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Behold I stand at the door and knock knock

I reckon that Jesus would have made a first-class comedian. He knew how to geta message across, and there are times when humour is the absolute best way.

Somehow, humour penetrates the armour that surrounds our thoughts and

opinions in a way that engaging people in intelligent debate just does not. Yes,there is a time and a place for intelligent debate I am not suggesting that wejust tell jokes rather than reason with people, but perhaps that this should not beour first line of approach.

You see, debate is great for open discussion that enables open-mindedexploration on open-ended topics. But most of the time, debate, or the exchangeof thoughts between individuals, involves two sides with entrenched opinionswho seek to garner as much evidence as possible with which to batter theiropponent. Listening is not the sensitive hearing of another's view in order tobetter understand and potentially embrace that view; it is discovering theweaknesses in another's arguments in order to better prepare our own line ofattack.

Now what about the magic wand of Protestant Christianity, the sermon?Sometimes, preaching is like a debate where the other side is gagged and notallowed to say anything. Lots of reasons are laid down for whatever the preacheris trying to communicate, but does it reach its target? Whilst a sermon maycontain some great stuff, it is at the best of times a one-size-fits-all productapplied to all who happen to be within hearing range, with no scope forinteraction or exploration of the theme outside the bounds of this one-way

communication.

Is this effective communication? Are people influenced towards change by this?Sometimes, no doubt, particularly when preaching to the choir and the hearersare both used to this methodology as well as tolerant and generously disposedtowards the preacher. For non church-goers, it can serve as a conversationstarter but is not the place or the means to engage with genuinely significantissues for them. Perhaps there is a better way.

Enter humour. And Jesus was a master of the art.

Take this one, for example. Jesus is walking along the Emmaus road with twodisciples, Cleopas and another his wife, I reckon. Jesus plays ignorant andgently leads them in understanding what has just happened in Jerusalem. Asthey break bread together, suddenly they realize who he is and, as if by magic,Jesus simply disappears. Bet he was having a good chuckle as he did it.

Another one. We all know the story of the two guys with things in their eyes, onewith a speck of dust, and the other with a log, plank, telegraph pole, or whatever.We analyze the passage theologically, but have you ever stopped to try andpicture it? Someone walking round with half a tree in their eye but who stillthinks they can get close enough to someone else to help them with their issues?A bit ridiculous really, and humorous to try to visualize... but that was probablywhat Jesus wanted.

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He liked puns too. Puns don't work in translation, so this passes unnoticed in theEnglish and the original Greek too for that matter. But when Jesus talks aboutstraining out gnats and swallowing camels, the Aramaic words most likely usedare galma and gamla respectively. A real groaner.

And speaking of camels, what about trying to get one through the eye of a

needle? Don't be misled by some half-baked story about a special door next tothe gate of a city that a camel could only get through on its knees and havingshed its load there is not a shred of evidence that such a gate ever existed.Jesus was using deliberate hyperbole and we are meant to laugh at theridiculousness of it all and take an important message home with us.

The absurd has a place in such humour too. Whoever would think of putting acandle under a washing-up bowl? Or what about polishing the outside of a cupand forgetting to clean out the collected crud on the inside? Serve up stones forlunch instead of bread, or snakes instead of fish? And whilst few of us know thebotanical facts involved, and thus miss Jesus' take on this, mustard seeds do notgrow into trees that birds can build nests in. The absurdity of such images ismeant to convey the strength of the teaching that Jesus wishes to transmit.

Jesus' encounter with the Syrophoenecian woman in Mark 7 can only beunderstood if humour and gesture is taken into account. When said with a grin,the meaning changes completely, and the lady herself seems to have been ableto respond with some repartee of her own.

Understanding the cultural background to Jesus' world can help too. It seemsthat shepherds tore the brunt of many jokes of his day, the rednecks / blonds of

first-century Palestine. A shepherd leaving 99 sheep all by themselves, with allthe risks that entailed, to go off and search for one would have raised a laugh ortwo. But it gave Jesus the foundation to speak of the character of God who doesthe ridiculous to reach us.

And what about irony and sarcasm? Do you think Jesus was really so impressedwith Nathanael that he calls him a true Israelite in whom there is no guile as acompliment? Or was it more of a Well I never, seems like we have found Mr.Perfect as a response to Nathanael's incredulity about Jesus, the prophet fromNazareth. Calling Peter Mr. Rock also seems a little tongue in cheek to me...

Like jokes our six-year old tells us for the twenty-somethingth time, our over-familiarity with the stories means we no longer respond to the humour theycontain. Theological constraints push us to understand and apply, rather thanreact and respond. And ignorance of humour and communication conventions inJesus' world means we miss so much of this facet of his life and ministry. Humouris so very culture-bound; the gospels abound in stories that relate to the honour-shame dichotomy of first-century Mediterranean society but which arecompletely lost on us. The image of the prodigal father, for example, hitchingup his tunic and running to meet his second son would have brought a shockedsmile to his listeners' faces.

Humour has the ability to bypass the normal self-defense mechanisms thatprotect our egos and thought constructs and deliver a one-two punch right to theheart. Where rivers of words fail, aptly chosen humour can succeed. This Jesus

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knew well.

One contemporary illustration. Look at this cartoon, drawn by Joel Pett for USAToday during the Global Summit on Climate Change in December 2009. So manywords on both sides of the issue, but his What if it's a big hoax and we create abetter world for nothing cuts through all of that in a mere 15 words. Most people

get the message in less than 15 seconds. Tremendous.

So next time you are thinking about how to engage with others to promotechange and want people to reflect on deeply held beliefs and values, spare athought for the humorous, the arty, visual, poetic, something that engages witha person at a different level to rational thought alone. Fire away and see whathappens. You might be pleasantly surprised.