“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?” Jesus – Matthew 7:3

This morning I was on my way to the coffee pot to pour my wife and I a cup…. He-Brews! After filling her cup, I heard her holler ‘OUCH!’ Turning around, I saw her lying on the floor holding her ankle. “What happened?” I asked.. silence. Drawing closer with concern I asked, “are you alright?” Before my very eyes her painfully contorted face turned into a devilish grin as she said.. “April Fools!” I am married to the devil!

Normally I like April 1^st. As is the birthday of my youngest daughter. We laugh now as we tell the story about her birth. Being our fourth child, all who were delivered naturally, my wife was ready to push when the nurse hollered…”STOP!” It had just been discovered she was breech! That means ‘about to come our butt first!’ After 20 minutes of no joke, pant-blows, no drugs and prayer, my wife delivered her that way… BACKWARDS!  I do think it affected her brain though! I see it every April 1^st.  This morning my wife suggested we call and sing “We wish you a Merry Christmas to my daughter!” We did!

I do not like April Fools Day for the same reason I never liked the Three Stooges or Slapstick comedy. Laughing at someone else’s misfortune or pain just isn’t in me. Inflicting pain or confusion on purpose… confuses me. Having experienced so much of it in my life, I don’t get the joke. Neither did Jesus.

Teachers of the Law during Jesus Day were folks who felt it their obligation to point out the bad things in peoples lives. Jesus came and pointed out that those who THOUGHT they were better, were actually WORSE. Foolish judgment had a way of biting the judge because they really did NOT see the error of their ways. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22. I cringe at the thought in my own life!

The basic principle of The Christian Life is VERY simple… but EXTREMELY difficult. To become a Christian one must FIRST admit that they are a sinner deserving of God’s wrath! And while that sounds like a joke to the world, it is a deadly serious transaction. Once we admit our failure, we then ask and receive God’s Mercy and Grace. From then on, we are to commit to doing HIS thing and NOT our own! NOT an easy task.

In all of the Gospels, I do not see anywhere where Jesus told a joke or laughed. While that doesn’t mean He didn’t, we can be sure it was not a dominant part of His personality. Though allowing loud mouthed Peter to step out on the stormy waves may qualify, that one seems more of an inside joke! Peter’s inflated ego needed a little deflating after all! Christianity is VERY serious and I am pretty sure that Jesus would be playing April Fools jokes on us today. Too much confusion, which the Bible says God is NOT the author of!

I had to pause in this writing this because my wife hollered that her car would not start. When I got to the garage.. well… you know! She just laughed all the way out! I’ll be glad when this day is over!