Worship

Scripture

We remember that Paul’s letters were mainly consumed by hearing audiences who listened to the letters read aloud, usually in group settings.  As an audience, I wonder how they reacted when Paul used devices of humor, like sarcasm and exaggeration?  For example, I think laughter would have been a reaction when Paul posed the outlandish question in Romans 6:1 to illustrate his point about grace:  “Well, if grace is so wonderful, should we just go on sinning so there’ll be more of it?”  As serious and as deep as Paul’s teaching typically runs, he knew that sometimes, our understanding profits from a hearty chuckle.

To the point, I worked as a pharmacy delivery driver when I was in college.  The pharmacist, Fred, was an elder in a local church and also a gagster.  He made me laugh with this true account of a Lord’s Supper (Communion) incident.  He and another were filling the tiny communion glasses, but they ran out of grape juice.  A desperate pantry search turned up only a bottle of root beer.  Fred and his buddy looked at one another and said, “Why not?”  So they splashed the remaining cups full with root beer and proceeded into the sanctuary for the solemn rite of Communion.  Fred explained, “We passed that tray out in the choir loft.  Boy, you should have seen the looks on their faces when they chugged that root beer!”

Would anyone suggest that their action was blasphemous?  Would any suggest they were guilty of deceit? A sacrilege? A mockery of the symbolism of the cup?

Well, if you wanted to argue as a legalist, you could produce an argument that they sinned, but seriously?  If Jesus taught anything in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s that the condition of the heart matters, not the letter of the law, so I bet Jesus didn’t hold Fred and his buddy to account for passing out communion root beer.  

So at the advent of the holidays as we celebrate Thanksgiving and on to Advent, let’s set our hearts and minds on the good cheer that comes from this holy season.  We can eat, drink, and be merry not because Santa Clause is coming, but because Emmanuel has come!  So let us find cause in these days for rich, abundant laughter in the midst of our service and worship.

Prayer

HONOR GOD

There is nothing too big for our God. Honor His greatness!

ASK GOD