Sermons for the Month

How Holy is Holy Week?
DATE: April 13th, 2003
SERVICE: Palm Sunday
TEXT: Mark 11:1-10

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

Holy Week has begun. According to the dictionary that which is holy belongs to God and is dedicated for religious use. So, that's what is true for Christians today and during the next six days - these hours belong to God and dedicated to Godly purposes.

How true is that, do you think? As we look around our community, as we bravely review our own lives, is it obvious that this week is holy? After all, life seems to go on pretty much as usual with work, school, sports and other activities being unaffected. Perhaps having a Holy Week is an antiquated idea.

Yet, I know of some people who rearrange their work schedules and activities - in much the same way folks bend over backward to go to the Indians season opener or take a long weekend trip - in order to free up Holy Week for religious purposes.

There are parents who say "no" to requests for fun on the evening of Maundy Thursday, even though there's no school on Friday, because attending worship as a family is important.

We give thanks for those serving the church as choir members, readers, communion assistants who make doing so their first priority - not that which is done if time allows - during Holy Week.

Still it may be that Holy Week is an antiquated idea and that's why there are church goers and non-attendees alike who do not know the traditions and stories of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

More and more in our world the focus is placed on, to put it bluntly, making a buck off of the crucifixion while, at the same time, turning Easter into nothing more than a spring-time festival. Did you know that Easter has become the second-biggest toy-giving holiday after Christmas?

I saved an article from the Canton Repository that was published last year during Holy Week. Charita Goshay wrote, "I think that while the whole idea of the Jesus-dying-for-your sins-resurrection thing makes some people squirm, they don't want to be left out of the festivities. As a result, some kids who receive Easter baskets haven't a clue as to why they are getting them."

Ah, yes, in the world in which we live Holy Week may be an antiquated idea. It does not "fit" in this 21st century world or this 21st century church. That reality makes me very sad. I wonder if that's what Jesus felt as he road into Jerusalem on that day which we now call Palm Sunday because, you see, the people then did not grasp the significance of his arrival during that first Holy Week.

Jesus has stopped warning his disciples to "tell no one" who he is. In fact, he is making his identity quite clear. The Gospel of John tells us that just before Jesus began his journey into Jerusalem for the last time, he called Lazarus out of the tomb after he had already been dead for four days and, according to his sister, had already begun to smell. That act made a bold statement about who Jesus is.

In the Gospel of Mark, from which we just read, Jesus gives sight to a blind beggar named Bartimaeus who cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" This is yet another example of Jesus making a bold statement about his identity.

Many in the crowds have witnessed, or at least heart about, these amazing acts. So it is that as Jesus begins the ride into Jerusalem, the tension among those who follow him becomes greater and greater. The prophet Zechariah had foretold that the Messiah-King would enter the Holy City riding on a donkey. Jesus knew this, and he even made arrangements to have a colt on which to ride. He knew that the people would remember the prophet's words and announce him as the promised king.

His followers are so excited because, having heard and seen the power of Jesus' words and actions; they expect him to use that power to free them from the political domination of Rome. In the uproar they have forgotten his words, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him." That picture does not fit into the celebration, so those words are ignored.

The noisy crowd had its own vision of what will occur. They look forward to celebration and liberation; that's what makes the week holy for them. But for Jesus the week to come is holy because during it God's will for his life will be fulfilled.

Jesus knows they have not grasped the significance of the next six days because it does not fit their dreams, their agendas. This, I think, must sadden him.

Is it so different now? Focusing on God's agenda for Jesus during this week may not fit our agendas either because doing so is too time consuming, or because we have other commitments, or because it's uncomfortable to hear the story or because we would rather celebrate on Palm Sunday, and then again Easter, than focus on the last days and hours of Jesus' life in between.

So, just as the first century people acted out their own agendas, so do we in the 21st century. We turn the idea of Holy Week into something antiquated, something for old people and the ultra-religious, but certainly not for those who know what life is like in the real world.

After all, the real world has so much to offer, doesn't it? People find all the emotional and spiritual fulfillment they need in their jobs, don't they? A movie is good for revealing significant insights, right? Young people can find meaning and direction for their lives on the internet, can't they? Are there not thousands of self-help books for anyone dealing with a personal problem or loss? Lots of stuff always makes people happy, right? And there are plenty of individuals communicating with the world beyond - in front of thousands of television viewers - to take care of any questions one might have about eternity. So, who needs Holy Week, in fact who needs a Savior, in the 21st century?

We do. And if people of the church can't recognize that then there is very little chance that those who are not a part of the church will.

Holy week has begun. This week especially we are intentional about dedicating ourselves to God and to God's purposes knowing that if there is anything that never becomes antiquated, that's it.

AMEN

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