Some years ago when I was leading a church youth group I showed them how to play the laughing game. One person lies on the floor, the next person lies down with their head on the first person’s belly. Then the next person lies down with their head on the second person’s belly, and so on until you have a chain of people lying on the floor. The first person starts to laugh – it’s ok if it’s fake. When they start laughing, the second person starts laughing, then the next one and the next one and pretty soon everyone is really laughing. I don’t know why, but that’s what happens.
Laughter is contagious. That’s why TV sitcoms have a laugh track if not a studio audience, to help us start laughing. In fact, this is something I have really missed during the pandemic. When you watch TV, don’t you miss hearing the laughter of other people?
Laughter is contagious. Happiness is contagious, there are studies that affirm this. Researchers find that if you are happy, your next-door neighbor has a 34 percent increased chance of becoming happy too. What’s more, happiness has a social network effect – it can spread up to three degrees. That’s a fact. In a weird way, it turns out that maybe we are responsible for one another’s happiness.
Laughter is contagious. Happiness is contagious. Is joy also contagious? Joy is more complex than happiness. It’s deeper, if not bigger, than happiness. Joy is something that can persevere even when you are in the middle of something tragic. I do believe that joy, too, is contagious.
I don’t have the research to back that one up, but perhaps you just know it from experience. We can become more joyful when we are around joyful people. There are times in life when we just need someone to show us the way to joy.
There is a man named Matt I want to tell you about. He worked as a video game designer. His career was going well, but as the games he was working on became increasingly violent he began to have reservations. He didn’t want to spend his life writing games about killing people. He decided to quit his job and he began traveling around the world. Pretty soon he found a new calling.
Matt began shooting videos of himself dancing wherever he went. He would get someone to hold his phone and then he would start dancing his happy little jig. It was funny and fun to watch, and pretty soon, other people started dancing with him. Matt’s joy was contagious.
When we experience joy and express joy, it is contagious. In spite of everything.
There is a surprising appearance of the word joy in this passage from Luke. This is still the day of resurrection. Last week we read from John’s gospel about the appearance of Jesus to the disciples in the upper room that Sunday evening, afraid. Today we have a similar passage from Luke, with some additional context. Earlier in the day some of Jesus’ disciples were walking to Emmaus when Jesus joined them on the road. They didn’t recognize him, but he walked and talked with them. After a while, when they stopped at an inn and sat at table together his identity was revealed to them. And just as quickly he was gone. The disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what they experienced. When they were talking, Jesus appeared again.
Luke says the disciples were startled and terrified – as anyone would be. They had seen him die three days before; they had no idea what was going on now. Then, Luke says something odd: “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering.”
What in the world does this mixture of disbelief and wonder and joy feel like all together?
It is what happens whenever you are open to the very real presence of Jesus in your midst. It is confusing, it is startling, it is mystifying. It is possibly frightening, but it is also strangely wonderful. We are reminded by this story in Luke that when we are talking about Jesus – surprise! He is there too. He came right in and said, “Do you have anything to eat?”
When we are talking about God, guess what? God is there too. Because these are not just ideas we are talking about. These are real living beings. Jesus is revealed to us in all places and all times, and especially whenever two or three are gathered in his name – that is, talking about him.
The letter of John assures us that he will be revealed to us, and when he is revealed, we will see him as he is. And we will be like him. Think about that – the notion that we will see him as he is – wounded hands and feet; full of grace and truth – and that we will be like him. I find it has a humbling effect.
Last week I told you about my friend who likes to explain his philosophy of faith, which is not an original idea. It is something that is often called Pascal’s Wager. The basic idea is that you make a choice about whether to believe or not believe in God. Believing is the safe bet, while disbelieving is risky. If you are wrong and it turns out God exists then too bad for you. That’s the theory.
I don’t know if you have an affinity for that theory – and if you do, whether you were troubled by what I said last week. But I want to tell you a little more of the story.
Years ago, I was sitting around a table with this friend and a few other people talking about what we believed about God. He presented his theory, others chimed in with their own ideas, and everyone was having a really vigorous and intellectual and enjoyable conversation. Someone asked me, “what do you think?” I said, “I think God is smiling at us right now. I think God is saying, ‘Oh just look how cute they are, thinking they know so much.’”
And it makes me smile to think about God smiling. To think about God looking at us with tenderness, with amusement. Try it. It might make it easier for us to look on our fellow humans with that same kind of tenderness, amusement, love.
In any case, it can’t hurt to watch something joyful. Here is a video of Dancing Matt.
