Does God Have a Sense of Humor?
(Posted December 8, 2022)
By Rev. Pat Kriss
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”
--from Second Hesitations 13:5-21
This is Gaudete Sunday - the “Pink Candle” Sunday when we have a chance to be joyful and celebrate that the waiting for the arrival of Jesus is nearly over. We can even be a little silly, so THIS Sunday will be our Ugly Sweater contest, when bad taste in holiday clothing can get you a gift certificate for some NICE clothing in the Thrift Shop. (We’ll do the contest during Coffee Hour.)
You Know God Has a Sense of Humor When …
So, as we ready ourselves for some silliness on Sunday, it makes me ask the question: Does God have a sense of humor? Does God sometimes roar with laughter at some of the stuff we human beings do? I already suspect that he does have a sense of humor. After all, just look at the platypus – divinely designed as if from leftover parts from a beaver and a duck, it lays eggs while being a marsupial, but feeds its young its own milk! Surprise!
God Also Likes to Surprise Us
I’m pretty convinced that the thing that drives God’s sense of humor is the desire to surprise us. God knows how to get our attention by pitching the ball from left field.
This Sunday’s Gospel reading, when Mary is suddenly confronted by an archangel telling her that God wants to use her as the vessel for God’s son, is a perfect example. If you’ve got a sense of humor and you’re going to introduce the Son of God to the world, then you don’t pick royalty or a powerful family; you choose a poor 14 year-old virginal girl who lives in an obscure town on the edge of the desert. And you do it in a way that will make her have to explain, time and again, to the neighbors why she’s pregnant.
The Bible and Qur’an Align on Mary’s Angelic Encounter
Also this Sunday we will be looking at the two stories of that moment with Gabriel: One from the Bible and one from the Qur’an. Both nativity stories praise Mary, or Mary’am, for her steadfast trust in God, and the way she dealt with the circumspect people who questioned what happened.
Come and bring your own sense of humor as we explore the surprises God has had in store for us.