Hello,
Welcome to Holy
Week.
For Christians,
the historical events of this week are the highpoint of our faith. Thursday, Maundy Thursday, we gather around
altars and join the first disciples in that “Last Supper”. On Friday, Good Friday, we gather around the
cross in our sanctuaries and join the first disciples as they stood under that
Golgotha cross and watched Jesus die.
And on Sunday, Easter Sunday, we join the voices of all time in the
feast of victory that God won over sin and death when Jesus rose from the dead,
a resurrection that Jesus will one day march us through, too. This is Holy Week.
When I was in
seminary, one of my professors helped me to better understand this week by unpacking
the word “holy”. Prior to that time,
when I heard the word “holy” I thought it referred to something that was purely
pure, splendidly splendid, and awesomely awesome. Not that these descriptions of “holy” are
inappropriate, but there is more to the word.
He said, that at the root of the word, “holy” means “functioning as God
has intended”. So, for example, in the
commandment, “You shall remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.”, the main intent
of holiness in remembering the Sabbath is to have it function as God had
intended it (to be a time when the world is quieted to that God can be heard).
So, in addition to
the purely pure, the splendidly splendid, and awesomely awesomeness of the week
ahead, this “holiness” of these coming days will also be found when they “function
as God has intended”. And what is God’s
intention for this week ahead?
That God’s love
would change us, forever.
That we would be
changed from people who wonder if God loves us, to be people whose lives are
shaped by God’s love. That we would be
changed from people whose deeds tell us who we are, to people whose God’s deed
is the one thing that makes us who we are.
That we would be changed from people whose lives are turned inward by a
drive for self-preservation, to people whose lives are turned outward by power
of the grace of God that will never let us go.
That we would be changed from people who are tugged and pulled by our
fears, to people who are solidly afoot in hope and peace. That we would be changed
from people who are tormented by our failures, to people who are cheered on by
God’s victory. That we would be changed
from people who are walking to the grave, to people who by the power of Christ
have already left the grave behind.
And here’s the
best news of all, at least as far as I am concerned; that God is the one making
the change happen, not me. If such
change was dependent upon my willingness to change, my power to change, my determination
to change…the change would never happen.
But in the events of this upcoming week…the sharing of himself in his
meal, the giving of himself on the cross, and the steps he took out of that
tomb…I can clearly see that God, himself, is at work to bring about this
change. Will this change happen? As another of my seminary professors said, “Do
you really think that you can keep God from accomplishing God’s will?”
So, as we enter
this Holy Week, this week that God is at work to function as God has intended,
let me invite you to engage yourself in this week….Thursday, Friday and Sunday….and
experience the explosion of joy in your heart as you are swept up in the change
that God is making in your life.
Have a great…and Holy….week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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