After several months of not writing a single blog on the Bible - and faith - through the comic lens, I have returned.
Why was I not writing for this long period of time? Why has my work really slowed in the past year?
The most obvious answer is that I have a full-time job pastoring a church, and a lively one at that, so I don’t have the time.
Some might be suspicious that my silence indicates there is no more comedy in the Bible - or in the life of faith - to talk about.
While the former could be ridiculously true, and the latter is (of course) ridiculously false, the most honest reason for my hiatus is…
I have no idea how this game is played, but I know I’ve been playing it!
I’m a fool. Of the most ridiculous kind. I know I love investigating and writing these blogs. I know I have something important to say (even, and maybe especially, if my ideas are questioned, even scorned). I know what I am seeking to create through this work - a commentary of the entire Bible through the comic lens - that could - maybe even would - be a great contribution to the field of Biblical Theology.
I also know that even though full-time pastoring does take a lot of energy and imagination, there remains enough left to work on this, my dream project. That’s become clearer and clearer to me.
All I can really say is…I’ve just been really dumb. Even as I’ve become more and more aware that if I die before I get anything more accomplished with The Comic Lens I’ll soo regretful I didn’t do more. And, even worse, I’ll be eternally embarrassed. A fate worse than Hell.
So here I am, getting back on the wagon (although I prefer to think of it as more of a getting back in the Corvair).
And for my reentry, I’m going to talk about the very funny character Jesus creates in his parable of “The Rich Fool” (my psychological cousin).
I recently preached on this parable (found at Luke 12:13-21). I shared the text with the congregation in a memorized and simple theatricalized form. I found in so doing the soliloquy the rich fool shares with us to be pretty hilarious! (Much more so than I ever have found when simply reading the text.)
One of the traits of comedy is it’s “over-the-top” nature. Every idea and reaction is so much greater than normal so as to be ridiculous. And that’s what we have here. Acting it out only makes is more so.
As a prelude to the comedy, we are told the rich man witnesses on his land a larger-than-normal harvest. While that’s not funny per se, it sets things off in a laughable direction.
Jesus very cleverly describes the harvest in this way: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.” He doesn’t say anything about what the rich man did for such glowing results to be achieved. Maybe the rich man did nothing. It was usually the slaves of wealthy landowners who did all the work, receiving nothing in return. In the present case Jesus was more likely subtly suggesting this fantastic harvest was 100% God’s doing and that’s to whom much gratitude was 100% due.
His cap isn’t nearly dunce-y enough, but the rest is clear.
However, the rich man is wholly oblivious to that fact and instead starts worrying. Worrying a LOT! “What should I do, I have no place to store my crops!!”
In putting this parable on its feet, I found it easy - and fun - to start pacing madly as I fretted like crazy about what I was going to do with all the goods that were not even actually mine.
Then, I suddenly stopped in my tracks. I got super excited as the perfect solution to my terrible problem suddenly flashed through my feeble brain. “I will do this! I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods!” My enthusiasm got evermore over-the-top as my brilliant plan unfolded. That was also really fun. Silly fun.
Then came my favorite part. I got to announce, also ridiculously, what my perfect plan would allow me to do next. “And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; eat, drink and be merry!” A non-foolish person would describe it in this way, “And I will say to myself, you have ample goods laid up….” By including mention of his soul a second time and as a proper name, he gives this concluding part of the soliloquy the same kind of goofy punch as when Dan Rowen would end “Laugh-In” by saying, “Say good-night, Dick!” And Dick Martin would immediately respond, “Good-night, Dick!”
(Discovering “Laugh-In” humor in the holy scriptures…how great is that? Why in the world am I resisting writing blogs on these writings??)
Next, when God suddenly shows up and says, with great anger, “You fool!” - it’s not only especially condemning, but also humorous. After all his over-the-top stressing and straining for what to do about “his” stuff he’s shown himself to be a huge fool. His greed has made him a clown.
And we, as Jesus’ hearers, can - and should - laugh at this hapless boob as God lays down the boom, announcing to him that his life is ending that very night and boy, is he now in trouble for being so selfish.
We can - and should - also let this clown help us laugh at ourselves and look at the ways we are holding onto our things instead of being grateful and generous. From God’s (and Jesus’) perspective, we might just be as clueless about how ridiculous we look as we stress and strain for answers like a rich man who brings Dick Martin to mind.
The rich fool has no idea just how foolish he is until it’s too late. With this parable, Jesus gives us a head’s up so we can get with the program without finding ourselves at the Pearly Gates regretful and embarrassed.
And that goes not only for the dumb, unfaithful ways we’ve dealt with our stuff. It also goes for our talents and call.
Here’s to my earnest hope that at the end of the day I’ll be able to say I found a way to keep writing about and depicting scripture’s fools rather than seeing all this abundance and choosing instead to become one.
Please oh please oh please….