Making Preparations

He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
-Luke 22:12​

I'm a hypocrite. I try not to be, but that doesn't change the fact. 

When I get ready for one of my longer trail races over the mountains, you should see my kitchen table the night before. My gear and nutrition are all laid out perfectly. I know what socks I'll be wearing, I fill my vest, and I premix my electrolyte fluids in advance. I think about every detail of the following day and how to have the morning go as smoothly and stress-free as possible, so that I'm fully present and ready when I get to the start line. I'm often getting up at 4 a.m., so I don't want to be scrambling. It certainly requires extra intentionality. But I know how good it feels to be walking into a focused event fully prepared and ready to go. I've already done the training for the months leading up to that point, so I don't want to miss the gift of the moment because I haven't done the little things when it’s time to begin. 

For how disorganized I can be sometimes, I can flip the switch completely when I decide it really matters. I know how to prepare. 

Why then, is it so hard to prepare my heart and mind for moments of spiritual significance? That can be a completely different matter. That's why I'm a hypocrite. 

Today is Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, as it's been known for eight centuries (I wrote a TFG about that last year). Even though Palm Sunday has passed, today is when Holy Week begins to feel real. Tonight my community will take time to remember the meal in the upper room. Then tomorrow, the garden and the cross. Then Sunday, the great hope of resurrection. 

I'm intrigued by the fact that all the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) mention the same statement before the Passion weekend begins.  As Jesus and his disciples are entering the city, he tells them to go ahead and "make preparations" before the Passover celebration. 

Go on ahead, and prepare for what's coming.  
It feels like preparation was an important part of the story. It is for us today, too. But it has to go beyond the world of physical planning. 

Yes, I prepare services and Easter messages. That's a part of my job and my pastoral calling. And many of you are preparing family plans, food plans, and good celebration plans. But right now I want us to consider what it means to prepare the deep places within our souls, far beyond our schedule. I want to invite us to be ready for the drama of the weekend—the sorrow and hope that we are invited to travel through. Many years I'm afraid that I'm a bit of a hypocrite, acting like I haven't had time to get ready. There's almost always time to prepare if something is important enough.  

I invite you then, to take a moment to consider:
How will you make preparations for this weekend? 
I'm not speaking of getting the ham out of the freezer or the eggs hidden in the yard. What will prepare your soul to sit deeply in the self-giving and redeeming love of God? 
Perhaps it's a choice to turn off a device (actually off) for a few hours. Perhaps it's taking space to go on a walk with God before the busy weekend. I sometimes go into my woods and hand-build a cross to slow down my mind and my body and consider costly love. 

I wonder how it could change your Easter if you took 30 minutes today to “make preparations.” Maybe there's a forgiveness in your life that needs to be given. Maybe you need to stop and breathe deeply of God's love. Maybe you need to read the story once more. Maybe you need to let your shoulders relax, and cry a little, letting God hold onto the crippling burdens you're carrying. 

Friends, walk up ahead today. Get to the upper room a little early, like the disciples did, so that you can make preparations to receive love and hope once again in your life. I know you're capable of it. I know I am too. We may just find that our experience this weekend will be far richer if we do. 

Jesus, don't let me miss the beauty of the story this weekend amidst all of the movement. Slow me down and soften my heart for the good news. 

Peace,
Keith

*Next week is a bit of family rest, so TFG will be back in two weeks.