The second Sunday of Easter at the Patterson Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia features a message titled: “Sarcastic Laughter.”
The primary text is John 20:19-31 -(with the story of Thomas’ encounter with Jesus a week after the resurrection. We also looked at the story of Abraham and Sarach and the unbelievable promise that they, late in life (both nearly 100 years old) would give birth to a child. Both passages indicate a bit of sarcastic laughter.
Sometimes the promises of God and invitation to faith are so incredible, so astonishing, that the only logical initial reaction is an almost bitter, sarcastic laughter.
The response to the sarcastic laughter is a question: “Is anything impossible for God.”
It is important to give serious thought to this question. A quick, pietistic, thoughtless response is not appropirate. Instead, we need to give it serious consideration to the question. How we answer will influence how we see the world – and how we will live in it. Will we live with courageous faith, or fear and trembling?
The sermon “Sarcastic Laughter” can be viewed right now when you click this link.
Let me know what you think!
Oh, you’ll notice an interesting site…You’ll see me wearing a shirt with the words: “I am with Bubba!” Bubba is a nickname (duh) for Brian Snead Jr., who is running for “Man of the Year” and raising money for Lymphoma and Luekemia. I wasn’t the only one wearing the shirt. About ten folks had theirs on as well. This is an incredible cause – and “Bubba” is a incredible guy.
