At St. Mary’s, we don’t do announcements during worship.  What we do instead is at the Offertory have some conversation about ways that we offer our lives to God.  We often feature a ministry that has immediate opportunities to serve.

This week’s ministry of the week is Holy Week and Easter.  Yesterday as we began to talk about our immediate opportunity to serve by being part of daily worship this last week of Lent, I noticed a typo in the calendar.  As the week’s events were listed, the weekly calendar said “Monday, March 25; Tuesday, March 26, Wednesday, March 27.”  Certainly, as far as the world goes, this is indeed correct.  But for people of faith, this is not any Monday, but Holy Monday;  tomorrow isn’t any Tuesday, but Holy Tuesday; and Wednesday won’t be any Wednesday but Holy Wednesday.  Each of these days are particular days of devotion, and we that love Jesus are called to especially walk with him on these holy days of Holy Week.

The Gospel appointed for today is John 12. 1–11 ( if it seems familiar, we also heard this lesson a week ago on the Fifth Sunday of Lent).  This is St. John’s version of the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with costly oil;  in his version, it is Jesus’ dear friend, Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.  This takes place in their home in Bethany a week or so before Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death.

When I was in Israel in September, one of the places that I went was Bethany Lazarus, remembered as the town these three friends of Jesus lived.  Only a couple of miles from Jerusalem, Jesus walked frequently between Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ home and Jerusalem.  We particularly hear of these frequent walks in St. Mark’s version of Jesus’ last week before his death.  Today, this is no easy walk, much less an easy drive, because it is on the Palestinian side of the walk that Israel built to protect itself from Palestinian terrorists.  This wall, as all walls do, not only makes entry difficult for potential terrorists, it also prevents tourists and ordinary citizens easy access.

 I wonder this Holy Monday.  What walls have we set up that keep God out?  What walls have we built to protect us, we think, from harm that instead prevents God’s good gifts from coming into our lives as well?

This is Monday in Holy Week.  Will you walk with Jesus today?

The most amazing thing happened yesterday afternoon. My best friend is reading a book about labyrinths this Lent (and thus the labyrinth finding and walking), and in the book was a pattern to create your own labyrinth. Could we use these directions to write a labyrinth on the Tybee beach?

Prepared with a walking stick as our writing instrument and a photo of the instructions on a smart phone, we walked the half mile to the beach. Finding a spot with enough space for a labyrinth, as strollers walked by, as spring breakers played football, we began to write the labyrinth.

My friend drew, and I read the directions. Challenging at first to follow, once we began to get the rhythm of the pattern it became easier to connect lines and dots. When it appeared to be complete, I quickly tried it out to see if we had indeed written the labyrinth.

Before I could get to the center with exuberant joy, a beach stroller stopped to ask about what we were doing and began her own labyrinth walk.

Other people stopped to look at what had been done, and a handful took the first steps to begin the labyrinth walk.

I walked the labyrinth again and again, each time still amazed that we had written this labyrinth in beach sand. After adding some words to the perimeter (FEED; PEACE; GRATITUDE; LABYRINTH OFFERED TO THE GLORY OF GOD + 5TH SUNDAY OF LENT 2013) it was time to leave this prayer path to footprints and wind and ocean waves, and hopefully a few more walkers.

I was thoughtful about prayer and reminded of words from the Psalms:

Let my prayer be set before you like incense; The lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141. 2

PS Read my friend’s take on our labyrinth
cometsgirllenten.blogspot.com/?m

Walked to church this morning. How I love being able to walk to church!

All Saints Episcopal is another Tybee find where I’ve worshipped often enough that I’m starting to be recognized. Helen+, their rector, was there with her lovely worship presence, and Bishop Shipps, retired Bishop of Georgia, preached a sweet sermon on gratitude and remembering the least among us.

Seated in the row in front of me was a young man who didn’t go up for communion. He told the woman at the end of his row that he wasn’t baptized. Clearly in the worship booklet it invited the non-baptized to come forward with arms crossed for a blessing. We do have an especially open table in the Episcopal church.

I wondered about the presumption of whispering to the young man the words of invitation before I went up to receive communion. But I didn’t.

Deciding to presume, after worship I spoke to him.

Andrew is going to be baptized “some time in Easter”, and no, he didn’t know he could go up for a blessing when all the rest of us went to the communion table. How cool!

I told him that I’d pray for him as he prepared for baptism, especially when we do our Easter baptisms at St Mary’s.

Then I had a lovely, tree-lined, gentle breezed, walk back to my home on Tybee.

Several years ago I got a pedicure on Maundy Thursday. As I recall, a parishioner had given me a gift certificate for a local spa. I had been pondering the Scripture from John that I would be preaching that evening, John’s version of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples before his crucifixion. John has his emphasis on foot washing instead of bread and wine.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table,* took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.” (John 13. 3–5)

As Vivienne cared for my feet that Holy Thursday, I thought about what a loving act it is to care for another’s feet. Feet are lowly in more ways than one, and it takes humility to get eye to toe. The humility goes both ways–giving and receiving.

Jesus continues in St. John’s Gospel;

“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (14, 15)

Today I’m at the Manicured Mermaid on Tybee Island, and Sarah is caring for my feet. I’m thinking again about Jesus and how he cared for his disciples’ feet; how he said we are to do the same for others.

This Lenten Saturday I’m having Maundy Thursday thoughts. How can I serve in such a loving, humble way as Christ did so easily and freely with those he loved?

Tomorrow we’ll hear a Gospel about how lovingly and humbly Jesus received the care of a woman who extravagantly anointed his feet with costly perfumed oil.

Was Jesus’ servant care with his disciples inspired by this woman? Is this why he said, “Wherever the gospel Is preached it will be in remembrance of her?”