God Laughs

Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007

            This morning, as we revel in the beauty of springtime in the Willamette Valley, the world feels right.  It feels like Easter.  Christ is risen and the whole world is coming to life.  The blossoms on the old pie cherry tree in our backyard set against the bright blue morning sky paint a picture of hope for new life.  The chickadees building their nest in the birdhouse nearby sing out of hope for new life.  The paper whites in full bloom along the walkway at the Pitney family farm fragrance the air with new life.  Even the spring rain refreshes the earth calling forth new life.  It makes sense that Easter coincides with the greening of the earth.  The connection between Easter and spring is a happy one, guaranteed to renew our faith in the creative power of God.  Take one look outside and there is no doubt… today is Easter.  Christ is risen and the whole world comes to life.  It seems so natural.

            But the Resurrection is completely unnatural.  We so easily make the connection between springtime and Easter that we begin to think of the Resurrection of Christ as something as natural as grass coming up green, eggs cracking open to reveal chicks, and butterflies bursting forth from cocoons.  As beautiful and wonderful as this coincidence is, there is something deceptive about it because there is nothing ordinary about the Resurrection.  Resurrection is extraordinary.  Again and again, the empty tomb catches us by surprise.  God’s love wins out and, no matter how deserving or undeserving we may feel, we are given new life in that love.

            In my reading this week, I learned of an ancient Easter tradition in the Eastern Orthodox  Church that begins to capture the extraordinary surprise of Easter.  On the day after Easter in some of the most tradition-bound Orthodox churches, the people gather for worship to hear the priest tell jokes.   The day after Easter is set aside for laughter.  I know, it’s a little hard to imagine an extravagantly robed Orthodox priest with an extra twinkle in his eye as he looks out over the congregation, the fragrance of incense still in the air, telling knock-knock jokes.  But when we stand face-to-face with the Resurrection, laughter just might be the best response.

            In my reading, I also learned of a pastor in a dignified New England Congregational church who tried it for himself.  And that got me to thinking about what might happen in a dignified (well, somewhat dignified ) United Methodist Church in the Pacific Northwest.  Would we laugh?  Could we laugh?  Would humor help us make sense of the Resurrection?

            Let’s see.  I’ll start with a knock-knock joke that Griffin Allen-sis taught me.  I’ll need your help… 

                        Knock-knock.

                        Who’s there?

                        Interrupting cow.

                        Interrupting cow (mooooo) who?

            Okay, let’s try some more…

Why are United Methodists such bad singers?……..  Because we’re always reading ahead in the hymnal to see if we agree with it.

What do Attila the Hun and John the Baptist have in common?…….. The same middle name.

            These came in an email from Paul Wycoff…

“Do you believe in life after death?”  the boss asked one of his employees.  “Yes, of course I do” the employee replied.  “Well then, that makes everything okay,” the boss went on.  “After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral, she stopped by to see you!”

It was Palm Sunday and, because of a sore throat, five-year old Jason stayed home from church with his dad.  When the rest of the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches.  Jason asked what they were for and his mom answered, “people held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by.”  “Wouldn’t you know it,” Jason fumed, “the one Sunday I don’t go, Jesus shows up!”

            Finally, there are always those wonderful bloopers from church newsletters that make us laugh…

“Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale.  It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.  Bring your husbands.”

“The sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on Water.’  The sermon next Sunday: “Searching for Jesus.’”

            Think for a moment about what makes us laugh.  For centuries, philosophers and psychologists and others have tried to define what makes something funny.  Aristotle wrote about humor.   Freud wrote about humor.  Some biblical scholars even  believe that Jesus knew the power of humor.  When it comes to humor… to what makes us laugh… there is one recurring theme: most humor is based on surprise… on the reversal of expectations. 

My all time favorite joke, probably because it is one of the few jokes I can actually remember, is one you may have heard me tell.  It is especially appropriate for this morning because it’s Easter.  It seems that a few days after the Resurrection, Jesus found himself in heaven.  He decided he would see if he could find his father, Joseph, so he began asking around.  He told people he was looking for his father… well, not his real father but someone who was like a father to him.  He told them that when he was a young boy he would sit in his father’s carpentry shop, talking about the things that matter the most.  After several days of searching, Jesus came upon a old man and started his story about his father.  He was not his real father but he was like a father to him… he was a carpenter… and so on.  Suddenly a look of recognition came across the old man face.  With excitement he shared that he was a carpenter and he had a son… well, not a real son but he was like a son to him… and they would spent time in the carpentry shop talking about the things that matter most.  With great joy, Jesus opened his arms to embrace the old man and said, “Father!”  and the old man replied “Pinocchio!”

Humor is based on surprise… on the reversal of expectations… a sudden upending of the usual order of things.  Can you think of a better way of understanding the Resurrection?  God’s amazing love wins out over death and we are given new life in that love.

Now before I get in trouble with some of you who think that I am saying that the Resurrection is a joke, let me continue.  Our God is full of surprises.  God is always taking our expectations and turning them upside down!  Just think about the life of Jesus.  For God to appear in human form is surprising enough.  But consider what kind of human life God chose.  God came to us as a common man, born in a humble stable and not as a king born in royalty and wealth.  Now think about Jesus’ ministry.  He taught in parables that turned things upside down… a suspect Samaritan being good, even better than a priest… one wandering lost sheep being just as important as ninety-nine that didn’t venture away from the fold.  When the disciples argued about who was the best Jesus talked about the first being last and the last being first.  By the world’s standards, Jesus proclaimed a surprising Gospel… a world where the poor would be lifted up out of their misery and the rich would be sent away empty.  And when the good religious folks wanted to claim God’s love for themselves, Jesus proclaimed a God who loves us all.  Jesus was forever reversing expectations, upending the usual order of things.  He proclaimed a surprising Gospel.

In fact, the reason we are here this morning celebrating Easter is still another surprise.  Luke’s Gospel tells us that the women, early on that first Easter morning, were on their way to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.  We know what had happened.  The people in charge of keeping order… those who didn’t want things upended because they were sitting on top… they were the wealthy… they were first in line, found a way to stop Jesus.   Three days before, they had him killed.  It was their final solution to the problems he was causing.  If this story had ended on Good Friday, there would be no laughter, only tears.  But God wasn’t finished.  Jesus wasn’t through upending the usual order of things.  When the women arrived that first Easter morning they were surprised by an empty tomb.  Christ had risen!   He was alive again in a new way, calling them to follow again and live in that new way with him.

And on this brand new Easter day, full of joy and hope and the possibility of new life, Christ calls us to follow again and live as Easter people.  Heaven only knows, that in our world today, laughter could easily give way to tears.  Poverty, war, political corruption, cancer, global warming, hunger, domestic violence, “isms” too many to name… these silence the laughter as we find ourselves giving way to despair.  But we are here today because we believe in Resurrection.  We follow a Risen Christ.  We believe that Jesus was victorious over death. We believe that God’s love is ours.  We believe that God’s grace is real.  We believe that new life in Christ is possible.  And if we believe in Resurrection, we must commit ourselves again today to the ministry of Jesus Christ, trusting that God is with us and with God anything and everything is possible.

A pig and a chicken were walking down the street together and came upon some poor hungry people.  The chicken said, “Look at all those hungry people.  We should give them some ham and eggs for breakfast.”  The pig interrupted saying, “Wait a minute!  For you it’s a donation.  For me, it’s a sacrifice!” 

Are we willing to make our faith more than a donation?  Are we willingly to be Easter people in the world today?  Are we willing to be the hands and feet of Christ, turning our world upside down as God does.  Are we willing to accept the gift of grace in our own lives as we offer the love of Christ to our hurting world?  As followers of the Risen Christ are we willing to work to put an end to hunger and poverty… to violence and war… to all the “isms” that separate us?  Will we live as Easter people believing that through faith and hard loving work we can  help God transform our world? 

Easter is the ultimate surprise.  Easter is the punch line in God’s story, turning creation upside down.  As Easter people let us live in the hope of that surprise.  The late Joseph Campbell, in speaking about humor, put it so well.  “Humor is a leap into the wild and careless, inexhaustible joy of life invincible.”  What better description of Easter could we find.  Together, let us “…leap into the wild and careless, inexhaustible joy of life invincible.”  God has the last laugh!  Resurrection!

Many thanks to Martin B. Copenhaver for his sermon “Laughter at Easter” in “Journal for Preachers; Easter 2007” for his inspiration and many words  for this message.