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COUNT IT ALL JOY
It was past midnight when I was hunting comedians in Sun City. The crowds in the casinos were still busy yanking the arms of the slot machines and I had no place to sleep in this weird place of cheap dreams and counterfeit gods.
I had flown up to Joburg to see the 46664 comedy show at Sun City's Superbowl for a German radio documentary. But on arrival, no car or hotel was paid for from the producers and after 3 hours a taxi driver from Limpopo accepted half of his usual price – I looked funny and he felt sorry - and we made it just in time. But the worst was yet to come. I was not allowed to do any interviews and the organiser - a petite woman who could have been my daughter, but only age wise as she was a beautiful Indian girl – simply ignored me.
"Count it all joy", R.T Kendall recently preached out of James to us in Somerset West. Thousands that night in Sun City's Superbowl did just that, including me: we laughed despite an often hard life or dire circumstances. The tickets hadn't been cheap, but for one evening we were off the hook, free to laugh about the lives, we just escaped. We were having a ball.
R.T. Kendall and his wife are not only heartwarming people but also quite funny, and it struck me how close good comedy is to the Gospel. In both alike you get kicked in your butt with love, you are ridiculed, your leg gets pulled and if you're honest: you just want more.
Like the Gospel, comedy is certainly about crushing our pride. We are proud of the most stupid things, if we are honest. White people? Yes, they still think their brains are bigger and that they invented the wheel. Which they didn't. And black people still believe they have greater sexual prowess. But dare not to ask their wives! Or take the Afrikaaners. Most still think their ancestors were French comptes with chateaus or Dutch noble traders, and not the impoverished and illiterate labourers who had nowhere else to go than Africa. Not different with many Zulus and Xhosas, who still think dancing in loin cloths and honouring ancestors is a must, but when the holidays are over, they rather worship socialist youth leaders AND the luxury of a BMW 4X4.
The world is a crazy and broken place, often sad and cruel. And yet God calls us to be joyful. How does that work? Just look at South Africa. Life for most South Africans is tough and not easy and yet they are the most friendly, funny and welcoming people. Then look at Germany, where the comforts and the saturated lifestyle make people complain with no end. There seems to be a connection, something in our human nature we don't like to face: that the adversities of life make us thankful and appreciate what we have. Have you ever compared pictures of poor people in the Andes or in Bangladesh and with pictures of way richer people in big cities? The poor smile, the wealthy just look very concerned, busy and worried.
South Africa is a country where people smile. And that's why it's a great place for Jesus and for comedy. South Africans are funny, they can laugh about themselves and just know that without the grace of God they would have never survived. The Truth and Reconciliation is continued with laughter and the amazing love and kindness that made us Germans fall in love with South Africans and their Gospel of Jesus Christ. A Gospel lived out and not only talked about.
Laughter brings healing I learned doing my research, and it taught me a lesson how to take the Gospel to those in need: to be open, funny, blunt sometimes, but always loving. Because we bring the Good News, not the bad news. Jesus promises joy and not gnashing of teeth for those who love Him. Not a few people are bursting out with laughter when they receive the Holy Spirit and start to see life with God’s eyes. And this kind of joy is not only for ourselves.
„Count it all joy!“ writes James, the brother of Jesus. Because it is easy to be angry and grumbling like the pagans (and the Germans like me). Smile and make a way for the Good News, because how do we expect salvation of others if we are not joyfully reaching out?
„But you have dishonored the poor man ... What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?“ (James 2,6-14, ESV, emphasis added). With „him“ meaning „the poor man“, as R.T.Kendall pointed out, and not the already saved one. James speaks of the works that save others.
Well, I tried to be cheerful in Sun City. Tired and feeling a bit lost, I offered the shuttle driver a bribe for his sleeping place, which he thought was very funny. A white man in Sun City without a bed! He just smiled and I smiled back. Some white suburban pagans then had mercy on me and took me the 150 km to a Formula One hotel, but the hotel was fully booked. I could have killed three oxen by then, but I tried to smile. Count it all joy! A while later then, at 3 in the morning, there was a room for me. Not all rooms were used for sleeping, as I found out, and were rented out several times a night to the full rate.
I slept well for 4 hours till I heard some men trying to repair a car at 7 in the morning with each a beer in their hand. I switched on the TV and thanked God I had a bed and that I was back in town. But where was God? It hadn't felt like He was really around.
Staring at the ceiling I realised that I had achieved nothing in the world, no interviews, all money spent. I felt utterly defeated, ashamed and stupid because I could have done way better. I had failed and couldn't even fall asleep again, such a loser I was. When suddenly I heard a sermon on TV. It was on how all workers get paid the same in the vineyard, and that we shouldn't complain about His decisions (how to reward us). Instead we should rejoice that He calls us into His service and on His side, and that with Him we can do much, even if we have little. Like David killing Goliath with his small stones and God’s mighty strength.
And from then on I heard God all along the way. The clerk said „God bless“ when I left, the taxi driver from Mpumalanga spoke about Jesus and how he tried to quit smoking (not Jesus, the taxi driver). At the security check they had a lively discussion if you can say „Hi God“ or if that is too disrespectful. By now my joy was back and I had to cut in to say that „YES! YOU CAN! Because he is your Dad.“ The guards laughed, surprised, thanked me and waved good-bye. Then the business men in the seats behind me started talking about Jesus and that was all I heard high in the sky, way closer to God now and definitely with a smile on my face.
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