Make It Fun!

August 1, 2021 

It seemed like this summer was the time to make up for all the fun we didn’t have because of stay-at-home orders and do not travel warnings. It was time to go and do something fun! I hope you were able to have some fun this summer! I want to thank Rev. Gobrecht and Rev. Bingaman for preaching and Tom Houtz and Susan Shadle for leading worship while I was on vacation. I had FUN! We went for a week to Boston and Rhode Island. We took a whale watching boat from Boston and saw humpback whales! There was a humpback calf taking a nap on the surface, while mom wouldn’t go too far away. She would surface and blow air out her blowhole. We also saw whales dive and do that tail flip!  

It was good to get away. Vacations are wonderful! But 55% of American workers don’t take all their vacation days! They are not having the fun or the relaxation they could. Even if you go away on vacation and return refreshed, you might return to everyday life and work weighs you down again. Do you wish you had more fun? I do! 

So today we’re going to talk about fun. Does God want you to have fun? Or is it a sin to have too much fun? Is having fun important? 

We’ll start with a Scripture verse: Ecclesiastes 8:15 says, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.”  

This is from the Bible! It says I recommend that you enjoy life! There is nothing better for you than to eat and drink and be glad. If you enjoy life, joy will accompany you when you work, all the days of the life God has given you. That verse is talking about joy you will have, not just while you’re on vacation. Joy not just on your birthday and on Christmas. It’s talking about joy everyday. Joy when you work. Fun while you toil. And it talks about how it’s good to enjoy your food and drink. Enjoy food! Don’t get a meal at a drive up and eat while you’re rushing somewhere in the car. Enjoy your life, take some time to savor your food! 

Do you ever think if you follow God, you have to be serious, that’s the way to be holy? Do you think God doesn’t want you to have much fun? Consider this God, while creating the world, created a day off! It’s called the Sabbath. God worked for 6 days to make the world. Then God took the seventh day off. God said, don’t work that day! Relax, take a break. It’s a holy day. A bonus day, God said, worship me, but don’t work. Just enjoy! God really wants you to have fun. 

Also, consider Jesus. The religious leaders didn’t like him. They didn’t complain that Jesus was too holy. No, they thought Jesus had too much fun! Matthew 9:10 says,“Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said, the healthy don’t need a doctor. The sick do. I came for the sinners.” So, I’m going to spend time with them. Sorry if you think I’m having more fun than you!  

In Matthew 11, Jesus talked about how people complained about John the Baptist. In Matthew 11:18 Jesus said: ^“For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ You see, John the Baptist was a wild nature man, who lived in the desert and ate locusts and wild honey. He ate, but not normal food. Grasshoppers with a drizzle of honey. He was a holy man, but the religious leaders complained, “He has a demon.” They say he’s not holy. He’s weird! 

Jesus says in verse 19,The Son of Man (He himself) came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ They complained that Jesus ate too much and drank too much! But Jesus wasn’t drinking too much. He was going to dinner parties and talking with sinners. He wasn’t like the religious authorities who spent their time in the temple. Jesus went out and met people in their homes over dinner.  

The religious leaders were the kind of people who found a reason to complain about anybody. They thought John the Baptist should have more wine and eat regular food. They saw that Jesus was different from John the Baptist, he went to more dinner parties. They thought Jesus had too much fun!  

In today’s gospel, John 10, Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” Jesus came that you would have a full, abundant life. Jesus really wants you to have fun. 

God and Jesus, want you to relax and enjoy your life. It’s not a sin to have fun.  

Often we get caught up in the idea, we are in a tough spot, a difficult time in life. We just have to work and work and work. Someday things will be better. Maybe we are waiting for retirement. We think things will be better then. If you ask retired people they might say, “I wish I was young and energetic again.” We can all wish we were at another point in life, when things were better or will be better. But how about living right now? How about finding enjoyment in the middle of the mess we are in? That’s what our Scripture from Ecclesiastes tells us: I recommend that you enjoy life, right now. Enjoy life even as you toil. 

I remember a few years ago I went to see my dad when he was in the intensive care unit of the hospital. He was there for about a week. I don’t think of the ICU as a fun place. The orderly said to me, “Well, I’m glad you’re Dad will be getting out of the hospital. But we’ll miss him. He’s so funny!” Dad was definitely not having fun all the time in the ICU. But somehow he found a way to have some fun, in the ICU, with the people around him. 

That writer of Ecclesiastes would approve. I recommend that you enjoy life. Not waiting for a better day in the future. Enjoy life now, today! Make it fun! 

How do you make it fun? Give yourself a break. Kids get recess at school, hopefully. They get a break because they need a break. Well adults need a break, too. We can sit longer than kids, but our minds can wander, too.  

You might think, “I’m an adult, and grownups don’t get to have fun.” A lot of us are not good at giving ourself a break. If you’re married, do you go on dates? Married couples that go on a date every week have more happiness in their marriage, better communication, and more joy in the bedroom! Most couples don’t go on that date once a week. A date with your spouse is a break. It’s giving yourself permission to have some joy! 

No matter your circumstances, you can take a break each day. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to cost anything. You can turn on some music and dance! You can enjoy dinner at home, but in a different place, like in your backyard, or in a park. Think about a hobby or sport you used to really enjoy. Take a break and do it!  

My challenge for you this week is to think about something you have fun doing. Think about a good break you can have in your day doing something fun! 

God doesn’t want us to work all the time. He gave us the Sabbath as a time to worship him and a time to recharge our batteries. Having fun refreshes us and helps us feel better. Taking a fun break actually helps us get more done when we get back to work.   

There’s a lot of news about the Delta variant of the coronavirus, and I read there’s also a Delta Plus Variant. Life may continue to be challenging for a while, because Covid isn’t going away soon. So, we all need a break! Everyday. Give yourself some rest and some fun. Because God and Jesus love you, they want you to take care of yourself. They really want you to enjoy life and have fun! Amen.