Apr. 7, 2024 – Matt. 28:16-20 – Float Like a Butterfly, Spread the Gospel like a Bee

Eastertide ~ Holy Humor & Joy Sunday: Float Like a Butterfly, Spread the Gospel like a Bee

Good Morning! Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church for our second Holy Humor Sunday! This Sunday will be a little different, but we hope loads of fun as we celebrate the Risen Christ. We hope our worship today will be filled with joy and smiles. Thank you for being with us and may God bless you in this time of worship!

Intro - “Thine is the Glory” [by G.F.Handel] - Sarah Park

Let’s Get the Party Started - Rev. Chad Delaney

Welcome to the Mantua Center Christian Church! We are a community seeking to have Open Minds, Open Hearts, and Open arms to live and love and laugh in the Name of the Risen Christ! Welcome to all online and in the house!

If you are visiting with us this morning, please know that you have attended our second (and hopefully not last) Holy Humor and Joy Sunday! We’re glad you are here. Welcome…we are so glad you are here!

Take time to greet your neighbor…

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Stopwatch.

Stopwatch who?

Stopwatcha doing and let’s start worship…

So… a Little history… many churches around the globe set aside one Sunday a year to celebrate God’s gift of laughter and joy found in the gift of the Risen Christ having its root in different Christian Traditions. From 15th Century Bavaria where they celebrated the Sunday after Easter as Risus Paschalis (‘God’s Joke,’ or ‘the Easter laugh’).The Priests would deliberately include amusing stories and jokes in their sermons in an attempt to make the faithful laugh. In the Orthodox tradition, people would gather on Easter Monday to tell jokes and funny stories, and to dance and eat together.

#1 BUTTERFLY break - We INTERRUPT the pastor babbling to tell you a joke…..

INVITATION FOR MISSION UPDATES:

Ministry Leaders and congregants are welcome to come forward to the mic, to give a mission update or share ways for people to get involved in missions and ministries.

Mission ANNOUNCEMENTS

ENJOY the ECLIPSE tomorrow!
Week of Compassion Coin Collection on April 21st
Kazoos are for the first verse of the 1st and 3rd Hymn.
Cyf tickets

Ancient Holy Words - Romans 15:13

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

*We’re Glad You’re Here Song - “Morning Has (kind of) Broken”

Morning has broken, wow is it early. Blackbird has spoken, look at the time!
Thank God for Carol, YouTube and laptops. To bed I’m returning, I’ll catch it online.

#2 BUTTERFLY Break

*Let’s Light this Candle - Karly Lind

One: Joy is alive,

All: In the wiggles of the children,

One: The whispers of the youth,

All: The grins of the grown.

One: We praise God for this glorious day,

All: Let praise burst forth in unlikely places and in silly ways.

One: Let joy and praise fill our hearts and songs

All: Let the good times roll, for we are God's people.

*Joyful Noise! - It Came upon a Sunrise Bright #153, v.1-2 (Tune: "It Came upon a Midnight Clear")
©2004 by Paul Lintern. Reprinted with permission.

1 It came upon a sunrise bright, that glorious promise anew,

That Jesus, though he’s crucified, now lives for me and you.

Peace on earth, goodwill to all, from Heav’n rejoicing on high,

The world with joyful dancing shares the news that He is alive.

2 The women with their spices came, the body to anoint,

They found the tomb was empty and they heard an angel appoint

the time, the place, the reason why, you'll find your Jesus on high.

And then in joy the woman shared the news that He is alive.

#3 BUTTERFLY break

Let Us Emptyeth Our Pocketeths

The “Please? Please? Please?” Talk - Karly Lind

Giving Time

Giving Music - “Far Away in the Depths of my Spirit” [by W. G. Cooper] - Sarah Park

Giving Thanks - “Give Thanks” #528

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,

Give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. Give Thanks!

The “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Prayer - Karly Lind

Share the Joy (Children’s Moment) - Rev. Chad Delaney

#4 BUTTERFLY break -
#5 BUTTERFLY break -
#6 BUTTERFLY break
#7 BUTTERFLY break

Special Music

This Year [by The Mountain Goats] - Ryan Lind

Talkin’ to God (Pastoral Prayer) - Rev. Chad Delaney

#8 BUTTERFLY break - Lettuce pray….. (have a kid do it)

A woman invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the prayer?"

"I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied.

"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the mother said.

The little girl bowed her head and said: "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

— via Charles Laine, Franklin, TN

Prayer by Rev. April Fiet

O Lord, giver of joy and laughter, we thank you for giving us these gifts.

For the moments of laughter and unbridled joy you give to us:

for opportunities to laugh at ourselves,

for the belly laughs of children,

for friends and family who love us because of our quirks,

and not just in spite of them,

for artists who give us the opportunity to see the world through the surreal,

for the courage to smile even when difficulties arise,

for those who have hope even when others think there is no hope,

for saints in the Lord who overflow with laughter and spread your joy to all of us.

For the words of Jesus that defy our logical minds;

for teaching us that we can be born again,

for the woman who finds a lost coin and calls her

friends and neighbors to celebrate,

for the absurdity of a camel trying to fit through the eye of a needle,

for the father of the Prodigal Son who is willing to look

like a fool as he runs to greet his son,

for the generosity of the landowner who will pay

workers a whole day’s wage when they only worked one hour,

for tiny bits of faith that can move entire mountains,

for the reality that nothing can live unless it first dies.

For the great reversal of the Gospel:

that the last shall be made first, that the rejected stone became the cornerstone,

that those who wish to become great must serve,

that the lost will be found, that the small will become great,

that though you are Wisdom, you choose to forget our sins,

that when we are weak, your strength shines through us.

O Lord, giver of joy and laughter, we thank you for giving us these gifts.

Thank you for the gift you give us that allows us to enjoy these things to the full.

We can laugh because of the most amazing thing of all – that

you conquered death, that the tomb is empty, that light shone

so bright that it overcame the darkness. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And now we ask that you would unite us together in your Spirit to pray the prayer you taught us to pray…..

The Great Thanksgiving

Table Talk - Steve Hurd

1 Beautiful Day, Glorious Day
All is new, all's okay! 'Round the tomb
There is dancing and song, See inside that the body is gone.
Christ, the Savior's alive, Christ, the Savior's alive.

2 Beautiful Day, Glorious Day,
Sing and shout, tell and say,
Radiant beams from this child’s face, Shown because of amazing grace,
Christ, the Savior's alive, Christ, the Savior's alive.

Table Prayer - Ally Bozeka

Table Words - Ally Bozeka

Table Music - “Jesus Shed His Blood for Me” [by W. H. Doane] - Sarah Park

Ancient Holy Words - Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Nap Time - Float like a Butterfly… Rev. Chad Delaney

JOKE - Very excited, a pastor took the new convert to the river for his baptism, and told him that he was about to find Jesus. So he pushed the guy under water; when he came up, he said, “Did you find Jesus?” and the new Christian said, “Well, no…” and so the Pastor pushed him under again. “Did you find Jesus?” “Not yet.” And so he pushed him under again, and held him down there a little longer. A third time: “Did you find Jesus?” And the man sputtered and said, “Are you sure this is where he fell in?

The scripture says to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” and it is not altogether clear how best to spread Good News and to find a way for people to receive it. All sorts of different methods have been used and proposed to help people find Jesus…what feels appealing to you?

At Hiram College, I took Biblical studies and for me that meant very serious business. Religion--after all--was about life and death. Heaven and Hell. Everything we say, do, and believe has eternal consequence! I took religion seriously and (by the way) took myself way too seriously. So you can imagine my surprise when we were covering serious business like the New Testament and Professor Slingerland introduced our class to--Monty Python’s Life of Brian. At the end of every class we watched about 5-10 minutes of it. If you didn’t know, Life of Brian is a parody of biblical times and was deemed one of the most blasphemous films of all time by some groups and even countries. Though the film isn’t about Jesus, many people saw it as irreverent and inappropriate in its mocking tone.

So---we asked our professor--as an ordained Lutheran pastor--why he would be OK with this and his response was that “Christianity takes itself way too seriously. Good religion knows how to make fun of itself.”

My understanding of religion at that time felt like walking on eggshells. I didn’t want to offend God or jeopardize my place in the grand scheme of things…what if my irreverence would put my place in heaven in question? Do I really trust that God loves me no matter what? Can I be serious about my religion and still find humor in it?

After that conversation with my prof, I started to loosen up and see things a little different. May having some fun with my own beliefs was not dangerous or a form of irreverence…but instead a sign of humility and courage. It was a way to intentionally look for the growing edges and ways to improve. To be aware of the absurdities and humor of my beliefs. It was way more honest and opened up a lot of interesting conversations with people. And I could still deeply respect and cherish my tradition of faith.

What I also realized through this experience is that for far too long many peoples’ experience of faith revolved not around love and trust, but fear. Fear was the tactic used to get people to believe what they believe. Why believe? Why be Christian? Why share the Gospel?--were all answered with: Because I am afraid. Afraid of God. Afraid of Hell. Afraid of the church. BE AFRAID seems to have been the message of the church for many 100s of years. BUT…is that really the way to present the Gospel? Doesn’t the Bible say “Perfect Love casts out all fear.” Doesn’t like every angel in the Bible say “Fear not!”

Should FEAR have anything to do with spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is that the best strategy we can come up with? Seriously?

Our theme today is Float like a butterfly, spread the Gospel like a Bee. Obviously kicking off from the great Muhammad Ali quote. He was a powerful boxer who had strategy and method, while also being loose and light on his feet.

In many ways, the Church (and I mean BIG C Church) has gotten the bee idea. The church has become powerful in many contexts in the world and can be methodical. The Church universal can be organized, have well-defined roles, and people understand their place in the system. The church can be predictable, cautious, and careful. People can work hard, work together, and get things done. All of these can be good things and what people are looking for.

And--let’s face it--in some contexts--if it’s ONLY that way--it can feel a little cold. Even a drag. The church can come off as too rigid. It can prioritize preserving the system more than caring about people. It can even be judgmental, demanding, and manipulative. It can believe IT is the way of salvation, rather than God. The church can take itself way too seriously sometimes!

So that’s where the Float like a Butterfly comes in. To be a bit less tense. A little more adventurous, whimsical, and free. To leave room for change and transformation. A little more loose and lighthearted. God forbid…the church even has some fun? Some JOY?! Isn’t there room for both in our experience of our faith?

So, a guy walks into a bar---errr church. He’s a first-time visitor. He greets everyone with enthusiasm, even though he doesn’t know them. In the midst of a sea of dignified hymn droning, he sings the hymns at the top of his lungs. During the “greeting time” he hugs people and slaps high fives. He laughs loudly and even shouts an “amen” or two during the sermon. He grins when the children make noises in worship. He’s filled with Joy!

BUT…after the service, a few people come to him and tell him that this is not how they worship at their church. They suggest that he might be more comfortable worshiping somewhere else. The man leaves the building and dejectedly sits down on the front steps, sadly wondering what he did wrong. The next thing he knows, someone sits down beside him. It’s Jesus. Jesus puts his arm around the man and says, “Don’t feel bad. “I’ve been trying to get into that church for years.”

In our passage today, the Risen Christ joins the Disciples and offers them a commission that has been repeated in churches for millenia. “19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”

As we do so as the Mantua Center Christian Church, what style will we bring? What will be effective in this time and place? What will connect to people and offer an experience of religion that is both serious and fun? That has both bee and butterfly characteristics?

Despite what churches have done for a long time…it turns out that this doesn’t have to be boring, lame, manipulative, and greedy. It doesn’t have to be rigid and fear-based.

I’m thankful for our church whose mission not only includes commitments to our principles and the work we are called to. But….also, joy and levity. Creativity, laughter, and enthusiasm. To be unafraid to try something new and have fun doing it.

Author Ted Loder said:

Laughter is a holy thing. It is as sacred as music and silence and solemnity, maybe more sacred. Laughter is like a prayer, like a bridge over which creatures tiptoe to meet each other. Laughter is like mercy; it heals. When you can laugh at yourself, you are Free.”

May we remain committed to the seriousness of the task at hand and have deep respect for our tradition. And may we remain committed to joy and laughter. To take ourselves less seriously--knowing that we all imperfect people, yet perfectly loved. To remember that we all have growing edges and sometimes it's just plain funny how we think and act. And may we have joy while sharing the Life-Giving, Restorative, Power of the Gospel in our lives and ministry. And let’s invite more people to come along…

I want to close with our Statement of Calling as a congregation with a special emphasis on the last phrase!

We are Seekers, Leaders, Followers and Believers, committed to living and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.

We believe in open communion – all are welcome!

We are seeking to be faithful servants of God, called to ease the pain, loneliness, and suffering of others in our community and our world.

We seek a joyful experience in following the Gospel by enjoying fun and fellowship with one another.

May it continue to be so in the Name of the Risen Christ! Amen.

#9 Floating BUTTERFLY

*Grand Finale - Go Tell It on the Mountain #167, v.1-2 2004 by Paul Lintern. Reprinted with permission.

[Chorus]

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere,

Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus is alive.

1 The women found no body their spices to anoint;

instead they found an angel, God's message to appoint. [Chorus]

2 Go from where He isn't to where He said He'd be.

An Easter-time reunion: the hills of Galilee. [Chorus]

Y’all Come Back Now - Rev. Chad Delaney

#10 BUTTERFLY break

God is good
Blessed with music from Ryan & Karly Lind
Stay for fellowship and Sunday Chat
Wednesday Dwelling and Time to Grow Study

Lord, give us joyful hearts and holy senses of humor.

Please give us the gift of faith,

to be renewed and shared with others each day.

Teach us to live this moment only,

looking neither to the past with regret,

nor to the future with apprehension.

Let love be our guide, and our lives a prayer.

Go in laughter; go in grace.

Keep the Lord in your heart

and a smile on your face.

Amen

Outro - “God Sent His Son ” [by W. J. Gaither] - Sarah Park