April 2015
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—765-330-4170 and email address —fleeneda@gmail.com As I write this, the church office is preparing feverishly for Holy Week. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday all loom ahead. Pastors sometimes call it (halfjokingly) “Holy Hell Week”. Such a schedule of observances seems almost alien to our culture. Maybe you’ve had people ask you why Lutherans observe Good Friday, since “it’s so sad”. Maybe you’ve been asked, “Why are you going to church again? Don’t you just need to come on Sunday?” Or maybe you’ve never been to the services in Holy Week and are wondering what the big deal is. There is a reason we observe Holy Week, specifically Maundy
Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. The Christian faith is centered on what happens in those three days – Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Think of any Sunday worship service during the year in which we celebrate Holy Communion. Each Sunday is a reenactment of the Three Days in miniature. We hear, “In the night in which he was betrayed,” as an introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer, and are transported to the upper room with the disciples where he institutes this Supper. When we hear, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” we are transported to the foot of the cross, where Jesus suffers and dies to reconcile us with God the Father. And, when we take Jesus’ body and blood into ourselves, we see the Risen Lord, who gives us himself to
make us more and more like him. The Three Days, then, is the drama of our salvation liturgically re-enacted in whole. We enter God’s time – the time in which Jesus shares a life-giving meal with his friends (and with us), suffers and dies to reconcile us with God, and rises again from death. The miniature Three Days is given its full due on the actual Three Days. I encourage you to enter into God’s time this week, and take part in the drama of our salvation. Invite a friend to experience it with you. You may be surprised to find yourself experiencing these events in a way you haven’t before – and you may find your faith strengthened. With love, Pr. David