Preached · October 4, 2020
Series · Authentically and Thoughtfully
Review: Mission, Vision, Values
First, some review. We have five values, five values that set the direction of how we accomplish our mission and our vision as a church. Our mission is that we would be thoughtful and authentic followers of Jesus as we join God in his mission of renewing the world, renewing all things. Because we don't believe that God is going to scoop everybody — all the Christians, all the Jesus followers — out of here and leave everything to burn, but rather that God is inviting us into his mission of renewing the world. So that's our mission. And then our values answer the question of how we're going to accomplish that mission.
So we're going to do that by loving God, and we love God because God first loved us. God is this God of extraordinary, overflowing, extravagant love, and because of that, we love God too. And if we love God, then we love the things and the people that God has made. We love people. We love all kinds of people, people that are easy to love. But what makes Christians unique, what makes Jesus followers set apart, is that we don't just love those who are easy to love, but we also love those who are hard to love. We pursue excellence because God is a God of glory. We talked about this in a sermon — that God is a God of weightiness. When he walks into the room, there's some gravitas about him; he's a God of glory. And so we do things out of a desire to give God glory. And sometimes that's in surprising places and in surprising people, but it stirs us and it pushes us and it moves us to do things with excellence. And if you just heard our worship team, you know that's true. And we also talked about living generously last week — Joe gave this amazing message about generosity being a sign of being a people of hope. We're generous because we have a hope that things can get better, that things can change. And so generosity isn't just about giving to a church or an organization; it's also about a posture and a way of life.
And then today we're talking about my favorite value: having fun. Now, if you have been part of the church for any amount of time, the idea of a church having a value of having fun may be surprising to you. I mean, maybe not — it's not like all Christians are super dour people — but maybe you've had an experience where having fun was like the last thing on the list for a church person. One time my brother and I were visiting my grandmother's church down in Florida, and there was a substitute Sunday school teacher. So you already know things are going awry when you're going to Sunday school and it's a substitute Sunday school teacher. And my brother and I were just goofing off — like, we're good kids, but, you know, we were just kind of distracted. Sunday school, we're teenagers, teenage Sunday school. Oh, man. And as we were goofing off like this, this person, the substitute Sunday school teacher, an elderly woman — bless her for being willing to pinch-hit for whoever wasn't able to make it — she got so angry at the fact that we were having fun in Sunday school. Like, that's what she said. She told us a story about some teenagers who were going for a drive, and the teenager had his arm out the window waving it around, and the other teen who was driving hit a mailbox, and the kid lost his arm. And the Sunday school teacher is like, "That is what God will do to you if you try to have fun in Sunday school." Like, oh, dear Jesus, save us.
So thank goodness that we're in a church right now that has a value of having fun. And, you know, I don't know how successful we're doing with that, especially over the past six, seven months, sitting here live streaming — how fun is that? We're doing our best. But it's an important value, because it is central. It's core. It is part of who God is. I've said this before, I'll say it again — and this is one of the most important things about you; I'm talking to the people who are over here and over here, and also to you in the camera — one of the most important things about yourself is what you think of God. And God is a God who has fun.
There's this ancient Latin phrase that gets used a few times before it kind of disappears in history, and it's the idea of the Ludus Dei. The Ludus Dei. And ludus, you know, is Latin for fun, frivolity, debauchery, that kind of thing. Dei being "of God." And the phrase was that God has a pastime. He has a hobby. He has fun. And he is inviting his people to join him in that pastime. And God's pastime is that of creation and recreation — that he finds that which is beautiful, or that which is in the ashes, and makes it beautiful again. And God invites God's people to join God in that ludus, in that pastime. So we'll talk about a few of these things. Number one, the idea that God plays. Number two, the idea that God is inviting us into play. And we'll talk about what play is not and what play is.
God Plays
So number one: God plays. Now, again, this is not a word that we often associate with God — God being playful, God laughing, God having a good time. Many, many times we imagine, you know, God — white beard, throne, serious, judgy, throwing lightning bolts. More of a Zeus kind of God. But Scripture actually talks about God playing. There's a Hebrew word. It's called sekkach — you've got to get it in the back of the throat: sekkach. And this is the word throughout the Old Testament. It means, like, laughter, fun, play, delight. And for whatever reason — probably out of an abundance of thinking too seriously about God — when the word sekkach in the Hebrew is used of God, it usually gets translated as, like, "rejoice," some nice religious word like that. But in any other context, it's laughter. It's play. It's fun. It's delight. It's that kind of thing.
So there's this passage, Psalm 104, verse 26. And I'll tell you, I spent way too long researching this one verse, because if you look at tons of translations, it says one thing, but if you look at how the Jews — how the Hebrew religion and culture and their Bible — translate it, it says something different. This is a Jewish translation of Scripture. Now, any other English translation you look at is going to say:
Leviathan, that you formed to play in the sea.
But that's not what the Hebrew actually says. And the Jews get this — you look at what the rabbis say about this verse. It is a sign and a symbol and a reminder that God is a God of playfulness, of delight, of having fun. So God creates the world, creates them with wisdom; the earth is full of his creations. And one of the examples that the psalmist gives is Leviathan, the sea monster — a mythical sea monster that God creates just for the heck of it, to play with, to have fun with.
So that's one example. Another example comes from Proverbs 8, verse 30. And this is wisdom personified, talking, in the book of Proverbs. In Jewish wisdom literature, wisdom is often made to be a person herself. And then in the book of John, John chapter 1, John plays with this idea and makes wisdom into the person of Jesus:
In the beginning was the Word — logos, wisdom. The Word was with God. The Word was God.
Now, Jews wouldn't say something like that. They do not believe in the Trinity. But they did have this idea that wisdom was this unique character in God's economy that was up to something. And we see this in Proverbs 8, where wisdom says... So in Hebrew thought, God was capable of creating things for the purpose of play — like Leviathan, like anything on the earth. And in the Hebrew, we see wisdom itself, this master artisan, creating alongside God — God's daily delight, playing in God's presence, playing in the world, and delighting in humankind. And then Christian thought would later apply what was said of wisdom — that all things were created through the Christ, through Jesus, and that what could be said of wisdom could be said of Christ: that God was playful, that Christ was playing in the world and delighting in humankind.
So, kind of a rule of thumb — and this is approximate; I think this is on the slide, I've got the "approximately equal" sign — when you see the word "rejoice," particularly in the Old Testament, but this works in the New Testament too, it has a connotation of play and fun and delight. Rejoice is like this kind of choral term: "We rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice." And what it's trying to say is, we have fun in the Lord. We delight in the Lord. We are enjoying ourselves in God. That's what it is to rejoice.
There's this quote that I love from 19th-century writer G.K. Chesterton. He says this:
Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.
Any parent watching this knows this. Any aunt, uncle, grandparent, anybody who's hung out with kids — you know this.
They always say, "Do it again," and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun, and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them. It may be that God has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father, our God, is younger than we.
So let's have a correct image of God in our minds — that God is not a solely serious, severe figure throwing lightning bolts from the sky, but that God, instead, is a God of frivolity, of excess, of "do it again" kind of energy that wants to play and never gets tired of it.
God Invites Us into Play
Number two: God invites us, his creation, to have fun, to play with God. Now, there are a couple of different ways that we can see this. I want to show this in one of the main themes throughout Scripture: the idea of rest. You know, the opposite of play is often seen as work. And God is not a God who says to us, "Work, work, work until you're dead." Built into the very first chapter of Scripture is the idea of rest. And God rests — not because he is weary, not because God gets tired, but because rest is inherently good.
So we see things like this. This is Jesus in Mark chapter 6:
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. And then, because so many people were coming and going that they didn't have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
So here is literal Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He's called his disciples. He's on a mission to save the world. And how does Jesus spend at least some of his time with some of his best friends? Getting away on a retreat.
There's another passage in Colossians where Paul is trying to correct this theology that had built up in the church of Colossae — a theology of asceticism that says, like, if it's good, if it's fun, if you look like you might enjoy it, don't touch it. So this is what Paul says:
So then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves get bullied by it? "Don't touch this. Don't taste that. Don't go near this." Do you think the things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention?
Paul continues:
Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice, and even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they're just another way of showing off and making yourselves look important.
Paul is saying, these kinds of rules — don't taste, don't touch, don't drink, don't chew, don't go with girls who do — those kinds of rules, they sound really holy, but they're not godly.
Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 11:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you will recover your life. I will show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
In other words, we will know what it is to follow Jesus if we feel light and free and rested. If we're exhausted, burnt out, and worn out, we can confidently say it's not of God.
Play — God has designed us in such a way that play is helpful and useful and good for us. According to a couple of studies from the University of Illinois, and — yes, this exists — the National Institute for Play: play speeds up learning and enhances productivity and increases job satisfaction and enhances bonding and communication. Playfulness reduces stress and increases our coping skills. It attracts romantic partners — people who see you as playful might be more attracted to you. Play is what God is inviting us into so that we can be more fully alive and human and ourselves. Play is not just a distraction from the real stuff of what it is to be human. Play is not a distraction from the real stuff of what it is to be a religious person or a Jesus follower. Play is actually in the DNA of what it is to be God and Christlike.
What Play Is Not
So, God is playful. God invites us into play. Number three: what play is not. Because there are lots of things that we can do that feel good that aren't actually good for us. So, two very quick definitions of what play is not.
Number one, it's not a means to an end. Some of us will hear something like, "Well, play is good for your productivity, it reduces stress," and so we'll make a to-do list — a "play to do," a "fun to have" — so that we can be more productive on the other side. "Well, I know that if I have a little bit of fun over here for five minutes, then I can be ten times more productive." And that's not play. That's just adding to your to-do list. Play has to be an end. It has to be enjoyed for its own sake. There's a difference between enjoying a game of poker with some friends and some beers just for the heck of it, and being addicted to gambling so you can get the jackpot at the end. One is for its own sake; one is for a rush or a high, or the need to pay off some gambling debts.
Number two, play is never meant to be destructive. It shouldn't be done at someone else's expense. Having fun and making fun of someone or something are two very different things. Play should not destroy something inside of me or part of me, and it should not destroy something that's part of you. And so I just want to set that boundary: play is good, having fun is good, but when it becomes a means to an end, and when it becomes destructive to yourself or to others, it ceases to be play. It ceases to be a source of freedom, and becomes rather something that we're enslaved to.
What Play Is
So, what is play? A few quick definitions. Number one, it is enjoyment. Again, remember the words of Paul — these ascetic rules, "do not taste, do not touch." No, God has made this world and this creation to be enjoyed. God, in Genesis 1, made the world, made the things in the world, made us, and declared it very good. And so if we begin the creation story at Genesis chapter 3 — "You have fallen, the ground is cursed, childbearing will be terrible, everything's bad, you're going to die" — and that's what we think all of creation is going to be like, then of course we'll have a worldview that says, "Do not taste and do not touch and do not look." But if we begin the creation story where it actually begins — it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good, it is very good; God says it six times, and then, once, "very good" — then we can see that God gave us things to be enjoyed. Not to be used, not to be consumed, not to be destroyed — to be enjoyed. So that's a form of play: a good meal with good friends, a great game in which we can enjoy each other's company, and all that.
Number two, having fun is about imagination. It's about imagining what could be — the possibilities of what are not right now, but of what ought to be. This is why we, as children, pick up a stick and it becomes a sword. It's why we pick up a pillow and it becomes a shield. It's why we imagine ourselves as stories that are grander than we are. It's why board games are a thing, and video games are a thing, and books are a thing. We imagine because our imaginations are meant to be caught alive, aflame with what could be. And so when we dedicate our imaginations to a God who wants us to have fun, to enjoy this world, then we also can dedicate our imaginations to the world getting better — the world being not what it is, but what it ought to be, what it could be. And when we cease to use our imaginations, when we say that imagination is for children — it's a plaything that we're not to do anymore as adults — then we lose hope. We lose that sense of urgency, and instead the way things are simply becomes the way things always will be. In the words of Battlestar Galactica, "This has all happened before, this will all happen again." Rather, play and having fun and using our imagination is practice for the prophetic, necessary work of saying, "This is wrong; this is where we need to go."
And having fun and play, it's about invitation. Playing is best enjoyed with others. Having fun is best enjoyed when you can look and share a laugh and a smile and be like, "Did you see that?" — that excitement of having a shared experience. And so having fun should never be about excluding, about making fun of, about leaving out, but rather about: Can we get more? Can we invite more? Can we make the circle bigger?
Taking It Home
So, how do we take this home? Number one, enjoy something funny. I realize that's super basic advice, and maybe not something that you struggle with anyway. But if you're a person who — I don't know — has been on social media at all, you've probably heard of some sort of benefits of meditation, okay? Close your eyes, take some deep breaths, focus your breath. You've downloaded the Calm or the Headspace app. You've tried all those things. And I know for some of us, you've tried that, and meditation just gives you more anxiety. "Am I doing it right? Am I doing it right? I messed up. Oh, shoot, I should have started again. I paid for Calm, and then I started like three tracks, and now I failed and I have to go back." Like, it just gives you more anxiety. So if meditation is not your jam, that's fine. Find a comedy album or a TV show or a Netflix special that makes you laugh, because as best as the research can tell, laughter is as good for your brain as meditation is. So feel that freedom. Just enjoy something funny. It'll be good for you.
Number two — I came across this term the other day, a couple weeks ago, and I loved it — enjoy a unicorn chaser. Now, what's a unicorn chaser? We do this naturally in my house. I have liked — this past six months have been different — like heavy dramas and things that really make you think, and just dark movies and TV shows. And my wife, Emily, she'll watch some of that with me, but then she'll be like, "Can we watch an episode of Parks and Rec now?" That's called a unicorn chaser: when you watch something dark, heavy, deep, hard, difficult, and then you follow it up with something super funny or light or whatever. And I've met people who feel guilty doing that, because — again, you open up a newspaper, turn on the news, whatever — the world is pretty obviously a dark, heavy place. And there's this sense of responsibility that some of us feel, like we can only think and talk about the heavy things all the time. And I'm telling you, you will be more effective at fighting against the darkness if you have the occasional unicorn chaser — a good hearty laugh, something enjoyable, something that just seems airy and light and fluffy. It's fine. Then you can dive back into whatever the darkness is in your life that has to be dealt with. That's okay.
Number three, enjoy something alone and enjoy something with others. Introverts, I'm one of you. I know the feeling of being an introvert, walking into a party and feeling shy. I know that feeling. But things are often enjoyed with other people. And maybe it's not 50 people. Maybe it's not 10 people. Maybe it's like two people. Enjoy it with others. But extroverts, this message is for you too. Some of you always go for the crowd, always go for the group. There are some things that are also meant to be enjoyed by yourself. So have some consideration and some slow-down in that rest that we talked about. Both are fine. Whatever you find most difficult is probably the place where you're going to find some growth.
And then finally, enjoy God. Whatever image you have of the divine, of the soul of the universe, that is overly severe and punishing and lightning-bolt-throwing — it's time to sanctify that image into something more accurate: that God has fun, that God created you and created this world because he likes you, because he wants to enjoy you and for you to enjoy God. God is not rolling his eyes at your laughter or your fun. God invented fun. And I don't mean that in a corny way, because I really believe that this is the place where holiness is found — where friendship is the core of our spiritual growth, and having fun. It's not just a fun extra thing that we tagged on to the end of our values because we want to be a cool church. If we can't get this right, if we can't be known as a people identified with joy and with happiness and with gladness and with rejoicing and with hope — if we Christians, who have the hope of the world deep within us and exuding outside of us, if we can't get fun right, then what's the point of it all? It's not extra. It's not a bonus. It's necessary.
This is why the fruit of the Spirit — which, remember, identifies with God first — the fruit of the Spirit is joy. Not grouchiness. Not sinness. Like, if you're known for being a grumpy person, you're struggling with spiritual maturity. But the more we become known as those who are glad, joyful, able to have fun — and not in a fake, "pretend like there's nothing hard in the world" kind of way, but in a genuine, kind way — then we are more accurately reflecting the goodness and the frivolity and the Ludus Dei, the fun of God. Amen.
This is a transcript of the sermon as preached, lightly edited for readability.
