Sharing Holy Week

Some percentage of you gathered here this morning are only children. If my own circle of friends is typical, it’s a pretty small percentage. Most of you either have a younger sibling or are the younger sibling to others. And even if you are an only child, maybe you can go part way towards imagining what that relationship, that dynamic, is like between siblings. There are wonderful aspects of affection, loyalty, protection, companionship that characterize the relationship between siblings, especially siblings that are relatively close in age. There can also be that really irritating phase in childhood when your younger brother wants to tag along everywhere, be a part of everything you do, copy every hobby or activity that you undertake, share in your whole life. Are there any boundaries that will keep him out? Any privacy? Any space or time that is just mine? Any opportunity to be independent, free?

This week Jesus is that little brother. Or little sister. In each of our lives. And, no. There are no boundaries that will keep him out of any portion of your life. No privacy. No space or time that is just yours. No independence or freedom from Jesus’ presence.

During this Holy Week we often pray, as we did in this morning’s collect that we may pick up our cross and walk with Jesus in the way of his suffering. We speak of spiritually accompanying Jesus on his journey these last days of his life on earth. We imagine ourselves there on the streets of Jerusalem as the crowd cheers and waves palms; we listen in on Jesus’ words at the last supper and struggle to decide whether we would have let Jesus wash our feet there in the upper room; and we sing the hymn, "Yes, I was there when they crucified my Lord." I was there in Jerusalem. This is a very valuable spiritual exercise… walking this Holy Week along with Jesus.

But what if we turn it around, and look for Jesus walking this Holy Week with us. Walking this Holy Week with us. The events of Holy Week happening, not there in Jerusalem, but here in the setting of our lives this week. The cheers of Palm Sunday, the communion of Maundy Thursday, the crucifixion of Good Friday, taking place here in our living room or bedroom, our office, at our dining table.

We all have a tendency to compartmentalize our religious lives. Holy Week is even a compartment. Thank God we don’t have this week every week. We have this one week when we give special attention to Jesus’ life, then we return to our normal activities. This sacred space, this church building, is a compartment. We say our prayers here and confess our sins here and then leave, free to go back to our regular lives. Sundays are a compartment. The comfort of Communion is always available on those Sundays when we don’t have anything better to do. We can open that Sunday box when we choose. It’s nice to have reliable compartments in which we can find prayer and communion and holiness. But we also like to retain our personal boundaries… space and time for our own interests and activities, our privacy, our independence and our freedom.

Jesus doesn’t do compartments. Jesus is that younger sister or brother who literally shares your whole life. Your whole life. Who tags along everywhere; gets in the middle of every conversation; joins in every activity.

Learning how to share is a part of growing up. Whether it’s with siblings or friends or classmates, children are taught to share. If you think about it, sharing is really a pretty easy concept. Learning the concept isn’t the hard part. Everybody knows what sharing is. The more significant accomplishment is welcoming or accepting sharing as a part of life and recognizing its value.

Can you accept or welcome a life where every moment, every place and activity is shared with Jesus? Can you recognize the value of a life shared fully with Jesus?

When you wake up some ordinary morning thinking of a new opportunity that the day holds… that morning is Palm Sunday. When you wake up dreaming of something you can create that day… When you wake up and reach out in the bed next to you to touch someone you love with tenderness and hope for that day’s future… That hope is Palm Sunday hope. And at these moments, the meddlesome knock on your bedroom door, the figure crawling into bed with you, is not a younger sibling (or the dog), it’s the Lord of life entering in to your morning. It is Jesus bringing the Palm Sunday dawn of God’s kingdom into your day. Cry Hosanna.

This is Holy Week. Jesus will be with you this week (as he is every week). Joined at the hip, tagging along everywhere, always underfoot. He brings the hope of Palm Sunday into your bedroom, your hospital room, your boardroom. And he brings Good Friday into your life, too. You will crucify Jesus with every casual lie you tell this week over the telephone or in a hasty e-mail. He’s listening in, eavesdropping on all your communication. Whenever you turn away from the good, whether in haste or hate, pride or indifference, whenever you turn away from the good in your life, you turn your back on God’s own Son, the beloved. And you crucify him then and there. There is no privacy, no independence. He’s with you in the shower, in the midst of daily activities and work, when you relax and play, right underfoot in the middle of all of your relationships. Offering you Holy Communion. Not just at the last supper on Maundy Thursday in Jerusalem, not just when we gather at this Table on Sunday, but everywhere, all the time in your life. Jesus is with you. Holy Communion. Your life shared in communion with the holiness of God.

And if we welcome and value his presence sharing our lives this Holy Week, bringing Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Maundy Thursday into our lives this week… Well, come back next week when we are offered a share in his life on Easter.