Tuesday Tales: Holy Week

 

Holy Week felt different this year. Good different. Maybe it’s because I work in full time ministry. Maybe it’s because of the focus of our staff and church. Either way, it felt different in the best way.

                I told you already how we started our Holy Week observances by participating in a Seder meal with friends. I’ve shared this meal before, so I was familiar with the order and words I’d hear, but this time, the what stuck out to me most was the importance of story. These meals were how one generation taught and reminded the next generation of what God did for them. I am no less in need of those reminders than they were. It was a profound, beautiful way to begin the week – remembering. And the remembering never stopped, all week long.

                Our church offered Journey to the Cross, which is a multi-station sensory experience that explores Christ’s final week. I helped set it up, and then I continued to visit it throughout the week. It was so powerful.

                Inhaling the fragrant oil and remembering how Mary anointed Jesus…

                Stepping into the “Garden of Gethsemane,” listening to the sounds of birds chirping, and thinking of how Jesus prayed for the cup to pass…

                Seeing the cross with prayers nailed into the wood…

                Inhaling the scent of the flowers surrounding the empty tomb…

                …all of it, so beautiful.

                Thursday was our Love Feast – a time of fellowship, communion, and foot washing. I spent the day at the church praying over the room and every name. The deacons came to set up the room and the food, and then the people came. Almost 90 people praying, worshiping, eating, and remembering Jesus’ final meal with His disciples.

                I cried looking out over the room – all the people gathered, several for the first time – and drinking in the remembrance of the night.

                Friday I participated in two services – a community service and our own church’s service. I read Scripture in both and was overwhelmed and overcome at the reminder of the pain Jesus endured for me.

                Sunday morning, before our morning church service, we had a baptism service. Fifteen people chose to be baptized that morning, and it was a privilege to get to help with two of them.

                Later this week I’ll tell you more about our celebration here at home, but today I wanted to tell you about these things that matter most. The storytelling and remembering…these are the parts of Holy Week that matter.