Holy Week is the busiest season in the church year. In the week before Easter you can really get into the highs and lows of this pivotal time in Christ’s life. Participating helps you understand His sacrifice and love in a way you just can’t get by just reading the Gospels.

Something I liked about the Episcopal church is that it is participatory. Even on a regular Sunday you are engaged in the worship experience. I believe this is a warm up for the rest of the week. One of the dismissals said by the deacon or priest at the end of the service is “Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.” Another is “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” This isn’t just to let you know it is time to go eat doughnuts
and drink coffee. This is a call to action. Go forth. Tell other people that God is real, that He loves us. And then put that love into action.

Part of understanding that sacrifice and love is to be found in Holy Week. It starts the week before Easter on Palm Sunday. Normally the Gospel is read by the deacon or priest. On this Sunday it is read by the congregation. Everybody has a part. There are large parts and small parts but all are important. The hardest line is this –
“Crucify him!” We all say that. This is our savior, our Lord we are talking about. This is us condemning Jesus to death. This is us choosing Barabbas, a murderer, over Jesus, whose only crime was to heal and raise people from the dead. With these words we choose death over life.

How often do we do this? How often do we choose the murderer over the savior? How often do we choose to go with the crowd rather than listen to that “still small voice” that Elijah heard in the midst of the storm? Every time we choose the ways of the world over the ways of God we are choosing death over life. Every time we do this we are rejecting the sacrifice and the love of God.

How do we do this? Every time we talk about someone behind their back we are bearing false witness. Every time we talk down to someone we are not loving them as ourselves. Every time we rely on our own abilities rather than trusting God we are not showing God the love He deserves.

I once read an interesting story in a book called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. He told a story about his grandmother and how she wouldn’t go to see popular movies. She was concerned that Jesus might come while she was there and catch her wasting time. Now, I’m not saying that you can’t watch a Godzilla film. But I am saying that it is a good idea to be mindful of your time. This life has no reset button. These bodies are limited and fragile. How you spend your days is how you spend your life. Are you spending them mindfully or mindlessly? How much time do you spend building up the kingdom?

I admit that I’m not very good at it. Sometimes I don’t know how to be helpful. Sometimes I’m very selfish and I don’t want to donate my money or time. And then sometimes I remember that it isn’t my money. It isn’t my time. Every moment I have is a gift from God. My ability to work is also a gift. When I see it that way I feel pretty bad about how stingy I can be.

Then I remember that even my stinginess is forgiven. My petty hoarding of “my” money and “my” time is forgiven. And I could stop right there and bask in that amazing, unwarranted, eternal gift, but I think that more is expected of me. I think that more is expected of us. I think we are called to make Christ visible. We are to take that gift and pay it forward.

The Greeks have a belief that it is good to entertain strangers with sweet desserts. They follow the idea that they might be entertaining angels unawares. What if we saw everybody that way? What if we saw everybody as the child of God that they are? Then we would truly be following the commandments to show love.