the IRS. Can you help us?'

'I can!'  

'Do you know a Ted Houlihan?'

 'I do!'

 'Is he a member of your congregation?'

 'He is!'

 'Did he donate $10,000 to the church?'

 'He will.'

Humor and laughter and all good things

Acts 4:32-35

Luke 24:1-9

One Easter a priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them.

'Come with me,' said St. Peter to the taxi driver.

The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool.

'Oh my word, thank you,' said the taxi driver.

Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set.

'Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,' said the priest. 'Shouldn't I be the one who gets the mansion? After all I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God's word.'

'Yes, that's true.' St Peter rejoined, 'But during your Easter sermons people slept.  When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.'

--

How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?

“Change!?  My grandmother donated that lightbulb!”

--

"Are limericks suited to Lent?

Yes indeed, in both form and intent:

     They're a well-designed ploy

     To bring insight and joy

With a final, uplifting event.”

"Here's the question that Eastertide begs:

Is it all about candy and eggs?

   No, the point to be praised

   Is that Christ has been raised

And death taken down a few pegs.

--

         The point of humor Sunday is the same every year: God has had the last laugh, has even overcome death by raising Jesus.  There is nothing to fear, nothing to mourn, nothing to worry about because God has overcome the worst thing to be feared, the worst pain to be overcome, the greatest loss. Maybe that doesn’t bring laughter to your lips, but the absurdity of the one thing that could be counted on: death: that, too being overcome, being challenged, being faced – that should bring a joy that bubbles over into laughter.  If you trust that having even that which is un-challengable challenged by a loving God, if you can have faith that the God who overcomes even the most natural of things is a good and loving God, then all the rest must seem silly, trite, unimportant, and laughable.

            Several theologians wrote this year about how terribly appropriate it was this year to have Easter on April Fool’s Day.  (a very rare occurrence, by the way.  The last time this happened was in 1956). 

Easter, and the Sundays that follow it should be a relief!  All really is in God’s hands, and the outcome IS known.  It will end well, it will be okay. This is God’s world and we get to enjoy it as well as work to make it better for everyone.  We get to delight in the good, celebrate the beauty, and work for wholeness from a place of joy and trust. But even if that is hard to see, hard to trust and hard to take in, the gift of laughter is still there for us.  It is still a gift to be given and received.  We know it helps health-wise, we know it releases tension and stress.  It also reminds us to not take ourselves and our lives so very seriously. 

The funniest things I find are actually situations that happen in my own family, especially with my kids.  When Youngest was 6, Middle was 8 and Eldest was almost 12, we had a typical morning interaction.  I asked Youngest, as I often do, "How did I get such an adorable child?"  And then turning to Middle, who was also there, "How did I get such a handsome son?"  Again, this is part of a familiar morning routine.  But their answers have always been really unpredictable.  That particular morning Youngest responded, "Well, your heart picked Daddy.  And that is why you now have an adorable daughter, a handsome son, and also an older, cranky daughter!"  

Another story from this year.  We were watching the Olympics and Middle asked from the other room, “what’s happening on the Olympics now?” to which Eldest replied, “Well, it appears to be synchronized skiing. However, they are not doing a very good job because some are trying to outrace the others, which is not good team-work, people!!”

I remember taking my kids to see Zaboomafoo at the Oakland zoo when they were very little.  One of the things that the Zaboomafoo hosts always did was tell knock knock jokes.  But in person, they would bring the mic around and ask the children to tell their jokes.  But what was so funny about their jokes was that the kids understanding of humor was so different from adult humor.  “knock knock” the child would say, “Who’s there?” they would respond.  “Me!” they’d shout and then laugh their heads off.  We would laugh too – both because of their lack of understanding of what makes jokes jokes, but also because their laughter would be infectious. 

My experience in that humor is two-fold.  First, those real life stories are the ones that I remember most, that bring me the most joy and delight in this world.  But second, it is in those moments of utter silliness that I see God most clearly.  I hear God laughing alongside of us, enjoying the creation that He/She made, delighting in the beautiful, the wonderful, the absurd, the silly.

Today we are given two stories in scripture.  The first is a reminder that the early believers shared everything and that we are called to also share.  I believe that in our laughter we share a connection and a depth like no other.  I found the following story about a harried pastor in Alaska who was trying to bring together a very fractious, divided church. The church was in turmoil with a heavy, discouraged spirit. For several years, the pastor had tried everything, without success, to bring the various squabbling cliques together. He finally decided to try a Holy Humor Sunday celebration on the Sunday after Easter. The service was filled with joyful songs and hymns and inspiring Scripture readings celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Members were encouraged to tell their favorite jokes. And practical jokes were played on the pastor and others. Everybody had a lot of fun. The entire congregation rallied around the resurrection of Jesus. The Holy Humor Sunday service brought everyone together in a spirit of good cheer and camaraderie. "The response was overwhelmingly positive," the pastor wrote. "The congregation needed to know that they could come to worship and just 'let go' for an hour-and that it was possible to come to church and feel good. People have been talking about the service all week. And some, who said they had intended to leave the church and go to another church, said they had decided to stay. "The Holy Humor Sunday service was just what the doctor ordered for our church. It provided much-needed healing."

In the second scripture we are reminded of how scary and unbelievable it felt to the disciples to hear that Jesus was risen.  This, too, the unpredictable nature of life can be scary for us, too.  But laughter, humor Sunday is again another opportunity to listen to the angels who say again and again, “Be not afraid!” and who invite us into joy and trust and faith.

I want to end my sermon with this poem:

"Smiling is infectious. You catch it like the flu."

"When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling, too."

"I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin."

"When he smiled I realized I'd passed it on to him."

"I thought about that smile. Then I realized its worth."

"A single smile just like mine could travel the whole earth."

"So if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected."

"Let's start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!"

This is a way of spreading the light and joy: smile, laugh, share, hug, live in the joy of the resurrection!  Amen.

What jokes did you bring to share today?

--

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Interrupting Cow

Interrupting...

..MOO!!

Q: What did the alien say to the garden?

A: Take me to your weeder!

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Otto.

Otto who?

Otto know. I’ve got amnesia.

Holy Humor

A tourist in Vienna is going through a graveyard and all of a sudden he hears music. No one is around, so he starts searching for the source. He finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads "Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827". Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades a friend to return with him. By the time they arrive back at the grave, the music has changed. This time it is the Seventh Symphony, but like the previous piece, it is being played backward. Curious, the men agree to consult a music scholar. When they return with the expert, the Fifth Symphony is playing, again backward. The expert notices that the symphonies are being played in the reverse order in which they were composed, the 9th, then the 7th, then the 5th. By the next day the word has spread and a crowd has gathered around the grave. They are all listening to the Second Symphony being played backward. Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambles up to the group. Someone in the group asks him if he has an explanation for the Music.  

"I would have thought it was obvious" the caretaker says.

"He's decomposing."

As I’ve shared before, “Laughter Sunday (also known as Holy Humour Sunday, Hilarity Sunday, God’s Laughter Sunday, Bright Sunday or Holy Fools Sunday) has its roots in a number of different Christian traditions.  For example, churches in 15^th century Bavaria used to celebrate the Sunday after Easter as Risus Paschalis (‘God’s Joke,’ or ‘the Easter laugh’). Priests would deliberately include jokes in their sermons in an attempt to make congregants laugh. After the service, people would gather together to play practical jokes on one another and tell funny stories. It was their way of celebrating the resurrection of Christ – the supreme joke God played on Satan by raising Jesus from the dead.  However, this all changed in the 17^th century when a pope outlawed it.  Then in 1988, the Fellowship of Merry Christians began encouraging churches to resurrect this tradition by once again taking a day to celebrate God’s joy, resurrection and overcoming of even death, through the gift of laughter and joy. 

            While the psalms we read encourage joy, and laughter is a way of expressing our joy, there is also humor in the Bible.  Some of the stories are joyful, but others are downright funny.  Professor Hershey Friedman says that the different types of humor we find in scripture include, sarcasm, irony, wordplay, humorous names, humorous imagery, and humorous situations.  A couple of examples, when the Israelites were fleeing Egypt, they used sarcasm in confronting Moses by saying, “was there a lack of graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the wilderness?”  In the book of Samuel, Achish said to David, “Why did you bring him to me? Do I lack lunatics that you have brought this one to carry on insanely in my presence?"  Jesus says, “"You are like a person who picks a fly out of his drink and then swallows a camel", and a little later, “"Does anyone bring a lamp home and put it under a washtub or beneath the bed? Don't you put it up on a table or on the mantel?"  God names Isaac “laughter”.  The one who leads us forward, who is our ancestor in faith is named “laughter”. 

            Laughter is a gift from God in so many ways.  Research shows that laughing actually has pain-reducing capacities, and it raises our pain threshold so we can tolerate pain better and we experience it less when we are laughing and for some time after a full, strong laugh.  It helps us learn – we learn better after a good laugh.  And it boosts our immune-enhancing capacities.  When we laugh fully and completely, we are said to “lose” it.  What we actually “lose” in those moments is the distractions of everything else – the distraction of our self-consciousness, the distractions of the stresses in our lives, the problems of the moment, the concerns of the hour.  In the moments of laughter we become completely present in the now – and that moment, that NOW is where God is. 

            Sometimes we are afraid of connecting laughter with our faith, and yet, God delights in our joy and laughter is a part of that. 

Humor has other advantages as well.  It catches us off guard in a way that allows us to hear things differently, to hear things a new.  And because of that, laughter and humor also allows us to express truths in ways that we can sometimes hear differently or more easily.  Humor can get in to our minds, hearts and souls more fully, confront us with our own ridiculousness, our own hypocrisies, our own inner contradictions.  That’s why political cartoons are so effective.  They point out to us what we are really doing, often in ways that are so much more hard hitting, and yet at the same time ironically easier to hear. 

            Some non-political examples:  

            Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.

            In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, Notify:'  I put DOCTOR'.

            Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.

If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.          

          

            We see ourselves in these jokes.  We see ‘truth’ in these jokes.  They make us laugh because they tell us truths we don’t usually look at, don’t usually name, don’t usually think about, and certainly don’t think about in these ways. They make us laugh and that is a gift.  But they also point out realities that we don’t always see, and that is a gift as well.  Laughter also open us up to hear more serious truths in another way, too.  One sermon advice tidbit we were given at seminary was to speak our most poignant truths right after a joke – right after making people laugh because studies show we hear better, differently, more fully after laughing, and if we can say something funny right before saying something hard hitting, people usually take it in better.  Humor, laughter, does that for us.

On this, the second Sunday of Easter, we continue to celebrate the story of Jesus’ resurrection.  And through it we are reminded that God has the final “laugh”.  This time that laugh is on death itself.  Even that is overcome, to the surprise, to the joy, to the delight of God’s people and the disciples in particular.  God is the God of the amazing, of healing, of joy, of laughter.  And today we celebrate that gift – we honor that gift by laughing with God, by enjoying life with God.  But it, too, is best realized through laughter.  The joke is on Satan.  The joke is on evil.  We win.  It is hilarious and wondrous and wonderful that just when evil thought it got the ultimate prize in Christ, even death was overcome.  That is not only something to rejoice in, it is not only something to celebrate, it is something to laugh about!  God won!  When it was least expected, God won!

A nearsighted minister glanced at a note that Mrs. Jones had sent to him by an usher.  The note read, “Bill Jones having gone to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety.”  Failing to note the punctuation, the cleric startled the parish by announcing, “Bill Jones, having gone to see his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety.”

A woman said to the pastor at the end of a service, “I hope you didn’t take it personally that my husband walked out during your sermon.”

The pastor responded, “well, it was a little disconcerting.”

“It’s not a reflection on you” she insisted, “Daniel has been walking in his sleep ever since he was a child.”

When the new pastor came to town, he began to visit all her parishioners.  All was fine until she knocked on the Jones’ door.  It was obvious someone was at home, but no one came to the door.  So she finally wrote on the back of her business card, “Revelation 3:20, ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to that one.” And she stuck it on the door.  On Sunday, her card found its way into the offering plate.  Below her message was written these words, “Genesis 3:10, “And he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

A small girl was reprimanded by her mother for giggling during prayer.  “It’s okay, Mom,” she said.  “I was just sharing a joke with God.”

Pastor: “I was just reading over this letter you did.  Your typing is really improving.  I see there are only seven mistakes here.”

Secretary: “Thank you, Pastor.

Pastor, “Now, moving on to the second line…”

Unhappy pastor and his frustrated church bill ringer are standing in the steeple and the minister explained, “no, no Hibby!  It’s ding after dong except after bong.”