Second Sunday of EASTER
April 12, 2026
Bethlehem Lutheran Church; Los Alamos, NM
[NOTE: Greek and English Texts at the end of the Sermon]
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
Christ is Risen, Alleluia.
Today is the Second Sunday of Easter — not the Second Sunday IN Easter, but OF Easter; because Easter is a Season, not a day. Easter is in fact a “week of weeks” (7×7) 49 days. Which means this year this holy Season will last until May 24th, the Feast of Pentecost (the 50th day).
But this is also Holy Hilarity, Bright Sunday, the Risus Paschalis (in Latin, the “Easter Laugh). The word hilarity comes from the Latin hilariter which comes from the Greek ῐ̔λᾰρός [hee-lah-ROS] which means “cheerful, merry, joyous, glad, happy.”
Now — we are also in perilous times, we know this. We arrive here at Church this morning in the midst of terror in the world, a war for which we never asked, endless and needless killing and suffering, deep divisions in our own country, anger and wrath taking the place of understanding and compassion — right now the list seems endless.
So what right do we have to laugh this morning? By whose authority?
And the answer is: by the authority of God, the Holy One, the One Who Created the Heavens and the Earth, the One who Raised Jesus from the Dead, the One who remains present with us and for us and through us to the end of the ages. In the midst of everything that is painful and evil and wrong, we have the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus’ Promise of Life — and so we are given permission — if you will — permission to laugh and be joyful, especially in this Holy Season of Easter.
It all goes back to the 5th Century and the great preacher and Bishop of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom (his name means “honey-mouth” an indication of the sweetness of his Sermons). Chrysostom called Easter a great cosmic joke that God played on Satan — that when Jesus was killed on the cross, the Devil thought it had won and all goodness had been defeated. But after laughing for only a few hours, God shamed Satan and defeated him on Easter morning. God had the last laugh! And so do we, children of God, full of grace and joy.
You all remember Joseph of Arimathea, the man who gave up his beautifully hand-hewn tomb so that Jesus could be buried there following the Crucifixion. Well, a neighbor came up to Joseph and asked him why he had done that? And Joseph answered, “Well, he only needed it for the weekend.”
So, many have immigrated to New Mexico in the last several decades or so to do science. Perhaps you’re one of them. If so, you may appreciate the molecule that walked into a bar and said, “I think I’m missing an electron. Has anyone seen it?” Says the bartender: “Are you sure?“ Answers the molecule: “I’m positive.“
Or, the one about the neutron who walks into a bar and asks, “How much for a drink?” The bartender replies, “For you, no charge.”
Easter is a time for understanding not only the meaning of the Resurrection, but understanding others and their ideas and faith. You know mathematically, there are only two kinds of people: those who understand binary and those who don’t.
The famous philosopher Descartes walked into a bar. The bartender asked: René, would you like your usual? Descartes answered, “I think not” and promptly disappears.
In Church, as people of faith, we need not only to listen to the Gospel, we need to hear it. I was reminded of the necessity of this a number of years back when I was at my doctor’s office getting my blood pressure checked. After removing the arm-band, the nurse said: “Ben. Your blood pressure is fine. Dr. Golub will be in to see you shortly. Do you need to find a ladder?”
“Ladder‽” I said, “Why do I want a ladder?”
The nurse said, “I asked you, ‘Do you need to empty your bladder?’”
I made the mistake of telling this story to one of the members of my parish in Santa Fe, a big mistake because soon that tale went through the occupants of the pews like wildfire.
Of course, I have hearing aids. Really wonderful hearing aids. And I only have one ladder in our apartment.
Children know about Holy Humour, perhaps the best. A 6-year-old was overheard reciting the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our trash passes, as we forgive those who passed trash against us.”
Many of you know that I have a difficult time doing Children’s Sermons — in my parish in Santa Fe I only did about 6 with any success. I usually drew a cartoon of a monk and used that to talk with the plethora of children who would gather around. It was Palm Sunday and I was drawing the monk with a palm branch in his hand. “What is that he is holding?” I asked the children. “It’s a feather!” they all shouted. Yes, my members called that day “Feather Sunday” for years to come.
This came from Pastor Hal Nilsson (former Pastor of St. Luke, one of my bicycling partners, clergy colleague, and a very dear friend — in fact I am drawing upon his collection of a half-dozen Bright Sunday Sermons which he shared with me, so in a mystical but mirthful sense Pr. Nilsson is present with us this weekend. He tells me that the joke came from a group of Lutherans in Lindsborg, KS.) Var så god!
At an Easter mass, at which some young ladies were to take their final vows to become nuns, the presiding bishop noticed two rabbis enter the church just before the mass began.
They were seated at the back of the sanctuary and insisted on sitting on the right side of the center aisle. The bishop wondered why they had come but didn’t have time to inquire before the mass began. When it came time for some announcements, his curiosity got the best of him. He announced that he was delighted to see two rabbis in their midst at the mass but was curious as to why they were present at this occasion where the young ladies were to become the “Brides of Christ.“
The elder of the rabbis slowly rose to his feet and explained, “Family of the Groom.“
OK, since the Season of Easter is a time for change, it’s time for some How many? jokes.
How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? [planned response from the congregation should be: Change! Whoever talked about change in this church‽]
How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?
At least one to change the light bulb, and two or three committees to approve the change. Oh, and also one to provide a casserole.
How many Independent Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, because any more than that would be Ecumenicalism.
How many Roman Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?
None. They use candles.
How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?
None. God has predestined when the lights will be on and off.
In tribute to Pr. Nilsson: How many Bicyclists does it take to change a light bulb?
One to change the bulb and 14 to share similar experiences and how the light bulb could have been changed differently, 7 to show off their LED Flashing when the bike slows down or is braking so as to alert caution to drivers behind the bicycle, 6 to argue over the correct term (light bulb or lightbulb), and 15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the light bulb industry and that “light bulb” is perfectly correct.
Back to children.
A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Jennifer raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, “Thou shalt not take the covers off thy neighbor’s wife.”
A little boy asked his grandmother how old she was. She teased him, “I’m not sure.” “Look in your underwear, Grandma,“ he advised. “Mine says I’m four to six.”
A preschool teacher was taking a van full of children on a field trip when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog’s duties. “They use him to keep crowds back,“ said one child. “No, said another, “he’s just for good luck.” A third child brought the argument to a close. “They use dogs“, she said firmly, “to find the fire hydrants.”
As we draw this Sermon to a close, and think on this Bright Sunday of Holy Hilarity about what we believe, it’s time to hear from some of the saints, the holy ones who have gone before us:
We believe with the Bible that “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh.”
We believe with St. John Chrysostom that “laughter has been implanted in our souls.”
We believe with Martin Luther that “You have as much laughter as you have faith.”
We believe with Jean Calvin that “we are nowhere forbidden to laugh.”
We believe with John Wesley that “A sour religion is the devil’s religion.”
We believe with Sǿren Kierkegaard that “Humor is intrinsic to Christianity.”
We believe with G.K. Chesterton that “A good joke is the closest thing we have to divine revelation.”
We believe with Dietrich Bonhoeffer that “Ultimate seriousness is not without a dose of humor.”
We believe with Charles Schultz that “Humor is proof that everything is going to be alright with God nevertheless.”
And let us all say: Amen!
Deo Gratias (+)
The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III
Retired
JOHN 20.19-31
19 Οὔσης οὖν ὀψίας τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τῇ μιᾷ σαββάτων, καὶ τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων ὅπου ἦσαν οἱ μαθηταὶ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.20 καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἔδειξεν τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῖς. ἐχάρησαν οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες τὸν κύριον.21 εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς [ὁ Ἰησοῦσ] πάλιν, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν· καθὼς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς.22 καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐνεφύσησεν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον·23 ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἀφέωνται αὐτοῖς, ἄν τινων κρατῆτε κεκράτηνται.
24 Θωμᾶς δὲ εἷς ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα, ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος, οὐκ ἦν μετ’ αὐτῶν ὅτε ἦλθεν Ἰησοῦς.25 ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ ἄλλοι μαθηταί, Ἑωράκαμεν τὸν κύριον. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Ἐὰν μὴ ἴδω ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω τὸν δάκτυλόν μου εἰς τὸν τύπον τῶν ἥλων καὶ βάλω μου τὴν χεῖρα εἰς τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ, οὐ μὴ πιστεύσω.
26 Καὶ μεθ’ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ πάλιν ἦσαν ἔσω οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Θωμᾶς μετ’ αὐτῶν. ἔρχεται ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῶν θυρῶν κεκλεισμένων, καὶ ἔστη εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ εἶπεν, Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν.27 εἶτα λέγει τῷ Θωμᾷ, Φέρε τὸν δάκτυλόν σου ὧδε καὶ ἴδε τὰς χεῖράς μου, καὶ φέρε τὴν χεῖρά σου καὶ βάλε εἰς τὴν πλευράν μου, καὶ μὴ γίνου ἄπιστος ἀλλὰ πιστός.28 ἀπεκρίθη Θωμᾶς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου.29 λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ὅτι ἑώρακάς με πεπίστευκας; μακάριοι οἱ μὴ ἰδόντες καὶ πιστεύσαντες.
30 Πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα σημεῖα ἐποίησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐνώπιον τῶν μαθητῶν [αὐτοῦ], ἃ οὐκ ἔστιν γεγραμμένα ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ·31 ταῦτα δὲ γέγραπται ἵνα πιστεύ[σ]ητε ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἵνα πιστεύοντες ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 