Holy Week Ethics

Holy Week is about costly grace.  Implied within the grace is the ethic.  If one desires to understand the character of Christian discipleship, the events of Holy Week are seminal. Initiated by Jesus, Christ's actions serve as models for the actions of obedient followers.

The Gospel of Luke is most appropriate for laying open Holy Week ethics, because it is the most socially conscious, justice oriented Gospel.  Furthermore, Luke is the dominant Biblical source for Liberation Theology, the theology which stresses social justice and societal transformation.

PALM SUNDAY: Some call this moment Passion Sunday, preferring to read the texts covering the events forthcoming: the cleansing of the Temple, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.  However, Palm Sunday needs to stand by itself.  On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a stallion.  A donkey is a humble symbol, of an animal used by the common people for carrying loads and transportation, kind of like a pick-up truck or a car.  Roman generals and political figures rode on stallions to trumpet their  power and prestige, with a tinge of fearful respect.  Not Jesus.  The message is "I am with you.  I enter your life.  I share your burdens.  I understand the common life."

Jesus confronts the politically and religiously powerful on Palm Sunday.  Jesus does not avoid the powers.  Jesus accepts conflict as part of his faithfulness.  Jerusalem is  the center of religious and political power.  He has come to transform these powers with the power of love.  He is not  afraid.  He stands up for reforming the world.  Jesus enters the maw of the world.  It is like MLK, Jr. going to Washington, DC with a message of freedom, or Gandhi walking to the sea to pick-up a pinch of salt in defiance of unjust laws.  Jesus is not silent.  Jesus has courage.  What situations beg my courage? What places demand a visit from me?  Am I willing to accept conflict as part of my witness?  What people and places do I avoid, but which beg my response?

JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE: Just as Luther believed the church needed reforming, so did Jesus believe the Temple needed reform.  Jesus directly confronted the religious elite and their practices.  The Kingdom of God is not about buying and selling your way into God's favor.  It is not about having levels of holiness.  It is not about specified holy places reserved for the professional holy men.  On the contrary, the Kingdom of God is about what Christ has done for us, about all people being welcome and included, about loving God and your neighbor, about all people being part of the priesthood of all believers, about holiness being God's gift for everyone, about all people being created in the Image of God, about equality before God.  Jesus came to reform and transform our relationship with God.  Jesus confronted the religious leadership and challenged long-standing religious practices with a new message of grace and welcome.  There are no more forbidden places in the Kingdom, no more hierarchy.  We are ONE.  How can I be a reformer?  What needs to be said to our church leaders?  What beliefs and practices of our Church need reforming?  What or whom do I need to denounce?  What or who needs my critical words?  How do I feel about being critical?  Am I an instrument of change?  How can I become God's instrument for renewal?

PAYING TAXES:  The religious elite try to manipulate Jesus into making a political error that would justify his being arrested and tried for breaking the tax laws.  They wanted to send the I.R.S after him for tax evasion!  Jesus' response?  A degree of taxation is appropriate for the functions of the state, and so is generosity to the poor, to the specific ministry of the church.  Share your wealth for the common good and the furtherance of the Kingdom of God, and do not try to hoard all earnings for your own pleasures and needs.  Look outward to support wider responsibilities and needs.  Jesus linked the purpose of government with the building of the Kingdom of God.  Government has its proper place. Yet, Jesus also stressed our personal giving on behalf of Christ's ministry through the church, through each of us.  What can I say and do about our nation's tax code?  What is a fair tax?  What constitutes a "just budget"?  How can I hold the government accountable for who my/our tax money is spent?

THE WIDOW'S OFFERING: Jesus praises the generosity of the poor widow, contrasting her giving with the proportionally less giving of the wealthy.  If you have more, give more.  Be generous for the sake of the common good, that all may have enough.  Wealth is for the good of all.  Hoarding and greed are anathema to God and destructive to life.  Do I tithe?  How generous am I?  How generous is our congregation?

MAUNDY THURSDAY:  A time of service.  Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and gives us the Lord's Supper.  Jesus touches the dirtiest parts of the body.  The leader, the teacher, the preacher, the healer, the one whom people have come to see and hear, is now, again, the servant to the least parts. Then, the ultimate gift of himself in the bread and wine: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin."  Gifts.  For us.  For life.  For love.  Servant.  No shame.  All of us are worthy of grace.  How can we serve?  Who are the poor in our midst?  How can I serve my family?  Is my comfort zone too comfortable?  Is it time to break out of my comfort zone?



THE BETRAYAL:  The soldiers come to Gethsemane to arrest Jesus.  One of the disciples takes his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the high priest's slaves.  Jesus says, "No more of this."  "[And Jesus] touched his ear and healed him."  The Kingdom of God, the Reign of God is not about inflicting violence upon others, but accepting violence onto oneself.  How do I inflict violence?  What do I need to change?  Is my Christian witness violent?  How violent are my thoughts, words, and deeds?  Do I need Christ's healing of my heart?

THE ARREST OF JESUS:  Have I ever been arrested for my witness?  Is it about time to break the law?  Do I do enough to be arrested?

JESUS BEFORE THE COUNCIL, PILATE, AND HEROD:  If I were brought before religious and political leaders because of my criticism of some of their policies, what would I say?  Pick a policy that would be counter the religious and political status quo.  How would I defend my position?  Would I remain silent and let the chips fall where they fall?  When is it time to keep silent before authority, and when is it time to shout?  Who are the councils, the Pilates, the Herods of today?  What would I say to them?  

GOOD FRIDAY:  Death is good because it is not the end, only the door to life.  Jesus giving his life for us.  Our substitute.  I will take your place!  I will take your sin!  I will forgive you even before you ask!  I will welcome you into the Kingdom of God, simply because I love you.  Your burdens and past will not exile you from my Kingdom.  Be not afraid of death.  As I give myself for you, now you give yourself for others, for me.  For whom, for what, will I give my life?  Is my life faithfully purposeful?  Am I willing to incur the wrath of authority and suffer the consequences?  Am I willing to be crucified for Christ's sake?  I willing to forgive those who would do me harm?  Who do I need to forgive?

Holy Week is about costly grace.  Implied within the grace is the ethic.  Jesus' actions are vivid examples, models of God's love for us.  We can learn "how to" lessons of discipleship, ask deeper questions from Christ's most Holy Week, and be inspired to "do likewise."  Yet, underlying the practical modelling, is the greatness and gentleness of grace.  Discipleship is not easy.  It is this grace that frees us to faithful, obedient living.  It is God's grace in Jesus  through the Holy Spirit that guides and provides.  It is out of this grace that the Christ ethic bursts forth through each of us in surprisingly fresh ways, yielding to each day being one of endless days of endless Holy Weeks, making painfully real the Kingdom, the Reign of God.

Blessings and Peace!

Ron