Matthew 9

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?

I saw a T shirt once which had three labelled images with some text above. The text said something like, “Great Masters of irony”, and had a picture of Socrates, Jesus and Alanis Morrisette. It was like rain on my wedding day.

I have heard that (United States of) Americans have no sense of irony and lack the ability to embrace self-deprecating humour. This is why, apparently, British comedy goes straight over their head. Now I don’t believe that Americans do not appreciate irony. From their great modernist poets, to the beatniks, to Woody Allen and some of their better film makers, to the Violent Femmes and other musicians, Americans can and do appreciate irony – they certainly show a degree of self-deprecation.

The problem is, or so it would seem, is that too much of America is squashed by a monolithic mythology – a mythology which is very good at blanketing micro-myths. This monolithic mythology is as overpowering in the neo-liberal commercialism of Hollywood as it is in the neo-conservative ‘us-and-them’ rhetoric of the religious right or the pentagon. It would be inaccurate to suggest that other nations and regions do not have their monolithic myths, most of them do (just look at France’s romantic myth surrounding its language and culture!). Yet the spin machines of other myth-holders are not as skilled, or powerful, or profitable, as the spin machine of the US mono-myth. It is so big that sitting here in Australia I am unsure just how much of the sun is blocked by it on this side of the globe.

Which brings me back to Jesus. Jesus was and is ironic and subversive. He was no ancient Superman from Smallville (Darren Wright who runs http://digitalorthodoxy.com/ has more to say about this), and his defence was never of the powers and principalities of this world. When Jesus asks, “Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?” our immediate response may well be that forgiveness is far easier than miracle. Yet I believe here Jesus is both ironic and obvious. Forgiveness is of God and far more ‘powerful’ than healing a paralytic, and yet where there is forgiveness there also must be healing. Masters of irony move our camera to record reality from wacky new angles.

On another note, if you will excuse the pun, I have probably been talking way too much about 'things religious' and not enough about 'things jazz'. I will try and remedy this soon (though I am no expert in either). For today let me say that when I play jazz, and it's really happening, this is as close as I've been to what my Pentecostal friends describe they feel when they fall over and mumble and writhe. Is jazz a gift of the Spirit?