Genesis 15.1-6, Hebrews 11.1-3,8-16, Luke 12.32-40
The Eighth Sunday after Trinity, 11 August 2019
Austwick, Clapham, Keasden
I gave the eulogy at my Aunt’s funeral service last week. [1] She was one of the most energetic people any of us had ever known; she lived life to the full until virtually the end of her 94 years. The last thing she said to me from her hospital bed was, ‘Don’t get old.’ This reminded me of an interview another great saint Ken Dodd gave late in his life, when he said: “My body is old. My bones are old. My big toe is old. I’ve got corns that are old. I’ve got old dandruff. One or two beauty spots, but I can only tell you about those by arrangement. But inside my skull, my mind and brain, that’s about 18, I think. Or maybe 21. I’m so thankful for all the imagination that has been given to me.” [2]
When God told Abraham, who was a hundred at the time, that at the age of ninety his wife Sarah was finally going to have a baby, Abraham came close to knocking himself out. He 'fell on his face and laughed’, we read. In another version of the story, Sarah is hiding behind the door eavesdropping, and here it's Sarah herself who nearly splits her sides - although when God asks her about it afterwards, she denies it. 'No, but you did laugh,' God says, but doesn't seem to hold their outbursts against them. Rather, he tells them the baby's going to be a boy and that he wants them to name him Isaac. Isaac in Hebrew means ‘laughter’. [3]
Now that, my friends, is tattyfilarious.
Why did the two old crocks laugh? They laughed because they knew only a fool would believe that a woman with one foot in the grave was soon going to have her other foot in the maternity ward. They laughed because God expected them to believe it anyway. They laughed because God seemed to believe it. They laughed because they half-believed it themselves. They laughed because laughing felt better than crying. They laughed because if by some crazy chance it just happened to come true, they would really have something to laugh about, and in the meanwhile it helped keep them going. [4]
As it happened, as we know, it did come true: and as the writer of Hebrews said,
By faith Abraham received the power of procreation, even though he was too old - and Sarah was barren - because he considered God, and his promise, to be faithful. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, 'as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.' [5]
Faith… it’s better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is on-again-off-again rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Faith is not being sure where you're going, but going anyway. It’s a journey without maps.
Sometimes we may think that to be a genuine Christian we have to be certain about what we believe in. To realise this is not true should bring a smile to our hearts. 'Doubt isn't the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith’ said Paul Tillich. Doubt is perceiving the incongruities in life as God offers it to us. Our doubts, our honest questions - God is happy to hear them, to help us find the answers, so we may grow in confidence in the promises God makes us. [6]
Abraham and Sarah help us understand faith well. 'God is not ashamed to be called their God', Hebrews tells us - because, laughing at the wonderful incongruity of it all, they trusted God and joyfully chose to embrace the life he promised them. Ken Dodd once told an interviewer, ‘The best kind of laughter is when you make somebody else happy and make somebody else’s life a bit better. And surely that is God’s work. God doesn’t want us to be miserable.’ [7]
Perhaps the most side-splittingly funny preacher I’ve ever heard - and, correspondingly, one of the profoundest and inspirational, was Mike Yaconelli. Yaconelli was the pastor of a small church in Yreka, California - 'the slowest growing church in America' as he called it. He trained youth leaders, edited a satirical magazine called The Wittenburg Door, and was an international speaker. He died in a car crash aged 61, but what a life he’d lived. [8] Yaconelli used to say,
'I want a lifetime of holy moments. Every day I want to be in dangerous proximity to Jesus. I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger. I long for a faith that is gloriously treacherous. I want to be with Jesus, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.' [9]
That’s what all these great people of faith do. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, they live life to the full, because their companion in everything they do is God. I’m reminded again of my Auntie Dot in that regard: you will recall other such joyously energetic saints you know, and have known.
“Years ago, when I was quite a lot younger,” said Ken Dodd, “When I finished the show, beautiful young ladies used to leave a red rose or a lace handkerchief or a love poem at the stage door for me. Now all I get are Fisherman’s Friends, elastic stockings and vapour rubs.” [10]
Now you may know that Doddy was a philosopher of comedy, a serious student of the psychology of humour. He once told an interviewer, 'I think I’ve found the answer to the secret of comedy. I won’t go into too much detail for you but it’s about seeing things from a different point of view. It is the perception of the incongruity.’ [11]
The perception of the incongruity. That’s what made Abraham fall over laughing, that’s what was behind Sarah’s secret splitting-of-her sides. The perception of the incongruity. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It’s a way of talking about comedy. And it’s a way of talking about faith.
Those moments in your life when the laughter and the tears come together, embrace them: they’re holy moments; they’re signposts on our joyous journey of faith.
Notes
This is a rewrite of sermons preached in Somerset, 2016 and Liverpool, 2010.
[1] Eulogy for Auntie Dot, St Luke’s Church, Crosby, 30 July 2019.
[2] Simon Boyle, Sir Ken Dodd reveals frustration at getting old in his final interview - as all he gets is ‘elastic stockings and vapour rub’. The Sun, 13 March 2018.
[3] Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, a Seeker's ABC, Faith, p.29.
[4] Buechner, Wishful Thinking, Faith, p.29.
[5] Hebrews 11.11-12
[6] Buechner, Wishful Thinking, Faith, p.29-30.
[7] Ken Dodd, in Frankie Mulgrew (compiler), Does God LOL?
[8] Wikipedia: Mike Yaconelli.
[9] Mike Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith, p.23.
[10] Simon Boyle, Sir Ken Dodd reveals frustration at getting old in his final interview - as all he gets is ‘elastic stockings and vapour rub’. The Sun, 13 March 2018.
[11] Brian Beacom, Ken Dodd on comedy heroes, Glasgow and the philosophy of humour, Glasgow Herald, 11 June 2016.
Comments