AtomHoly Hilarity Sunday—the Day we laugh at the joke God played on the Devil
Pastor Dave Peterson
First Lutheran Church
April 11, 2010
Holy Hilarity Sunday
Happy Holy Hilarity Sunday—the fun Sunday where God’s people GET to wear silly hats/hair/clothing, sing some new Easter songs in worship, and enjoy some laughs in church…as many of our snowbirds have discovered and sent us bulletins from their experience of Holy Hilarity Sunday down South!!
Why a Sunday of Holy Hilarity? It’s actually an ancient church tradition being resurrected in the church today. The early church found humor an appropriate way to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Easter is God’s great joke on the devil.
Oh yes, the devil thought he’d won and Christ was dead but three days later...ha ha ha! He is risen! It’s the unexpected ending that really makes it funny…in the best sense of the word. Some call the resurrection the banana peel of the Christian faith, the cosmic pratfall. Because, with the resurrection, God has the last laugh.
And we can laugh, too, says Pastor Laura Gentry, because “the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Laughter is a holy thing that really helps us embody the exciting reality that Jesus is risen from the dead and now death has no more sting. Because of the resurrection, we can laugh, even in the face of death, fully confident in the power of God. Ha ha ha!”
So…today we’re laughing…laughing with Holy Hilarity. Note that the rest of today’s sermon is filled with “hand-picked” church humor…humor that is both “Holy” and “Hilarity”….I hope!! And…here’s the deal…even if you DON’T think it that funny, a courtesy laugh…a groan at the least…would be very appropriate and appreciated!!
Let’s start on the screen…with a card brought into the church office this week!! Did you hear…Actually…did you SEE the one about how March Madness and Holy Week come together?? Here it is!! (Peter denied Jesus three times!!!)
And…thank you Sandy for bringing in your Easter card to share with you…God’s people!! And now…you’ll all wonder which Sandy this was…right??
Or…the email that arrived on Monday…telling the story:
Last summer at VBS at First Lutheran, we sang a song that says, “I will not be afraid for God is always here”. So one night when our daughter was having trouble adjusting to sleeping in her new bedroom alone, I told her that she’s not really alone because, like the song says, God is always here. Well she remembered that.
A few months later her dad was trying to get her to join him on the couch to snuggle and watch a movie with him. When she refused, he said he felt so alone. She said, “Don’t worry Dad. God is with you!”
And then…there’s the little girl was sitting on her grandfather’s lap as he read her a bedtime story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.
Finally she spoke up, “Grandpa, did God make you?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” he answered, “God made me a long time ago.”
“Oh,” she paused, “Grandpa, did God make me too?”
“Yes, indeed, honey,” he said, “God made you just a little while ago.”
Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, “God’s getting better at it, isn’t he?”
How about the little Lutheran boy who visited a friends’ Baptist church one morning when he saw, for the first time, the rite of baptism by immersion? Having been inspired, that afternoon he decided to baptize his three cats in the bathtub at home.
The kitten bore it well…and young cat pretty good…but…the old family cat rebelled! It struggled with him, clawed and tore him, and got away. But, with persistence and filled with a child’s persistence, he caught it again and proceeded with the ceremony. But, the old cat acted worse that ever: clawed at him, spit and hissed, and scratched his hands and face.
Finally, after barely getting her sprinkled with water, he dropped her on the floor in disgust and said: “Fine…Be a Lutheran…if that’s what you want!!”
Then of course, there’s the story of the nun who works for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. Now there was a station just down the street so she walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up.
The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out.
Since the nun was desperate to see the patient she went back to her car and looked for something to carry to the station to fill with gas. Then, spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her car.
As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car two men walked by. One of them turned to the other and said: “Now that is what I call faith!”
Speaking of faith…Let’s turn to the scriptures…the scriptures that are FILLED with passages of JOY and more. The word JOY appears in the scriptures183 times….Rejoice; 153 times…and others…
All this to remind us that the “JOY OF THE LORD” is our strength!! Easter reminds us that we do NOT have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders…Jesus did that on the cross FOR US… It’s not the carrying of the weight that is our strength, it’s the JOY OF THE LORD that is our strength!! Thus, we’re going to try something completely out of our comfort zone…but…we did that when earlier when we attempted to gain a “new pew-spective” on our worship.
Here’s what we’ll do. Now we are going to practice laughing with the joy of the Lord. I am going to read you several “joyous” Bible verses and you will respond by throwing your hands into the air and doing a full belly laugh. You’ve got to play along with me on this…Ready?
Psalm 98:4: People of God, Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Psalm 2:4: God, who sits in heaven, laughs!
Psalm 30:11: God, You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
Isaiah 55:12: People of God, You shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and hills before you shall burst into song, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Proverbs 17:22: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
John 15:11: “I have said these things to you,” Jesus said to his disciples, “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
Luke 6:21: Jesus said, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh!”
1 Peter 1:8: Although you have not seen Jesus, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.
Philippians 4, our lesson today: Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!!
Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Ha ha ha!
Today…we laugh and celebrate Holy Hilarity…One final Easter story of Holy Hilarity…(with many more to follow downstairs during the Potluck celebration)
Three sillies (we will call them sillies…not blonds, Norwegians or any other picked on group). Three sillies die in a freak banana peel accident and arrive at the pearly gates of heaven. St. Peter tells them that they can enter the gates if they can answer one simple question:"WHAT IS EASTER?”
The first silly is eager to respond. He says: “Oh, that’s easy, it’s the holiday in November when everybody gets together, eats turkey, and is thankful...”
“No!,” replies St. Peter, and proceeds to ask the second silly the same question, “WHAT IS EASTER?”
The second silly replies, “That’s a piece of cake!! Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice fir tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth of Jesus.”
St. Peter shakes his head in disgust, “Can’t anyone get this simple question right?” So he poses it to the third silly: “WHAT IS EASTER?”
Now this silly is very confident.
He says:
“I know what Easter is. Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover.
Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper but he was betrayed by one of his own disciples so the Romans came and arrested him. They flogged him and made him wear a crown of thorns.
They crucified him between two criminals with a sign over his head that read ‘the king of the Jews’ and when he died, there was a great earthquake and the curtain in the temple was ripped in two. The centurion who saw it said, ‘surely this was the Son of God.’
Then his followers buried his body in a cave tomb and they rolled a huge stone over the entrance to seal it.”
Saint Peter can hardly contain himself, he nods his head and approvingly says, “Yes, yes!..and then…”
And then the silly continues: “And every year the stone is rolled aside and Jesus pops out, and if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.”
NO…People of God…today we celebrate and remember the Easter story…God’s great joke on the devil. His great joke…the tomb is empty….that, even in times of death and despair, tells us we have hope…and promise…and more!!
And…let’s also remember, we’re on a mission…a mission from God to tell to all this incredible story of resurrection and life, hope and promise…to all!!
People of God, May you live as joyful resurrection people today and every day.
Christ is Risen…He is risen, indeed! ha ha ha!
Let’s pray together…this is a modification of what’s called the “Clown’s Prayer”, of Smiles Unlimited…a clown ministry in hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons; based in Indianapolis.
“Lord, as we stumble through the joys and sorrows of life, help us to create more laughter than tears, dispense more happiness than gloom, spread more cheer than despair. Never let us become so indifferent that we fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged. Never let us forget to give our all to bring your resurrection joy to all people, help them to smile, and forget, at least for the moment, all the unpleasant things in their lives. And Lord, in my final moment, may I hear you whisper: “When you made My people smile, you made Me smile.” Amen.
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