Mr Funny is the funniest person in the whole of Happyland,
quite the funniest you have ever seen.
To start with, Mr Funny lives in a teapot that has two bedrooms,
a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.
What is even funnier is the fact that his car was not in fact a car,
but a shoe with wheels

All the animals and flowers that saw Mr Funny laughed so hard,
they laughed themselves in two,
laughed their tails off or laughed themselves out of the ground.

And when the animals at the zoo were feeling unhappy
because they all had colds,
Mr Funny pulled such a funny face
that the elephant nearly laughed her trunk off,
the lion nearly laughed his whiskers to pieces
and the giraffe nearly laughed a knot in her neck.

Mr Funny eats the funniest of things:
he had a daisy sandwich, a glass of toast and hot cup of cake!

When Little Miss Giggles had lost her giggles,
Mr Funny and his brother, Mr Happy gave her an empty box
“Of course you cant see anything” said Mr Happy.  
“Giggles are invisible”
And Little Miss Giggles, giggled.

Mr Jesus of Nazareth was quite the funniest prophet
in the whole of the world
To start with, Mr Jesus – Son of the Creator of the whole universe –
had nowhere to lay his head.
What is even funnier is that Mr Jesus came into the city as a king,
but his horse was not in fact a horse
But a donkey

And when Mr Jesus rode his donkey,
everyone around got so excited and cheered so loud
that even the rocks and the stones themselves started to laugh

Mr Jesus feeds people the funniest of things:
he gives bread that is called body and wine that is called blood!

And when Little Miss Earth had lost her sense of joy,
Mr Jesus, helped by his brother Mr Zephaniah
and the rest of his family Mr and Mrs Body of Christ
Gave little Miss Earth gift after gift after gift.
‘It’s the gift of hope to everyone in everything’ smiled Mr Jesus –
“invisible to some, but enjoyed by many”
And Little Miss Earth realised that her joy was coming back. 
She began to dance.

Moving from Roger Hargreaves to Karl Barth
– one of last century’s great Christian minds -
moves us from Mr Funny, Mr Happy and Little Miss Giggles
to what Barth describes as the great Christian “nevertheless”.

Paul is in prison and facing death.  
      “Rejoice! I say.  And again I say it – rejoice!”
Zephaniah is facing the fall of a nation
       and talks about a dark and bitter day –
      “Sing aloud, Daughter of Zion!
     Rejoice and exult with all your heart”
A 14 year old girl discovers that she is pregnant,
     carrying a child who will change the world,
     and that she is central to God’s plan in all of history
    “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!”

But unlike the lightness of Mr Funny,
or the way that Bobby McFerrin encourages us
to avoid reality and “Don’t worry – be happy”
the Christian ‘nevertheless’ is grounded
- deeply - in the darkest of moments.

In each and every circumstance that people find hope
and a new beginning when it looks as if all is closing in
a little bit of Easter is celebrated.
A little resurrection in the face of crucifixion.
As Paul mentions in Philippians – God is in your midst.

Advent draws the realities of Christmas and Easter together.
Emmanuel.  God is with us.  He is Risen.

That’s why gifts become important at Advent and Christmas.
They are pointers to the gift of world-changing importance.
They are pointers to the fact t
hat persecutions and crumbling nations
     and terrifying personal settings
     are all settings for an experience of God.

The joy that comes in giving at Christmas
isn’t meant to be the joy that we receive
when people realise how clever we are at shopping, or creating
or how generous we are with our finances or our time.
The joy that comes in giving at Christmas is – hopefully -
the joy we receive when we realise
that things are being changed and turned around.

The most important gifts we can give
are gifts not to those we love
but to those who are in need.
Sometimes they are the same people.  
Often they are not.

When Little Miss Giggles has lost her giggles
When Little Miss Earth has lost her sense of joy
Let us follow the example
of Mr Jesus of Nazareth, and give.
And there we discover the depth of joy
that can have US dancing in the streets.