Dear Caldwell,
Do you remember when we observed an “Upside-Down Advent” in 2012? We took time in that season leading to Christ’s birth to remind ourselves, over and over again, just how upside-down the appearance of the Messiah really was. The world was expecting a royal prince who would sit on a gilded throne and command armies and power. Instead, God came into the world in peasant child who, as an adult, would shun worldly power and possessions, choosing poverty and the uncomfortable life of a counter-cultural prophet, teacher and healer.
Holy Week reminds us that the story of Jesus’ days on earth ended with as much “upside-down-ness” as they began. On Sunday, we waved Palms and remembered Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey rather than a triumphant parade surrounded by VIPs, finery, pomp and circumstance. As the week went on, rather than ingratiating himself with the Temple chief priest and the Roman governor, Jesus made himself only more vulnerable to the humiliation, persecution, torture and death he knew awaited him.
Such are the ways of God, as the Apostle Paul observed in his Epistle to the Corinthians. Here is how we put it:
“For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
Holy Week calls us into that same foolishness and weakness. It calls us away from the ways of the world and into what may even be an uncomfortable intimacy with the One who promises us shelter and acceptance. What began with the foolishness of smearing ashes on our foreheads comes to a conclusion this week as we re-enact a last meal marked by both love and deceit and then conduct an all-night prayer vigil while the rest of the world sleeps comfortably. But in such foolishness we grow wise in faith and in such we weakness we grow strong in hope.
Come Thursday at 7:30 p.m. for our Maundy Thursday/Tenebrae service, when we hear the passion story and take the Lord’s supper at table together. Stay – or come back later – for the prayer vigil. If you’d rather find community sooner, Theology on Tap meets tonight at 7 p.m. at Leroy Fox restaurant for faith talk and sharing.
In whatever you do, try to surrender to worldly ways and seek the Lord, in foolishness and weakness, as you travel Sunday to Sunday.
In Christ,
John