Did you know that Sunday is Easter?
It crept up on me too. I've been wondering how it has snuck up on me like this, why I was missing it, and as I got to thinking about it, this is where I landed: How can I hear and see that the King is coming amidst all this noise?
I don't have to tell you or anyone that we are surrounded by a ton of pain. So much pain that we are a country that stands deeply divided about who can save us from ourselves. This morning, the whole world woke up to the news that bombs went off amongst a very busy metro and airport in Brussels. We are so much more accustomed to receiving bad news that we don't know whatgood news sounds like. Its all just noise.
We long for distraction from what confuses and hurts us, so we immerse ourselves into things that are fun, but temporary. We move from high to high, where we live for the moment and wait, with incredibly shaky anticipation, for the next whistle. And then what? More noise.
No politician, no team, no diet, no hit of caffeine, no distraction, no perfect idea or expectation; none of that can truly "fix" us or save us.
Those in ancient Jerusalem were not so different from us. We just celebrated Palm Sunday. The day that marks Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, where He was greeted by a people desperate for Him to save them from all that ailed them, and begins what we know now as Holy Week.
Their world was seriously broken and run by a corrupt government, just like ours.
People were suffering all around them, just like us.
And their lives were consumed by the noise of economical progress, entertainment and unrealistic expectations of a community confused by culture vs religion, and each man dictated for himself what was wrong and right. Just like us.
But It came down to this. Nothing could save them from what truly ailed them but the blood of Jesus. The same is true for us.
When Jesus went into Jerusalem amidst the shouting and the palm branch waving, He set into motion a series of events that would lead to Him giving up His life for a world that did not want Him. He then would revolutionize the ideas of even those who thought they knew Him by rising from the dead three days later. We were given a Messiah who gave us a merciful gift we could never earn, deserve or find for ourselves. By His sacrifice, He arrested death and made a new way for a life of hope on Earth and a life that's everlasting in Heaven.
This past Saturday, my small group from church spent an entire day sharing our life stories so that we could know each other more intentionally. I think that was the moment that I truly soaked in that it is indeed Holy Week. Listening to these people that I love bare their souls about where they have been and where they continue to struggle, and to confess that the noise surrounding them so often drowns out what they know to be true... It was such an incredibly beautiful picture of why we TRULY need a Savior.
It was a reminder that we are at war with the noise of a world that wants nothing but answers and comfort, at war with a dark and spiritual world that wants nothing but our destruction and our distraction, and we are in desperate need of Truth to permeate every part of our days. We have been given a gift in Jesus' death and resurrection to find true life in the midst of it of the chaos by His Holy Spirit. We have been given life support in the flesh by the opportunities to share life together amongst other believers and cling to Jesus' Word and His unchanging promises. This is what we truly need to hear. And not just during Holy Week, but always.
Its not small. Its not trivial. Its real. Even in the midst of things that seem larger than life, there is all ready Someone who is larger and stronger than life or death.
He is alive! Death is arrested. And this is not how the story ends.
If you are like me and need something that can penetrate the noise to bring in some Truth, I've made a playlist (naturally). I remember when I was young, my Grandmother would ask me "how can you think/focus with all that noise?" But to me, music isn't noise. Music is a form of life support to help me shift my thoughts into place. So what better way to move the Truth of Jesus' amazing gift of Himself to the forefront of my mind, than drowning out the ugly noise with my joyful noise!