No Joke

I recently was listening to a Christian radio station when the afternoon deejay posed the question of whether or not we, as Christians, should be willing to laugh at jokes regarding our faith. Is it taking ourselves too seriously if we get upset by GCB, or SNL skits about Jesus and Tim Tebow?

I get where he's coming from. I mean, who wants to be like the rigid Pharisees who were so worried about their personal honor that they totally missed out on grace, on joy, on God...and on His world of the lost.

But as I heard him hint at that "can't we all just get along" mentality, my heart broke. Not for me, but for someone I love.  Someone pure and joyous and selfless. Someone who never worries about tolerating people because He's so full of love that toleration would be a huge step backward. 

Who hangs out with all flavors of folks, who knows guys with tattoos and piercing and purple hair, people who could make Lady Gaga blush. Yet while He's with them he never becomes like them. Instead, at the end of the night, under the tats and paint, they're more like Him.

Someone who loves nature and personal time but will never turn away a sick person, even those who smell close to death. Someone who, no matter how many dumb questions are asked, never blows a gasket. Who, even when he knows he's being used for his connections and his mad skills, gives generously.

Someone who never demands his rights, not even once. Yet he is so crazy courageous He walked, knowingly and intently into a staged trial, accused of crimes I committed, and stoically, readily, lovingly accepted condemnation.

For me. For you. For all the people who laugh at him in the name of tolerance.

I won't be so crass as to actually create the scenario, but let me pose it.  Would we laugh at a joke about a soldier killed in Afghanistan?  What about a fireman who gave his life on 9/11? A holocaust victim?

What about the Son of the Most High, whose life was not taken, but given?

I don't think there's even time to answer that. My heart is overcome with love, with joy. Like a balloon overfull of water, my soul explodes with the boundlessness of that love that fills it.

My Dearest, my heart, my all. You are my love. You are my very heartbeat. Every moment I wander from you is agony. Every moment in your presence is right. I love you now and forever. For the debt I can never repay--and you would never ask me to--there are not words to express my response. But I give you all my love. I give you all my life.