Holy Week

As best I can tell the first place in the Bible where the word "holy" occurs is in the third chapter of Exodus. It’s a familiar passage. There’s a burning bush, and out of the bush a voice says to Moses, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." A special place calling for a special response. It is interesting to scan a concordance and see what different things in the Bible are called holy. Some mountains are holy. Solemn gatherings of the people of God are holy. The tithe is holy. The temple is holy, as are the priestly garments worn for worship there. In the New Testament, of course, references to the Holy Spirit abound. But in the Old Testament, probably the most common use of the word holy is applied to the people of God. This passage from Leviticus probably best sums up how the early people of God understood holiness: "I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy… I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy."

Not all bushes are holy. Not all mountains are holy. Not all garments or buildings or people are holy. But some are. Some places are holy. Some times are holy. Some people are holy. And they are holy because they are set apart from the ordinary. They are specially, specifically designated for God’s purposes. Leviticus outlines how the people of God are to specially dedicate themselves to God’s service—the particular commitments and laws they are to follow above and beyond the daily lives of ordinary people. Holy people, holy places, holy times are full of the presence of God in an extra-ordinary way. They are made holy by an unusually intense and focused connection with God.

Holy Week begins today. Or it might be more accurate to say that Holy Week can begin today. This week is not made holy just because the calendar labels it Holy Week. To be holy this week must be set apart in our lives, distinct from all ordinary weeks. To become holy this week must be specially dedicated to God, unusually focused on the presence of God. Only we can make this week different from all of the other weeks of the year. We must choose to make this particular week Holy Week in our own lives.

Different from the ordinary. Set apart for God’s purposes. Specially focused or connected to God. We have made a good beginning already towards making this week uniquely holy. We have taken palms in our hands and raised our voices in cries of Hosanna. These are not the ordinary actions of our daily lives. As we participated in the liturgy of the palms on this Palm Sunday, we stepped closer (much closer than usual) to the past events in Jesus’ life and we claimed those events as current events in our own lives. We have cast ourselves as players, participants in the story of Jesus’ last days. And in the Passion Gospel this morning our voices have spoken. Usually we just listen, relatively passively, to stories about Jesus. This morning we have moved into the story, placed ourselves right there, in the same time and place with Jesus. We have begun to forge that special, focused, unique connection with the presence of Christ that can make this week holy. We have begun this week differently than any other week in our lives.

But for this week to be a Holy Week, we must continue the special journey that we have begun today. We must intentionally set this week apart from other, ordinary weeks; we must dedicate this particular week to God above and beyond the normal routine of our daily lives. This week, renew your Lenten discipline or take on another. This week be a part of this holy assembly as we celebrate Holy Communion every day. Walk the way of the cross with Jesus this week. Share the Last Supper with him on Maundy Thursday. And as that night, that Thursday night, passes remember that each minute that passes brings Jesus closer to the cross. May that night be for us not like any other night. As we do what we normally do—watch TV, read, spend time with family and friends—let us remember that Jesus spends that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. And if it is to be a holy night for us, we must spend it with him. And we must walk beside him on Friday as he is condemned by our voices and hung upon the cross.

Holy Week. A week set apart, specially and uniquely dedicated to God, extra-ordinarily full with the life and presence of God. Let us pray that this week may be holy in our lives… that by our unusual, extraordinary dedication to God this week, we may make it holy. And if this week becomes for us a holy week, in the living of it we will become holy people. And if we live this holy week as holy people, next Sunday will be much more than an ordinary Sunday. Even an ordinary Sunday is a special day, of course. But only the Sunday after Holy Week is Easter Day.

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