was Jesus fun???

One of my favorite Scripture passages is found in John chapter 15, where Jesus gives his disciples a reminder that staying connected to him is what ultimately will change the world.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

However, I never really considered all of the ramifications of the last sentence there, where Jesus essentially says “I have told you all this abiding stuff so that MY JOY would be in you.”

The question that I’ve been pondering, then, is this - do we really believe that God is a god of joy? That Jesus was a person of joy?

This is a tough question, especially since I think there are a lot of Christians out there who consider it their chief job to sit up at night worrying about if someone out there somewhere is having too much fun.

I think this is partly because somewhere along the way it’s because we simplified this idea that sin is fun. It can be for a time, at least. We understand that sin can be fun, but I think somewhere along the way we’ve confused that into thinking it’s a sin to have fun. And so we live like it, and even more unfortunately, we’ve passed it on to our kids (who literally have a God-designed play/fun drive in their little bodies).

I mean, if I asked ‘what is one thing Christians are known for?’  I’m guessing it probably wouldn’t be how fun and joyful they are. At least, it seems to me like that’s not what people are saying on Twitter about Christians these days. People have quite literally left our church because we have too much fun. Sadly, I’m not making that up. And it stems from this unfortunate reality that the Church at large has no theology of joy or of fun. We don’t know how these things relate to God or why they matter. Most people tend to have an image of God that is angry - that God sitting up on some cloud somewhere, perhaps, ready to strike you with a lightning bolt as soon as you mess up - not that He is a god full of joy. We have some unlearning to do, perhaps.

So, let me say a few things about Jesus, whether you want to hear them or not. I don’t know if I daresay it, but I think Jesus might have been…fun.

For one thing, Jesus was always at a party.
In the gospels, it seemed like the guy was always eating and drinking with someone, at a party, at a wedding, at someone’s house, or on his way home from doing said things! And the majority of the time, he was having fun with people he should not have been having fun with, and often accused by his opponents of being a “glutton and a wine drinker” (Luke 7 and Matthew 11). Here’s one thing I extrapolate from this:
You know who I don’t really invite to parties? Stuck up, strict, serious people who are no fun.

So many New Testament scholars say that Jesus was funny. Many of his funny responses get lost in translation, but the scholars make it clear that Jesus is full of humor and wit.

Another thing: we read that Jesus seems to have the problem of kids wanting to hang around him a lot. So much so that the disciples tend to shoo them away, to which Jesus replies, “Let the kids come to me!” (Matthew 19). One thing I know about kids is that kids don’t often choose to hang around grumpy, serious people. You know who they do tend to flock to? Joyful, fun people.

If that isn’t enough, Hebrews 1 says that God has anointed Jesus with the oil of gladness, or the “oil of joy” (Hebrews 1:9).

Hebrews 1 also says that the person of Jesus is the exact representation of God. If you wonder about what God is like, you have to look no further than Jesus. And if Jesus was full of joy, guess what that means about God?
God is full of incredible joy.

Come on - why else does God institute so many feast weeks? And holidays? So many! These are God-ordained occasions for His people to get together, remember what God has brought them through, enjoy God and each other and party for DAYS!

Why else does the Scripture command us over and over to sing, dance, celebrate, eat, to drink, and be joyful? Why, if God is not a God who delights in these things?

Is this just too weird for us? Could we believe that God is a God of joyful fun?

I think Jesus was downright shocking to the religious leaders of his time for many reasons - but one being because they were always so strict & serious and Jesus simply was not. Don’t get me wrong - he was serious about things that needed to be taken seriously, and certainly he got sad and angry and grieved. But overwhelmingly I would argue with you that God is a God of joy and fun. And if you understand that, then we might also begin to understand how we can also have these things, even in the mess of a world that we live in.

Romans 14:17 MSG says this - “God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.”

We read that joy is partly why Jesus comes to the Earth - in Luke 2, when the angels appear to the shepherds in the field, they say, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”  These angels could have said anything, right? Really BIG moment. They could have said “good news that will cause great…salvation for all people!” or “good news that will cause…an end to suffering for all people!” And yet, they declared ”great JOY for all people.”

There is probably much more to say, but - what does this mean for the Church today?

I think we have much to learn from diligent study of the character and way of Jesus. Some people will never see Jesus as someone joyful and fun, and that, to me, is a great tragedy. Certainly, joy & fun are not the same thing, and joy is not always the fun choice. Joy is the choice that can be made even when the outlook is bleak because of an anchored faith and trust in Christ. But we know that God intended his people to flourish, to laugh, to dance, and to enjoy Him & Creation forever. I think Christ’s joy complete in us is much deeper and bigger than simply a life of fun, but I have no doubt that fun is a creation straight out of God’s kind heart for us (and that Heaven is going to be quite fun, too).

When we remain in Him, we become like Him. When we remain in Him, we have a deep assurance that things are going to turn out all right in the end - because they are. And that should make Christians the most joyful people on the planet. :)


- Pastor Sarah