Reading: The Redemptive Power of Humor (Video Slides)

The Redemptive Power of Humor

Henry Reyenga

The Redemptive Power of Humor

But say you've heard a very funny story. You want to share it with a friend. How do you preface your story? You say, "Stop me if you've heard this one before . . . " As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person in bed. The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth. (Proverbs 26:10-16)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 3). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Humor is Surprise

Why? Because if they've heard it before, there is no surprise. Without the surprise, the story, the joke, isn't funny. The humor is in the surprise ending. So the first great essential of humor/comedy is surprise. Surprise comes from expectations being overturned. You expect one thing, but something unexpected happens. Surprise is--essentially-- pulling the rug out from under someone's feet.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 3). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Surprising Irony

You'd expect the Founder of Christianity to speak in Grand Truths, in stirring, noble language, not to speak in riddles or tell little stories about goofy, common, infuriatingly normal people. And if you do fall for the Founder's gentle message, you're sure not expecting logic to be so consistently turned on its head--to conquer death, you only have to die; the last shall be first; it is better to be the servant than the master; you must be born again; and how come the rich man has such a long, hard slog if he's going to get to heaven?

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 4). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Surprising Irony

You'd expect the long-awaited messiah to ride triumphantly into Jerusalem on a magnificent white stallion, at the head of a powerful army. But he trots in on a donkey, his way littered with palm fronds, surrounded by the common people of the city--some of whom may or may not call for his death in just a few days. Another surprise.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 4). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Surprising Irony

Oh, the Bible is all over surprise. The best example of this is the surprise death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sheer, unadulterated, holy, outrageous unexpectedness of it is--sadly--lost to us today. We're told the story as soon as we're able to (barely) understand it. But two thousand years ago, the apostles were absolutely gob-smacked (to use one of my favorite British colloquialisms). Stunned. Flabbergasted. Mary didn't recognize Jesus in the garden--she thought he was the pool boy! John and Peter raced each other to the empty tomb and babbled about what they saw--or didn't see--so much so that the accounts in Matthew, Luke, and John are all slightly different.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 4). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Surprising Irony

The biggest joke of all, of course, is on Satan. That would be Easter, the day the bad guys thought they'd won--but didn't. The ancients have a long tradition of understanding Easter Sunday in terms of humor. Early church fathers such as Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and even John of Chrysostom mused that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the grave. The Greek Orthodox Church even gave the joke the theological name of "risus paschalis"--Easter laughter (Segal 2001, 24).

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 4). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Surprise Key Element of Life

In the end, without surprise life has a numbing sameness. Once we excise the possibility of amazement from our lives, existence veers dangerously close to tedium. It's that lack of predictability that makes a long prison sentence so soul-sapping. Life shouldn't be like a prison sentence.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 7). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Shared Community

The second element necessary to create quality humor is the establishment of a shared community. The best humor is about the people (or people types and--as a last resort--stereotypes) you know. You're at a party. Suddenly, a guy gets a banana cream pie in the face. That's mildly amusing. But if the guy getting the pie in the kisser is your obnoxious brother-in-law, now that's funny

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 7). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Shared Community

That's why the best comedians quickly create a community of easily recognizable characters, people you can identify with. That's why they pick on popular (or unpopular) politicians, entertainers, and athletes. You know them; you know something about them. No matter how funny he is, a British comic making wildly clever observations about English politicians probably isn't going to get many laughs in Omaha or Waco.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 7). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Narrative-based
Shared Community

That means the best humor is narrative-based, not joke-based. Jokes and puns are the lowest kind of humor, a smile-inducing (at best), momentary break from the norm. But if you're writing or talking about real people, in real settings, facing real issues and problems, then you've created community and the potential for real humor. The humor flows out of the characters naturally. The reader/viewer/congregation invests in these characters and empathizes with them--even if they're animated, like Bugs Bunny, Nemo, Shrek, or the gang in Peanuts or Bloom County.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 8). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Real People -Shared Communty

A humorist's greatest challenge is creating community and a tacitly acknowledged group of shared assumptions in a room of disparate strangers. That's why pastors have it easier. They have a common language, a common set of known, recognizable characters, and they have a community. That's why the best stories, the funniest stories from the pulpit or in print are--whenever possible--real stories about real people. There is a significant difference in listener investment between a story that begins: "A guy walks into a church and says . . . " And the same story that begins: "Pat Robertson walks into First Baptist Dallas and says .

Shared community: I've done That! 

If you're creating community, then shared anxiety is anxiety diffused. The Best Humorists take our anxieties and translate them into everyday life--into the things we automatically, unconsciously think and do--and expose them to a wider audience. While you're laughing at one of their routines, you're thinking, "Hey, I've done that" or "Hey, I've said that.”

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 9). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Always Aim Up

We love to see the pompous, the self-important, and the powerful tweaked. This, by the way, is also us. We appear pompous, self-important, and powerful to somebody else. That means the third quality of humor is that the best humor is directed at us or somebody higher up the food chain. That's why national politicians, movie stars, and famous athletes are such fertile fodder for humor.Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). 

Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 9). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Outs and the Ins

It makes sense, then, that the best humor is usually by the outs about the ins. That's why the Jews have a legendary propensity for humor, whether it is self-deprecating (think of Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof) or observations about a mad, incredibly powerful universe that's threatening to destroy them (think Woody Allen). That's why there are so many brilliant African American comics, from Richard Pryor through Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock. The underdogs have survived (in part) by poking fun at the overdogs. It's saying, "You may have the power, but you can't control how we think.”

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 9). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Bible Ends and Outs

By the way, one of the great funny images in the Bible is in 1 Kings in this scene between Elijah and Ahab at the end of the great drought: Then he said, "Go say to Ahab, 'Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' " In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. But the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:44-46, emphasis mine)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 11). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Reality Check

And so a great source of humor comes from observing and commenting on the powerful, the smug, the oppressors, and the rich. In the end, the key here, of course, is to remember that to most of the world, we are the rich, the powerful, the holier-than-thou types. So it's probably best--if you want to be genuinely funny--to aim the bulk of your barbs at yourself or above.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (pp. 11-12). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Artful Elaboration

A less charitable person might call this category "Exaggeration." As we'll see, there is a fine line between the two, especially when it comes to storytelling and humor. But for now, we'll use the terms interchangeably.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 12). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Artful Elaboration

"Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye . . . ? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3-4)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 13). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

The Laughter of Innocence 

Still another kind of humor is the spontaneous laughter that comes from watching children innocently explore their new world, puppies tripping over their ears, and old friends reuniting after long separations.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 16). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Humor is Good

If that's true--and I believe it is--then we should be open to the fact that humor and laughter and comedy are everywhere, all around us, even in the Bible, especially in the Bible. The basic elements necessary to create something funny are all there: surprise, commonality and community, always aiming up, and artful elaboration. So why don't more people think of the Bible when the word humor comes up

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (pp. 17-18). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

George Macdonald Quote

I wonder how many Christians there are who so thoroughly believe God made them that they can laugh in God's name; who understand that God invented laughter and gave it to His children. Such belief would add a keenness to the zest in their enjoyment, and slay that feeble laughter in which neither heart nor intellect has a share. It would help them also to understand the depth of this miracle. The Lord of gladness delights in the laughter of a merry heart. (1871, 23)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 84). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

C.S Lewis

After the Jackdaw makes an embarrassing faux pas, the talking animals try unsuccessfully to repress their laughter. But Aslan says it is okay, guffaw away: "Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well as justice come in with speech.

"Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 85). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

I Remember this Quote

The secular world noticed, of course, including Frederich Nietzsche. Besides his oft-quoted statement, "The redeemed ought to look more like it!" Nietzsche once had his great creation Zarathustra lament:

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 87). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Grady Nutt,
A Famous Comedian Ministry

Furthermore, humor is woven into the fabric of life just as surely as tragedy. There are tornadoes and murders and cancer. There are also surprise birthday parties, pranks, mispronounciation, chiggers, brushing your teeth with Brylcreem! In the midst of the awful is the absurd; in the process of frenzy there is boisterous laughter. Man causes Good Friday; then, God responds with Easter. The humorist, therefore, is interpreter. One who uses this to show that. One who helps you see what he or she has seen, experience what he or she has experienced, feel what he or she has felt. It is only a short step from that to minister. (Nutt 1979, 143)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 94). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

You Can Be Funny

That implies, of course, that there is that spark of Christ-joy in you. You'll have to trust me on this--you do have one. It may be tiny, flickering, and degraded at the moment--life is hard, no question--but it is there. You were, after all, made in God's own image.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (pp. 100-101). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Barbara Brown Taylor

Be patient with yourself, and while you are at it, be patient with the rest of us too. You cannot follow a shepherd all by yourself, after all. You are stuck with this flock, or some flock, and everyone knows that sheep are, well, sheep. They panic easily and refuse to be pushed. They make most of their decisions based on their appetites and they tend to get into head-butting contests for no reason at all. But stick with the flock. It is where the shepherd can be found, which makes it your best bet not only for survival but also for joy. Above all, understand that you belong here, as part of the flock. (Taylor 1993, 145)

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 103). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Invest in Community

To live with surprise, you must be open to surprise. You must put yourself in a position to be surprised. A mind-numbing routine at work or school or even play will kill it.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 123). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Artful Elaboration

Okay, this one gets tricky. For storytelling, it is essential. But in life, I'm using my editorial discretion to look at this concept from another point of view entirely. Truth is truth, right? But to convey truth, sometimes you need to bring it into sharper focus. A good story isn't everything that happened. A good story is everything interesting that happened, as well as everything that the storyteller consciously chose to include to make a certain point.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 126). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Artful Elaboration

Storytelling of all kinds--particularly if it involves humor--requires the storyteller to assemble a narrative from thousands of possible facts and opinions, organize them, eliminate most of them, and present the finished tale to the listener. Is this somehow less true than if the storyteller had just recounted an event or conversation verbatim, employing hour upon hour of minute detail? We all know someone whose stories drag on forever.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 127). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Artful Elaboration

Jesus told parables, little stories with a point. Sometimes they were about pedestrian things--farming, sheep herding, a lost brother, a lost coin, a mustard seed. But sometimes he talked about camels squeezing through the eye of a needle or Lincoln logs in the eye of the beholder. Jesus always told the truth. He just told it in different ways. Truth-telling is a dangerous business. For centuries, fools and jesters used humor and satire to tell the king unpleasant truths.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 127). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Larger Than Life

If you want people to remember a truth, be honest-- but tell that truth larger than life-size. In fact, the more honest you are, the bigger you need to tell it.

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 128). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Mike Yaconell

I often say to people, "If I were to have a heart attack right at this moment, I hope I would have just enough air in my lungs and just enough strength in me to utter one last sentence as I fell to the floor: 'What a ride!' My life has been up and down, careening left then right, full of mistakes and bad decisions, and if I died right now, even though I would love to live longer, I could say from the depths of my soul, 'What a ride!' " (1998, 93-94)

Darren, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 131). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition. 

Make Em Laugh! 

"Restore the joy of your salvation . . ." Come like a little child again, trusting, honest, and open to the One who continually greets you with open arms: "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete" (John 15:11). That's what Jesus wants for our lives. And that's what we need to be sharing, spreading, like light in the darkness, in our churches, in our lives. Oh, and one other thing . . . MAKE 'EM LAUGH!

Darden, Robert (2008-08-01). Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor (p. 132). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.