10:30 am, (Fathers' Day) Sunday, June 18, 2023

(Gen 18:1-15; Mtt 8:18-21) FBCA, J G White

One more reading, today, from Olde Charlie Farquharson’s Testament (Don Harron, 1978, pp.18, 20) in Jennysez 18.

God never fergot about the I-sick projek. One day He come before Abie-ham sittin in front of his tent flaps in the heat. It was so wavy hot God looked like three people at once. Abie-ham sed, “Come in, wash yer feet, rest yerself. I’ll git you bread and milk before you pass on.” Abie-ham run back into the tent, sold Sairy to kneed some meel and whip up a cake. He got a servant to pick a calf and prepair it, with curds and milk along the wey. Abie-ham stood by them wile the three of them (who was still reely God) et.

They (God) ast after the wearabouts of his wife Sairy. “In the back of yer tense,” sez Abie-ham.

Then the three Lords sed, “Be back next spring to have a look at her brannew, bouncin baby boy I-sick.”

Sairy, as was her want, was listening behind the tent door in a flap. Sairy thot fer sure she was past all that. She started to laff at the thot of it starting all over again. God herd her, wunderd what she was laffin’ at. Becuz nothin is too hard fer the Lord. Sairy got scairt, clamed she never laffed. God sed, “Oh yes you did, but if you think we’re kidding now, wait till next spring.”

Humour and fun and laughter have a role in life, and in our faith. Today, I wanted us to know that, celebrate that, have fun with that. In a few minutes, before our Prayers of the People we’ll have ‘Jokes of the People.’ Some of you can take turns telling a good joke to us.

Can joke telling be worship, Divine Worship?

Well, preachers get away with it.

‘How many Baptists does it take to change a lightbulb?’

‘Change!?’

I am relieved. Years ago, such lame laughs in Church would be called ‘preacher jokes.’ Now they get called ‘dad jokes,’ and we ministers are not all to blame for such silly stuff.

Looking back, thousands of years, it can be hard for us to see all the humour in the Bible. But it is there, It is just from a different culture, and different languages. Does not always translate great into English today. When God showed prophet Amos a summer fruit basket, the word for that was qayits, to which Yahweh said, “The end has come upon my people,” the Hebrew for ‘end’ bing qets. Qayits and qets, a pun. Same with other prophets, like Jeremiah.

He was asked, “What do you see?”

“A rod of almond,” in Hebrew, shaqed.

The Lord said, “I am watching over my word to perform it.” Hebrew for ‘watching’ is shoqed. Shaqed and shoqed. A pun with punch, we might say.

Today’s big text was with Abraham and Sarah. Famously, Sara laughed. But follow the whole story, and you find Abraham laughed - falling on his face, in fact - in chapter 17, then Sarah laughs outside the tent flap in 18, then their son finally is born in chapter 21, named ‘Isaac,’ which apparently means ‘he laughs.’

Parenthood was no laughing matter, in ancient cultures, of course, and being childless carried a lot of stigma, not to mention some family and economic hardship, at times. Today, raising children, and not having children, can have serious challenges.

This week I am seeing that face-to-face. A funeral home recruited me for a service in honour of a 44 year old mother who suddenly died, leaving her fiancée, a 14 year old daughter, and a one month old daughter! Oh, this is terrible.

It could be a long while before there is much laughter and joy for this family. Have mercy, O God - let there be joy and happiness in their future. Let it be. Let the words of this hymn come true:

Even in sorrow and hours of grief,

laughter with tears brings most healing relief.

God, give us laughter, and God, give us peace,

joys of your promise among us increase.

In the face of death itself, there will be laughter. Jesus laughs at evil and mortality. In many ways, our Saviour used humour. That little Gospel reading today, it sees Jesus’ intense use of humour. The saying about the ‘dead undertakers.’ Ever notice the ‘dead undertakers?’ I’ll have to point this out to Mischa and Weston and the rest. “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” In the Jewish culture and faith, family funeral responsibilities were huge. Jesus’ saying packed a punch! Our sense of fun often is more joyful.

A minute ago, I quoted a song we will have to learn, as ‘hymn of the month,’ sometime. Give to Us Laughter, by Canadian hymn writer Walter Farquharson (he’s a real Farquharson!).

Give to us laughter, O Source of our life.

Laughter can banish so much of our strife.

Laughter and love give us wholeness and health.

Laughter and love are the coin of true wealth.

Laughter is good medicine: for society, for self and soul and body. Some people have a real gift for humour - it is such an asset to them, and those around them.

I think of lots of people, one being dear Donna Childs, God love her. Lately, she has been in and out of hospital, had tests, and surgery, and pills, pills, pills. So many pills only the VON can keep track of them! But I so enjoy getting to talk with Donna, she is always laughing and telling stories, and having fun in the chatting, in fellowshipping. She perks me up! “Might as well laugh as cry’ could be her motto, and there’s a lot of truth to that.

God’s grace is so BIG, we can laugh in the face of trouble. Remember, in his big sermon, Jesus proclaimed: 11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Mtt 5)

Humour puts our life into perspective. It is a good ingredient for keeping us humble! Jesus called the proud religious Scribes and Pharisees whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. He called king Herod, that Fox. He said those who would not follow His practical teaching were like the person who built a house upon the sand, a laughable construction project.

So, joy and fun have power, real power in this world. We must let people know they need not underestimate the importance of humour. At the beginning of his brilliant book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis quotes the protestant church reformer, Martin Luther, and the Catholic saint, Sir Thomas More.

The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.

The devil… the prowde spirite… cannot endure to be mocked.

There is a serious, spiritual sarcasm that tears down evil, and breaks up bad plans. Political cartoonists have always known this. So have stand-up comedians. I learn a lot about national events by listening to ‘Because News’ on CBC radio. World events are so discouraging; we need to rejoice in how ridiculous evil activities truly are. All the great humourists know the power of telling the truth by making people smirk. The greatest preachers have known this too.

So I can end my funny thoughts today, quoting the apostle Paul, from his great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, as he mocks and makes fun of death itself.

54…the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s last laugh is on evil and death. They don’t win. This is the best ‘Dad joke’ of all.