A harvest of joy! What a wonderful title.

I hope and pray that as we return to worship in the coming weeks, after months of sorrow and loneliness and isolation, that we shall come home filled with joy.

It is a tradition in some churches that the Sunday after Easter is a time for holy hilarity. It is a time to put off the sadness and sorrow of Lent and celebrate the good news of great joy that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Holy hilarity!

Some might think that church is not a place to laugh. It’s a place to be somber and quiet. But God gave us the ability to laugh, to smile, to be filled with joy.

Why do seagulls fly over the sea?

Because if they flew over the bay, they would be bagels (Get it? Bay-gulls?)!

Or, the story of the pastor who gave a test to her catechism class. One of the questions was this – list the Ten Commandments in any order.

4

7

10

6

5

3

1

9

8

2

Share a joke. Share a smile.

These are gifts from God.

Let us pray:

Psalm 126 

A Harvest of Joy

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,

2  Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

    and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

3  The Lord has done great things for us,

4  Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

5  May those who sow in tears

6  Those who go out weeping,

    bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

Photo by Dan Cook on Unsplash