Holy Humor Sunday

Easter is a time of surprises.

There was a woman who on the Saturday afternoon before was doing some baking for her Easter dinner the next day. There was a knock at the door. She went to find a man, dressed in raggedy clothes, and looking for work. He asked her if there was anything he could do. She said, "Can you paint?"

"Yes," he said. "I’m an excellent painter."

"Well," she said, "there are two gallons of green paint there and a brush, and there’s a porch out back that needs to be painted. Please do a good job. I’ll pay you when you’re done."

He said, "That’s great. I’ll be finished before you know it."

She went back to her baking and really didn’t think much more about it until there was a knock at the door. She went, and it was obvious he had been painting he had it all over himself. She asked, "Did you finish the job?"

He said, "Yes."

She said, "Did you do a GOOD job?"

He said, "Yes. But lady, there’s one thing I would like to point out to you. That is not a Porsche back there. That is a Mercedes."

Or how about the man and a woman who had been friends for many years, who had died and gone to heaven. They told St. Peter that they wanted to get married. “Take your time and think about it,” said St. Peter. “I mean, you’ve got all eternity so take fifty years and see me then.” Fifty years later, the couple returned and again told St. Peter they wanted to get married. “Well,” said St. Peter, “take another fifty years and really think about it….” But the couple was insistent, “We know we want to be married now….” St. Peter replied, “Well, take another fifty years and if we don’t have a pastor up here by then, I’ll marry you myself.”

Easter is a time full of surprises… This second Sunday of Easter BUILDS on the good news we celebrated LAST Sunday - Jesus was dead, now alive! The women come to the tomb in despair then leave the tomb in delight. It’s an amazing story! It raises lots of questions, but as we learned last week, the bottom line, what this season is all about is that ALLELUIA!! CHRIST IS RISEN!!!  (HE IS RISEN INDEED!)

Holy Humor Sunday continues the celebration. It celebrates the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is God’s ultimate joke on death and the devil. It is a testament to the God who, as the Psalmist says in the second chapter, fourth verse, "sits in the heavens and laughs" at the foolishness of humanity and any forces that might seek to thwart divine purposes.

But as wonderful as last Sunday made us feel, especially after our first really big worship service since the pandemic started, time spent celebrating with good food and friends and family, Monday dawned, and it was cold, grey, and damp. And the world intruded again. There was more news of the war, more images of devastation and death to deal with. And when that news is too much, we change the channel only to hear the news that the inflation is still high. And we’re all too aware of how our dollars aren’t stretching quite as far as they used to. We change the channel again… aaaaaand COVID is still with us, a fresh new variant on its way. All this following some of the BEST news we will ever hear that Alleluia! Christ is Risen! (He is risen indeed.)

It’s no wonder the Lectionary offers us the same Gospel lesson year after year after year on this Sunday after Easter. This is one of the incredibly rare times on liturgical calendar that you find the very same reading on the very same Sunday annually.

The disciples, at least most of them, are sealed away tightly in a locked room. Deadbolts, locks, duct-tape, whatever it took. And they are scared to death that the same fate that befell Jesus might be awaiting them, too. Yes, they have heard the story from the women about the empty tomb, but at this point, as far as they’re concerned, that’s all it is... a story. And then suddenly, here’s Jesus. Through duct tape and the deadbolt, saying, "Shalom." The Bible translates that as "Peace be with you," and that is legitimate, but it can just as legitimately be rendered, "Hey, guys".

More strictly translated, Jesus’ “peace be with you” meant much more than our idea of peace. When the risen Christ said those words, it was more than just a greeting. It was more than just an announcement. Literally translated, “peace be with you” is a pronouncement of well-being, of wholeness, of completeness. It means be at peace with your past.

So often we spend so much time looking through our rearview mirror that we not only miss the view that’s ahead of us, but we eventually crash in the process. Jesus simply told the disciples and us that forgiveness is attainable. So, for example, there was the time following the resurrection, when John found Peter and ran up to him. Excitedly, he said, “Peter, I have some good news and some bad news.” Peter took hold of John and calmed him down, “Take it easy, John. What’s the good news?” John said, “The good news is that Jesus is risen.” Peter said, “That’s great, but what’s the bad news.” John looking around cautiously said, “He’s really steamed about Friday!” NO THIS ISN’T ACTUALLY THE CASE!!! What is the case is that Jesus’ “peace be with you” gives the disciples and us, peace with our past.

But it brings peace to our present as well. Here’s a simple question, “Where do you need peace in your life right now?” All of us can attest to the fact that life sometimes seems unmanageable. We live in a broken world. People’s lives are daily being torn apart and challenged. And often, when there’s no faith to bring the person through whatever trial they’re facing, everything seems to fall apart. But for those of us who know why Jesus died, for the sole purpose of fixing broken people and broken situations, we know that Jesus wants to bring peace amid our turmoil. The hymn says it all when we sing, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!” As Christians, our net-worth is much less important than our eternal worth! The struggles we experience today can help to build the foundation for a greater faith in Jesus Christ tomorrow! We walk by faith, and not by sight, because we know that there is only one person qualified under heaven and earth to sufficiently deal with the present realities that we face, and it is not us!

“Peace be with you” speaks healing to our past and to our present, but it also speaks wholeness to our future. We can all relate to Thomas. In fact, I think that the whole “doubting” label is harsh when we look at Thomas within the context of the life of Jesus.

We meet Thomas in the 11th chapter of John. Jesus has just been told Lazarus has died. While the other disciples are worried about the dangers of taking the trip nearer to Jerusalem, it’s Thomas who says to the rest, “Let us also go…that we may die with him.” (John 11:16).

Next, we catch up to him in the 14th chapter of John. The disciples are gathered to celebrate the Passover with Jesus, and he’s trying to tell them what’s going to happen in his death, resurrection, and ultimate ascension. Jesus finishes saying that he’s going to prepare a place for them all in his Father’s house, and that, one day, they will join him there. Jesus said, “And you know the way to the place I am going?” And it’s Thomas, not that doubter, but the realistic thoughtful disciple who says, “Wait a minute, I need some directions!” “Lord, we do not know where you are going so how can we know the way?” To which Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, Thomas, no one comes to the Father but by me.”

And now we meet Thomas for the third time. The other disciples are trying to convince Thomas that Jesus is alive, and that he did appear to them. But it’s just too much. Thomas can’t believe it. He’s devastated by what has happened. He was there when Jesus was murdered on that cross and his present faith, his present hope, his present direction have been shattered.

We call him Doubting Thomas, but I probably would have wanted the same thing he did. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Life can be crushing sometimes. And even though we call ourselves Easter people, we feel like we’re still living in a Good Friday world.

Maybe, like Thomas, we don’t give ourselves the chance to get it. We were someplace else. But now, we ARE all here. Thomas too. The doors are locked again. Suddenly, Tada!!! Jesus!!! "Put your finger here, [Thomas]; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." And Thomas’ experience doesn’t end there! When Jesus shows up and proclaims, “Peace be with you,” it’s that encounter with the risen Lord that empowers Thomas and the rest to publicly and powerfully proclaim the good news, the news, that over time would turn the world upside down. With eyes as big as saucers, Thomas responds, "My Lord and my God!" Now Thomas is in on the joke too. As the writer in Ecclesiastes has it, there is a "time to weep and a time to laugh." And we know what THIS is the time for.

An Episcopal Bishop went to an unfamiliar church to celebrate the Eucharist. There was a microphone on the altar and as he was uncertain whether it was switched on or not, so he tapped it gently with no result. Then leaning very close to it, he said, "There’s something wrong with this microphone." To which the congregation replied, "And also with you."

When Jesus said, “peace be with you”, he gave Thomas, the disciples, and even us, the hope we so desperately need in our continuing journey with Jesus. Hope that because He lives, we too will live. Hope that says we don’t have to be chained to our past, struggle in the present, or fear our future. When Jesus tells us “Peace be with you,” it makes a difference. Life is not the same. Like Thomas, it marks our lives with purpose, with meaning, and a new direction.

A couple of weeks after the Resurrection someone was talking with Joseph of Arimathea and said they were surprised that he allowed Jesus to be buried in Joseph’s newly hand-hewn stone tomb. And Joseph shrugged and said, “Eh. He only needed it for the weekend!”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!!  (He is risen indeed).

Amen.