So it is Monday, April 17, 2017, the day after Easter.
I find myself with an interesting question today...
How did Easter change you?
Now that the new outfits are no longer new and back in the closet,
Now that the Seder meals and Good Friday services are over,
Now that the eggs are collected and emptied and bowls and baskets of candy liter the landscape of our homes,
How have we been changed?
As someone who identifies as a Christ follower, I experienced this Holy Week in a very unusual way this year.
Maybe it is the reality of being in seminary and being required to direct passages of Scripture on a weekly basis...
Maybe it is just my inquisitive nature, that wants to learn and understand...
I think it is more likely that it is all of the above and even more importantly the stage of my own personal journey and our family's lifestyle choices.
I watched this week as many friends celebrated traditions that have deep roots in the history of religion.
I saw invitations to Good Friday services, Egg Hunts and pictures of Maundy Thursday services and Seder Meals.
As I saw statistics pour across my computer screen in the days leading up to Easter regarding the need for one final push to invite people to church in any way possible, I felt confused...
Inviting people to church is not a bad thing...
I believe in sharing the amazing message of what God through Christ has done for all of us...
So why does it all feel off?
As I started to examine and ask questions about this Holy Week we were celebrating I realized something when I started to ask the question:
"What was Jesus trying to do during this time we are commemorating?"
I found an interesting answer. What we call Easter was about the resurrection, yes, but more importantly it was about a New Beginning. When Jesus went away, life would never be the same for those who had shared those three years of his ministry with Him. What we celebrate as Holy Week was never solely about the end goal of the Resurrection. It was about preparing those closest to Him for life after He was gone. It was Jesus pouring one last piece of Himself into those that He loved and who had been chosen to carry on His work.
I found an interesting answer. What we call Easter was about the resurrection, yes, but more importantly it was about a New Beginning. When Jesus went away, life would never be the same for those who had shared those three years of his ministry with Him. What we celebrate as Holy Week was never solely about the end goal of the Resurrection. It was about preparing those closest to Him for life after He was gone. It was Jesus pouring one last piece of Himself into those that He loved and who had been chosen to carry on His work.
And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten saying "This cup which is poured our for you is the new covenant in my blood..."
Luke 22:19
When I started to think about this I realized how little Easter has impacted me in the past. It is a day on the Christian calendar that I have celebrated the fact that the Resurrection saved ME from MY sins. Yes, there was some minor concern about others, but it was always with some thought in my head that then they will be on a level with ME when they see their need for Christ.
I honestly do not think I'm alone in this.
As I reflected on Holy Week with this in mind, I started to see that one more my word for 2017 has impacted my life in an interesting way...
In becoming Intentional about the way we use our resource of time, we ended up with a Holy Week that looked like this:
In becoming Intentional about the way we use our resource of time, we ended up with a Holy Week that looked like this:
This year on Maundy Thursday, we got out of our Hobbit Hole...
We went for a walk around our community....
We talked to people...
We were forever changed in the way we see some parts of our town.
On Good Friday we again got out...
We ate in a restaurant with people we did not know...
We shared smiles and laughs as our 2 year old attempted to entertain the entire restaurant by randomly belting out Moana songs...
We now share a part of our story with these strangers, however brief.
On Saturday, we joined our community at the park for an Egg Hunt...
We visited with people in line...
We shared knowing smiles and laughs with other parents at the restlessness of our massive line of toddlers and infants under 3, anxiously waiting to get to the field full of eggs...
We came to know our community a little better.
Easter Sunday, I was baptized...
I was recognizing the need to have more symbolic break with some pieces of my past that held painful memories.
What better time than Easter to symbolically follow Christ example of death to an old life, but resurrection to a new identity in Him?
This year, I had the realization that like anything, the only true and lasting value that Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter hold is if we allow them to change us.
We can continue the same celebrations every year, but they are mere traditions if in the end we only take away an emotional feeling in the moment.
The true lessons that are held in the Holy Week are found if we stop looking to just the surface traditions and dig deeper to ask what is Jesus really trying to teach here?
Why is His last supper with the disciples so important?
What are we suppose to learn from the last moments Jesus shares with those closest to Him?
We are given a somber reminder that we are all capable of being like Judas, sharing life with Jesus, but never letting Him truly change us.
So what did you learn from Holy Week this year?
I would love to hear in a comment!
I was recognizing the need to have more symbolic break with some pieces of my past that held painful memories.
What better time than Easter to symbolically follow Christ example of death to an old life, but resurrection to a new identity in Him?
This year, I had the realization that like anything, the only true and lasting value that Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter hold is if we allow them to change us.
We can continue the same celebrations every year, but they are mere traditions if in the end we only take away an emotional feeling in the moment.
The true lessons that are held in the Holy Week are found if we stop looking to just the surface traditions and dig deeper to ask what is Jesus really trying to teach here?
Why is His last supper with the disciples so important?
What are we suppose to learn from the last moments Jesus shares with those closest to Him?
We are given a somber reminder that we are all capable of being like Judas, sharing life with Jesus, but never letting Him truly change us.
So what did you learn from Holy Week this year?
I would love to hear in a comment!
1 comment:
As I battle some demons from my own past, it really sunk in how much Jesus loved ME. Me, who grew up feeling unlovable. Me who grew up feeling ugly and something to be ashamed of. He LOVES me and he wants me to love him back!
I have a great opportunity to reach out to new Christians and foreigners in our country. I need to look at the evangelizing God as called me to, not as something as a burden, but as a joy! My feelings of inadequacy will only hamper the plans He has for me.
Sorry this is a very rambling and incoherent.... just trying to figure some things out myself.
Post a Comment