A Sense of Humor
Mark is the oldest Gospel in the New Testament, and by the third chapter Jesus is already… giving nicknames.
What? Nicknames? Huh?
We’re familiar with Jesus nicknaming Simon The Rock (or Peter… not to be confused with actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson). But, Jesus also calls the brothers James and John The Sons of Thunder.
Why? Because they spoke loudly? Because they had outsized personalities? Because their backsides rumbled loudly as they sat around the campfire at night? Who knows?
You don’t give a beloved friend a nickname unless you have a sense of humor, unless you play and notice things that make you laugh.
Jesus was/is one of us. That means the Son of God has a sense of humor. He has an imagination that works to create joy in others. This wasn’t often stressed in the images of Jesus I’ve seen over the years. And, to be honest, it’s not the focus of the Gospels, but it is there.
One of the great modern Christian writers is named Frederick Buechner. He was a young, successful author in New York before he truly understood himself to be a follower of Jesus.
It was 1953, Buechner didn’t have much to do on a Sunday morning, and he’d heard that a nearby congregation had a famous preacher named George Buttrick. Buechner decided to go listen.
That Sunday Buttrick was preaching the story of Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Buttrick said that even though Jesus refused Satan’s crown, he is still crowned in the lives of those who believe, and his coronation takes place “among confession and tears and great laughter.”
Buechner wrote, “It was the phrase ‘great laughter’ that did it….”
Whatever happens to me in life, I pray my faith always includes nicknames, play, humor, and great laughter.
What? Nicknames? Huh?
We’re familiar with Jesus nicknaming Simon The Rock (or Peter… not to be confused with actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson). But, Jesus also calls the brothers James and John The Sons of Thunder.
Why? Because they spoke loudly? Because they had outsized personalities? Because their backsides rumbled loudly as they sat around the campfire at night? Who knows?
You don’t give a beloved friend a nickname unless you have a sense of humor, unless you play and notice things that make you laugh.
Jesus was/is one of us. That means the Son of God has a sense of humor. He has an imagination that works to create joy in others. This wasn’t often stressed in the images of Jesus I’ve seen over the years. And, to be honest, it’s not the focus of the Gospels, but it is there.
One of the great modern Christian writers is named Frederick Buechner. He was a young, successful author in New York before he truly understood himself to be a follower of Jesus.
It was 1953, Buechner didn’t have much to do on a Sunday morning, and he’d heard that a nearby congregation had a famous preacher named George Buttrick. Buechner decided to go listen.
That Sunday Buttrick was preaching the story of Jesus’ temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Buttrick said that even though Jesus refused Satan’s crown, he is still crowned in the lives of those who believe, and his coronation takes place “among confession and tears and great laughter.”
Buechner wrote, “It was the phrase ‘great laughter’ that did it….”
Whatever happens to me in life, I pray my faith always includes nicknames, play, humor, and great laughter.