how can we laugh at a time like this?

I'm sitting at my computer, looking out the 24th floor window of my hotel in Des Moines.  I am currently attending our annual School for Ministry and learning all sorts of neat things about capital campaigns and what kinds of fonts to use on worship slides.  We've had some good practical teaching this year... with some good theological underpinings.  It usually is.  I'm glad Iowa does this! 

Anywho... here I sit, looking out the window at 12:26am at the quiet streets below.  I'm still up because I'm trying to plan worship for Sunday so that I can send my organist the hymns.  I'm exhausted.  Both from Holy Week and now these days of sitting in a conference room with no windows for hours upon hours.  I do not want to preach.  I have two funerals ahead of me in the days to come.  And someone mentions "Holy Humor Sunday." 

I've heard of Holy Humor Sunday... but never actually done one.  It's this tradition (a very old tradition) of laughing on the Sunday after Easter as we celebrate the cosmic joke that God plays on sin and death when Jesus Christ is raised from the dead.  It is a day to laugh, to lift up our hearts, to thank God that we know already the end of the story. 

I'm loving this idea.  I've spent about an hour already looking up hymns and liturgy and of course, jokes to tell. 

And then I realize that since I've been holed up in a conference room for the last two days that I have no idea what has been going on in the world.  I check CNN, and I check weather.com... 72 dead from tornadoes in one town in Alabama... friends freaking out on facebook over tornadoes that barely clipped their own homes and the severe weather alerts that have them shaking in their boots every time the sirens go off. 

I start to think about these two funerals that I have coming up this very weekend.

I start to remember the brokenness so many people in our communities are experiencing right now.

I start to look out on that quiet street before me and wonder who is sleeping in an alley tonight, instead of in a king size bed at the Marriott. 

I know in my bones that God has already won.  I know that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead.  I understand.  I believe.  But I find it so hard to keep that Easter joy in my heart because we haven't reached the end of the story yet!  We are inbetween times... in between the empty tomb and the new creation.  It's here, but not fully.  It's already, but not yet. 

How on earth can we laugh at a time like this?  How can we laugh as cities are ravaged by deadly winds and little ones go to bed hungry tonight?  How can we laugh when people are staring death in the face and losing?  How can we laugh when the disparity between the haves and the havenots is so stark?

Maybe the question is... how can we not laugh? 

How can we not just take a deep breath and remember that God is in control... not us.

St. John Chrysostom preached in his famous Easter sermon:

If anyone is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If anyone is a wise servant, let him rejoice and enter into the joy of his Lord.



He gives rest to him who comes at the 11th hour, even as to him who has worked from the first hour. And He shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first.


Let all then enter into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, keep the feast. You sober and you heedless, celebrate the day.

Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast… Let all receive the riches of loving-kindness.

Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free.


O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown.


Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of the dead. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

This world is broken and imperfect and horrible things happen all around us.  But if we cannot laugh in the midst of our sorrows, then the Devil has already won.  If we cannot laugh and lift up one anothers spirits, then there is no hope.  If we cannot laugh and rejoice, then why keep going at all? 

Christ is risen. Death is overthrown. Life reigns. 

We don't have to be afraid.  We don't have to be scared.  We know the end of the story and we can laugh in the face of all that tries to hurt us.

Those words are so powerful...  and so hard to believe in.

But maybe... just maybe... if we get together as a community and we laugh, we will find the faith we need to trust.  Maybe together we can find the strength to laugh in the face of sin and death and to really and truly mean it.  

calls for justice in the midst of advent joy

This coming Sunday we will light the third candle on the Advent wreath - the candle for JOY.

We hear in the midst of this call to rejoice, however, a very startling message. John the baptist calls out to the crowds: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.  (Luke 3:7-8).

He tells people to share their coats and their food, to not take advantage of others, to be satisfied with their wages. 

In many ways, that is the spirit of the season that we find ourselves in.  At Christmas we collect canned goods for the local food pantry, collect coats and mittens for children who need them, we remember the blessings of this year, we look out for our neighbors.  We take on a whole new attitude toward life in the month of December...

If only it would last.  Before the holiday lights on the town square are taken back down, our hearts begin to grumble.  Our spirits of generosity are suddenly overwhelmed by the credit card bills that come in the mail.  It seems impossible to sustain that good will towards all into the new year.

But that is exactly what John the Baptist is calling for - Repent, believe the Good News - you can live differently. You can bear fruit that lasts.  You can be changed.

I know I'm on a Susan Werner kick lately - only because I recently discovered her and I can't put down the album.  One song in particular has just absolutely stuck with me.  It's called "Help Somebody."



When I hear this song, absolute joy floods my heart.  It helps me to realize just how much I have been blessed.  I have plenty.  I have a roof over my head.  I have supper on the table.  I have a sense of God's salvation working in my life.  And if I have it to give - I should.... JOYFULLY. 

There are a lot of places in the world where some have too much and others have not enough.  We are having a huge debate over health care nationally for exactly that reason.  I think all (most) of us would agree that everyone should have affordable access to care.  We just don't agree on how that happens.  But if we let this song and John's call fill our ears and eyes and hearts then the question that comes to my mind is how can I help others get what I have. 

It's not a question of whether they deserve it or not.  Perhaps it's not even a question as to whether it is right.  It's a question as to whether we want to give.  It's actually a question of joy... what kind of joy and peace and wholeness can I create in the life of another person?  What kind of joy can I create in my own life through giving a little bit extra?

We could apply this same formula to anything.  It's not about what we can get, but what we can give.  It's about the joy that comes through recieving the good news of God and then not hoarding it, but changing our lives and giving it freely away.  It's the spark of life that we have to pass on. 

We are going to be looking at the "Enough" stewardship/money series in January - and I think that this song is going to be our theme for the whole thing.  I'm looking forward to the ways that our congregation finds joy in the good things that we have - enough joy to take responsibility for how we use our resources and enough joy that we overflow from that abundance and help others in our community and in the world.