In my house growing up, we knew that it was a special occasion when the fine china came down out of the cabinet. Those gold-rimmed plates had been a wedding gift to my parents and the silver had been handed down in my maternal grandmother’s family.
These dishes differed significantly from the mismatched daily flatware and the plastic plates and bowls that our family normally used. We did not stress over scratching or even dropping a common dish. The china, however, was always handled with care. It was hand-washed, not carelessly tossed in the dishwasher.
Time can be like dishes. Of course, there are sixty minutes in every hour, twenty-four hours in every day, and seven days in every week, but not all of them are created equal. Some days are special — time that can be measured by its quality as opposed to its chronological length.
For Christians, Sunday marks the beginning of “Holy Week.” It marks the final week of Jesus’ earthly life. On one hand, there is nothing all that different about the eight days that will run from Sunday, April 13 through Sunday, April 20. On the other, they are anything but ordinary days.
When the Bible uses the adjective “holy” to describe a person, place, thing, or time, it refers to being “set apart.” A holyplace is a place that is “set apart” from everyday use and designated for a specific set of actions or practices. For example, a sanctuary is a place “set apart” for worship and prayer.
Holy Week is a kind of “sanctuary in time” (to borrow a phrase from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel). It is the time that we remember Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and its contrast to the pomp and circumstance of the Roman leadership. It is a time to remember Jesus’ visit to the temple, where he flipped over the tables of the moneychangers and insisted that it be a “house of prayer.”
It is the time that we remember the way he washed the disciples’ feet, demonstrating an alternative measure for greatness through service. We remember the last supper and the sacrifice memorialized in bread and wine. We remember Jesus praying in the garden and the example he set as he cried out, “not my will, but yours be done, O God.”
We remember his betrayal and his trial before Pilate, the Roman governor. We remember his beating and the crown of thorns placed on his head. We remember the way he was forced to carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem and how he was crucified between two thieves. We remember the men who provided a tomb in which Jesus was buried, the women who came to care for his body, and the joy of Easter morning.
This is no ordinary week. Therefore, I encourage you to make a plan. How will you honor this sanctuary in time? How will you give your attention to the significance and depth of these days rather than running through the routine of a normal week? Pull the china down, slow your pace, and pay attention — these are indeed special days.