Come! See How We Play! Sermon for Pentecost –– 8 June 2025

Y’all know who John Wesley is, or was, I’m sure. The Anglican priest who founded Methodism? My paternal grandparents were Methodists and they really tried to make me into one but, for some reason, it didn’t stick. To this day when Evelyn and I visit a Methodist church, I will often turn to her as we are leaving and say, “There’s a reason I’m not a Methodist.”

Don’t get me wrong! Our church has an ongoing and productive ecumenical dialogue with the United Methodist Church and Methodists are fine people. I just don’t want to be one. There’s a reason I’m not a Methodist. To be honest, though, I wasn’t ever really sure what that reason was, but I was sure there must be one.

Recently, I learned that in 1748 John Wesley founded a school at Kingswood near Bristol, England. “The regime was rigorous, with long hours of study, hard beds, no play and no holidays.”^[1] Apparently, Wesley’s instructions for the Kingswood academy included a rule which became a model for Methodist schools for more than a hundred years. As set out in the charter of an American Methodist school in 1872, it stated:

We prohibit play in the strongest terms … the students shall rise at 5 o’clock summer and winter. Their recreation shall be gardening, walking, riding and bathing without doors, and the carpenter’s, jointer’s, cabinet maker’s or turner’s business within doors…. The students shall be indulged with nothing which the world calls play. Let this rule be observed with the strictest necessity; for those who play when they are young, will play when they are old.^[2]

Now I realize that I can’t hold contemporary Methodists accountable for their founder’s nor their forebears’ educational philosophy … but I think I’ve found the reason why I’m not a Methodist. I like to play! I like to play games; I like to sing and dance (though I don’t do either very well); I like tell jokes; I like to hear jokes. I just like to play!

Mr. Wesley, I think, ought to have considered a verse in the psalm appointed for today, the Feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the church: “[A]nd there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it.”^[3] In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which Wesley would have used, the verse is rendered, “[A]nd there is that Leviathan: whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein.” And in the King James Version of Scripture which he would have read, it says, “[T]here is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.”

I think it would have been instructive for Mr. Wesley, and that it is important for us, to remember that God made something for the express purpose of play. The Hebrew for the last bit of the verse is le’sahek bo which has been variously translated as “to play in it,” “to have fun in it,” or “to frolic in it.” There is actually some ambiguity about the subject of the verb. “Who exactly is doing the playing?” Most commentaries interpret the verse to mean that it is Leviathan who plays in the sea. On the other hand, Rashi, the 11th Century French rabbi, believed it means that God created the Leviathan for God to play with.^[4] Indeed, Leviathan may simply be the “case in point” for all of creation, for

God has no need of anything outside himself. He creates and sustains the world freely and without necessity in the outgiving spirit of loving play. The world is, as it were, God’s playmate….^[5]

Whether it is God or Leviathan or both of them frolicing in the ocean, this verse in today’s psalm points us to this often overlooked aspect of Christian spirituality: that we were made to be playful.

Every year on Pentecost we read this psalm and are confronted with this image of God and Leviathan cavorting in the sea. And every year for nearly 40 years of preaching, like Mr. Wesley, I’ve ignored it. In fact, I haven’t even noticed it! But this year, it just kept grabbing my attention. Perhaps that’s because of the times we live in, the America we live in, a country which seems to have lost its sense of humor, its ability to laugh, and its capacity to play. Today is the birthday of the church, and we should be partying. Today, of all days, the church’s invitation to the whole world, especially to the country around us, ought to be, in the words of an old Lional Ritchie song, “Come join our party! See how we play!”^[6]

Theologian Brian Edgar, in his recent book The God Who Plays, writes:

[T]he term “the kingdom,” by which, in shorthand fashion, Christians identify the reign of God, the lordship of Christ and the presence of the Spirit both present and future, could easily be replaced by reference to “the party.” If that were to become part of Christian terminology it would point much more clearly towards the play, joy and laughter that are essential, central parts of the future life that Christians are called to live in the present.^[7]

Play, joy, and laughter are essential. The Scholastic theologian philosopher Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics that

unmitigated seriousness betokens a lack of virtue because it wholly despises play, which is as necessary for a good human life as rest is.^[8]

What an important reminder for the utterly serious world we find ourselves living in at this moment! The Christian witness should be an invitation to play, but that takes effort. As G.K. Chesterton said, “It is so easy to be solemn; it is so hard to be frivolous.”^[9]

Perhaps some of you, like Evelyn and me, watch Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC. You may know that although she has stepped away from doing a nightly show, she went back to those nightly appearances during the first 100 days of the current presidential administration. One of the things she did each of those evenings was show clips of people getting out into the streets with flags and signs to protest government actions and to witness on behalf of American Constitutional freedoms. She showed demonstrations from all over the country, from big cities and small towns, from blue states and red states, dozens of them every night! As I thought about Luke’s description in today’s reading from Acts of that first Pentecost morning, I couldn’t help but think of those clips of those political rallies, of people getting out into the streets with their message.

Evelyn and I took part in a couple of those demonstrations in Medina, and one of the things I noticed was the playfulness and good humor of the participants. Many of their signs were humorous; some of the people were wearing costumes or funny hats. There was a real spirit of camaraderie, and one of the reasons Maddow showed all of that footage was to demonstrate to protestors that they are not alone.

Paul, in the reading from Romans, writes that we “have received a spirit of adoption.”^[10] Playfulness, humor, and laughter cement that adoption; they create and reinforce community. Spiritual director Chris Easley writes:

[T]here is a certain kind of intimacy in play. Friends play together, and play deepens the friendship. Play is a way to love people not because it meets practical needs, but because it deepens relational connections. When we play with someone, we are saying to them, “I’m glad to be here with you.” When we play together, we are present to each other. When we make time to be present to each other with no other objective in mind, it solidifies the importance of our relationship with each other. It affirms the value we each have … simply as human beings. In the church, playing together cements our bond as sisters and brothers in the family of God.^[11]

And while the mirth and mutual enjoyment of play can strengthen the bonds within a group, they can also break down the barriers between groups. Anthropologist Robert Lynch notes:

[C]ultivating a sense of humor can be a spiritual practice, reminding us of our common humanity. *** By realigning or disrupting group identities, humor can show people that human beings are defined by more than their political beliefs. *** Good jokes allow us to alter our perceptions, and by doing so often reveal our fundamental similarities by reminding us of one of the great spiritual principles—“There is no they!”^[12]

We witnessed this at the demonstrations on the Medina Town Square. Protesters were able to engage with those who confronted them from “the other side” playfully and generously, to actually converse with them, and as Aquinas notes in his Summa Theologiae, to avoid, through mirth, being burdensome, vicious, boorish, or rude.^[13] Like the apostles on the streets of Jerusalem, they were able to talk together in a language both could understand.

Peter tells the surprised listeners that what was happening was what the prophet Joel had foreseen, that the sons and daughters of Jerusalem were prophesying.^[14] But, as we heard, Joel’s prophecy is a fairly dark one with its prediction of portents in heaven and signs on the earth, of blood, and fire, and smoky mist, the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood. Not much fun. Perhaps the response to the disciples would have been even more positive had he suggested, instead, that they were fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah:

Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.^[15]

This is the eschatological reality the church proclaims; this is the kingdom, the party of God.

[W]hen Christians want to describe the character of life in the future kingdom of God they … employ the imagery of song and dance, play, laughter, joy and feasting. But of all these play is perhaps the most powerful expression of the life of the kingdom because this single image of children at play intrinsically embraces the innocence, joy, fun, laughter, celebration and communion of the other images. It powerfully — and surprisingly — expresses the true nature of life with God.^[16]

God made Leviathan to play with. That is also why God made human beings! Humankind, said the philosopher Plato, “is made to be the plaything of God, and this, truly considered, is the best of [us].”^[17] “What,” asks the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “is the chief end of [humanity]?” “[Our] chief end,” it says in response, “is to glorify God, and to enjoy [God] for ever.”^[18] We are supposed to be God’s playmates. The proper witness of Christ’s disciples in the streets is “Come join our party! See how we play!”

Mr. Wesley was probably right, “those who play when they are young, will play when they are old;” at least, I hope he was right. I’m certain that the reverse is true: those who don’t play as children seldom play as adults. Instead, research has shown they suffer from “increased prevalence of depression, a tendency to become inflexible in thought, diminished impulse control, less self-regulation, poor management of aggression, and fragility and shallowness of enduring interpersonal relationships.”^[19] Sounds like our world, doesn’t it? It sounds like the people currently in charge, anyway.

Changing this won’t be easy. It sounds oxymoronic to say that encouraging play and playfulness will be hard work, but as Chesterton said, “It’s hard to be frivolous,” and as psychologist Brian Sutton-Smith has famously observed, “The opposite of play … is not work, it is depression.”^[20] Like the apostles on that first Pentecost, we need to do the work, to get out into the streets, not to speak in tongues, but to play and to invite others to play, to demonstrate that playfulness is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and that joy and laughter are the language of God.

Being playful, it has been said, is an art, that “what we do to stay in play, stay open, responsive, light, ready to engage or disengage as the moment dictates [is] kind of a reverse martial art. A peaceful art, the art of peace itself.”^[21]

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,” said Jesus in today’s gospel lesson, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”^[22] It will take effort; it will take work. But don’t be afraid. To quote Lional Ritchie again, “[M]y friends, the time has come to raise the roof and have some fun.”^[23]

Get out there and play! Amen.

====================

This homily was offered by the Rev. Dr. C. Eric Funston on the Feast of Pentecost, June 8, 2025 to the people of Harcourt Parish (Episccopal Church of the Holy Spirit), Gambier, Ohio, where Fr. Funston was guest presider and preacher.

The illustration is One Hundred Children At Play by Yang Jin (Chinese, 1644-1727) in the collection of Miami University Art Museum.

====================

Notes:
Click on footnote numbers to link back to associated text. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from Scripture are from the New Revised Version Updated Edition.

^[1] Kingswood School, A Dictionary of Methodism in Britian and Ireland, undated, accessed 5 June 2025

^[2] Stuart Chase, Play, in Charles A. Beard, ed., Whither Mankind: A Panorama of Modern Civilization (Longmans, Greene & Co., London: 1928), p. 334

^[3] Psalm 104:27 (BCP version); this is verse 26 in most bible translations

^[4] Natan Slifkin, Who is Playing with Leviathan?, Rationalist Judaism, June 24, 2018, accessed 2 June 2025

^[5] Gavin Ardley, The Role of Play in the Philosophy of Plato, Philosophy, Vol. 42, No. 161 (Jul., 1967), p. 226, 234

^[6] Lionel B. Richie, Jr., All Night Long, Can’t Slow Down, Motown Records, 1983

^[7] Brian Edgar, The God Who Plays: A Playful Approach to Theology and Spirituality (Cascade Books, Eugene, OR: 2017), p. 117

^[8] Thomas Aquinas, Eth. ad Nic. IV, 8, 11, 1128B

^[9] Chesterton, G. K., All Things Considered (BiblioBazaar, Charleston, SC: 2007), p. 1

^[10] Romans 8:15

^[11] Chris Easley, Working and Playing with God, Linked-In, September 19, 2022, accessed 5 June 2025

^[12] Robert Lynch, Why Is Funny? How America Lost Its Sense of Humor, Quillette Magazine, September 25, 2020, accessed 4 June 2025

^[13] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, Q. 168, Art. 4, resp.

^[14] Acts 2:16-21

^[15] Zechariah 8:4-5

^[16] Edgar, op. cit., p. 115

^[17] Plato, Laws, Book VII, tr. by Benjamin Jowett, eBook at Project Gutenberg (Released October 29, 2008; updated January 15, 2013), accessed 13 May 2025

^[18] Westminster Shorter Catechism, Cambridge Presbyterian Church, undated, accessed 5 June 2025

^[19] Angela Hanscom, Why Play Deprivation is a Serious Problem, Community Playthings, April 2021, accessed 5 June 2025

^[20] Brian Sutton-Smith, Evolving a consilience of play definitions: Playfully, in S. Reifel, editor, Play and Culture Studies: Play Contexts Revisited (Ablex Publishing, Stamford, CT: 1999), p. 254

^[21] Bernard L. De Koven, Playfulness Is a Spiritual Practice, Psychology Today, November 23, 2015, accessed 5 June 2025

^[22] John 14:27

^[23] Ritchie, op. cit.