Risus Paschalis Acts 4:32-35 | 4/8/2018
Sin, death and the devil are defeated! Christ is risen! This is cause for laughter!
In Latin,risustranslates into the English word "laughter" andPaschalisis "Easter." Side by side, the words say "Easter laugh." During the six weeks of Lent with its emphasis on denial, fasting and seriousness, there was little time for humor.
That solemnity, however, was transformed into rejoicing with the news that "He is risen!" on Easter morning. The celebration did not cease Sunday, but instead often flowed over into Monday. The Monday after Easter, sometimes referred to as Easter Monday, then became a day of rejoicing, laughter and merriment, perhaps because the clergy, after a long Holy Week, could finally have a break. These practices go back as far as A.D. 385, connecting them to Saint Gregory of Nyssa.
Early Christian leaders who celebrated Risus Paschalis often told jokes and uplifting, lighthearted stories in the days following Easter. We all need reminders that Goddoeshave a sense of humor, and it was God who had the last laugh when people went to the tomb that Easter morning.
Surprise! He is not dead! Jesus Christ is risen! The tomb is empty!
Many traditions sprang up, including pranks and jokes, to help people lighten up -- reminders to not be too serious. Long before the Internet / Facebook ice bucket challenge, and before coaches were baptized with a bucket of Gatorade following the championship game, it was a common practice to dump buckets of water on people -- especially the clergy -- on this day. Perhaps this is what caused Pope Clement X to end these practices long ago. Maybe the pope was doused with water too often or listened to one too many bad jokes coming from the pulpit. Perhaps he'd had enough, and he crossed his arms and said, "That's not funny." For whatever reason, in the 17th century he promptly put an end to all this tomfoolery and banned Risus Paschalis. However, over the past couple of decades, thisrisushas risen from the grave. In the post-resurrection season of Eastertide, we are laughing once again.
Remembering to have a good laugh is not a matter of being disrespectful, and the last thing we as Christians want to do is to be perceived as humorless.
God clearly has a sense of humor. Just look at the duck-billed platypus, as well as moles, voles and potoo birds *[1]. We see God's sense of humor in those creations. Sometimes we need to hold a mirror up to ourselves to see when we are taking things too seriously. For instance, a priest had a chance encounter with Groucho Marx once in Montreal. The priest extended his hand and said, "I want to thank you for all the joy you've put into this world."
Groucho shook his hand and shot back: "And I wanna thank you for all the joy you've taken out of this world."
In an article published inThe Joyful Noiseletter, Dr. Patch Adams of the Gesundheit Institute describes howThe Joyful Noiseletterhelped to revive this ancient tradition by bringing laughter back into the church. The celebration now has typically fallen on the Sunday following Easter. "Holy Humor Sunday," he writes, "has become an increasingly popular practice ... nationwide that marks the Sunday after Easter with skits, joke-telling, dancing, singing, practical jokes, and picnicking in an ongoing celebration of Jesus' resurrection."
There are many ways that humor and practical jokes can be incorporated into the worship on Holy Humor Sunday. Some examples? Ministers dressing as clowns and/or telling jokes (good and bad alike). Putting the order of service in the bulletin backward (just try starting the service with the benediction).
There are many other ways to bring laughter into worship, including the singing of hymns to familiar tunes that extol the virtue of laughter and poke fun at our tendency to be overly serious. Let’s join in singing three of these “new humor hymns” (found on the insert in your bulletin or on the screen)
But why?
Some might ask why we would devote a Sunday to laughing, telling jokes, singing funny hymns and so on.
The point of all this tomfoolery is that the jocularity of Risus Paschalis reminds us that Christ is risen and that sin, death and the devil have been vanquished! We celebrate. We laugh, sing and dance. Next Sunday we can go back to being God's frozen chosen, but this Sunday we dance!
A little bit of foolishness is nothing new in the church. Even Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the foolishness of the cross. The Romans and many Jews and Gentiles viewed the symbol of the cross as a horrific method of execution. They believed the cross symbol was used to strike terror in the minds of everyone who gazed upon the two pieces of wood fashioned together. How could such a thing be considered a symbol of God's love? This notion seemed like pure foolishness to Greeks and Jews alike.
Perhaps the tomb would have better symbolized early Christianity. InSaving Paradise, Rita Nakashima Brock notes that "Jesus' suffering on the cross and his corpse did not appear in Christian art until the 10th century." However, it is a little difficult to put an empty tomb around your neck or even a rolling stone for that matter.
Paul goes on to write that there's a problem trying to proclaim God's wisdom found in the cross when it seems foolish to so many people. The Greeks worship God through wisdom and understanding and the cross defies conventional wisdom and sounds like utter foolishness.
The Greeks seek wisdom, Paul writes. The Jews seek a sign. And the cross doesn't work too well as a sign. It is a huge stumbling block since it is difficult to reconcile the idea of a Messiah dying on a tree with the concept of a triumphant Messiah. Instead, faithful Jews looked for other signs, and for many, the empty tomb was not enough of a sign.
So Paul raises the question, "Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" Sometimes, it is better just to be a fool for God than to try to be wise, for God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.
What signs are people looking for these days?
Often people are seeking a theology that fits them instead of being "fitted" or transformed by the gospel. Instead of trying to find a church that fits us, we might be better served searching for some better signs.
One sign might be when meals are prepared to feed the hungry in the community. Another sign is the shelter given to the homeless or those in dire straits. Another sign is the assistance provided to those in poor health. Signs abound when a church reaches out to the community outside of its walls. If we are going to be looking for signs in churches, then these are the kind to look for.
But another great sign is the sign of laughter. A church that can laugh is a church that understands the triumph of the resurrection and enormous power of God. It is a church that understands that the smartest of humans and the most stunning accomplishments of humanity are but foolish child's play for God.
Psalm 126 refers to this kind of worship community. "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 it was said among the nations, 'The LORD has done great things for them.'"
When we consider the great things God has done for us and the reason we celebrate Easter, laughter and shouts of joy should bubble out of our mouths. God has done great things. God has left us an empty tomb as a punch line to the greatest prank ever played: Jesus rising from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is no joke. We can imagine God's pleasure, even laughter, when everyone thought death would overcome divine power and love.
Humor in the Bible
We can find humor in many places in the Bible if we look for it. Reread the gospel of John, for example, when Jesus appears to the disciples and Thomas. Think about it. The disciples had locked themselves into a room, afraid someone would find them and turn them in as the disciples of Jesus. Here they are hiding -- hunkered in a bunker as it were. They're nervous. Perhaps Peter steps to a window and draws the curtains slightly to peer into the street below. Had anyone followed them?
Suddenly, someone else is in the room! Do you suppose it's possible that Jesus said "Boo" as he jumped out of the shadows, scaring the living daylights out of his timorous followers? No wonder Jesus says, "Peace be with you." Peace is exactly what they need, peeled to the ceiling as they were.
We read elsewhere in the Bible that we are to make a joyful noise. What is more joyful than a good knee-slapping, hearty belly laugh? Studies show that a good laugh is good for your health. Yet researchers aren't sure if it's actually the act of laughing that makes people feel better, or if it is having a good sense of humor in life. A good sense of humor, a positive attitude and the support of friends and family might play a role in improving health.
Dr. Adams says, "Remember laughing? Laughter enhances the blood flow to the body's extremities and improves cardiovascular function. Laughter releases endorphins and other natural mood-elevating and pain-killing chemicals, improves the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to internal organs. Laughter boosts the immune system and helps the body fight off disease, cancer cells as well as viral, bacterial and other infections. Being happy is the best cure of all diseases!"
So, feel free to laugh at the bad jokes, chuckle with the good ones and even share one or two later yourself.
Many of us may not be wise by human standards at all, but that doesn't mean we need to drain the fun and laughter out of everything and be serious all the time.
Being a Christian and following Christ is very serious as is our commitment to God, but we need to remember that we are called to rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoicing means to be filled with joy and that means being able to laugh at things sometimes, just as God was probably laughing a little bit when everyone looked for Jesus in the empty tomb. God's great joke was that Jesus was not dead; he was alive again. Our Lord and Savior is risen. Be glad and rejoice and let out a good laugh.
If God can make the wise look foolish and turn the fools into sages, then let us be a fool for God any day.
BEFORE WORSHIP HUMOR:
Six top things a minister would like to hear, but probably won't:
6. So many people, I couldn't find a place to park.
5. It's my turn to sit in the front pew.
4. I want to volunteer to be the middle school Sunday school teacher.
3. I love it when we sing hymns we have never sung before.
2. We would like to send you to the church growth seminar in Hawaii.
1. I was so enthralled in church I didn't mind you going past the hour.
••••
A guy goes to his barber and he's all excited. He says, "I'm going to go to Rome. I'm flying Alitalia and staying at the Rome Hilton, and I'm going to see the pope."
The barber says: "Ha! Alitalia is a terrible airline, the Rome Hilton is a dump, and when you see the pope, you'll probably be standing in back of 10,000 people."
So, the guy goes to Rome and comes back. His barber asks: "How was it?"
"Great," he says, "Alitalia is a wonderful airline. The hotel was great. And I got to meet the pope!"
"Youmetthe pope?"
"I bent down to kiss the pope's ring."
"And what did he say?"
"He said, 'Where did you get that crummy haircut?'"
A man dies and finds himself in a small room furnished with a couch and a TV. There's another guy sitting on the couch watching the TV.
"So is this heaven or hell?" the newly deceased man asks.
"Well, there are no windows or doors and no apparent way out," the man on the couch answers.
"So this is hell?" the newcomer responds.
"I don't know," says the other guy without looking up. "They did give us this big-screen TV."
"So maybe this is heaven?"
"Maybe, but the TV only gets one channel."
"Okay, so maybe this is hell."
"I'm not sure. The only station the TV gets is PBS."
"So maybe this is heaven after all!" exclaims the relieved newbie.
"Yeah, except for one thing."
"What's that?"
"It's always pledge week."
An atheist was spending a quiet day fishing on Loch Ness. Suddenly his boat was attacked by the legendary monster. In one easy flip the beast tossed the man and his boat high into air. Then it opened its mouth to swallow both.
As the man tumbled head over heels in the air, he cried out, "Oh my God! Help me!"
At once the ferocious attack froze in place. Time stood still with the atheist suspended in midair.
Then a booming voice came down from the clouds: "I thought you didn't believe in Me!"
"Come on God, give me a break!" the man pleaded. "Two minutes ago I didn't believe in the Loch Ness monster either!"
A lady was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country and when she took it to the post office they asked, "Is there anything in here that is breakable?"
She replied, "Only the commandments."
BEFORE THE OFFERING IS TAKEN:
The apostle Paul writes, "God loves a cheerful giver." The original Greek word he used washilaronfor cheerful, which translates into English ashilarious. Actually I prefer hilarious, because it is a word that goes way beyond cheerful, as if we can't control some inner outpouring of emotion.
So, speaking of cheerful giving: A father had given his son a dollar bill and two quarters. He told his son the dollar bill was for the offering at church and then he could use the 50 cents to buy an ice cream cone later.
When they got home the father was dismayed to see his son still had the dollar bill. When he inquired, the son responded, "But the minister said God loves a cheerful giver and I knew I could be a whole lot more cheerful giving 50 cents than a dollar!"
For the Benediction:
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Saul.
Saul who?
Saul there is, there ain't no more!
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