Most of the time when pastors are writing an article, they are dealing with the heavier issues of a spiritual nature in order to help people better understand those kinds of issues.
In fact, people expect that an article written by a pastor would be filled with the deep verities of life that will assist a person in attaining heaven when this earthly life is over. Such is the nature of much of what I write.
But, there is another side to those of us who have been called by the Lord to do a particular work for Him. There is a lot of humor involved with being the pastor of a church and a preacher of the gospel. What we do is serious business. It is not funny nor meant to be but humorous things happen to us as we perform our duties. Let me give you a few examples. There are many others I could relate, but time nor space allows it.
The Ice Cream Cone
When I was in another town in North Georgia right after my seminary days, I was the associate pastor of a larger church. My duties were: associate pastor and evangelism. It was a church filled with some of the most wonderful people I have ever known, and we were fully accepted into that great fellowship.
In the town, there was a person who many would describe as a “bag woman.” She roamed the downtown area pushing a shopping cart she had gotten from one of the larger stores in the area. That shopping cart was loaded down with “stuff” she had picked up off the streets as she made her rounds each day. Everyone in the town knew and befriended her.
One week, we were having a revival meeting with a well-known preacher bringing the messages to us. It was a special time of the year, and the services were inspiring. The preacher under whom I served was a man who didn’t like to be put “on the spot” by some unusual happening, and the one I am about to relate really threw him.
Right after the preliminaries of a service had taken place and the choir was finished singing, it was time for the preacher to come to the pulpit and deliver his message from the Lord. Everyone looked forward to this moment. Well, he started his message and about ten minutes into the sermon, the bag lady came walking down the aisle licking a vanilla ice cream cone. She walked all the way down to the front row to take a seat still licking that ice cream cone. The pastor of the church was sitting on the other end of the front row and looked like he was about to die for want of knowing what to do with such a situation. The preacher kept on preaching although one could tell he was keeping a keen eye on the “bag lady.” No one in the church knew exactly what to do either. It was a weird moment.
Finally she looked down to the other end of the first row, held that ice cream cone high with the melted milk dripping off her elbow, and said to the pastor loud enough for all to hear…..”What can I do with this thang?” By this time everything had stopped, even the preacher. The pastor said: “There is a bathroom right through that door over there. Go in there and deal with it.” So, the lady got up and walked out the door to go to the restroom. Presently, she re-entered the worship service, reclaimed her seat and the preacher resumed his sermon. It was to no avail. The service was over. Too many laughing and distracted people were never going to recover from this little episode. The town talked about this little happening for a long time.
The Petticoat Junction Situation
A good evangelist friend of mine was preaching a revival in a church in Alabama. The meeting was going well and he was enjoying the people and the fellowship. The pastor of the church he was preaching the revival for told him that on every Wednesday he visited a local nursing home to being a short message after the people would sing a few hymns. He asked the evangelist if he would go with him and deliver the message. They usually had about 80 people who would come to a large room for this event.
Well, my friend was “preaching the stars down” and felt really good about the way the sermon was going when a lady seated right in the middle of the crowd suddenly stood straight to her feet and said: “Well, I’ve had enough of this. I’m going back to my room and watch Petticoat Junction! Here again, the service was with everyone laughing at what the lady had done. My evangelist friend didn’t know what to do so after she left for Petticoat Junction, he tried to finish his sermon as best he could. Needless to say, he has taken a lot “ribbing” about this little event over the years. All in good fun.
A Stroke of Lightning
Once I was in the middle of a very serious moment in a sermon I was delivering to Abilene Baptist while I was pastor there. I was dealing with some of the issues of life in which many people, even Christians, find themselves involved with. I was just about to make a strong point when something happened which got everyone’s attention and made us all think strongly about ourselves and our relationship with the Lord. I was pointing out how our society has rejected God and how it has dishonored Him and His Son, Jesus in so many ways. It was one of those strong sermons which will make people think about what they are doing with their lives and how much we must repent personally and as a nation. I made a statement something like this: “If you don’t do what God says in His Word about the issues at hand and if we don’t turn back to Him as a nation we are in deep, deep trouble. In fact, the way people are acting today, I don’t see what keeps Him from striking people dead with a bolt of lightning!
As I uttered that last word…. lightning…. there was suddenly a strong lightning strike very nearby with a very loud boom following it. People looked at me as if I had called that strike down with my own words. Then everyone realized what had happened and everyone relaxed with a look on their face that said, ”Whew, I’m still alive!” In all my years of preaching I have never had something such as that happen so perfectly timed as was that lightning strike. “Boom!” Right on cue!
“Dixie”
There was an older gentleman in our church who was a retired music minister. He was about 80 years old and had one of the most beautiful voices one ever heard. His volume was still strong and his voice was wonderful. In addition to all of that, he was a good personal friend who loved his pastor. We had many wonderful times together talking about the Lord and the work we do for him. One thing about this gentleman is that he was almost as deaf as a post. One night at Wednesday evening supper just prior to the Midweek Bible Study and Prayer Meeting, he was eating supper and his wrist watch was blaring the song, Dixie. Everyone could hear that alarm go off but him. It was hilarious as we watched him eat his supper totally oblivious to the tune of Dixie emanating from his watch. I went over to him and graciously informed him of what was going on and I turned off the “Dixie alarm” for him.
Later in the bible study time as I was expounding on some passage of scripture, I was suddenly aware of the fact that I could hear Dixie being played in the sanctuary. The large room amplified the sound even more. People were about to fall out of the pew at the hilarious situation which was taking place. So, I told the people to hold their place in the Bible and I went to my dear old buddy and took his watch from his arm. He laughed about the situation. I then took the playing watch (I didn’t know how to cut it off) and put it in my office. When the prayer meeting was over, I went and retrieved the watch but it was no longer playing as the batteries had run down. People talked about that hilarious situation for weeks and it made a ”personality” in the church out of my dear old friend.
There are many more funny stories I could tell but to protect the privacy of people involved I might better leave them to history. All this I have written is to show that there is humor everywhere if one only looks for it even in a church at worship time. I believe God has a sense of humor and when I look at some of the people he made and some of the situations we get ourselves into, it proves it to me. I want you to notice something. All of these little examples happened in the midst of a worship time so we can assume that all these people were good Christian people who were worshipping God and that is a good thing to realize.
I encourage all of our readers to do the same thing these people were doing and avail yourselves of the opportunity to worship God in spirit and truth.
Wm F. Harrell….1-31-24
