There’s a tradition in the church that goes back hundreds of years. On Easter Monday people used to gather together and tell jokes. That’s right, tell jokes. It all stemmed from their realization that when God raised Jesus from the dead, God had the last laugh!

The Fellowship of Merry Christians (yes, there really is such a group) produces a newsletter called “The Joyful Newsletter.” For years they have been trying to revive this venerable custom by urging people to celebrate Easter Monday with a joke party. It sounds like fun to me!

If Easter Monday is not a good day, then pick some other day of the week. If you have to work, suggest to your co-workers to bring in their favorite jokes on one day and share them at lunch or on the bulletin board. Or email a joke to friends and have them email one of their favorite jokes back to you and everyone else on your email list. Or, if you’re really zealous, throw a party on the Sunday after Easter, a Sunday sometimes called “Holy Humor Sunday.” You can serve Easter eggs, jelly beans, and chocolate bunnies. (You can smile because these things are probably 50% off after Easter!) Then have your guests share jokes. Or ask them questions like, “What funny things have happened at home, at work, even in church?” Or you could just sit and enjoy watching a funny movie together.

The point is, despite the bad news we are bombarded with every day, despite our personal pains and woes, we Christians believe this: ultimately good will triumph over evil, love will overcome all hatred, and life will conquer death. That’s what Jesus taught. That’s what Jesus lived.

Let me leave you with a few jokes:

Mechanic to customer: “I couldn’t fix your breaks, so I made your horn louder.”

Little girl to her father after Sunday school: “Our teacher must be Jesus’ grandmother because she talks about him all the time.”

Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.

Sign over the scale in a doctor’s office: “Pretend it’s your IQ.”

A little boy’s letter to God: “Dear God, my grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go?”

Do you have any jokes for us?