John 12:1-8

As we enter into Holy Week starting next Sunday, we are encountering mysteries that can only be expressed in music and song. It’s a messy week steeped in humanity: the very same humanity that is full of joy, and beauty, and complexity, and pain, and uncertainty, and everything else under the sun; the very same humanity within us that sings.

Luke 18:1-8 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Today, we hear a parable about a widow who was willing to die on a hill. She sought justice, constantly, persistently, even foolishly, and made her whole life into a song of protest. She made her whole life into prayer – in her words and her deeds. Sometimes, it turns out, there are hills we should die on, where God asks us to make our lives into a prayer—and song—of protest.

Luke 13:31-35

Singing itself might change us. After all, God’s people have sung for thousands of years. It’s a spiritual discipline that at face value seems superficial, but if we trust the Spirit’s work, it will shape this church and our lives.