"Does God LikeTo Laugh?"

(1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn

INTRODUCTION:

A man runs into a vet's office carrying his dog, screaming for help. The vet rushes back to the examination room and after a few minutes tells the man that his dog, regrettably, is dead. The grieving man doesn't want to accept it and demands a second opinion.

The vet goes into the back room and comes back with a cat and puts the cat down next to the dog's body. The cat sniffs the body, walks from head to tail poking and sniffing the dog's body and finally looks at the vet and meows. The vet looks at the man and says, "I'm sorry, but the cat thinks that your dog is dead too." The man is still not convinced.

So, the vet goes out again and this time brings in a black Labrador Retriever. The lab sniffs the body, walks from head to tail, and finally looks at the vet and barks. The vet looks at the man and says, "I'm sorry, but the lab thinks your dog is dead, too."

The man, finally accepts the diagnosis, thanks the vet and asks how much he owes. The vet answers, "$650."

The man says, "$650 to tell me my dog is dead?"

And the vet replies, "Well, I would only have charged you $50 for my initial diagnosis. The additional $600 was for the cat scan and the lab tests." (1)

Someone has collected a list of Seven Fatal Things You Never Want To Say To Your Pregnant Wife:

Number 7: "I finished all the Oreos."

Number 6: "You know, looking at her, you'd never guess that Pamela Lee had a baby!"

Number 5: "Well, couldn't they induce labor? The 31st is the Super Bowl."

Number 4: "Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!"

Number 3: "I'm jealous! Why can't men experience the joy of childbirth?"

Number 2: "Are your ankles supposed to look like that?"

and the Number 1: Fatal Thing to Say to Your Pregnant Wife:

"You don't have the guts to pull the trigger." (2)

The reason I started with those stories is simply to get us all to laugh. I don't know about you but I like to laugh. Life is too serious for there not to be some sort of relief. And laughter is good relief.

It has been scientifically proven that humor is important. It's not only important but it is beneficial to our health. It has healing qualities about it that can lift the lowest spirits and help the immune system do its job. Humor is one of the ways God gets through to us.

For years I've been a member of the Fellowship of Merry Christians. Dr. Patch Adams, of current movie fame, is one of the charter members. The Fellowship of Merry Christians is a group who believes that humor is one of the best tools we have in ministry and one of the best tools we have to use in proclaiming the Word of and God's great love for us.

In answering the question which is today's title, I would have to say, "Yes, God does like to laugh?" And so does the Apostle Paul.

I. THE CROSS:

Paul wrote: "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

Stop and think about it. The cross really is sort of foolish, if you put it in worldly terms. Here we are at worship. We gather together each week to praise and remember some guy, who battered and bloody, died gasping for breath while nailed to a cross for crimes against the state and his own religion. His closest associates and friends abandoned him in his time of need. They forgot all about him and fled to save their own hide. But still we remember him. We not only remember him but we claim that this dead guy came back to life and then a few days later got beamed up to heaven. We claim all this and put our total trust and faith in this guy and claim that his death gives life meaning and brings new life.

You see how ridiculous our message can sound to the world? I believe this is exactly what shows us the great sense of humor God has. And it shows that Paul had the inside scoop on God's humor.

In his letter, Paul reminds us that the "Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom." In other words, the Jews wanted miraculous proof and the Greeks wanted answers to life's questions; neither of which, in their mind, they received from the cross.

Paul captured the essence of the objections of the world. You see, we are and always have been just like the detractors. We want proof and we want answers.

II. ANSWERS:

A. Unfortunately the kind of answers the world gives really don't help us in life. For example. A friend of mine sent me a list of Answers To Some Of Life's Puzzling Questions." Here are a few:

1. In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
2. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
3. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
4. Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.
5. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
6. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David; Clubs - Alexander the Great; Hearts - Charlemagne; and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
7. An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain.
8. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
9. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
10. The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
11. Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars. (3)

III. SIGNS:

A. It's the same with signs and proof. The problem with signs is that God does send signs but we have trouble understanding them. Or we're trying to find signs that prove what we want to say and not what God really means. Or we don't see them for what they are.

There's an old story, you've probably heard it, about an area that suffered severe flooding. The owner of this particular home was lucky enough to crawl out on the roof of his two story house. Where he promptly began to pray, "Lord, save me." And in his heart he heard God say, "Be not afraid. I'll save you My son." That really bolstered his faith.

He'd been there about an hour watching the waters rise past the front porch roof, when a boat came by. The guy in the boat hollered, "Hey, you need some help?" To which the stranded man replied, "No, thank you, the Lord is going to save me." The guy left.

About an hour after that, as the water was getting up to the top of the second floor, another boat came by. This time the guy inthe boat said, "Come on, get in, I'm here to rescue you." To which the stranded man replied, "No, thank you, the Lord is going to save me." The guy in the boat shook is head in disbelief and left.

The water continued to rise until just the peak of the roof was visible. This time a helicopter swooped down, dropped a line and the pilot hollered, "Grab on, I'm here to rescue you." And once again, the stranded man replied, "No, thank you, the Lord is going to save me." The pilot argued but the guy persisted and the pilot left to go rescue someone else.

As you can guess, the waters rose and covered the house and this guy was swept away and drowned. He wakes up to find himself in heaven, standing before God. And his mad. He turns to God and says: "How could you let me die like that? You told me you were going to rescue me." And God said, "What more do you want. I sent two boats and a helicopter."

B. Paul knew the story. Jesus had given sign after sign after sign. But the Jewish religious leaders of the time shook them off like a pitcher who only wants to throw one kind of pitch no matter what sign the catcher gives him. Jesus gave them sign after sign after sign and they ignored them all. He changed water into wine. He healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, gave speech to the mute and restored the hearing of the deaf. He fed 5,000 with just five small loaves and two small fish. He healed leprosy. And he raised Lazarus from the dead. But they didn't see. They wouldn't or couldn't read the signs.

And we're the same way. There are signs of the presence of God everywhere. Every time someone reaches out to care for someone else; every time the poor and hungry are fed and cared for; every time a missionary doctor brings healing to those who are hurting, every time a child smiles and laughs because they know they are loved; every time another Habitat House is started or completed; it is a sign of God's presence. But most of the time we miss them, just like the religious leaders and people who couldn't see back then, because we aren't looking with the eyes of faith.

IV. THE CROSS AGAIN:

And that brings us back to the cross again. It may seem foolish but the cross is the wisdom and power of God. The cross becomes our focal point which allows us to see beyond the worldly and view the divine point of view. It is the bridge between God and humanity.

And that's exactly why some find the cross so foolish and even offensive. Some folks don't like the idea that they can't do it on there own. They don't like the idea that we need a bridge between us and God. Or that we need someone like Jesus and something like the cross to do anything for us. We all know folks like this, the rugged individualists, the ones we all know as "Self Made People."

A man brought his boss home for dinner. The boss was blustery, arrogant, and domineering! The little boy in the family stared at Dad's boss for most of the evening, but didn't say anything. Finally, the boss asked him, "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" The little boy said, "My daddy says you are a self-made man." The boss beamed and proudly admitted that indeed he was a self-made man. The little boy said, "Well, if you're a self-made man, why did you make yourself like that?" (4)

The problem with "self-made people" is that they usually worship THEIR creator, and not THE CREATOR. The cross points out our foolishness. It points out our faults and frailties. It points out our need. And some people don't want to need anything.

Some find the cross foolish and offensive simply because it is a cross. How could God use a cross? How could God use this tool of torturous death as a symbol of new life? How could God use this destructive instrument of hate as a symbol of unconditional love and grace? How could God use this unjust instrument of judgment as a symbol of forgiveness and baptize something so horrible and make it into such a thing of beauty? It's ludicrous. It seems foolish. But that's exactly what God did.

God chose what is foolish to shame the wise. God chose what is

weak to shame the strong. God chose the lowly so that we couldn't boast of anything but Christ Jesus and the grace, redemption and forgiveness we have experienced through the cross of Christ. Does God like to laugh? I think so. God laughs joyously every time the foolishness of the cross changes someone's life. Or gives someone hope. Or heals someone's wounds. Or lifts someone's burdens. Or causes someone to dig deep and give to the Church with joyous gratitude. God laughs joyously ever time someone hears the Good News of the cross and knows the assurance of their forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord.

CONCLUSION:

I ran across a poem or a piece of a poem by Louisa Fletcher Tarkington, entitled "The Land Of Beginning Again." She writes:

"I wish there were some wonderful place

In the Land Of Beginning Again:

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

And all our poor selfish grief

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door

And never be put on again." (5)

There's only one place in the world like that. Some people call it foolish. It's located on hill called Calvary at the foot of an old rugged cross. The cross is empty because the one who was crucified and bore our mistakes and heartaches buried them with himself, where they can never be put on again. If you listen closely, as you stand in the somber silence at the foot of the cross, you can hear laughter. The Holy laughter of God that has confounded the wise but is the power of God to those who are being saved.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

____________________________________________________

Bibliography

1. Thanks to John Heinz and John Boggs, friends who both emailed this story to me.

2. Dynamic Preaching, Jan/Feb/Mar 1999 Vol XIV, No. 1. (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN) p. 70

3. Thanks again to the 2 Johns and email.

4. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), Jan. 1988

5. I don't remember where I ran across this

Other References Consulted

Emphasis, January-February 1999, Sermon Prep Version. (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH)

Lectionary Homiletics, Volume X, Number 2, January 1999, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)

The Clergy Journal, May/June:1998, Volume LXXIV, Number 7, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)

SermonWriter for The Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany, Year A (January 31, 1999). Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 1999