Real-World Holiness

This week, the church staff has essentially moved in! We spend hours preparing for Worship and finishing up those odd projects around the building that we’ve been meaning to get to. We want the church to look its best for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. If we’re not careful, we can miss the spiritual meaning behind tracing the footsteps that Jesus took during his last physical week on Earth. I imagine we can all get sidetracked by cleaning, grocery shopping, and preparing for houseguests.

The problem with the pastor spending all his/her time in the church building during Holy Week is… Jesus never went to the temple in his final days. He began by processing into the streets of Jerusalem. He then sneaks away with his disciples to the Upper Room. He goes to the garden to pray. He is arrested and sent to jail. And finally, he is executed. Notice, he doesn’t go to the synagogue.

Our challenge is to take what happens in the church building and pour it into the streets.  The people that shouted “crucifying him” were not attending worship, they were gathered in the city square calling for violence. If we do not have peacemakers and justice-seekers in the street, then our voice is not heard where it matters. To be frank, I don’t care about what was going on in the temple at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Whatever the priests were doing, it was irrelevant. What we do in the church must be linked to what happens outside of it. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Maybe next year we will lead a Palm Sunday procession down Broadway and past City Hall. On Thursday, we might have supper in a parishioner’s home on the outskirts of town.  On Friday, we should visit the imprisoned, advocate for peace, and call for justice when the world has gone astray. I am not sure why we are afraid to apply the stories of Jesus to the world around us. Maybe it is comfort that we value most?

See, when I am obsessing about making sure our quests feel comfortable when they arrive at Lamb of God this week, I am forgetting that most people are already gathered in the street. Many of those folks, although they may claim to be nonreligious, still long for a spiritually transcendent experience. What would it look like to forego sweeping our sanctuary carpet and meet them there? It’s easy to find God in a community of people setting aside time on a Sunday morning with the stated purpose of communing with God. But can we find God in the street?

Especially on Good Friday, may we seek to destroy the protective layer that we create between us and God. May the distinction of “us” and “them” be destroyed. Beyond our discomfort, though it may be filled with rejection, is where we find God. To never meet God outside the church is to never fully touch the truth of how God works. God is wherever people are calling for peace, working toward justice, and embodying love.

I’ll tell you what… how about after we sing in the church, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” We go sing it to the world for all to hear outside our walls. Amidst the forming crowd, we will lead prayer. Amidst the cacophony of shouts, our voice will be the one calling for justice and peace. There, while we await the dawn, God will show up!

Outside the church,

Pastor Lucas

Photo by Markus Spiske