Holy Week Relfections, Part 1

As we entered into Holy Week yesterday with the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we are all called to reflect backwards for the purpose of anticipating forward the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. In fact, the entirety of the Christian religion is predicated on this kind of historical see-saw of looking back in order that we might look forward.

Throughout Lent we are reminded by our lectionary 's pairing of Scriptures that that which is old has become new again, but always new in a different way. We see Christ offering water in a weary spiritual land to the woman at the well as we are also called to reflect on Moses striking the rock in the wilderness and it springing forth with water for the people of Israel after their exodus from Egyptian captivity. On Palm Sunday, we read the 22nd Psalm and feel the foreshadowing of Christ by the Psalmist's declaration "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and then we read The Passion.


Today we read from the Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 42, where again we have the forward-looking to Christ

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.

He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope."

We wait for the full realization of this promise. We labor with Christ to bring justice to the nations--or at least we should. Yet we are reminded by our reading of St. John's account of the Gospel that wickedness and violence pervade--even in the physical presence of Christ himself.

"Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him."

Just as Christ suffers alongside each of us, we must labor alongside him, as the prayers of the people say in the Anglican liturgy "that there may be justice and peace on the earth." We all have a part to play in this long struggle. None of us are exempt, not by account of our age, race, gender, social status, or even religion. For every faith puts great value in justice and peace.

We need not look far to find injustice that we can and should fight to end. Turn on the local news, read a newspaper, look around you and be conscious. We have lulled ourselves into unconsciousness because the injustice is overwhelming. So this Holy Week. let us become conscious, let us raise ourselves to a new life of awareness and let that new life of awareness breed action that is swift and efficacious.

There is an old 19th Century hymn sung frequently in the Baptist tradition called "When the Roll is Called up Yonder." It goes like this...

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair,
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.

--

My question is when the roll is called here tomorrow, where will I be? And where will you be? When we see violence in the Third World, will we be brave enough to stand up and do something about it? When we see our fellow countrymen getting defrauded by our own government, will we fight for justice? Will we say, as the prophet of old "Here I am Lord, send me"? Or will we flip the channel, navigate to another website, or crack open a bottle of wine and say "It is too much, I am only one person."

This Holy Week let us be mindful of this call and ethical duty. Let us discern what in fact we can do, and then pray for the will and desire to do it. We must be contemplative and active. The two are not mutually exclusive. It is much easier to do one or the other, however. To do both requires much discipline. And Holy Week is the best time to begin this process.

I shall close now with the Collect of the Day for Monday in Holy Week from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer...

"Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."