I like to think of myself has having a good sense of humor. I’m proud of the times when jokes written into my journal entries make others laugh. I tried hard to use humor appropriately in my preaching. As a pastor, I recognized that it took congregations a while to get to know me and to learn to relax and laugh in worship. My first attempts at humor when serving a congregation that does not know me well usually fall short. I say something that I think is funny, but when I look at the congregation, I don’t see the smiles and laughter that I imagine I might.

The change in a congregation can take place pretty quickly. I’ve only preached at Lummi Island Congregational Church three times, but the folks there are already starting to appreciate my sense of humor and learning to tel when I am joking and when I am serious.

During our years in the ministry before retirement we made several attempts at holy humor services. The tradition of celebrating humor during Eastertide is an ancient one, begun by early Greek Christians. “Bright Sunday” also known as “Holy Humor Sunday” is usually celebrated the week following Easter Sunday. Parties and picnics were planned to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. One year a particularly successful attempt included planning the entire worship service backward, starting with a benediction and concluding with a call to worship. I entered the sanctuary by walking backwards up the aisle. It was a lot of fun planning and executing the service and the congregation appreciated it. There were quite a few laughs during a service that took a few members of the congregation by surprise.

Many people think of religion as pretty grim. They may have memories of being told to be quiet during worship as a child, or of funeral services when the community shared deep grief, or of being bored during worship that was filled with a lot of talking and not much action. On many occasions I have noticed a room go quiet when I entered as people think about what is and is not appropriate to say in front of a minister. My uncle used to joke with me that he needed me to go out of earshot for him to start his chainsaw. The process required him to say words that he could not say in front of a minister. I never told him that I’ve hear all of those words said by ministers.

I thought that I might come up with some good jokes for my journal about last Friday’s meeting between Pope Francis and over 100 comedians. Of course the pope has the ability to draw crowds. If I were to invite the hosts of late night talk shows and stand-up comedians to come to a meeting with me, I doubt if any would bother to come. But Pope Francis got a pretty good turn out. 107 comics and humorists from 15 countries participated in the meeting. There were some big names: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Rock, Tig Notaro, Mike Birbiglia, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kathleen Madigan, and Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi prompted plenty of laughter and cheer from me with her roles in the Sister Act movies. She has participated in worship at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago and has been in the congregation several times when Jeremiah Wright was preaching. I used to wonder what it might be like to have such a famous person in the congregation. I imagine it could be a significant distraction for a preacher.

Of course addressing a crowd of 107 comics would be daunting for any preacher. According to the reports I have read the pope made several attempts at humor including making a silly gesture placing his thumb on his head and wiggling his fingers. I guess you had to be there to see the humor in it, but at least one article I read said that it got a laugh from the comedians. Making a room full of comedians laugh has got to be a good feeling for any public speaker.

Were I pope, I think I would have been tempted to also invite a rabbi to the meeting just to prompt a few “a priest and a rabbi walked into a bar” jokes. Then again, I’m not the pope and the pope probably doesn’t see see as a source of humor. I never received an invitation to attend the meeting. And the pope has never invited me to write any of his material. He seems to be doing all right without me.
The meeting ended with the prayer for good humor. It is a good prayer and Pope Frances says he has prayed it daily for more than 40 years. While the Pope attributed the prayer to St. Thomas More, it is unlikely that the attribution is correct. Even the National Catholic Register reported that the prayer, which can be found ion Chester Cathedral, is anonymously-authored. Knowing what I do of Thomas More, I suspect that he might have benefitted from a prayer for humor. The philosopher, author, and statesman is sometimes called the patron saint of lawyers. Personally, I don’t find much humor in his ordering the execution of those with whom he disagreed during the English Renaissance.

As a protestant who values my friendship with many good member of the Roman Catholic Church, I try to be careful with my use of humor about Catholic priests, saints, and others who are venerated by the faithful. While I think the church often takes itself a bit too seriously there is a big difference between someone who jokes from the inside and someone who is looking in from the outside.

I will note, however, that the famous prayer for good humor begins by asking God to grant that one’s stomach doesn’t rumble. “Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest,” is a pretty dramatic opening line for a prayer and not one that I have ever used. I do, however, like the end of the prayer and I suspect that it is that part of the prayer that has inspired Pope Frances for so many years: “Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others.”

By inviting all of those comedians to a meeting, the Pope demonstrated that he indeed has the grace to take a joke.