Don't let this be an ordinary week
Holy Week begins today with Palm Sunday
A friend of mine worked in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. With thousands of others on that terrible day, she streamed northward, away from the smoke and debris, for blocks and blocks. Walking like zombies, covered with soot, they walked uptown to safety.
My friend told me one thing that remains seared in her brain so many years later:
As they were walking - numb, in shock - they passed many people who were still enjoying the beautiful fall day, seemingly oblivious to the unfolding tragedy of the day.
’There were people sitting outside, eating brunch,” she told me. “They were drinking coffee as if nothing was happening. Talking among themselves. Laughing.”
As the whole world changed in an instant, regular life went on.
These people may have actually been traumatized, of course. They may have been confused, not known what to do. They may have been in denial.
But it’s also true that even while something truly earth-shattering is happening, the mundane aspects of life are still happening, too. It’s easy enough - sometimes necessary enough - to keep on keeping on.
I thought of this when I read the very end of the Passion story in the Gospel of Luke today:
‘On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.’
Even after the whole world had ended for Jesus’ followers - even after his life was over - regular life went on.
Now, I know the Biblical scholars will tell us that this line was included to show that Jesus died just before the Sabbath, that the disciples acted in accordance with Jewish law, and to explain how we know Jesus was dead for three days.
I’m also struck with how the world just kept turning. People had things to do. Many - many - people did not notice one more criminal being put to death (because that’s what Jesus was before the resurrection).
It’s easy enough to not pay attention.
Today is Palm Sunday. It’s the beginning of Holy Week - the most important week in the life of the Christian faith.
This week we don’t just tell the story again - the story of the day that changed everything that ever happened, before or after it. We don’t just remember Jesus returning to Jerusalem - being heralded with palm branches and shouts of joy - then quickly arrested, tried, and crucified.
We walk through each and every detail of this story. We put ourselves in it. The triumph and the tragedy. The hope and the bitter sadness. The intimacy of the last Supper and the washing of the disciples’ feet. The commandment to love.
Then the agony of the cross - the pain and the suffering. The horrible death. The mourning. The contemplation of life without God.
We call it anamnesis - living memory. Through our worship and prayer this week, we are called to feel it all again. To live into each moment of those days that precede the greatest joy of humanity - resurrection and the promise of eternal life.
It’s easy enough to look away. It could be just another week this week. There’s plenty to do.
Many, many people won’t notice at all. Plenty of churches will start having Easter services on Good Friday, pretending not to notice the importance of everything that came before. Plenty of people will be on spring break - or simply back to work tomorrow - and won’t even realize how life-changing this week is.
I invite you not to let this week pass you by.
Be with Jesus this week. Walk with Jesus through his last week. Remember - and feel - each important moment, and through it realize how much God loves us. How much God loves you. So much that he gave his life for our salvation.
Pay attention to the most important week of our lives.
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