Six Choices For Renewal: Choose Fun Over Boredom - Isaiah 61: 1-4; Mark 2: 18-22­January 27, 2008 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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A young boy once asked his mother what was the highest number she had ever counted to. Not knowing where this was going, she replied, "I'm not sure. What was the highest number you ever counted to?" Without hesitation, the boy responded, "5,132." Somewhat surprised at how sure he was, she then asked, "Well, what made you stop counting then?" to which he replied, "Church was over."

Ever since I read that story a few years back in the Reader's Digest, I have had moments in church services when I've seen someone sitting in the pews with glazed-over eyes, and thought, "I wonder what number he's up to." The Family Feud TV program had a category a few years back, "Name Something That Seems to Last Forever," and one of the first answers the "Survey Said" was "Church", right up there with "Root Canal" and "Waiting at the DMV." I had a certain gentleman in one of my first churches who would often say to me, "I have a big problem with this morning's sermon - it kept me awake." And I would say, "Thanks... I think."

This morning I continue along with a series of sermons about renewal, and six choices we can make to renew our lives and our faith and our church. The choices come from a recent book by a man named Paul Nixon, entitled I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church. Today we add another important choice: choosing fun over boredom. Nixon believes, and I totally agree, that church should not be boring. Church should be a place where people come to have fun.

Much has been written and taught about the role of church in our entertainment oriented society. This is an MTV world with an impatient remote. If you are not entertaining, people will simply surf to another channel, and leave you behind. So the question is, "How much does the church try to entertain, in order to keep reaching out with the message of Jesus Christ?" It is not a new question. The church has for centuries been a venue for great music, and for fiery preachers, and beautiful architecture, and dramatic liturgy -- and part of the spread of the church can be credited to the fact that before television the church was likely to be the best show in town. But when television came along, and Hollywood came along, and Disney World came along - the church was in a new day. And the question arose, "How entertaining does the church try to be?" Most, I think, have concluded that entertainment is not the purpose of the church.

But neither is boredom. If that is what the church becomes, then something is wrong. Either the leaders of the church are just going through the motions, or the participants in the church are coming looking for the wrong thing - or a little bit of both. If the idea of the church is one of doing our duty, putting in our time - or, if it's the opposite, coming to be entertained - then boredom is inevitable. If, however, church is the place where people come to share in the Good News lifted up by faith in Jesus, then there isn't a more fun, stimulating, and meaningful place on earth.

Now let me explain what I mean by fun. A few years before coming here, I set as a goal to preach a three-week series on laughter in the Bible. That church had been through a lot of grief, and I thought we all needed a good laugh. What I discovered is that laughter is not a big thing in the Bible. I'm not sure what I expected to find, but what 1 discovered was that the few times there is laughter in the Bible, it's almost always cruel laughter -laughter at somebody's expense, or laughter at the tragedy of life. So, that wasn't very helpful. Then I looked up 'fun' in the Bible, hoping for a better outcome -­and what 1 discovered was that having fun was most often identified with being a fool.

So right about then, 1 was ready to check myself into a depression clinic.

Then I studied Jesus. There is no verse in the Bible that tells us that Jesus laughed.

And that's too bad; because 1 am convinced that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John missed one of the best parts of him. Over the years, scholars have begun to catch on to the humor Jesus used - most of it lost in cultural translation. For example, we all know the story Jesus told about the Prodigal Son: how the son takes his inheritance and squanders it, then crawls home, hoping his father will receive him. His father sees him down the road, and runs down the road to hug him home. Now this is lost on us, but if we were living in the time of Jesus we would know what a funny picture that is - a dignified old man lifting his robes so that he can run down the road - all bare legs and sandals. Jesus may have had to pause there to wait for the laughter to die down. And, of course, the point of the story is that the father didn't care how he looked - his son was home.

Other things Jesus said may very well have drawn a laugh - a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle; a person with a log in his eye complaining about the speck in someone else's eye; a farmer planting seeds, and then surprised when crops came up!

But probably the best notion we get about Jesus' sense of humor is from the things he was accused of. He hung around parties too much; he played too much with children; he ate like a glutton, they said, and he drank like a drunkard. He didn't fast enough, and his followers broke the Sabbath. In today's scripture, when the fasting issue was raised, Jesus said, in effect, "Why would you fast now? The bridegroom is here; let's have a party; this is the time for fun." Jesus invited us to a party. And I think that in this world where so much humor is shallow or cruel, Jesus points us to a different way to laugh.

If nothing else, we in the church should have fun laughing at ourselves. Where else can you find bulletin announcements like these? "Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church in Racine. Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa." Or, "Please note: the cost for attending the conference on fasting includes meals." Or, "Miss Charlene Mason sang, 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation." Or, "Bean supper in the church hall Tuesday night. Music will follow." Or, "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." Or, "Next week the pastor will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing, Break forth into Joy."

Now here's the thing: life is serious business. There are tragic things that happen in your life and mine. There are people in this world living in deep sorrow, and there are circumstances of injustice and violence and deprivation that require sober and serious response. Our Savior suffered and died on a cross. To say that a church should choose fun and should enjoy the blessings of humor, is not to ignore any of the tragic things we go through. Every time we get together, we know that there some close by whose hearts are breaking, and whose joy is long trampled. We are never frivolous about that.

But even still, laughter is a gift - a healing gift - one of the things that can lighten the load, and ease the pain. I loved so much a piece that a senior citizen woman gave me. It says, "I have become more social in my advanced years; I'm seeing five gentlemen every day. When I wake, it takes Will Power to help me out of bed. Then I run off to see John. Then Charley Horse comes along and takes my full attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up, and takes me from joint to joint. After such a full day, Ben Gay and I go to bed. What a life!" That's serious stuff, but laughing helps to defeat it. Humor is great medicine. In Rob Reiner's current movie The Bucket List, two older men discover they don't have long to live, and it is tragic news. But through their journey together, they find a way laugh. And they find the way to joy. And they find the way to faith.

We have that way, thanks to the transforming gift of Jesus Christ. Maybe the Bible is not big on laughter, but it is enormous on joy, and even in a tragic world desperately in need of a Savior, Jesus was a messenger of joy. His mission statement was Isaiah 61, which we read today. It talks about the arrival of the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God comes, the poor get good news; the brokenhearted are encouraged; the captives find liberty, the mourning are comforted; and the oil of gladness pours down. That's the way Jesus lived; that's what Easter is all about. And how can Easter be anything but a celebration - a party with Jesus?

Steven Tryon recently gave our Tech Team a summary of the use of our church Web site. Turns out one of the pages that people are turning to most frequently is the one entitled "Having Fun." People want to see a church having a good time - not because we're frivolous, but because we're in fellowship with a God of life and salvation. I hope we'll fill that Web page with pictures of joy, along with the bulletin boards of our church, along with our hallways and classrooms and sanctuary and fellowship hall every time we get together. There's a time for tears; there are times for heaviness and serious work. Weeping may tarry for the night. But joy comes with the morning. That's God's greatest message: every day is a gift of grace, and that is why God's people choose fun.

One year a church put on a Lenten play. At the climax, the actor said, "I descend into hell," and was slowly lowered through a hole in the stage. But one night, the actor was sick in bed, and the director stepped in to play the part. They came to the dramatic moment, and the director cried out, "I descend into hell." But he was about twice as big as the original actor, and when the floor opened up, he got down to his thighs and was stuck in the hole. There was a stunned silence as the audience watched him squirm and try to squeeze through. Then finally, he spread his arms and cried out, "Hallelujah! Hell has thrown me back." And he was lifted back up to the stage, and that night was remembered thereafter for its joy and laughter.

If you've been lifted up from hell, what else could it be?