It's Holy Week

It is my sincere hope that this week, more than any other time of the year, we take a moment to faithfully and honestly consider how our faith matters, how it impacts our lives and (God willing) compels us to live in a certain way – the Way of the Cross.  During this Holy Week, we are confronted with the painful truth that there is a cost, a high cost, to following God.  We bear witness to how Jesus of Nazareth, an itinerant teacher, preacher and healer, was brutally murdered by the ruling state, in collusion with the religious authorities, because he dared challenge a system that was corrupt and contemptible, worried only about its self-preservation rather than for those to whom it was called to serve.

As disciples of Jesus, we, are also called to offer ourselves in service to God’s will, to love as we are loved, especially when it is difficult, hard and against our better judgement.  Many in our society may not even be aware that this is Holy Week, although some may know this Sunday is Easter.  But that is the party after the Passion, the dessert after the desert. This is the week we must take notice of just how much we are loved in order for God to come to us in human flesh, to suffer as all humans suffer, and then endure betrayal, torture, abandonment and a slow death by suffocation.  In some ways it doesn’t seem worth it, any yet it shows us the depth of Jesus’ devotion to us and to God.

Do we have that same devotion to Jesus? Can we offer ourselves fully and completely as he did?  How?  Perhaps we start by making time for God in our lives every day. Perhaps we take on the discipline of studying God’s word with intention.  Perhaps we talk about our faith without feeling self-conscience or awkward.  Perhaps we tell share our faith stories with integrity and boldness, inviting in God’s redemption and reconciliation to those who need to hear it the most.

Perhaps we follow the example of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church by speaking truth to power by making a statement about the destructive nature of our current national rhetoric.  They issued a “Word to the Church” that was posted on St. B’s Facebook page.  If you missed it you can also find it at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/episcopal-bishops-issue-word-church. It was unanimously adopted, with says something about that body with is quite diverse in its political/theological understandings.

The very nature of faith should impact our lives.  If it doesn’t, there is a serious problem.  Faith should make us question and ponder, challenge and delight.  It should not be engaged in lightly because that is cheap grace. Grace without cost is worth what we put into it.  So we seek to be like Jesus, as difficult as it is, to live out our faith every day.

It is a Holy Week.  May it be so for you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, who died for us,

Rev. Valerie+

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