Do You Get It?
This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on 3rd September 2017. The two New Testament readings were Romans 12:9-21 and Matthew 16:21-28 . They say you should always start a sermon with a joke. Ok then… What do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo? Altogether now: A woolly jumper! Ba-doom tish. It’s an oldie, but, as they say, it’s a goodie! It’s actually one of the earliest jokes I can ever remember being told. I remember laughing at the joke as a small child, but not really understanding it; laughing because it was the conventional thing to do after you hear a joke – and also because it’s just fun to laugh – but all the while, I was thinking “ you get woolly jumpers from sheep – why on earth do you need a kangaroo in the joke too? ”. Perhaps I was also laughing at the ridiculousness of that thought. In fact – I’ll be completely honest – I was an adult before I heard the joke again and really thought about it; about the dual meaning of...