Holy Humor Sunday - April 19, 2020

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Matthew 6:25-34

The keywords in the passage seem to be, “Do not worry.” Which feels a bit ironic, or just biting in this time of anxiety and worry for a disease we don’t fully understand and are learning more and more about each day. But beyond the message, “Do not worry” are the more explicit truth Jesus is highlighting.
1) God provides—for the birds and for us.
2) God creates us as beautiful and splendid just like the flowers.
3) We are called to seek after God’s kingdom and righteousness.

4) Tomorrow will come when tomorrow comes, but for now, embrace today.

The heart of this passage seems to be about relying on God as our provider and protector—and striving after God’s kingdom. And as people surrounded by material things, especially in the midst of a pandemic where we are urged to stock up for a potential 2-week quarantine, and convinced it’s necessary since the stores are constantly out of TP, flour, and cleaning supplies, as well as frozen foods, seasonings, and countless other items that nobody ever seemed to need or care about before…

Jesus’ words, “Do not worry” feel like a joke. How would we even begin not to worry in a time like this? Clearly, these words are some of those that are isolated to first-century realities and do not apply to us. Right? We can just keep on reading past this passage.

Except, maybe it’s particularly poignant for us. When we’re caught up with the anxiety of a pandemic. When you might carry COVID-19 for 2 weeks before developing symptoms, all the while contaminating surfaces and people. And where if you do get sick you could end up in the ICU, or barely noticing at all…But let’s not worry.

Maybe in the midst of the fear and the panic, and the paranoia of possibly getting someone more vulnerable sick, when businesses are closing, when people are being laid off and furloughed when we aren’t sure how long this will last or what our world will look like on the other side we need to slow down and be reminded that God is loving, kind, looking out for our well-being, devoted to our livelihood, and the only God we should be serving.

Maybe instead of stashing and stockpiling out of fear and anxiety, we could share out of compassion and generosity. I’m not saying you need to empty your cupboard until it’s bare, but I imagine you have extra of something that someone else needs right now and you could share.

Here at the church, we have the little pantry—maybe you take the 3rd can of beans, or an extra roll of TP, or an extra granola bar, or all three and put it in the little pantry so that someone whose belly is empty might be filled. Or maybe you don’t need all of the stimulus check—consider sharing with someone who does. Our church has a discretionary fund to help with bills for those in need, as do most churches, and there are multiple nonprofits who are helping people who truly don’t have a safe place to lay their heads. Consider the domestic violence shelter, the homeless outreach, or the animal shelter.

And if you need help with something, look to those same resources. We keep claiming we are in this together, so let’s be together—in helping, in securing health care, food, basic necessities, and shelter for each and every person. Things are not what they used to be. But maybe they shouldn’t be. Maybe as the chaos lessens and we begin looking more at the future we can work on a better tomorrow—one that is more inclusive, more just, more compassionate, and more devoted to God’s kingdom.

At the end of this teaching, Jesus tells those who are listening to strive toward God’s kingdom—the created order where everyone has enough to live freely and fully. Not just where we live with the assurance of a roof over our heads, clean water for us to drink, and food for us to eat, but where everyone does. And more than that, where we can dream, imagine and create with the best of ourselves—not out of fear or anxiety.

Some of this feels a bit heavy for holy humor Sunday, but what if we really did stop worrying and started actively living into God’s kingdom, sharing where we have extra, and working toward a more just “normal” on the other side of this pandemic? Wouldn’t we have more joy? More laughter? A greater sense of the goodness of God and the goodness of people?


The serenity prayer is one that is familiar to many folks, often from NA and AA programs, but it’s printed and shared widely as this:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.[1]


The author is Reinhold Neibuhr and originally it was a little different, and maybe a little more fitting for our passage today:

Father, give us the courage to change what must be altered, the serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.[3]

Amen.