By Pastor Craig Pederson

One of my best friends was born on April 1. We were classmates for our entire K – 12th grade experience and I went to all of his birthday parties. We still stay in touch today.

His responses to his fateful date of birth evolved as we moved through those growing-up years. In elementary school, he was rather defensive – understandably so, because he took a lot of teasing for it. “I AM NOT A FOOL!” he would huff at those poking fun at him, sometimes storming out of the room when he got too angry.

But in our junior and senior high years, he moved from a posture of defensiveness to one of nonchalance, and even good-natured humor. “I’m so glad I picked this date to be born!,” and “if the calendar tells me I’m a fool, I must be a fool!” were some of his well-developed comeback lines. I’m sure he takes some ribbing even as a middle-aged adult, but I have no doubt he handles it with grace.

“I figured at some point in history, someone would have looked at the foolish story of Christ and thought it was worthy of a day apart from the Resurrection itself.”

I’ve never given much thought to the reason and timing of April Fool’s Day. My brief, unscientific research did not yield entirely convincing or conclusive findings.

Some historians trace it to the Roman festival of “Hilaria” (as in, that’s hilarious!), which is around March 25. This is the date when the vernal equinox signals that the day becomes longer than the night – meaning it must be time for celebration and trickery!

Others tie April Fool’s to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar during the Council of Trent in France 1563. This moved New Year’s Day from April 1 (spring equinox) to January 1. Word was slow to travel in those days (since they somehow lived without social media!), so those who lived in a three-month haze not knowing when to celebrate the New Year were called “April fools.”

 

I GUESS I ALWAYS had some vague sense that April Fool’s Day must be linked to Easter. I figured at some point in history – either from within the church or as a critique of the church – someone would have looked at the foolish story of Christ and thought it was worthy of a day apart from the Resurrection itself.

Some churches celebrate “Holy Humor Sunday” the week after Easter, where the joke is on the devil for thinking he could keep Jesus in the grave. But that basks in the after-the-fact miracle that Jesus was raised from the dead.

“I’ve never given much thought to the reason and timing of April Fool’s Day.”

What about the foolishness that led up to that miracle?

  • A man called “Son of God” and “Son of Man” drew large crowds by teaching about love and patience and forgiveness, yet he was always on the run from religious and political leaders who saw him as a threat.
  • He called himself “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” who brought healing and hope and inclusion to outcasts on the margins, yet he is scolded by those closest to him as lacking empathy and presence in their time of need.
  • He was labeled as a king, but in his final week he was convicted in a sham trial with no followers rising to defend him – in fact, they got defensive at the suggestion that they even knew him (Peter three times!).
  • He hung on a cross in isolation and shame, in the midst of a community that did not know what to make of this foolish man who gave himself up.

The apostle Paul said, “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).  As we approach Holy Week, the calendar tells me I’m a fool – so I must be.