Holy Humor Sunday

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
—Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)

A few years ago, our parish’s newly hired priest suggested celebrating Holy Humor Sunday the week after Easter. While there are always people who have an aversion to change, this service has since become an eagerly anticipated event on the church calendar. The concept is that we rejoice that death has been defeated, and we can laugh at the futile attempts of those who would keep the plan of God from being accomplished. So every year we make a bulletin with humorous comics, invite people to share jokes, and sing Easter words to Christmas tunes. It is a moment to live in the Resurrection’s euphoria. The whole order of the world was turned upside down, and we are all invited into the topsy-turvy, belly-laughing delight of that experience. 

“Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”
—1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV)

This effervescent joy grows out of the Holy Week’s solemnity. It’s a day when we lean into brightness, light, and laughter. My boys in particular appreciate a chance to share their weird jokes, and many an adult will reveal a secret comedy streak. Easter is a fifty-day season, one in which we should be actively following our forty-day season of repentance and fasting with a longer period of celebration. It is an excellent season for a gratitude practice, a time for noticing the good gifts that God is continually giving. 

Depending on which translation of the Bible you use, the command to “Rejoice” appears between 200 and 300 times. Choosing joy is an act of resistance against the many ways in which the world tries to bring us down. Whether it is in the never-ending onslaught of news, the latest distressing acts of war, or the constant anxiety of providing for ourselves and our families, it is so easy to lose our joy. So, to rejoice, we need to be intentional about practicing joy. 

Humor is one way to practice joy, and the practice of Holy Humor is one of the ways that we counteract despair. There should always be room for laughter in life, whether you gather to play games that tickle the funny bone, practice puns and knock-knock jokes at the dinner table, or watch a comedy together. 

There is one phrase in the prayer book that comes to mind relating to Holy Humor: shield the joyous.  

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen. 
—Book of Common Prayer, Order for Compline

Joy should be protected, shielded, not because it is fragile, but because it is a precious resource. So let us laugh with Jesus, who has the last laugh over death. Let us go forth rejoicing in the goodness that is our eternal salvation. 

Here are a few fun jokes for you to enjoy this Holy Humor Sunday.

Q. Did you know that there was a DJ in the Bible? 
A.It was Jesus because he turned tables. (turntables)

Q. Why couldn’t Jonah trust the ocean?
A. Because he knew there was something fishy about it.

Q. Where was Solomon’s temple located?
A. On the side of his head.

Q. Who was the smartest man in the Bible?
A. Abraham. He knew a Lot.

Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married?
A. Ruthless.

Q. Why didn’t the angel have good cell service at the tomb? 
A. Because it was a dead zone until Jesus rose again!

Q. Why did Jesus avoid using a GPS after the resurrection? 
A.Because he already knew the way, the truth, and the life.

And a couple of puns

Need an ark? I Noah a guy.

If Mary is the mother of Jesus and Jesus is the Lamb of God, does that mean Mary had a Little Lamb?