BLOG 7/24/16. CONTAGIOUS AND INFECTIOUS JOY? WHAT ABOUT IT?

BLOG 7/24/16. CONTAGIOUS AND INFECTIOUS JOY? WHAT ABOUT IT?

What would you say if I were to propose that part of our Christian calling is to be a people of contagious joy—profound, infectious, purposeful, hope-filled joy? So, OK, stick with me here. This may sound crazy. In scriptures there are promises made to the people of God that when all is said and done, and the brokenness of this present scene is passed, that God is going to fill their mouths with laughter (Psalm 126:3). The same ultimate design of God to bring mirth and gladness to his people is reiterated in Jeremiah 33:11. But then in Jesus’ own high-priestly prayer in John 17, he prays that his followers may have his joy fulfilled in themselves.

(As I write this, I have looking down on me an artist’s rendering of Jesus laughing / the laughing Christ, given to me by a super-good friend who has had a ministry of being a Christian clown, and a mime.) What did Jesus’ joy look like? How did it express itself? What do the New Testament writers have in mind when the tell us to rejoice always?  That certainly doesn’t mean that we are escapist, or some kind of dopey folk who seek to escape the realities of this tragic scene by artificial humor. But laughter, and joy are a medicine that this ‘current culture of distrust’ desperately needs. And I don’t have any facile answer to my own questions.

Last week I resolved that I would not watch the Republican convention. I had clues about what the candidates thought, and where they were going. So I turned to a program on PBS called: Globe Trekkers. The host and commentator was a fun, scruffy bearded young adult in cargo shorts who always looked like he was having so much fun leading us on this trip–mirth. He was going to take us watchers with him downs Highway 40, which goes all the way down the west side of Argentina from Ecuador to its southern tip of Argentina. He was a delight. He had a joi d’vivre, an infectious sense that he was having so much fun doing this, and his eyes conveyed his excitement about the scenery and history of this route as he drove us in his pick-up truck. The hour spent watching that program was like good wine to me. I felt refreshed and infused with the good humor of the host. He had infected me with his own joy.

Then the next night I was taken to a funky new and popular restaurant with an upscale menu. The ambience and the food were really cool, but what made the evening even more delightful was the server who was probably a biker, what with his head scarf and tattoos, but was again, contagiously upbeat and fun, always with a chuckle informing us about the food. And his name was Bubba (you’ve got to be from the southern United States to realize that Bubba is a colorful and favorite common name). The evening was like good wine. We left upbeat and more happy because of Bubba.

Abraham Lincoln used humor to be able to endure the tragedy of the Civil War. He said he might cry if he couldn’t make jokes. Our current president is observed to have a very keen sense and subtle sense of humor, and a classic sense of comic timing, which he uses most effectively.

At the end of this past week, I stopped to reflect: Why is a good sense of humor so refreshing? Is it something of the result of or being set free in Christ, of being infused with his hope, and the participants in his joy that, in turn, make of us who follow him, those with contagious and refreshing impact on those with whom we come in contact—mouths filled with laughter? We certainly are not called to be dour and pessimistic religious folk who are part of the darkness.

Here’s to mirth and gladness. Here’s to mouths filled with laughter no matter how dark the darkness. We are the people of the God of Hope. It’s a much needed dimension of our calling in this present moment. God give us all that super-abounding and contagious and infectious  joy and laughter. Yes!

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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