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Hiatus for Holy Week
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I fully appreciated the great liturgical irony of Palm Sunday processions. We gather together with our leafy fronds (usually too embarrassed to do anything but grip them under the hymnal) and distribute them to far more enthusiastic children, and then with great pomp and ceremony circle around the church or the block, singing hymns of triumph and joy, enacting a hospitable welcome to our Lord just as the cityfolk of Jerusalem did. Of course, less than a week later, the cityfolk of Jerusalem spit upon this same Lord, derided and taunted him, doubted his claim to be the Son of God, and abandoned him to a miserable death. And so do we, in our own present-day, culturally appropriate ways. Palm Sunday is the liturgical exposure of our vast pharisaical hypocrisy; and as we are consummate hypocrites, we rarely even notice what we’re doing...
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I fully appreciated the great liturgical irony of Palm Sunday processions. We gather together with our leafy fronds (usually too embarrassed to do anything but grip them under the hymnal) and distribute them to far more enthusiastic children, and then with great pomp and ceremony circle around the church or the block, singing hymns of triumph and joy, enacting a hospitable welcome to our Lord just as the cityfolk of Jerusalem did. Of course, less than a week later, the cityfolk of Jerusalem spit upon this same Lord, derided and taunted him, doubted his claim to be the Son of God, and abandoned him to a miserable death. And so do we, in our own present-day, culturally appropriate ways. Palm Sunday is the liturgical exposure of our vast pharisaical hypocrisy; and as we are consummate hypocrites, we rarely even notice what we’re doing.
As many of us these days are spending a lot of time thinking about the church’s failure to be anything like the church, Palm Sunday serves as a timely reminder that there is blame enough to go around. Fidelity to this despised Lord demands our every effort to uphold right teaching in the church. But fidelity to this despised Lord also demands, as precursor, companion, and conclusion to these efforts, repentance. We have not, none of us, loved God with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We editors at LF are extremely grateful to all of us you who have taken the time to visit our website, read our commentary, and respond with your own. We are encouraged by your witness and faithfulness. Now we ask you to take a week off. Give the church controversies a rest. Walk with Jesus instead, sing hymns to his Father and ours, pray in the Holy Spirit. Repent and believe. Await the joy of the resurrection and the everlasting life that will be ours, when every tear will be wiped away and God will remember our sins no more.
We will resume our coverage on Tuesday the 14th. In the meanwhile, spread the good news: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia.
Hiatus for Holy Week