holy wednesday

Holy Wednesday is the fourth day of Holy Week. On this day, church history remembers two very different responses to Jesus.

• The disciple Judas is remembered as the betrayer of the Lord.
  His loss of perspective, love of money, and ultimate suicidal path are iconic of those whose “treasures” are misguided. His lack of ability to “rightly value” his Lord precipitates the psychological disease that marks a life distant from God.
• Mary, however, is quite a different story.
  John 12 tells us that it is she who pours a “pint of pure nard” – a very expensive perfume – on Jesus’ feet. Costing the equivalent of a year’s wages (according to Judas), the perfume runs everywhere. She begins to wipe Jesus’ feet with her long hair. As the fragrance of worship fills the room, Judas is disgusted, while Jesus notes that her lavish act of worship is alluding to his anointing for burial (v7). Mary, the one content to sit at the feet of Jesus, has chosen to make her worship lavish.

“And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:4b

 

 

make worship lavish

CHOOSE YOUR BEST

to give Jesus as your worship

 

Are you going “over the top” with your worship, or are you withholding?

In John 12:1-3, Jesus is at a dinner party, thrown in his honor, with his disciples at his side. According to the Gospel of John, Lazarus, who has been raised from the dead, is at the meal provided by his sisters, Mary and Martha. “Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

In this graphic image of worship, a woman who has received more from God than she could ever give in return, has “lost her mind” in worship. Here, we see no restraint, no mitigating or piecemealing of resources. She has grabbed a jar of a very expensive perfume and has only one mission – to say thanks for all that Christ has done.

In Mary’s case, the raising of her brother from the dead might seem a fitting reason for her to pull out the stops and go over the top with the pouring out of the perfume. But wiping his feet with her hair? Her most beautiful trait as a woman is turned into a mop, a wiping cloth, to evidence to Jesus that nothing – absolutely nothing – is worth more to her than him.

• What do you have in your life that would be “over the top” if spent on an act of worship that was beyond belief?
• Even if it made you look foolish, what kind of gift goes beyond what’s easy to offer, and takes great faith to offer?

To withhold worship breeds cynicism, doubt, and lack of faith. To give it, lavishly and liberally, sets us free to truly believe and to take God at His Word.

 

PRAYER

for Holy Wednesday

Lord, I want to be known by you, not as one who withholds worship, but rather as one who freely gives you my very best response of thanks. Take me to that place of intimacy with you.

 

QUESTION

for Your Easter Reflection

• Is there a moment of worship in your past where you can honestly say that you gave God everything you had to offer without holding anything back?

Labyrinths are meditation tools that have been used for centuries by many societies and cultures. There are different types, but they have things in common. Unlike a maze, there is only one way into the centre, and one way out. The path of the labyrinth often symbolizes a journey. Some are large enough to physically walk. This “finger labyrinth” (you “walk” the labyrinth with your finger) can help us focus, slow down and become more relaxed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We encourage you to use this labyrinth as a way to focus in this tumultuous time.

Download and print the image and follow it with your finger.

Steps:

1. Sit comfortably, be still and gently pray: “I place myself in your presence O Lord, my God.“
2. Take some deep breaths, to help bring focus and to relax.
3. Read a poem, mediation, or scripture verse that you would like to focus on for your “walk”.
   There is a suggestion at the bottom of this post.
4. When you are ready… slowly trace the labyrinth path with a finger, use a finger on the hand that you do not write with – this is a way of helping us focus (you can also use a pen or pencil). Just as you might walk a labyrinth, you can take the tracing at your own speed. Let your thoughts come to the surface and let them flow… Jesus is with you every step of the way, you are never alone. You are always loved by God.
5. When you reach the centre… consider your thoughts (what do you sense God saying to you)… you might want to reread part of what you read at the beginning. Stay in the centre for a while and spend some time in prayer and reflection receiving God’s love and blessing.
6. When you are ready… return along the same path… return gratefully, prayerfully … you might like to sing or say aloud a line from the psalms or a favourite hymn.
7. As you exit the labyrinth give thanks and praise to God: “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was, in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.“

 

Matthew 28:1-10
“Do not be afraid …” (vv.5, 10)
Have you noticed how many times in the Bible people are told not to be afraid? It is said so often that it almost becomes a refrain. What is interesting in this passage is that the guards are absolutely terrified, so much so that they fall down apparently senseless, but they are not the ones who are told not to fear. Instead, it is the women. The angel says to the women twice “Do not be afraid.”

The reason for this is because God, as well as being all-loving, is also all-holy. God is so far beyond our imaginings that when people encounter him – or even just his angels – the appropriate response is fear.

I think we sometimes misread these encouragements not to be afraid. They are not saying that there is no need to be afraid, but that God invites you to step beyond your fear into a new relationship. If we lose all aspects of awe and wonder, then we are in danger of not treating God as God. God generously and lovingly invites us not to fear, but he is still a great and wonderful God.

As you “walk” the labyrinth today, invite God to reveal who he is and enter into responding to him… in appropriate fear and wonder, followed by worship and service.

holy tuesday

Holy Tuesday is the third day of Holy Week. On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem and overlooking its grandeur, many great biblical events occurred. Jesus would have taught his disciples here often, and spent time in private devotion. Here is where, in just a few days, he would ask for the cup of his fate to be removed from him (Matthew 26:39).

Like a flashback after the temple cleansing, we see Jesus overlooking the city, weeping for his people. “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37b). As the disciples hear this, one of Jesus’ teachings comes to their minds. The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) speaks of those who are alert and keep watch, ready and waiting for their bridegroom to come. As Jerusalem enters its greatest redemptive festival, will the Jews be prepared to receive the “Lamb of God”?

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:13

 

wait in the right way

GET READY, GET SET

for Christ to make his move

 

Have you ever run ahead of God, or lagged behind, because of the wait?

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus tells his disciples a fascinating, but confusing parable about the Kingdom of God. It’s a parable about 10 virgins who are waiting for a bridegroom to arrive to begin a celebration.

Five realize that he could be early, or he could be late. They are prepared with enough oil for their lamps, either way. The other five, called “foolish,” are only prepared for him to come on their terms; on their timetable. They won’t have enough oil if he is late. They are not prepared. Verses 10-12 show us the final scene: “But while they [the foolish virgins] were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’”

Waiting can be hard work. Most of us don’t like to wait because we feel as though waiting is a waste of time. We demand that God work according to our timetable, and when He doesn’t, we can get very, very bent out of shape. We run ahead of Him, doing what we think needs to be done, instead of waiting to see the best plan that only He can reveal.

In this parable, Jesus is teaching his disciples, and us, that we can wait anxiously and end up diverting God’s best plans for our lives. Or, we can wait well – being prepared by staying in the place of humble worship, keeping our fingers on the pulse of God’s character by taking in His Word, and restraining ourselves from spiritual laziness so that we don’t miss what God is doing due to spiritual numbness. Wait well – and be ready for Christ to make his move.

 

PRAYER

for Holy Tuesday

Lord, I believe that waiting, and waiting well, is the way to my heart becoming completely yours. When I have been impatient or lazy and have missed You, or run ahead of You, I ask for forgiveness. Teach me to wait in the right way.

 

QUESTION

for Your Easter Reflection

• Is there an area of your life where you believe you may be jumping ahead of God?
• If not is there an area in which you might be spiritually lazy, not ready to perceive God’s next move?

Brian Doerksen | Scars On His Hands

I first heard this song sung by Brian Doerksen at a small worship gathering.

It was his first new original song in several years, and it restarted my songwriting engine.

It’s written in the vein of the ‘spirituals’ and is about this profound realization that the King we serve and love is not like the kings of the earth.

• This King has scars on his hands…
• This King has suffered so he doesn’t recoil from our expressions of grief.
• This King knelt down and was not only a servant, but a slave; a servant who has no option to leave…

That’s what it says in the great Christ Hymn in Philippians 2!

 

We are at the end of Lent and moving into Holy Week
but this is still a good prayer to pray

rain down on me

almighty God

shower me with your grace

flood me with your mercy

 

for I am a dry and barren land

consumed by the rot of my sin

burden beneath the weight of my transgressions

 

pour out your loving kindness

drench my heart with your presence

renew my soul refresh my purpose

reignite my passion

 

rain down on me as I own my iniquities

rain down on me as I humbly confess

rain down on me as I enter your presence

rain down on me almighty God

holy monday

Holy Monday is the second day of Holy Week. The most notable of moments remembered on this day is that of Jesus “cleansing the Temple.” Picture the scene. Jesus has entered the city during one of the most important faith festivals of his day. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims are milling about everywhere. They have made a pilgrimage from many countries to celebrate the great feast of Passover (Deuteronomy 16:16). Offering sacrifices and paying their taxes, the Jews engage the services of animal sellers and money changers, who provide a service on behalf of the priests. Even the faithful poor are buying small doves to offer as their act of worship. A loud, smelly “marketplace experience” has been created in a sacred space, during a time meant for worship and repentance. Jesus sees this, and becomes enraged. Flipping tables and forming a whip of cords (John 2:15), he shouts, “My house will be called a house of prayer!” (Matthew 21:13; Isaiah 56:7).

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He over-turned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” Matthew 21:12

 

turn the table on idolatry

SEE WHAT GOD SEES

and put a stop to injustice

 

Is Jesus inviting you to partner with him in challenging injustice?

In Matthew 21:12, we see Jesus in a holy rage that seems out of character with the “God of Love” we so often talk about in churches. Jesus seems to lose a measure of control as he encounters the market scene in the temple: “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “

• Why would currency exchanges and dove booths be so appalling, so revolting, as to demand such a harsh, physical display of disgust?
• Who would have been the most likely to be undercut in their currency exchange having travelled from a far away land?
• The poor and uneducated.
• Who would have been the most likely to only be able to afford the smallest creature, a dove, to offer in the worship setting of that day?
• The poor and the uneducated.

Jesus’ heightened response may have been, in many ways, toward the kind of misguided worship systems that ultimately devalue the poor. Today, systems (religious and otherwise) powered by money-making  greed and carelessness with the weak and vulnerable are no less worthy of a royal table turning than those in Jesus’ day.

Injustice always flows from idolatry and misdirected worship.

• When we forget who God is, we forget who we are.
• When we forget who we are in God’s eyes, we forget the value of others.

We can all participate in a world that crushes the weak and the poor, without even being aware of the part we play. Ask God to show you if there is someone to be cared for, someone who needs you to be their voice, in your neighborhood, town, or city. Show them the grace of God, and let your actions be marked by generosity.

 

PRAYER

for Holy Monday

Lord, give me eyes to see what you see when you look at the world around me. I want to participate in acts of love and justice, carrying your love to the world.

 

QUESTION

for Your Easter Reflection

• Is there an opportunity to weave more care for the poor and the socially vulnerable into your life?
• If you got involved, what kind of effect do you think it would have on both your public and private life of worship?

Here are some activity sheets for families that can help you Journey Through Easter

easter 1 The Anointing at Bethany

easter 2 Washing the Disciples Feet

easter 3 The Last Supper

easter 4 Gethsemane

easter 5 Jesus Crucified

easter 6 The Empty Tomb