TRINITY SUNDAY, C – May 30, 2010

SCRIPTURES – Prov. 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:22-36; John 8:48-49; Ps. 16 

Today is a serious day. First of all, it’s Trinity Sunday, the day when we confess about God what the Bible tells us, that God is one in His essence and being, and yet is three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We confess this mystery especially with the majestic and deep words of the Athanasian Creed. You can’t get more serious than this Creed. This is a day to be serious and contemplate.

 And, tomorrow is Memorial Day, perhaps the most serious and somber of our national holidays. Memorial Day wasn’t established to give us a three day weekend of fun but a time to remember, give thanks for, and so honor the men and women of our military who gave their lives for us. It was first observed on May 1, 1865 to mark the end of the Civil War, and was officially established on May 5, 1868 as a day to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers. 

Many quotes could be read on this day. I would like to read to you a portion of a funeral sermon I heard recently for the second time. It was for the funeral of a man named George, who was better known as Chuckles the Clown:

"Chuckles the Clown brought pleasure to millions. The characters he created will be remembered by children and adults alike: Peter Peanut, Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo, Billy Banana, and my particular favorite, Aunt Yoo Hoo. And not just for the laughter they provided—there was always some deeper meaning to whatever Chuckles did. Do you remember Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo's little catch phrase? Remember how, when his arch rival Señor Kaboom hit him with a giant cucumber and knocked him down, Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo would always pick himself up, dust himself off, and say, 'I hurt my foo-foo'? Life's a lot like that. From time to time we all fall down and hurt our foo-foos. If only we could deal with it as simply and bravely and honestly as Mr. Fee-Fi-Fo. And what did Chuckles ask in return? Not much. In his own words, 'A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.'"

At this point in the sermon, Mary Richards, who had been trying to stifle her laughter, burst out laughing. 

Perhaps you remember that hilarious episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show. Laughter at a funeral! Can you believe it? How inappropriate! But, actually, it wasn’t, the minister told everyone. Chuckles would have wanted laughter! So, he exhorted Mary, laugh! Laugh for Chuckles! And, at this, she burst forth with tears. 

On this serious, somber Sunday, I ask you: Do you think God laughs? We probably don’t think of Him doing so. Why not? Why is God always pictured as this old man with a flowing beard and a serious, even stern, appearance? We are not here on this Trinity Sunday to explain God or understand Him. How could we mere mortals ever do so? Instead, let us listen as in His Word this day we are told that 

THE TRIUNE GOD LAUGHS WITH JOY

 I.              HE LAUGHS WITH JOY IN HIS WORK OF CREATION.

 Proverbs 8 speaks very vividly of God creating everything. Poetically, it speaks of the wisdom that guided His creation as if it were a person: “I [wisdom] was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, laughing before him always, laughing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.” Laughing: that is what the Hebrew literally says. Imagine: God, by wisdom – a person – laughing with joy and delight as He creates this wonderful universe! It’s no wonder that Wisdom is here seen as a reference to the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, the Son of God. That’s our Lord Jesus, the One who delights in the children of men!

 Let us reflect His joy and delight as we consider and enjoy His creation. Give glory to God for not only His wisdom and might as Creator but also for the joy and delight with which He has filled His creation! The beauty of a sunset; the thrill of a thunderstorm; the delight of a touch, a hug, a kiss; all of these are gifts of a God who is filled with joy and laughter and delights in the children of men. To look upon this creation as the result of random, purposeless and meaningless chemical reactions, an evolutionary process of the survival of the fittest, is to lose sight of the thrill and joy of this world and the joyful God who so wondrously made it. And, to live your life for your enjoyment above all, and not seeking to bring joy and gladness to others, especially the hurting and distressed and those burdened by sin and guilt, dishonors Him whose joy and delight is delighting in us. Why did Jesus spend so much of His time among gross sinners like prostitutes and tax collectors? Because of the joy of freeing them from their sins and giving them a new life to enjoy. “There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents,” He tells us. To bring the joy of God to sinners is to share in His joy.

 This is all part of the work of creation. God laughed with joy and delight as He created this wonderful world for us. His delight goes on as He rules it for us. Thanks be to Him for remaining involved in this creation and ruling over it! For, we cannot control things, can we? As soon as we think we are in control, something happens to show how weak and helpless we are. But, because our joy-filled God delights in us, we need not fear! “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken,” says Ps. 16. In fact, “in your presence there is fullness of joy.” For this reason Job 5 proclaims: “You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid.” We can be sure of that we shall not be shaken because God delights in us in His Son! He delights to govern His creation for us.

 II.            HE LAUGHS WITH JOY IN HIS WORK OF REDEMPTION.

 Jesus laughed with joy when saving us from our sins? Thinking of Jesus laughing about going to the cross seems even more inappropriate than laughing at a funeral.

 No, the cross was no laughing matter. Our sins are quite serious, even the ones we laugh and joke about. Our sins do not bring God joy, but sorrow and anger, just as the disobedience of a child makes his parents not only angry but sad. Our stupid and selfish disobedience of God’s good commandments also brings much sorrow and suffering upon us. We hurt ourselves, and others, by our sins! And, by them we brought our good and loving Jesus into death. “This Jesus you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men,” Peter told his fellow Jews on the day of Pentecost. His words apply to us all.

 But, Hebrews 12 tells us that Jesus “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” – laughing at it! – “and sat down at the right hand of God.” Joy led Him to the cross! His enemies, including Satan, meant to end His life and His ministry. But, long before it happened Psalm 2 proclaimed:

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.’ "

God laughed at the plans against Jesus. His enemies were carrying out God’s plans! Jesus, crucified as a sinner, became our holiness; His death became our life. How hilarious! 

His joy at saving us is what He pours out as He gives us His Holy Spirit. It is what we celebrate and receive as we gather in worship. Can you imagine laughing in church? God does! Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with laughter, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing!” Here we can laugh with the joy of salvation, the joy of receiving the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with the Triune God, for He is rejoicing over us. 

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Blessed, then, be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity! Let us give glory to Him, who has shown mercy to us and shared with us His eternal joy!