Low Sunday

Psalm 136 Marianne Niesen May 1, 2011

The title of my sermon comes from one of the traditional names for this day that concludes what is called the ‘octave’ (or, eight days) of Easter. At a time when life and culture centered on the church and religious things, Easter was but the beginning of a week of festivities. It began with the ‘great’ feast of Easter and concluded a week later on the ‘lesser’ or ‘low’ Sunday when those who had been baptized on Easter took off their celebratory white garments and dressed more normally once again. The Easter season, of course, continues until Pentecost (50 days from Easter) but the heights of the celebration were mostly contained in the week that concludes today. In other words, the term ‘low Sunday’ referred not to attendance but to the ‘energy’ of the day. Last week was ‘high’ church. This week eases us back to life in the real world.

Here at St. Paul’s and in several other Christian communities, we have had the custom for several years now of celebrating ‘low’ Sunday with a bit of frivolity or ‘holy’ humor. If the truth be told, we aren’t exactly sure how this idea of a ‘holy humor Sunday’ got started but this is one of my favorite explanations, related by a man named William D. Weber . . .

The original custom began hundreds of years ago. A monk, whose name has been lost in history, was pondering the meaning of the events of Holy Week, with its solemn observances of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the astonishing, earth-shattering events of Easter. “What a surprise ending,” he thought. Then, suddenly, like a bolt of lightening, he had a new insight. His hearty laugh startled his fellow monks, breaking the silence of their contemplation.

“Don’t you see,” he cried, “It was a joke! A great joke! The best joke in all history! On Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified, the devil thought he had won. But God had the last laugh on Easter when he raised Jesus from the dead.”

The monks called it “the Easter laugh.” The idea spread rapidly, and the Sunday after Easter became known as a “Day of Joy and Laughter” in Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches. In homes and churches, it became common to celebrate God’s great joke on the devil with joke-telling sessions. It became the custom even in monasteries. [1]

To use the ‘holy humor’ image, life as we know it is at times tragic, comic, confounding, mundane and bewildering. It has ups and downs, ins and outs – and though we like to think we have control, in the end, God has the final punch line. For Christians, that punch line – the thing that turns everything upside down or right side up - is found in a person – Jesus. In Jesus, we learn that God’s power is greater than human power, God’s peace can replace anxiety, God’s love will overcome all fear. What looks like defeat is really triumph. It’s a laughable proposition and it is that quality of the Christian message that we honor today with laughter. The ability to laugh - and sometimes just the willingness to laugh - at ourselves, at our situation, at strange things we humans do - opens us up to new insight and new hope. It can help us put the world right again. A sense of humor reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously - which is often our biggest hurdle.

Bill Cosby tells us through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”

Thomas Jefferson said Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility.

Arland Usher who lived in 15^th century Ireland said humor is... despair refusing to take itself seriously.

And from William Davis: The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes.

And that’s what good humor does . . . it makes us think. It reminds us that most things in life are more complex than we know, more puzzling than we are aware, more confounding than we admit. Our well-thought-out answers and well-reasoned conclusions might be the best we have - but they are seldom the whole truth. The whole story. A good sense of humor allows us to be grateful that it doesn’t all depend on us. God is still God.

Frankly, that’s the incredibly powerful message of that wonderful psalm we just proclaimed together. It has been several minutes since we prayed those words, but I’ll venture that most of us remember at least one particular line. God’s steadfast love endures forever. The psalm recited an overview of Israel’s history as they understood it – from creation to slavery to freedom to the overthrow of kings and through it all God’s steadfast love endured forever. And every time people recited that psalm, they wrote and re-wrote the message on their hearts. God’s steadfast love endures forever. Period. Their history was full – as histories are – of justice and injustice, tragedy and triumph, acts of grace and deeds of vengeance. All was not pretty in that history and the Jews were not blameless yet, still, God’s steadfast love endured forever. That is the assurance meant to give us courage in the face of our own challenges and the wisdom to lighten up a little and remember that God is God. So . . .even when our world is upended, or pain overcomes us, or sadness erupts, or light dims, or spring seems trapped by a tenacious winter . . . even when we fail or fall or act badly . . . even then, God’s steadfast love endures forever and so we can dare laugh with abandon, love with gratitude and live with confidence.

Watch with me now and enjoy this retelling of the Easter story – by Eliana, who, last December, delighted us with her version of the Christmas story. (Show Video clip) [2]

However you picture that first Easter and whether you call this Sunday ‘Low’ or ‘Holy Humor’ or ‘May Day’ or just ‘today,’ Eliana is right. The best response to the Easter story is love and gratitude – and an ‘Easter laugh!’ For, despite all evidence to the contrary, God’s steadfast love endures forever. And that is quite a punch line!

[1] From Today’s Inspirational Story for March 27, 2005 found on www.beliefnet.com

[2] http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/23090/A-Very-Special-Sunday