Holy Week – Tuesday 31 March 2026
Call to Worship:
It is Tuesday,
and we continue the journey.
When the prophets speak
and the doom-merchants chant
we shall gather and we shall worship
with words of promise and love.
Reading: Luke 21:5-19 – The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
Signs and Persecutions
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.
9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance, 15 for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Reflection:
Empires come and empires go.
It is the pain they cause that is the problem.
How might we live in these times
when strongmen bully us all,
cow us into submission,
where unethical religion becomes the norm,
where saviours are imagined
in the least obvious people?
Empires come and empires go.
It is the damage they do that we are left with.
How might we speak in these times
when criticism is banned
and critical thinking mocked,
when politics that were once extreme become mainline
and promises are selfish?
Empires come and empires go.
It is the legacy they leave that hurts.
Dare we speak into the world?
Dare we contradict the status quo?
Dare we say anything in the silence?
Dare we?
Empires come and empires go.
And we are swept along with them all.
Prayer:
God of revelation,
as the light darkens in this holy week,
we bring to mind our world
and all the people within it who this very day
are living in situations which feel perilously like those
described in Jesus’ words, the ‘little apocalypse’,
that does not seem so little when you are living through it.
We pray for those living amidst environmental trauma,
for those living amidst ecological collapse,
and for people caught up in state violence.
We pray for all those who speak and live as your followers,
seeking a counter-cultural change that all might know justice.
May we be part of the answer to the prayers we bring,
ever hopeful even amidst the chaos,
ever faithful even when all seems lost,
that your great commonwealth will be revealed to all souls.
May it be so.
Amen.
Blessing:
In the waiting time for things
that will not happen immediately,
we endure.
Jesus is our defence.
Redemption is nearer than it was.
Come, Lamb of God.