When I was in high school it was not considered cool to be Christian. “She’s such a Christian” was not a compliment to say the least. It meant you were intolerant, no fun, a stick in the mud, and self righteous. I would often hesitate before mentioning that I went to this great Christian youth group.

I’m not sure things have changed that much.

When we hear the words “Christian” talk radio, “Christian” family values, or “it’s a Christian company,” what do we think?

Isn’t that ironic…. What do WE think, we who are Christians, living a Christian life, coming to worship at a Christian church. And yet we can cringe. Because there is a common perception about Christians that actually is not in line with Christian theology at all. Christians are supposed to be joyful people, Easter people. Yet, the perception is that Christians, bottom line, are not a lot of fun.…

A man brought his friend to church one Sunday. After worship they were coming out of the service, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always was to shake hands. He grabbed the friend by the hand and pulled him aside.

The Pastor said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"

The friend replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor."

Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?"

The friend whispered back, "I'm in the secret service.”

I wonder, have you ever hedged when a friend or colleague asked what you were doing on Sunday? You didn’t want to sound too Christian?

It’s tempting to be in the “secret service” because the stereotypes and sometimes the reality of Christians and Christian churches does not leave room for laughter and levity and enjoying the goodness of God.  Once you identify yourself as Christian suddenly no one will tell jokes in front of you and treat you as if you might shatter if a blue word is said. Christians just aren’t much fun.

The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel mike, and as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mike cord as he went.

Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again. After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?" 

Let’s put this into an Edgewood context for a minute.  As a Christian community we are concerned about social justice issues, and rightly so. And that means we talk about real “downer” topics like torture, famine, cost of war, child abuse. What a bummer. But is that all we talk about?  Do we ever get so focused on all that is wrong, that we leave out all that is right, all that is joyous and life giving and hopeful?

I do think that sometimes we Christians can lose our sense of humor. We can get so focused on the needs, problems and tragedies of the world--which admittedly is work we are called to do--that we forget the laughter, joyessness, hope and silliness of being human and following a God of love.

We are so serious, and say to others, “yes, come journey with us. God is good.”

“Really?” They look at us skeptically and ask “then why are you so downhearted all the time?”

The Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, "If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven."

"I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."

If we invite people to join the Christian life, do we only show them, demonstrate, the serious parts?

Jesus liked a party. His first miracle was at a wedding changing water to wine.  He started the first potluck with the loaves and fishes. Christians are supposed to be joyful people

This plays out in what we tell our children, too. Do they get a sense from us that the Christian life is one that gives us joy? That the Christian life is a journey that takes time to lift up laughter and daydreaming?

If not we might find that our kids see church like a seven year old who went to his first church service and then demanded indignantly when the collection plate came round, 'You mean we have to pay for this?'

We want our kids to know the love and joy of a faith life in addition to the costs and challenges. We want them to know Jesus as a friend and ally and teacher, and someone they can count on.

One afternoon a little boy was playing outdoors. He used his mother's broom as a horse and had a wonderful time until it was getting dark.

He left the broom on the back porch. His mother was cleaning up the kitchen when she realized that her broom was missing. She asked the little boy about the broom and he told her where it was.

She then asked him to please go get it. The little boy informed his mom that he was afraid of the dark and didn't want to go out to get the broom.

His mother smiled and said “Jesus is out there too, don't be afraid'. The little boy opened the back door a little and said, “Jesus, if you're out there, will you please hand me the broom.”

Yes, we want our children to know what is joyful and life giving about a faith life. Because the Christian walk is a lifelong journey, series of choices and challenges. We need to be honest and model that. But we do these things within an atmosphere of hope. It is a lifelong journey; it is not supposed to be a lifelong sentence.

A criminal with a long record of transgressions was on trial for his latest crime. The jury found him guilty on 33 counts and the judge sentenced him to 189 years. Realizing that even with time off for good behavior he would be over one hundred when he was released, the prisoner burst into tears.

Noting this display of remorse, the judge reconsidered. He said, "I didn't mean to be so severe. Thinking it over, I can see that I've imposed an extremely harsh sentence. So you don't have to serve the whole time." The prisoner beamed with new found hope as the judge leaned toward him and said, "Just do as much as you can."

Just do as much as you can.
That isn’t such a bad mantra really. There are problems that we will not be able to solve. There are tragedies that we will not be able to prevent. But we are not responsible for all of it. We are responsible to do what we can. I don’t mean in a slacker way of “oh, I’ll do whatever is convenient.” No, we do need to do as much as we can, which may be far more than we think we can do. But we don’t have to do it all. We have a piece, a part, a section. And others do, too.

We do what we can. And then we spend some time celebrating and enjoying the gift that life is.  Otherwise we can lose sight of what is beautiful and even nearly miraculous right in front of our eyes.

Three people were visiting and viewing the Grand Canyon -- an artist, a geologist and a cowboy. As they stood on the edge of that massive abyss, each one responded with a cry of exclamation. The artist said, "Ah, what a beautiful scene to paint!" The geologist cried, "What a wonderful example of the scientific marvels of erosion!" The cowboy mused, "What a terrible place to lose a cow!"

Christians are supposed to be joyful people, Easter people. Sometimes we act a whole lot more like stuck-on-Good-Friday people.

I am not saying we are to be naïve or ignore the mess the world is in. There is a lot to be concerned about. There is much work to be done. We don’t want to blithely miss what is right in front of us.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend.

'Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.'

Watson replies, 'I see millions of stars.'

'What does that tell you?'

Watson ponders for a minute.' Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?

Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. 'Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent!'

But we need to make room for joy, for laughter, for believing and living in the knowledge that God is good. And the affirmation that life, despite suffering and pain, is also good.

If we are so stressed, so serious, we become brittle. Without the balm of laughter, without the release of tension, we crack and break. We need to allow room for ourselves and for others to be The Christian life, I think, requires some flexibility or perhaps resiliency is a better word. The ability to take what comes and fight the fights one can and absorb losses and take time to enjoy life in the midst of all else.

To do as much as we can. To count on others to do what they can. A Christian life, a Christian community, can help us recognize what we can do and how we can do things together. And how we can remind each other that it isn’t that bad. Truly, deeply, ultimately, things will be ok. That is the Easter promise.

We welcome each other into the joy of the faith life, too. I think we are called to do a better job than the monks who lived at a monastery in Europe perched high on a cliff several hundred feet in the air.

The only way to reach the monastery was to be suspended in a basket which was pulled to the top by several monks who pulled and tugged with all their strength.

Obviously the ride up the steep cliff in that basket was terrifying. One tourist got exceedingly nervous about half-way up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed.

With a trembling voice he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered brusquely, "Whenever it breaks."

Perhaps we instead can be more like the priest walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press the doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very small, and the doorbell is placed at normal adult height, and the little fellow just can't reach. After watching the boy's sorry efforts for some time as he moves closer to the boy's position, the priest steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow and, placing one hand kindly on the child's shoulder, leans over the boy and gives the doorbell a solid ring.

Crouching down to the child's level, the priest smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?"

To which the urchin replies, "Now we run!"

Life is good. God is good. The Christian faith journey is good.

We need to remember that. To really remember that.

It seems that this couple was having trouble remembering things, so they signed up for a memory course. The course is wonderful; they come home and tell all their relatives, friends, and neighbors about it. Some months later, a neighbor approaches the man as he tends the garden.

The neighbor asks, "Say, Ed, what was the name of the instructor of that memory course you liked so much?"

Ed replies, "Well, it was...hmmm...let me think a minute... What's the name of that flower, you know, the one that smells so nice, but has thorns on the stems...?

The neighbor says, "You mean a rose?"

Ed replies, "Yeah, that's it!...(shouting toward house)

Hey, Rose, honey, what was that memory course instructor's name?

Remember the joy, my friends. Remember the joy. God is good. 

Amen.