“The Power of Humor” (Daniel 3), 11/30/25

Here are a few stanzas from a poem based on a rather famous poem. I think you’ll recognize it. This one was written by Todd Jenkins. It’s called ‘Twas the Beginning of Advent'.

'Twas the beginning of Advent and all through the Church, Our hope was all dying we'd given up on the search.
It wasn't so much that Christ wasn't invited, But after 2,000 plus years we were no longer excited.

The priests and prophets and certainly the kings, Were all so consumed with the desire for "things!"
It was rare, if at all, that you'd hear of the reason, For the origin of this whole holy-day season.

A baby, it seems, once had been born, In the mid-east somewhere on that first holy-day morn.
But what does that mean for folks like us, Who've lost ourselves in the hoopla and fuss?

Can we open our eyes and open our ears? Can we find him again after all of these years?
Will this year be different from all the rest? Will we be able to offer him all of our best?

He'll lead us to challenge the way that things are. He'll lead us to follow a single bright star.
But that will come later if we're still around. The question for now: Is the child to be found?

Can we block out commercials, the hype and the malls? Can we find solitude in our holy halls?
Can we keep alert, keep hope, stay awake? Can we receive the child for ours and God's sake?

From on high with the caroling host as he sees us, He yearns to read on our lips the prayer: Come Lord Jesus!
As Advent begins all these questions make plea. The only true answer: We will see, we will see.

            I know one king who was consumed with the desire for things. His name was King Nebuchadnezzar, the great King of Babylon from 605 until he died in 562 BCE. Do you remember when we did the study on humor in the Bible a few years ago? I’m pretty sure this story was part of it. And if not, it could have been. Did you hear the humor in this story of our friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Did you hear the way the storyteller makes fun of the king? How about that statue? It would have used up an amazing amount of gold. It was sixty cubits, that’s 90’ high and six cubits, that’s 9’, wide. Do you think it would have even stood up? I doubt it. Do you think it makes sense to use all that gold to make a statue? Of course not. That’s the point. We are making fun of the King. He’s a buffoon. He just wants to be flattered!

            The Jewish people are living in exile in Babylon and they have to put up with this crazy king. What is the best way to do that when you don’t have any power? When you are stuck in a situation that is beyond your control? How about some humor? Let’s make fun of this guy! The statue is absurd. And then how about all of those musicians? “Your majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music  must fall down and worship the image of gold.” Could it be that we’re exaggerating just a little bit? This is satire, a powerful form of social critique. The king really wants to be flattered and let’s take advantage of that to make him look like a fool, because what else can we do? We’re stuck here in Babylon and we have no power. And how about the detail about heating the furnace “seven times hotter than usual”? It’s meant to be humorous, not morbid.

This week I came across a quote from Mel Brooks. You remember him? He’s still alive at 99 years old, a great American actor, comedian, film and song writer. He was born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents who were immigrants from Germany and Ukraine. His father died when he was just 2 years old and later he said, "There's an outrage there. I may be angry at God, or at the world, for that. And I'm sure a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility. Growing up in [Brooklyn], I learned to clothe it in comedy to spare myself problems—like a punch in the face" (as quoted in Wikipedia.)

One of his shows is called The Producers. I watched it Friday night. It came out as a movie in 1967 and then a Broadway show in 2001. Fast forward to 2017 and a small theater in Asheville, NC is debating if they should cancel the opening of their production of The Producers because of what happened the week before in Charlottesville, VA. You remember the riots there and the anti-Jewish, pro-Nazi slogans that were shouted? The Jewish community was traumatized. And so the theater in Asheville wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to open the show, given its content. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll just tell you this. It’s a bit strange. The humor is definitely different. I watched it on the library app called Kanopy. All you need is a library card and you can watch all kinds of movies and TV shows and more.

Anyway, this small theater is Asheville was debating what to do because The Producers uses caricatures of Jewish people and Hitler and the Nazis and if you don’t understand the reason behind the whole thing, it could be disturbing. But they said they went to the source, the writer of the show, Mel Brooks, and here’s what he said about his show. “After all the people that [Hitler] was responsible for killing and after utterly destroying half the world, I just thought the only weapon I’ve really got is comedy. And if I can make this guy ludicrous, if I can make you laugh at him, then it’s a victory of sorts…” And then again on 60 Minutes, he said, “You have to bring him down with ridicule … It’s been one of my lifelong jobs – to make the world laugh at Adolph Hitler.” Mel Brooks, like the author of the story of the fiery furnace, is living right into the Jewish tradition of trying to make life a little more bearable with humor

            Today is the first Sunday of Advent. When I saw what the story from the narrative lectionary was for today, at first I thought, I can’t preach a sermon about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego during Advent. What does their story have to do with Advent? But then I thought again. It has a lot to do with Advent. This story is about living in exile and how you survive when life isn’t going the way you want. The word Advent means “coming.” What do we do during Advent? We wait for Christ to come again. Where are we? We’re in exile, just like the Jewish people living in Babylon. There are parts of our lives that we’d rather not deal with. What can we do? We can wait. We can hope. We can trust. How does this story end? Does it have a happy ending? For sure!

            What happens? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego get thrown into the furnace which is seven times hotter than usual. And then suddenly the king leaps to his feet because he sees not three, but four men walking around in the fire, and one of them looks like “a son of the gods.” He calls them out of the furnace. They aren’t hurt. He praises their God and promotes them. End of story. How will your Advent story end? We have an opportunity in these next few weeks to slow down a bit, and dig a little deeper into our faith. The season of Advent calls us not to rush headlong into Christmas. I think that’s a welcoming invitation for many of us. But its countercultural. The decorations are up all over, Christmas carols are playing on the radio, Kroger’s is all about anything red and green. And the church says no. Not yet. Our color is purple or blue because Advent is all about preparation, repentance, forgiveness, introspection and prayer. And we don’t leave out God’s gift of humor. Let’s give thanks for the power of humor that brings us a bit of joy when we need it most. Let’s close with this prayer from our study this morning.

God of refuge, you protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace. Help us to learn from their example and stand up against the face of oppression. Comfort us with you presence when we face turmoil. Grant us wisdom to respond like the king when confronted by our own faults, praising you and showing compassion. We pray all of this through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.