God Got Jokes: Friendship with Jesus

God Got Jokes

I had the privilege to teach the 6-8 graders for one class last Thursday at Vacation Bible School. During the class we talked a lot about the theme of friendship. They answered questions like: What is a friend? And How can you tell when people are friends; how do they talk? How do they act?

They defined a friend as someone who listens, someone who understands you, and someone who “always has your back no matter what”. One of the girls in my class talked about the jokes that some friends play on each other, cruel jokes that only true friends could appreciate, like tripping a friend, helping them up, and then tripping them again, or a well intentioned truth, that hurts a little less because it came from a friend and inside jokes that only best friends could understand.

After their workbooks asked them several versions of similar questions, they became antsy, as most middle-schoolers would. I knew I had to get their attention with something they weren’t expecting. “How can you tell when someone is friends with Jesus?” Their answers were textbook, “by their heart” “how they treat people” or “they go to church”. The next question wasn’t as easy. “How can you tell that Jesus is friends with you?” They paused.

A story came to mind, and a saying, that I hoped would stick with them to help them remember the lesson. “God got jokes” Jesus and I are close friends, so much so, that I know that the “coincidences” in my life are ones that he sends to me, to send me a message, to get my attention, and many times, to make me laugh. I told them about a time Jesus played a joke on me. One morning my mother woke me up for church. I didn’t want to go and I fought and complained, but she made me get up anyways. We were going to be a little late, so we rushed to get there on time. Lo, and behold, we were an hour EARLY for church. It was daylights savings time and we forgot to set our clocks. I was immediately convicted with the message that God had for me: I shouldn’t have given my mom a hard time about going to church, and I shouldn’t have tried to sleep in. I had to laugh at our mistake. God got jokes.

There are no coincidences. I don’t take it as God being a bully, embarrassing me or making me feel guilty, I take it as mercy, a gentle reminder, a joke at my expense, a message to bring something to my attention.

This message was brought home as the class went over scripture.

Proverbs 27:6  Wounds from a friend can be trusted,  but an enemy multiplies kisses.

The kids rightly interpreted that verse as “you can trust the truth from a friend, but an enemy will tell you a lie that sounds good even though its not true”

How has God been a friend to you?

By Mark Burrier