Laughing With the Bible
Sometimes the Bible is very serious. It covers dark topics of human suffering and the triumphs over those cases of tragedy and anguish. With drama that still maintains its potency thousands of years later, the authors narrate Samson regaining his strength for one final battle, David mourning the loss of his rebellious son, and Jesus standing between the crowd sent to arrest him and his followers, making sure that none of his disciples would suffer that night. Sometimes the Bible is purely inspirational and joyful. Psalms use vivid imagery to tell the glory of God, while Revelation beautifully describes a new heaven and earth where God dwells with God’s people forever. Sometimes the Bible is just boring. If you don’t believe me, try reading Numbers 7, 1 Chronicles 1-9, or the genealogies of Jesus found in Matthew and Luke. However, there are also times when the Bible is really funny.
The Book of Acts in particular plays like a farce at times compared to the more serious books of the New Testament. Sometimes silly mistakes carry the plot along. Characters have over or underreactions that border on the ridiculous if they aren’t transgressing that boundary completely. Unfortunately, in expecting the Bible to be boring and out of touch, we often miss the brilliant humor of these passages. This Sunday we will read one such humorous passage. I want to talk a little bit about what makes this passage funny to me, but then I think we need to answer a bigger question. What makes humor important in the Bible? Why should we be concerned with laughing at the funny parts?
Acts 16:16-34, our first reading for this week, begins with a slave-girl with a “spirit of divination” following Paul around. Based on how Paul eventually casts it out, this appears to be some sort of unclean spirit or demon; however, it doesn’t seem to be proclaiming a demonic message. She proclaims that Paul and his companions are slaves of God and “proclaim to you a way of salvation.” This is certainly a twist on the demonic possession narrative, which gets some really horrifying treatment elsewhere in the New Testament. Imagine watching the Exorcist, but instead of floating in the air and speaking vulgar words in a gritty voice, little Regan MacNeil stands outside of a local church shouting about how good the pastor is. This is already quite a humorous subversion.
The story gets even funnier when we see Paul’s reason for expelling the demon. After days of the girl talking about them to anyone who would listen, Paul casts out the demon. We can’t say for sure why he did this, but the author notes that he was “very much annoyed.” Could it be that Paul was simply tired of this girl continually following them and talking? This could be the only recorded case of annoyance leading to exorcism more so than a desire to save someone from a demon. Again, this is a funny subversion of the demonic possession genre. It isn’t horrifying. The stakes aren’t high. Demons are reduced to simply being a source of distraction and annoyance. I can almost imagine Paul explaining his motives to other Christians later. “She just wouldn’t stop talking! I had to do something!” This would leave the others to contemplate why the demon was not the primary concern. I can’t help but imagine this with Seinfeld characters, obviously making Jerry the person listening to Paul, which means Paul is clearly George Costanza.
Of course, there is a retaliation. The girl may be freed from a spirit, but she isn’t freed from her human owners. They decide to get Paul and Silas thrown in prison because their hope to make money from the girl’s fortune telling is gone. They take them to the magistrates and incite a crowd against them. The way they get the crowd angry might just be antisemtic, but if we are reading this as funny, it might be a satire of antisemitism as well. What crimes do the owners bring against the Christians? They are causing a disturbance. This one is humorously vague. They are advocating customs that aren’t lawful for Romans. This is also pretty vague. And perhaps most importantly, tucked in between the other two, “They are Jews.” Just imagine this crowd and what made them mad. Read the simplicity present in sweeping them into a frenzy. This might just be describing events, but it might also be satirizing the gullibility of the mob and the obsequiousness of the magistrates.
Paul and Silas get put into prison in the highest possible security after being flogged. An earthquake, with the power to open doors and unfasted chains, strikes the prison setting all the prisoners free. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to immediately rouse the jailor from a nap. Just before the sleepy jailor attempts to kill himself to avoid the shame and punishment of allowing prisoners to escape on his watch, Paul calls to him from inside. Apparently, despite everything being open, the prisoners decided to just wait this one out. Again, if you let your imagination go, there’s a funny skit here.
Silas turns to Paul and says, “Should we, you know, go?”
“No, I think we should wait for the jailor to wake up. It would be rude to go without saying, ‘Goodbye.’”
“Oh yeah. Of course. So, what should we do now?”
Then we proceed to a montage of Paul and Silas during progressively more ridiculous things while waiting: counting the stones in the floor, playing checkers, playing hopscotch, trying to tame a rat, counting the stones on the floor again, painting a fruit bowl, writing a novel, programming a computer, etc. Finally the jailor wakes up and nearly kills himself before Paul finally tears himself away from the financial counseling he is giving a young couple, while Silas gardens in the other corner of the cell. Obviously, I’m being a little overly creative here, but the point stands. Waiting around for the jailor to wake up after a miraculous prison break is funny. I think it was intended to be funny.
So, why is this important? Why is there a need to recognize the humor in the Bible? I think there are a few good reasons. The unfortunate reality of the modern Church is that many Christians don’t know their way around the Bible, and that is fair to an extent. Most of it was written over two thousand years ago. It is easy to see it being behind the times in terms of writing style and content. However, humor is timeless. The same jokes that engaged people in the narrative two thousand years ago, still work today. When we learn to see the humor in these things, it makes us want to read more. Humor is human. It helps us see these characters not as distant, perfect saints, but as people like us. This is a dynamic, emotional story, inviting us to laugh and cry with the characters. It isn’t just a bunch of old dead text.
And while it is very important to encourage people to read the Bible, I think there is another important function of this humor. The mockery with which this story in particular treats certain topics can be helpfully applied today. Demons are not impossible enemies, whatever form they may arrive in. The things that plague us today: divisions, racism, sexism, hatred, violence, and the beliefs that go along with them are not unconquerable. There are times when we need to recognize the deep pain and negative effects these have on us, but there are other times when it serves us well to mock them. How stupid and annoying and primitive is racism? Its negative effects deserve our urgent attention, but does the malady itself deserve any more than our disdain and mockery? Look how easily swayed a hateful crowd can be. Look how corrupt local leaders may be. See how futile is faith placed in anyone other than God. And perhaps, when we step back and really look carefully, we will see ourselves not only in the persecuted Christians, but also in the hateful crowd and unjust leaders. How often are we swept into a frenzy by vague threats and exclusionary language? Can laughing at these stories teach us to laugh even at ourselves?
