Big Week

Gearing up for a big week is hard for everybody.  No matter who you are when you know something is coming which demands your “A” game, it is difficult and challenging.  If it’s a week when you have an interview, then you want to make sure you have anticipated all possible questions.  If you have a big test scheduled, then you know you need to study all the pertinent information.  If you have a business, then you want to make sure you are ready for your clients.  This year the tax day deadline arrived during Holy Week.  Accountants have been gearing up for this final week as they hammer out tax forms, or file extensions for those clients who are a little late to the party.  Big weeks are a part of life, and as we grow older such weeks demand a little more energy and a little more preparation from all the wear and tear of the big weeks of the past.

As a pastor, Holy Week is the biggest week of all!  Anytime you throw something else into it, the week becomes a little more challenging.  This year someone asked me to preach at Meramec Bluffs, and because I am a loving person, and more importantly, a loving son-in-law who cares for his mother-in-law’s ministry, I agreed to do it.  Yet, as I sat down to prepare for this intense week, I realized that not only did I add another sermon, but another audience.  Different audiences make me nervous, because they don’t know me.  Will my words come across the way I hope they will?  I’m sure you wouldn’t think that a new audience would cause this reaction, but honestly, I feel audiences of the past forgave me for my flaws.

As Jesus entered the most powerful week of His ministry, I am sure His human side was gearing up.  He knew what was going to happen.  He knew all the things He had said in the past, and He knew the people eventually were going to get it.  But He had to go through a week of experiencing new audiences, which were often in utter confusion.  He was going to appear before groups consisting of the apostles who knew Him, but who also were going to be confused by what He was saying.  He was going to step up in front of officials who were going to wrestle with His words.  And finally, He was going to come before an audience that was planning to kill Him.  Isn’t that the culmination of all fear--that not only will people reject you, but they will want to kill you as well!

Thankfully, I have never had to deal with such a situation, and if you are reading this you haven’t either.  (Unless you are an escape artist)  But we all have had to deal with daily dying and struggling with sin and pain.  Every audience that crossed Jesus’ path faced those things.  They often had their own solutions, not realizing that the True Solution stood before them.  The beauty of Holy Week is that it ended with the greatest miracle and the gift of our salvation.   Jesus knew it was coming and there had to be great joy for Him knowing what a gift this was going to be for you and for me.  As you gear up for this big week, don’t forget to invite your own audiences to hear about the most significant week the world has ever known.  This is a week to celebrate what God has done for us.  Happy Holy Week and God’s Peace this Easter!