LAUGHING WITH

Church was great this morning. Stephen Manhanga preaching up a storm, and Evan Rogers leading worship as only Evan can. Now I’ve got Spotify on and am listening to Regina Spektor. I like her new single, Laughing With...

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls
After some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
when it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane
Starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love hand in hand
with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say “We’ve got some bad new, sir,”
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us
and they get so red in the head
You think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha, ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
when they’ve lost all they got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head
you think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God in a hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one’s laughing at God
We’re all “laughing with God”

Sounds to me like Spektor has been reading Ecclesiastes. But then, as she is Jewish, this is probably not unlikely.

Church was quite Ecclesiastes-like, as church should be. We laughed and had fun, fun, fun as we worshipped. And then as Stephen expounded John 5 we saw the bitterness of life – life that so often feels like that of the paralyzed man lying helpless next to a magical pool, waiting year after year for someone – anyone – to help him into the water so that he might be healed, but never being healed. Until Jesus…

When Jesus appeared on the scene the paralyzed man suddenly didn’t need to get into the water; all he needed was to receive what Jesus was offering. No effort required on the man’s part – this was going to be all of grace.

People who have received grace are able to laugh.