Monday, April 7, 2025

It is the 7th of April 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A happy Monday to you- just a few more days of this fun celebration stuff and then back to the day-to-day… but don’t worry, these aren’t “best of’s” except that I am recalling past shows and characters- you can find links on the transcript at 1517.org as well as the CHAcelebrate page- sign up for the AMA now!

First, from a listener named Lydia- “I’ve been listening to CHA for several years, but in the last 2 or so years, it has been especially important to me. Partly because I have struggled with a lot of anxiety and OCD tendencies for most of my life, but after several family members were killed and several others passed away for various reasons in the last couple of years, I was in a very difficult season. Dan’s honesty about his own struggles, as well as his hope that everything will be okay, were instrumental in helping me through the darkness and sadness of the last several years. He was one of the few voices I wanted to hear during that time of doubt, grief, and anxiety. Another reason CHA has been so important to me is that it‚ something my Dad and I have connected over! I shared CHA with my dad a while back, and he started listening to it, and now we are able to talk about the episodes together and learn more together. Finally, I am so appreciative of the way that Dan thoughtfully, graciously, and truthfully discusses history and Christianity. In a world where so many voices are angry, argumentative, and divisive, Dan has been a balm to me. I can’t say how much it means to me to have a calm voice in the midst of a chaotic world sharing such important truths.”

Boy, thanks, Lydia.

So- my show I’m linking to today is an early weekend edition on the topic of humor and Christianity. The show was called “Sarah Laughed” which is a verse from the Bible. Of course, her laughter seems to have been disbelief in the promise of God. It didn’t make sense. She was old. It was incongruous. And, of course, the child is called “Isaac” or “one who laughs” as a reminder of her and Abram’s response.

Some Christians have wanted little to do with humor- and if all you know is crass humor or humor that punches down, I get it. There are various “kinds” of humor. One such is the so-called “Superiority theory” when you are “in” on the joke. That can be very funny, but when it comes at the expense of those “out” I agree it isn’t very Christian.

But humor, in part,  is a result of the incongruity of the world not seeming to be what it is. And so, by recognizing that we are struck with something “off,” it can be funny. Jesus himself uses wordplay and the incongruity of the actions of the “religious” to make a point- whether it’s “straining gnats” or “a camel through the eye of a needle.”

Humor, I believe, at its best, results in a relief of tension. A good punch line is an “aha!” Or, as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote, “a burst of sudden glory.” And Christianity is in the business of seeing incongruity, recognizing it’s not how it’s supposed to be, and then offering relief- and more than a “haha,” although those are great. Ultimately, it’s the “aha” that Christianity gets to relieve the incongruity. As far as “Christian” comedians- I know some pitch themselves that way- not unlike “Christian rock” in a way that is great. It can get a little “inside baseball” of sharing inside jokes- which is fine, too. But it might not surprise you that a recent favorite of many- and maybe my favorite comedian at present- Nate Bargatze, is a Christian- comedian who refuses to make fun of people- he once got rid of a joke because he realized it could hurt someone's feelings.

Check out the link to that show here: https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/2022-05-28

We’ve got two more shows like this- the AMA (which will be recorded) and the leftover questions will get a big mailbag show if you want to send any in.

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Hebrews 10. 

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 7th of April 2025

The show is produced by a man, of course trying to find very large needless or very tiny camels- maybe both, he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man encouraging you to listen to the old weekend edition if for no other reason than to hear the audio from the show Cheers and the great LCMS/ELCA scene and joke- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.