Invitation to All

 

This looks as if it could be the Easter equivalent of Santa’s workshop: plastic eggs, piles of candy and an assembly line of youth filling the eggs. It was a fun project and, somehow, most of the candy made it into the eggs! These are going to be delivered to children in the congregation and contain an invitation to all our Holy Week activities. That special week begins Sunday.

This time in the life of the church is an invitation to all of us to enter into the story of Jesus’ last week. On Sunday, we join the cheering crowd that greeted Jesus at the gate of Jerusalem. On Thursday we gather around the table and share in his last meal with the disciples. Friday brings the darkness of crucifixion. As we remember the story, hearing it again as if for the first time, we listen for where we are in it. Would we be cheering to hear that Jesus draws near? Would we turn against him or deny him? Would we learn from his example of humility and strive for servanthood instead of power? Could we see in the events unfolding before our eyes God’s unimaginable love?

We have a gracious invitation to join the story and discover some of the answers to questions such as these. I hope we all take advantage of this opportunity that comes once a year. Who knows what we may learn about God’s love for us? Who knows what we may learn about ourselves?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Peace.