Stories-

Good Friday Evening at St. David of Wales
April 22, 2011

I'm guessing most of you have seen the movie the Princess Bride, where the fantastic tale of Princess Buttercup and Wesley is told as a grandfather reads his sick grandson a story.

That is what holy week is like.

In the midst of our daily lives as eventful or uneventful as they may be we are invited to live a parallel story of the last days of Jesus on Earth.

When we accept that invitation we will lead multifaceted lives.

On Palm Sunday we walked out of our regular lives and through the gates of Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday we washed the feet of the disciples with Jesus, then we stayed awake with him in the Garden as he begged to have this cup taken from him. We watched with horror as the authorities dragged him away and we may have even felt sympathy with Peter who was willing to raise a sword to defend the rabbi he loves. We stood at the foot of the cross this afternoon and listened as Jesus forgave those who had hurt him, blessed those who hung by him, and breathed his last.

And we are the grandfather and the grandson whose presence in this story feels out of lace. What do our mundane lives have to do with the passion and crucifixion of God incarnate?
here's what:
We are tellers of the story, We are hearers of the story, and as we tell it to each other year after year, it comes alive in and through us. The story of Jesus comes alive in the context of our lives.

Last night at 3am I left the Garden of Gethsemane and drove home and brushed my teeth.

After sitting at the foot of the cross this afternoon, I went and got a burrito on Division, and ate it in the sunshine of a glorious spring afternoon.

this Holy week I have taken Adin to school, made a dentist appointment, hosted a house-guest, and done laundry. Always the laundry.
... but also this week in all the spaces between there has been the vividly real journey with Jesus.

Holy Week can feel schizophrenic and in past years I have the incongruence as proof of my spiritual failings. But this year I have been too busy to even take the time to harass myself about how a "real Christian" would spend this week. And that has turned out to be a gift I want to share with all of you-

let this story seep into all the spaces of your days, let it color the life you are already living. Tomorrow be present in whatever way you can be and let the death of Jesus become the back story to your Saturday.
Even while you do the laundry.

Then when you come back here, whether it is tomorrow night or Sunday morning, we will have the best possible news for you.
News that if you let it become the story within a story of your life, will change everything.