Lectionary Levity: The Use of Humor in Preaching

YEAR A

First Sunday of Advent

Matthew 24:36–44

Gospel Summary

Advent is the in-between time. It falls between the two comings of Christ. The first coming of Christ was as a babe in the manger in Bethlehem. From this Christ, we learn about a God who loves us and seeks to invite us to discover the significance and challenge of being loving. In Advent, we anticipate the second coming, when God will finally act in human history to bring about a culmination of all time and usher in an age where goodness, love, and justice all coincide.

In this Gospel, we are forbidden to speculate as to the timing (interestingly, not even the Son knows—which became a major chris-tological issue for the Church Fathers!). Much is made of the analogy with Noah: the first awareness of God’s action in the world was when the flood swept away all people. And the Gospel passage culminates with the requirement that we must be awake—an exhortation that occurs elsewhere in this Gospel.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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The Advent sense is created by the two comings of Christ: in the first, Christ has revealed the nature of love; in the second, which we anticipate, Christ will hold us to account for our labors of love. We live in between those two times.

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There is accountability for our lives and the way in which we never know when our lives will end.

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There is an obligation to be awake and seek to work out exactly what God is doing in the world.

Humorous Story

A young man appeared before St. Peter at the pearly gates. So have you ever done anything noteworthy, perhaps even good? St. Peter asked.

Well, the man replied, once I came upon a gang of bikers who were threatening this woman. I headed straight toward the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him on the head, kicked over his bike, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. ‘Now leave that woman alone!’ I yelled."

St. Peter was impressed: Wow. When did this happen?

Just a couple of minutes ago.

Homiletical Connection

In the end, Jesus wants us to worry less about ourselves and more about those around us. We will be held to account for our focus and orientation. Here we have a man making the care of a woman a priority. Living life ready to do whatever it costs to help others is the point of this Gospel.

Second Sunday of Advent

Matthew 3:1–12

Gospel Summary

Matthew is very careful to ground the narrative of John the Baptist in the Old Testament. The drama that unfolds is anticipated in Scripture. Now the focus is repentance. God is going to do a dramatic work in the world: the time has come for us to prepare ourselves for that moment.

Toward the end of the narrative the focus is on the Pharisees and Sadducees. Just because Abraham is your ancestor, screams John the Baptist, you should not assume that you will not be held accountable by God Almighty for your actions and behavior. It is so tempting to make assumptions—to assume that the demands of the Gospel apply to others and not to ourselves. Those (out there) need to repent, but us (in here) are okay. Advent is an appropriate moment when those who are most religious need to hold the mirror up to ourselves and ask, To what extent am I living as God requires?

Possible Themes for Preaching

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Adjustment: we like to imagine that people outside the family of faith are the ones that need to repent, when really it is those inside.

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The whole drama of Advent and Christmas is anticipated in the Old Testament: it is God’s plan.

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Repentance might be unfashionable, but it is important work.

Humorous Story

John sits down with his friend Fred, who he knows is a musical genius. John asks Fred about his talent. It is true, said Fred, I was a musical prodigy. At three, I composed an opera. At four I wrote a minuet. At five, I wrote a complete symphony—yes, with all the orchestral parts. And at five-thirty, as usual, I went down and had a cup of tea.

Homiletical Connection

Assumptions are made so easily. As Fred is musing, we are assuming that he is describing his age—starting at the age of three. Right at the end, we discover he is talking about the time of day. Right at the end, we make an adjustment from seeing the conversation in terms of years to seeing the conversation in terms of hours. Making an adjustment is a Gospel theme: we need to adjust from assuming that others need to repent to recognizing that actually we need to repent. We need to recognize that accountability for sin isn’t just another person’s problem, but our problem.

Third Sunday of Advent

Matthew 11:2–11

Gospel Summary

Advent anticipates both the first coming of Jesus as a baby and the second coming of Christ as history comes to culmination. Historically, whenever the Church finds the world a hard and cruel place, expectations around the second coming increase. And each time these expectations are dashed. We are still here and still waiting. So watching John the Baptist have doubts is an appropriate Advent message. Even the person who foretold that Jesus was the Messiah is having his own moment of doubt. He was expecting someone stronger than I (Matthew 3:11); Jesus was not always showing such strength.

It is okay to have questions about your faith; it is okay to sometimes wonder if it is true. Remember the axiom: the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Faith and questions go together. And Jesus gives the simple answer: Look at what I am doing. Jesus is fulfilling the expectations of Scripture; Jesus is more than words, he is a person of action.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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Having questions about your faith is okay. It is not a betrayal of your faith.

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As a Church, we keep expecting the second coming. But we are still waiting. Sometimes this can be hard.

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The Old Testament is the basis of the question and the source of the answer.

Humorous Story

Q:

How do you get an elephant into the refrigerator?

A:

Open the door and place the elephant into the refrigerator.

Q:

How do you get a giraffe into the refrigerator?

A:

Open the door, take out the elephant, and then put the giraffe into the refrigerator.

Q:

The King of the Jungle calls a meeting of all the animals. Every single animal turns up save for one. Which one is it?

A:

Well, obviously the giraffe—it is stuck in the refrigerator.

Q:

You come to a crocodile-infested river. There is no bridge nor boat and you must get across the river. How do you do it?

A:

Easy; you wade across. All the crocodiles are at the meeting called by the King of the Jungle.

Homiletical Connection

These jokes are often presented like an intelligence test. Can you work out the right answer in your mind? It is important that we always feel it is okay to bring our intellect into the Church. We are allowed to ask questions; we are allowed to think; we are allowed to wonder whether it is all true.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Matthew 1:18–25

Gospel Summary

There is so much embedded in this Gospel that it makes one’s head swirl. But it is worth pausing on the fascinating genealogy that precedes the Gospel. Most genealogies of a Jewish hero would focus on the purity of the line, but Matthew highlights the significant presence of Gentile women in the story (1:3, 5–6). This is a Jewish man who, in the tradition of the eighth-century-bce prophets, has a message for all.

Then we turn to Joseph and Mary. Here we have the heart of the Christmas story. The incarnation of God is dependent on the cooperation of a young couple. Given the conventions of the age, Mary is probably a young teenager—fourteen or so. Joseph would be a little older. And the Incarnation was dependent on their incarnation. The text explains that Joseph was ready to observe the conventions of his day (and put Mary away quietly), but after a divine intervention he also obeyed God and played his pivotal role as the earthly father of Jesus. Teenagers made the Incarnation possible. It is quite amazing.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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Mary makes the Incarnation literally possible.

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Providence needs to navigate social conventions.

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A genealogy witnesses to the work of Christ.

Humorous Story

Every year, St. Peter is sent out to do a tour of a shrine attached to a certain saint. In conversation with the Blessed Virgin Mary, he decides that this year, he will visit every single shrine attached to Our Lady. Off he goes on his tour. Upon return, he meets up with the Virgin Mary and says, It was a wonderful tour. Numbers at your shrine are greater than at any other saint’s. But one thing puzzles me. Every statue captures you looking sad. Why is that? Have they got it right?

Mary looks at Peter and says, They have got it right. But I don’t really want to tell you why I was sad.

Peter replied and said, Look I can be pastoral. Please tell me.

Mary paused and finally said, Well, you see, Peter, I really wanted a girl . . .

Homiletical Connection

The miracle of the Incarnation is dependent on real human beings. Mary and Joseph had feelings, hopes, fears, and thoughts. Mary might well have wanted a daughter rather than a son. And the Incarnation could have been a woman. However, Mary and Joseph both open themselves to what God wants to do. We all have to open ourselves to what God wants to do in our lives.

Christmas

Luke 2:1–14 (15–20);

Luke 2:(1–7) 8–20; John 1:1–14

The readings for Christmas are the same for all three years of the lectionary cycle. Luckily there are three readings to choose from, so we will focus on one reading in each section of this book. For year A, we will focus on Luke 2:1–14 (15–20); for year B, we will focus on Luke 2:(1–7) 8–20; and for year C, we will focus on John 1:1–14.

Gospel Summary

Power is a key theme of the Lukan narrative. Caesar Augustus—with all that pomp and power—insists on a universal tax census. Everyone is required to travel. Yet the King of Kings is born in simple surroundings. And the first disclosure of this miracle is to a despised profession of shepherds. They are the first ones to receive the news.

The miracle of the Incarnation is overwhelming to understand at the best of times. When we take into account the fact that our Lord and Savior was born into this world in flesh and then laid in a manger, it’s even harder to wrap our heads around. A feeding trough was the first object to hold God in human form. It is just remarkable. The everlasting God of creation first comes to us in the body of Jesus as a babe, the most vulnerable and innocent of human forms, and then is laid in the place where the animals normally get their nourishment. This is a lesson for all of us. God comes to us in Jesus to nourish those who are dependent. We are all dependent, so we are all nourished.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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The drama unfolds in an outhouse: the King of Kings is made manifest in the simplest of environments.

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The contrast of power is evident: the Emperor can move people; and the babe in a feeding trough is God.

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Shepherds (the profession that everyone looks down upon) are the first recipients of the Good News.

Humorous Story

Q:

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?

A:

It’s Christmas, Eve.

Q:

What do lions sing at Christmas?

A:

Jungle bells!

Homiletical Connection

Christmas is special. We celebrate, connect (like Adam to Eve), and sing (like the lions). But it is important to remember what all this celebration is for. It is to recognize the extraordinary gift of Jesus—the King of Kings born in a manger.

First Sunday after Christmas

John 1:1–18

Gospel Summary

What is a word? A word is the visible expression of a thought. So in this amazing poem, the Gospel of John captures everything that Christians want to say about Jesus. Jesus is the very thought of God embodied. It starts with an echo of Genesis—In the beginning God, In the beginning was the Word—and then develops into this beautiful celebration of the significance of Jesus. The hardest question that every human struggles with is this: how can we know what God is like? After all, we are small and this universe is big. What chance do we have to work out what the Creator is really like? John gives the answer; by looking at Jesus you are seeing God. The Jesus who loves regardless of where you are teaches us about a God who does the same.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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The divine perspective and the human perspective meet in the miracle of the Incarnation.

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Genesis meets Jesus—Jesus is the agent of creation.

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How do we know what Jesus is like? We trust the disclosure of God in Christ.

Humorous Story

Robert is sitting in quiet contemplative prayer. Robert says, God, can I ask you a question?

Sure, says God.

God, what is a million years to you?

A million years to me is only a second, God replies.

Robert pauses and thinks about this for a moment. Then he asks, God, what is a million dollars worth to you?

God replies, A million dollars to me is as a penny.

Robert responds, God, could I have a penny, please?

And God replies, Sure! . . . Just a second.

Homiletical Connection

God’s perspective is different from our perspective. God uses words differently. When we think of God revealing Godself (the combination of himself and herself, because after all God is beyond all gender) to humanity, we need to recognize that God is not working within our framework. The reason why the Incarnation works as the vehicle of the disclosure of the Creator of the universe is that in a person we have a connection we can recognize, and in the message we have the mystery of the Creator who is totally beyond anything we can imagine.

Second Sunday after Christmas

Matthew 2:13–15, 19–23; Matthew 2:1–12; Luke 2:41–52

The readings for the Second Sunday after Christmas are the same for all three years of the lectionary cycle. Luckily there are three readings to choose from, so we will focus on one reading in each section of this book. For year A, we will focus on Matthew 2:13–15,19–23; for year B, we will focus on Matthew 2:1–12; and for year C, we will focus on Luke 2:41–52.

Gospel Summary

Christmas carols and songs do not tend to focus on the slaughter of all the children by Herod. Suddenly we are in the real world. And Herod is right at least in this respect: he understands the significance of Jesus. The birth of the Messiah has enormous implications. Granted the focus is his own political power, which is utterly ephemeral. The passage documents Herod’s death—the biological end of Herod’s power.

It is an upsetting narrative. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are forced out of their home by fear and threats. In this narrative, Herod issues the command that all the male children under two years old in Bethlehem are to be killed. Even when Joseph and his family are able to come back to Israel, fear drives them to a different region than their original home. Scripture offers us similar narratives over and over again. The chosen people of God are often in exile. Today, we call them refugees—people who flee their homes because of violence. The Holy Family were, themselves, refugees in a foreign land. Many times before them God’s people were refugees, sustained by manna from heaven and dwelling in places beyond the borders of the promised land. In our fragile, global world, refugees are often feared and resented. In this Gospel, we see the very identification of God with the pain and rejection of the refugee.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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The Holy Family are refugees: they have to cope with relocation.

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Herod understands the significance of Jesus: the world is going to change because of this birth.

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Herod issues an evil order to protect his power, and then loses his power by dying.

Humorous Story

Keep Calm and Carry On was, apparently, introduced by the British government in 1939. It was one of three motivational slogans: Freedom is in Peril, Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory, and yes, Keep Calm and Carry On. Although actually it had very limited circulation, it has caught on. The idea was simple: we were facing the Nazi threat, and the only appropriate response was to Keep Calm and Carry On. Since it was rediscovered in 2000, it has generated a small industry, with plenty of alternative suggestions:

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Keep Calm and Put the Kettle On

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Keep Calm and Fake a British Accent

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Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake

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Keep Calm and Spend More

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Get Excited and Make Things

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Keep Calm . . . Oh, who are we kidding?

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Now Panic and Freak Out

Keeping calm is difficult.

Homiletical Connection

Life is often full of dislocation. The refugee leaving everything is one extreme; more common is the couple that separates or the downsizing of a company. In this Gospel we see that God identifies with all those who are dislocated. God is there: God knows what being a refugee involves. If we are going to cope with this, we need to learn to keep calm. The joy of faith is that we are invited into a relationship where God will keep us calm.

First Sunday after the Epiphany (Baptism of the Lord)

Matthew 3:13–17

Gospel Summary

The season of Epiphany starts. This is the moment when we celebrate the reach of the Gospel—it is a universal message that touches all of humanity. The season starts with the arrival of the wise men and includes the baptism of Jesus. The baptism is a crucial moment in the life drama of Jesus. As Jesus is baptized by John, we have the divine affirmation of Jesus. Matthew makes it very clear that Jesus is in control of the situation, so John hesitates—why does the Son of God need to be baptized by him? (This exchange is found only in this Gospel.) But Jesus insists. And so as the event unfolds, the Holy Trinity is visible. The Son Incarnate undergoes a baptism; the Holy Spirit descends; and the Father’s affirming voice is heard.

For Matthew, the baptism is followed by the temptations. The significance of baptism, then, is the divine resource which helps us cope with the demands of living in all its complexity. This is the start of the mission of Jesus: it is a mission which is going to be challenging and difficult.

Possible Themes for Preaching

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The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus: it is the start of the ministry of Jesus.

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Jesus gets baptized to fulfill all righteousness: the significance of the exchange with John the Baptist is revealed.

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Baptism is a divine resource that helps us cope with the demands of living.

Humorous Story

There was a boy riding on his bike outside a church. The priest saw him and told him to come into the church and the boy said, But they’ll steal my bike. The priest explained how the Holy Spirit would take care of it, so they went inside. The priest showed the boy how to make the sign of the cross and told the boy to repeat it . . . In the name of the Father, the Son . . . Amen. The priest said,What about the Holy Spirit? The boy replied, It’s outside taking care of my bike!

Homiletical Connection

This Gospel is the divine affirmation of Jesus; this is where the Spirit descends on Jesus. When we use the image of the Trinity we are trying to capture the complexity of the divine engagement with human life. Now this is theology at its hardest: the Trinity is a difficult doctrine to understand. The Father image is the cause and creator of everything; the Son image is the revealer and redeemer; and the Spirit image is the connector with human situations and lives. The good news is that Spirit can be both at the same time inside the Church and outside taking care of the