The Dialogue is the newsletter of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in St. Joseph, MO. Oftentimes, I'll post here on the blog my columns for the weekly newsletter. I mention it just so that folks who read the snail-mail version can skip this post if they've already read it.DOES GOD LAUGH?
Although the Gospels do not speak of Jesus laughing, I believe that he must have laughed often as he celebrated the joys of human life, just as the Gospels report that he wept in grief at life’s pains. Since Jesus is the incarnation of God, I believe rather than being an “unmoved mover” who remains emotionally detached from creation in a Vulcan-like manner, Jesus’ example reveals that God laughs and weeps with us. I believe God laughed this past Sunday during the baptism of one of our youth named Rachel.
Following worship on Sunday, I had the privilege of baptizing Rachel, and it was a wonderful experience! Rachel is a friend of several our youth, and she came to our church, because she was ready to officially become a Christian but did not have a church to join. She had been ready to make such a commitment but had recently moved to Cameron and did not have a church there. Her friends encouraged her to come to First Christian, where they assured her she would be welcome.
The Sunday before Christmas, Rachel, her best friend Wendy, Wendy’s mother Sharon, Matthew Gregg our Youth Director, and I gathered in my office. At that time, Rachel made a prayer of commitment to Christ, acknowledging the relationship she already had with God and her desire to follow Jesus. What an honor it was to be present in that moment! This past Sunday, Epiphany Sunday, when appropriately I preached on the baptism of Jesus, Rachel followed through with her commitment and was baptized to express through ritual her commitment to Christ and for the church to likewise express its welcome to her.
If you meet Rachel, you will find her to be a sweet, funny and bubbly young woman. She is quick to laugh at something she finds funny, and like many teenagers, when all eyes are on her, she laughs out of self-consciousness. As I prepared to lower Rachel into the baptismal waters, the immensity of the moment hit her along with the fact that she would soon be drenched in front of her friends, so she laughed. It was a beautiful sound. I laughed too, and so did her friends. We were not laughing at Rachel, rather we were laughing with Rachel. We laughed because of our own self-consciousness of how significant this moment was, and we laughed because in what could have been a somber moment, laughter rang from the baptistry. We also laughed out of love for Rachel.
As we stepped out of the baptistry, Rachel turned to me and said, “I’m sorry for laughing during the baptism.” I replied, “No apology is necessary, Rachel. It was great. When you laughed, God was laughing too.”
Grace and Peace,
Although the Gospels do not speak of Jesus laughing, I believe that he must have laughed often as he celebrated the joys of human life, just as the Gospels report that he wept in grief at life’s pains. Since Jesus is the incarnation of God, I believe rather than being an “unmoved mover” who remains emotionally detached from creation in a Vulcan-like manner, Jesus’ example reveals that God laughs and weeps with us. I believe God laughed this past Sunday during the baptism of one of our youth named Rachel.
Following worship on Sunday, I had the privilege of baptizing Rachel, and it was a wonderful experience! Rachel is a friend of several our youth, and she came to our church, because she was ready to officially become a Christian but did not have a church to join. She had been ready to make such a commitment but had recently moved to Cameron and did not have a church there. Her friends encouraged her to come to First Christian, where they assured her she would be welcome.
The Sunday before Christmas, Rachel, her best friend Wendy, Wendy’s mother Sharon, Matthew Gregg our Youth Director, and I gathered in my office. At that time, Rachel made a prayer of commitment to Christ, acknowledging the relationship she already had with God and her desire to follow Jesus. What an honor it was to be present in that moment! This past Sunday, Epiphany Sunday, when appropriately I preached on the baptism of Jesus, Rachel followed through with her commitment and was baptized to express through ritual her commitment to Christ and for the church to likewise express its welcome to her.
If you meet Rachel, you will find her to be a sweet, funny and bubbly young woman. She is quick to laugh at something she finds funny, and like many teenagers, when all eyes are on her, she laughs out of self-consciousness. As I prepared to lower Rachel into the baptismal waters, the immensity of the moment hit her along with the fact that she would soon be drenched in front of her friends, so she laughed. It was a beautiful sound. I laughed too, and so did her friends. We were not laughing at Rachel, rather we were laughing with Rachel. We laughed because of our own self-consciousness of how significant this moment was, and we laughed because in what could have been a somber moment, laughter rang from the baptistry. We also laughed out of love for Rachel.
As we stepped out of the baptistry, Rachel turned to me and said, “I’m sorry for laughing during the baptism.” I replied, “No apology is necessary, Rachel. It was great. When you laughed, God was laughing too.”
Grace and Peace,
Chase
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