And so Holy Week begins! The big challenge of this period in the Church Calendar is that the focus is so very clearly on events that happened to “Someone else” so very long ago. It can all tend to become a nice “show” or a good academic exercise, but with little impact on us as we seek to follow this Jesus. Yet, with the unique calling and nature of Jesus, and the unique character of these events, it can be a stretch to find ways to apply the truths of this week to the lives of worshipers today. But, if this isn’t what the work of liturgy is all about what is?

So, today – and throughout this week – may we journey with Christ, but may we also be challenged by Christ as we worship.

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The Liturgy of the Passion is a unique Sunday in the church year, should you choose to make this the focus of the first Sunday of Holy Week, rather than the Liturgy of the Palms. The focus of this week’s worship is the extended Gospel reading, which can stand on its own without a sermon, and offers some amazing possibilities for creativity and reflection in the service. This year, with all the suffering that has happened on a large scale around the world, the Liturgy of the Passion can be a good time to remember God’s grace and compassion in our grief, and God’s call for us to be agents of God’s mercy to those who suffer.

May the suffering of Christ touch our hearts again as we worship this week, and may we be those who touch the hearts of the suffering wherever we may find them.

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There is not a lot that needs to be said about Good Friday. But perhaps that’s exactly why we need to work so hard to avoid over-familiarity and complacency. The good news, though, is that the Scriptures provide such a richness that a sermon is almost unnecessary. The Scriptures can be allowed to speak for themselves. In addition, the worship can be allowed to flow gently and meditatively, and spaces can easily be created for people to engage with the cross for themselves. At all costs, though, as with the resurrection, this day must not be allowed to become simply an intellectual exercise.

May we be moved and transformed as we gather at the cross again this year.

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And so we finally come to what may be thought of – in some senses at least – as the most important Sunday of the year. If resurrection is just about a miraculous event that happened to Jesus long ago, or if it’s only about something that happens to some people at the end of time, then it has little real value, no matter how fascinating it may be. But, of course, resurrection is about far more than this. It’s the promise of God’s life available to us both now and forever. And it the call for us to follow Christ by becoming life-givers and agents of resurrection in our families, communities and our world. What a glorious and miraculous challenge!

May the empty tomb be more than an event for us as we worship this year, and may our worship lead us into a real and transforming encounter with God’s irrepressible life!

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