Can Steve Martin Teach Us Something About How God Answers Prayer?/ Vince Brackett

Chicago played host this past weekend to the Just For Laughs comedy festival (headlined by a favorite here: Louis C.K.).  I read a review of one of its acts, “A Very Stupid Conversation” with Steve Martin and Martin Short, and was struck by a little nugget from Steve Martin.  The reviewer, Chris Jones from the Chicago Tribune, wrote:

“At one point, Martin was coaxed into a fascinating explanation of how he'd decided, early in his truly formidable career, to adapt the old comedic saw that jokes must build tension in the listeners which only the punch line can release. As Martin saw it, that was not the way people laugh when they're with their friends. So how do you re-create that kind of laughter from a stage? Well, why not just keep building tension?

 
‘If you do that,’ Martin said, to the murmurs of a house that contained plenty of awestruck young comics, ‘they're going to pick their own place to laugh. And that way, they're going to feel smarter and think you're funnier.’
 
You just have to think about that for a moment to see its truth. Ironic, really, that a man with clear misanthropic qualities figured out how to empower his audience.”

I love the use of the word “empower” to describe Martin’s effect on his audience.  For me, this feels really applicable to how we think about God answering prayer.  Our old saw is that all of our praying builds tension which God’s answer finally releases.  But what if God’s approach is often more like Steve Martin’s approach to comedy?  What if he thinks: why not just keep building tension?  Adapting Martin’s words: if God does that, we discover on our own places to acknowledge his power and movement; that way, we feel like greater participants in the process and we see God as much bigger.

I’m all about the times when God does emphatically answer prayers with a sort of “punch line” effect, but “just keep building tension” feels a much better descriptor of the vast majority of my day-to-day experiences of prayer.  The idea that God wants to empower me to participate in the process of his answering my prayer (and not just be a vending machine) reminds me that God is relational and loving.

I really like the story of Simeon meeting Jesus as a baby.  Luke’s Gospel describes Simeon as one who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” waiting for the release of tension if you will.  Upon meeting the baby Jesus, he praises God with these incredible words about having found peace from God and seeing first-hand God’s salvation of the world.  I’m struck by the fact that he says those things after seeing… a baby!  If Simeon needed a punch line to release his tension, he definitely would not have had that kind of experience.  Talk about a non-punch line: what is a baby going to do to achieve world salvation?  But Simeon seemed in a strange way empowered by God just building more tension, and he expressed that his prayers felt profoundly answered.

What’s your experience like?  Does Steve Martin’s insight feel helpful to you?