A Holy Week

I have enjoyed attending worship at our sister Presbyterian congregations during this Holy Week. Of course, we are not all alike. We have medium sized congregations and small congregations. (None of us are what you would call a large church when calculated by the numbers.) We have male preachers and female preachers. We have high church and low church. And I’m certain we come to faith from a variety of perspectives. But the central point is we all can worship together.

            One quick aside: Seneca Presbyterian where I serve was founded in 1875. I discovered this week that we are the “baby” in this flock. Four other churches were founded even before us. That’s an amazing fact when you realize Presbyterians have been worshiping in Oconee County, South Carolina for over 200 years.

            As I contemplated this week, I did begin to wonder about our tradition. Some might think it excessive to worship every night of the same week. Six services in all, if you make them all. (I often miss Good Friday because I’m writing a sermon for Easter Sunday. I know – “Shame on me!”) Then I realized when Jews gather for their High Holy Days, their spiritual disciplines include seeking reconciliation with others whom they have wronged – not just in prayer, but in action, face to face, up close and personal. When Muslims observe Ramadan, they fast during daylight hours – for up to 30 days. Christians simply “go to church.” 

            That’s why I’m grateful we at Seneca Presbyterian Church took our week a baby step further. We have adopted the ancient custom of praying through the night of Maundy Thursday and into Good Friday. Jesus asked his disciples to keep vigil with him as he prayed, but they fell asleep. With the help of 18 faithful disciples (and others who kept watch for them as they prayed), we kept the vigil unbroken. We lifted up prayers for our church family and beyond our church family. We offered up our own prayers. In the quiet of a sanctuary illuminated by candles, we sought to both feel and understand what Jesus knew as he often kept an all night vigil in prayer.

            Spiritual practices are actions that help mold us into becoming the disciples of Christ we are called to be. Going to church is one of them. So is praying. So is fasting. So is seeking reconciliation with others. May this Holy Week deepen our practice of faith as we encounter once again the power of sin and the hope of resurrected life. 

            Oh – there is still one last practice you are invited to share. Join us for our sunrise worship service at 6:30 a.m. Easter morning. We will kindle the new fire and follow the light of the Risen Christ in joyful celebration. Then we will indulge in one more spiritual practice: feasting at our Easter Sunday fellowship breakfast. Everyone come!

High Holy Days

Holy Week begins on Sunday. These eight days between Palm Sunday and Easter are the High Holy Days for Christians. Whereas Jews come together for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and Muslims come together for Ramadan, Christians gather for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Some even gather for the days in-between too.

          The overarching story we tell in our High Holy Days is the heart of our faith. Even though there are many ways to interpret it – something you would expect from a story that carries with it such profound meaning and power – Christians all affirm that through the death, resurrection, and ultimate ascension of Jesus (forty days after Easter), the power of sin in our world has been broken, death as the final enemy has been conquered, and new life, re-born life, is the consequence for us and for the world.

          Throughout this week, we traditionally tell – and re-live – the many stories that make up the larger one. We remember how Jesus presented himself as a king on Palm Sunday, and we ponder just what his kingship means. We remember how Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus, preparing for his death, and we marvel at her faithfulness. We remember how Judas, one of his closest disciples and friends, betrayed him, and we wonder how our lives betray him as well.

On Thursday of Holy Week, we tell the story of how Jesus' Last Supper became our holy sacrament, because it carries within it the power of sacrificial life and love. On Friday, we watch as once again the Son of God gives up his life for our sakes and for the salvation of the world. And then on Saturday, we watch and wait. Many Christians fast on this day – or even from Maundy Thursday until Easter dawn. It is a way of saying the story that begins in earnest on Thursday continues on through Sunday. When the world destroys goodness, and we are that world, God will give it back – full of power to make us new.

Our Holy Week concludes eight days after it begins. God created the world in seven days – and then recreates it in eight. The Eighth Day is the first day of the new creation. That is what we believe as Christians and it is how we are to live our lives – even if the world does not appear any different than before. God will fulfill that new creation in God’s way and in God’s time. In the meantime, we claim the power of new creation in our lives and seek to live that life in God’s ever-renewing world.

          Prayers and opportunities for worship mark these days for Christians. I am glad that at Seneca Presbyterian Church, we have the opportunity to worship every evening throughout this Holy Week. It is a tradition among Presbyterians in Oconee County, South Carolina that has been around for decades. We gather in a different church each night, and together mark the time from one celebration to another. Those opportunities for worship are posted in this blog under the page marked “Holy Week.”

At Seneca Pres, we are adding a Prayer Vigil that will begin on Thursday evening and continue through Friday afternoon. Individuals have committed to be present in our sanctuary for prayer during each of these hours. If you have prayer concerns you wish to share, you may email them to senecachurch@bellsouth.net. We will add them to ours and lift them up to God.

          Yet not everyone can keep this discipline of Holy Week worship. So as we gather for worship this Sunday at Seneca Presbyterian, we will tell two stories. We will start at the beginning with Palm Sunday, but we won’t leave it there. We will also tell the story of Passion. That is so we don’t forget what comes between the Sundays. For these are our High Holy Days and the heart of what we believe. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Hallelujah. Amen.