Holy Week

Jess: As I have previously mentioned, Lent used to be my least favorite part of the church year. The high point during the whole season was Palm Sunday, because we went back to celebrating Jesus' great power and kingliness. I loved getting to wave my palm branch around, tickling my brother with it, and trying to remember how to fold it into a cross. The songs were great, and I remembered why I enjoyed church, rather than thinking about how depressing Lent was.

Even if I still held onto these particularly material things about Palm Sunday, I think Wes' sermon this Sunday would have knocked me out of that illusion. I'll let him talk about the substance of the sermon, but suffice it to say that Wes completely nailed the whole point of Palm Sunday. He brought us back into the reality of Jesus' life, death, and preaching.

I always loved Maundy-Thursday because most of the ones I remember, we did some sort of meal based on Jesus' last supper. We would sit around a table in the back of the sanctuary, and share the bread and the cup just like the disciples would have with Jesus. No one "played" roles or anything, we just shared a meal as a church family.

And the low point of the low season was Good Friday. The service was depressing, it was dark, and at the end, my dad always slammed a giant Bible shut and scared the crap out of me. I knew it was coming, yet I always jumped about a foot off my seat and almost screamed.

These days, I'm a little (ahem a whole freaking lot) more aware that there are reasons for the seaons we celebrate in the church. Without Good Friday, there can be no Easter. I am always saddened by how few people attend Good Friday services, yet the church has more people than any other Sunday on Easter. We are missing the point if we celebrate the high numbers on Easter and ignore the poor attendance on Good Friday. Jesus HAD to die before he could be raised and conquer death. If we are not willing to share the message of Jesus crucifixion and terrible, bloody death, does the resurrection hold any meaning at all? I'm not saying we should go out and spread the news that Jesus died a disgusting, humiliating, terrifying death and completely ignore its meaning. But it is important that we remember and celebrate Jesus' death, not rushing through the season of Lent or Good Friday to get to the good news of Easter. The death in itself is good news. Jesus died for my sins--for your sins--for all of our sins. Without that message, it doesn't matter that he rose again.

Well, there's my little preaching moment. Jesus died. But that's not the end...thanks be to God.

Wes: I would like to start out by saying that throughout this Lenten season, I've had the pleasure of spending an hour each Tuesday with a great group of people from the churches going through the book, The 24 Hours that Changed the World. It's about, you guessed it, Jesus' last day alive. We've been entrenched in the horror of this day, and one phrase has helped us pull through: It's Friday, but Sunday is coming. I am very happy to say that, after a 40 day season of being immersed in Friday, Sunday is almost here.

As Jess mentioned above, I tried to do something a little bit different for Palm Sunday this year. I moved all everything out of the sanctuaries of my churches. And when I say everything, I mean absolutely everything that was not nailed down was moved. The altar table: gone. The pulpit: gone. The cross: gone. The flowers, flags, pictures: gone. The only things left in the sanctuary by the time we gathered on Sunday were the pews and the people. (The pews would have been gone, but they are bolted in...). I showed up to service in a bright green polo shirt, jeans, and no shoes. Yeah. I was honestly worried that I would either be run out or the parishioners would get up, leave, and never come back.

My sermon focused on the fact that Jesus came into the world and turned everything that people wanted and expected on their heads, and that this is seen clearly in the Palm Sunday text. Instead of riding in on a warhorse, Christ comes in on a donkey. Instead of leading a victorious army, Christ is followed by a ragtag group of dirty, smelly fishermen. Instead of going to a palace or a military stronghold, Christ goes to the Temple to pray and teach. And finally, instead of raising up an army to spark a rebellion, Christ goes to the cross. The people of God understood their needs all wrong. They had an expectation that was not fulfilled, because Jesus chose to be the Savior they needed rather than the one they wanted. We, like the people of Jesus' time, need things turned on our heads every once and while. We need to be reminded why we come to church, and why Who it is that we are worshipping. The church is not the building we gather in. The church is not the paintings or flags or crosses or flowers that adorn the sanctuary. The church is the people of God.

We cannot lose sight of this.

If you want to read my sermon in its entirety, check out my other blog: http://flip-flopprophet.blogspot.com/. Realize, though, that this is not exactly what I preach, since I make a manuscript and then usually immediately deviate from it. :-)

Tomorrow's community Good Friday service should be epic. I'm sure that we'll have a follow-up blog about it and everything that the two of us have done for it in preparation and execution.

Well, happy Holy Week, everyone! I hope that God reveals to you anew the glory of the Risen Christ this Easter Sunday, and until then, remember, it's Friday but Sunday is coming!


You stay classy, World Wide Web!


-Jess and Wes