As we come to Holy Week this
month (April 13-20) we commemorate the events that are at the very heart of our
faith. On Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday,
Good Friday, and Easter Sunday we remember those events that called us to the
faith and secured our salvation. There
is no other week in the whole year like Holy Week. It is truly a sacred time for all Christians.
In 1st
Corinthians 15:3 St. Paul wrote,
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
scriptures.” We have an echo of these
words in the communion liturgy when we say, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” This is the heart of our faith in three short
sentences.
At times we
Christians may get caught up in other aspects of our faith and tradition, or
even go off looking for a new emphasis in an attempt to woo the next
generation. There are plenty of good
things and worthy causes to engage the mind and heart of a believer in Christ,
but they should never be allowed to overshadow the central tenet of our faith
or crowd out the central event that we remember during Holy Week. We should always strive to remember what is
at the core of our faith and what is of second or third or even lesser
importance.
In the first
chapter of First Corinthians, St. Paul faced a situation in Corinth where other
things overshadowed the centrality of the cross, and he responded with this
ringing affirmation in verse 22 “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to
Gentiles, but to those who are called, but Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God.” And then he
went on in the 2nd verse of the 2nd chapter to say, “For
I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified.”
But it is not
only during this one week of the year that the cross is at center of our
thoughts, for every celebration of Holy Communion brings this central event to
the fore. Not only do we hear the words
“the Body of Christ given for you” and “the Blood of Christ shed for you” when
eat and drink, but in 1st Corinthians 11:26 St. Paul says, “For as
often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.” So each and every
celebration of Holy Communion is a time when that central truth of our faith is
proclaimed, even if it is during the Easter season, or during the harvest
season, or Christmas Eve. Whatever the
season and whatever the mood of the service, there it is again: “Christ died
for you.”
So as Lent
culminates in Holy Week in the middle of this month, let this be a time when we
all meditate the profound and moving events that are also the culmination of
each of the four gospels. Everything in
those gospels can be considered as prologue to the cross and the empty
tomb. May our faith be centered on the death
and resurrection of Christ and on nothing else, and then blossom in all the
ways we live out our faith from day to day.
Beneath the cross of Jesus I long to take my stand
The
shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land,
A home within a wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat
and the burdens of the day.
Upon the cross of Jesus, my eye at times can see
The very dying form of one
who suffered there for me.
And from my contrite heart, with tears
two wonders I confess:
The wonder of his glorious love
and my unworthiness.
I take, O Cross, your shadow
for my abiding place.
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face.
Content to let the world go by
to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
my glory
all the cross. (ELW #338)