April 4, 2024
“Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’” Psalm 126:2 NRSV
The Psalm above records the feelings of the Jewish people when they were released from exile in Babylon and allowed to return to their homeland. It is the same kind of joy that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary experienced when, going to Jesus’ tomb on the morning of the third day, expecting to grieve and morning, discovered instead of a corpse, the risen Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel puts it this way, “So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.” ~ Matthew 28:8 NRSV
On the Sunday following Easter, our congregation will practice an old Easter custom begun by the early Greek Christians. “Bright Sunday” or “Holy Humor Sunday,” was the culmination a week of joy and joy and laughter with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is too important to be taken so seriously. People are invited to come to worship wearing hats, fun clothes, and a heart open to joy. There will be jokes – clean jokes. Familiar old favorite hymns with lyrics that will help even the most serious among us to smile, and a skit by our Stewardship and Missions team.
Despite the horrors of the disciples’ betrayal, denial, and desertion of Jesus during the hardest of human experience, despite the apparent victory of evil defeating life and love; Jesus, love and life gets the last laugh. Anne Lamott said, “Laughter is carbonated holiness. It’s like the calvary arriving to help us get our sense of humor back.”
With anticipatory joy ~ Anne
Wayfinding 