Holy Week is called “Holy” for a Reason

I have never been liturgical or traditional. Maybe it’s the artistic side of my personality, perhaps it’s the questioning “gadfly” part of my personality, or maybe I’m just more rebellious than I want to admit. For whatever reason, I have never really embraced more liturgical forms of worship, sacred days, or things of that nature.

But this year, the days we’re about to enter have been gnawing at my soul. I have been more enamored with the days we call “Holy Week” than ever before. Following the “90-Day Challenge” of reading the New Testament this year has put me in all 4 Gospels, so all of the events of Jesus’ ministry are fresh on my mind. Preparing for next week’s Thursday night online worship experience has certainly turned up the heat. The fresh plunge in exploring prayer for a series this summer has made me more contemplative and intentional about listening. Today, I have just completed my preparation for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Easter Sunday, and in my heart, one thing has become crystal clear:

Holy Week is called “Holy” for a Reason!

Maybe you’re like me–you know the details and are so familiar with them that the familiar risks become mundane. I remember a professor who warned our class about studying the scriptures: “When you handle the HOLY every day, the Holy can become the mundane. Guard against that!” I have now preached about Easter week events for over 32 years straight. But as I sit in my study right now, my heart is overwhelmed. Truly. As if I have never heard, read, or experienced this before, my heart is moved, certain, and resolved. I hunger in the depths of my soul to help people hear this GOOD news in the next ten days. The faces of men I love keep reminding me that this good news is life-altering. And my heart has finally been infected in a fresh way by just how “holy” this season of remembering the week of Jesus’ passion is!

It’s called “holy” because it IS a HOLY WEEK for remembering.

So. will you do three things?

1. Will you PRAY for these ten days and the people who need to experience it?
2. Will you INVITE just one person that God impresses on your heart? Your personal invite is enormously important.
3. Will you HOST in the best possible ways? PRAY for that person, PRAY for the Gospel to be clear, PRAY for vision to see need, PRAY to be prepared to make others feel welcome, and PRAY for the Holy Spirit to move in ways that will catch us all off guard.

Holy week begins this Sunday, and I don’t want to miss a moment.

What about you?