Holy Week

Don’t give up before Easter.
We have come so far
Don’t give up before we get there.

This is an ongoing story
We don’t say, ‘Goodbye and see you again next week.’
It’s not as simple as that.
Next week, none of us might be here
fickle as a crowd at Passover

This is the story everything moves towards:
stables and wildernesses, mountaintops and bedsides.
So far the gospels have simply been introductions;
introductions to this story of the cost of love.
Everything leads here.

Let us not let Jesus do this on his own.
Let us accompany him.
Let us be here as he faces the temple and the anointing,
the betrayer and the denier,
the bread and the wine.
Let us not let Jesus face these on his own.
It is the least we can do
in response to what Jesus does for us:
giving of himself,
completely.

So this service does not end today
but continues tomorrow and each day this week.

You cannot have Easter without the passion:
stones don’t roll unless the tomb is filled,
dawn doesn’t break unless the darkness rolls in,
resurrection doesn’t happen unless crucifixion is first.
You cannot know how to celebrate Easter
without first living the passion.

So let us journey with Jesus this week
Just as we expect him to be here for us
may we be there for him
to keep the faith alive.

May we hold on for him
when he has to let go
This is a journey of faith
may we have the hope to travel it.

Go now
come back soon
it has only just begun.



copyright Roddy Hamilton