A Week of Anticipation

And the crowds that went before him 
and that followed him shouted, 
“Hosanna to the Son of David!  
Blessed is the one who comes 
in the name of the Lord!  
Hosanna in the highest!” 
Matthew 21:9

Here it is once again, the most significant and celebrated week of the entire church year.  And we have two basic responses - to go through the routines and rituals without hardly thinking about them, or to open ourselves to the fresh possibilities that can come when we experience them as though it were for thefirst time.

The Palm Sunday Parade is already behind us.  The garments and palms have been gathered off the road.  The celebration is over - or is it?  Who likes cleaning up after a party - unless there is something even greater just around the corner?  Anticipation…but for what?

The turn takes us to Maundy Thursday, a time when Jesus celebrated thePassover meal with his disciples.  The traditional meal was transformed and given new meaning as Jesus shared the bread and the wine expressive of his very body and blood.  We will gather at 7:00 PM to re-capture the drama of that Upper Room along with the other events of Holy Week all in the context of adimly lit candlelight service.

Good Friday comes quickly with the dark and dread of Golgotha as Jesus faces what for many was to be his end.  We remember that devastating day at theend of the Maundy Thursday service.  His crucifixion took place from noon to 3:00 PM on Friday, a time of recalling his life and ministry and his seven last words from the cross.  The pain, struggle, and forsakenness he must have felt combined with his strong faith and God’s gift of grace turned the “end” into our beginning.

I left my gaze beyond the night, 
and see above the banners of our hate unfurled, 
the holy figure that on cavalry stretched 
arms out wide enough for all the world. 
- Author unknown

The empty tomb, a symbol of new beginnings and new life, not the crucifixion, is the final word of Holy Week and the witness of our faith.  And so we will gather on Sunday to experience and celebrate the good news that Jesus Christ is risen!  May this Easter bring renewed joy, renewed strength, and renewed faith! 

                    In anticipation,

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister