Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith,” Romans 1:16

During this season of Easter, Christians greet one another with an exclamation of the good news—

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!

Another variation of this greeting is adds the word “Alleluia!” During Lent, we abstain from outbursts of “Alleluia!” both in anticipation of the joyous feast of Easter and in penitence that is characteristic of the Lenten season.

The word “alleluia” is what linguists call a “loan word.” It’s a word that comes into one language from a foreign language and keeps almost an identical form in both languages. “Alleluia” comes into English through Greek and Latin from Ancient Hebrew. In Hebrew, it quite literally means “Praise the Lord!” When we shout, sing, or simply say “Alleluia!” we’re literally saying “Praise the Lord!” That “alleluia” is on our lips all throughout Easter is especially appropriate because, indeed—God be praised for delivering us from death to life!

There can be confusion for some folks, though, when to say “alleluia” and when not. One such place there’s some confusion is when we say things such as “Christ is risen!” We know there’s a response to this greeting, but does that response include the “alleluia” or not? That is the question…

During this season of Easter, the response in our prayers of the people during worship is “Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!” Invariably, I hear a few people in each service ending their response with a muffled “alleluia,” with what I’m sure is followed up with an inward sense of shame for not reading the bulletin for the “proper response.” “Oh, I’m not supposed to say ‘Alleluia!’ right now,” I’m sure is what some are thinking.

The more I ponder just what we’re saying when we say “Alleluia,” though, the more I come to believe that this addition, even if not liturgically “correct,” is anything but shameful. In fact, I could even go so far as to call it a movement of the Holy Spirit. When we hear the words “Christ is risen!” how can we keep from responding in kind, and then for good measure, adding a hearty “Praise the Lord?” It’s not only appropriate, but it’s also admirable and commendable that “Alleluia!” pour off our lips, without thinking, when we hear the good news of Christ’s victory over death!

The next time you hear someone say “Alleluia!” at the “wrong time,”—or even still, the next time you say “Alleluia!” at the wrong time, don’t be ashamed, but see it as God’s Spirit moving you to reflexive praise in response to the good news!

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

-DS