A WORD FOR TODAY, April 22, 2022
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 22, 2022
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb! Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126, WEB
Easter is a time of joy, and yet we are reminded that the crucifixion is a very real and central part of our faith and that we will continue to experience the pain of the crucifixion as we go forth into all the world being witnesses for Jesus Christ. It isn’t all sunshine and roses. In the midst of that truth, we are also reminded to trust in God, to live in faith, and to be joyful through the pain because our perseverance will bring us to the time of seeing our salvation in its fullness, enjoying the benefits of eternal life.
The first Easter may not have seemed very humorous to the disciples. They were frightened, hiding behind closed doors. They were angry because they thought someone stole the body of their Lord. They were confused because they didn’t understand what was happening. It was a difficult time. Though I doubt many of us will ever suffer the kind of persecution that the early church faced, we all can identify with Peter and the disciples. We’ve had to speak the truth to someone unwilling to hear. We have all experienced fear and doubt. We do not know what tomorrow holds and though we have the hope of eternal life it is hard to remember when we are suffering today. We identify more easily with the suffering of the crucifixion than the joy of the resurrection.
Despite this reality of our Christian life, this is indeed a time of great joy, joy that can be expressed in laughter and revelry. For many Christians around the world of many different denominations, the week following Easter Sunday, culminated in “Bright Sunday” (the 2nd Sunday of the Easter season). It was observed by the faithful as “days of joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. Early theologians called it “Risus paschalis – the Easter laugh.” Lately we call it Holy Humor or Holy Hilarity Sunday. The Octave of Easter (the eight days between Easter and the Sunday Sunday) was a time for joking and laughter. The people played practical jokes on their priests and the priests told jokes in their sermons.
Here’s a joke to start the laughter: “Did you hear the one about the shortest sermon in history? It was titled: ‘Killing Jesus.’ The content: ‘Didn’t work.’”
I read an article that suggested the most important day of Holy Week should be Maundy Thursday rather than Good Friday or even Easter. The writer pointed to the fact that the disciples returned to the Table. The Cross was finished, and the Resurrection was a one-time event, but Christians have since those days always returned to the Table. We do so not only in the Eucharist, but also as we gather for potlucks and other events to celebrate our lives together. There is something to this idea, though I don’t think any of the three days should be considered more important than the others because you can’t have one without the others. This is why the call Maundy Thursday through Easter “the Triduum.” The Three Days are one long liturgical event, leading us to the joy of Easter and back to the Table where Jesus feeds us His life.
Risus Paschalis, the Easter Laugh, celebrated the joy of the season, a joy that perhaps was lost in the solemnity of after Easter lessons. In 1988, the Fellowship of Merry Christians began encouraging churches to return to the tradition. Easter had become too dark, so they resurrected Holy Humor Sunday. This Sunday is a time to lighten up, to enjoy the humor of God, to laugh at ourselves and to experience the reality of our life in Christ, good and bad, with merriment and happiness.
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