iWitnessing Palms and the Passion

Have you ever had a week where something really good happened, along with something really bad? Or laughed in a time of grief? Or cried in the middle of a celebration? That rollercoaster of emotions is what lies ahead for us as we enter Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The high that we feel on the triumphal entry of Jesus is mixed with the knowledge of what lies ahead on the road to the cross.

Read Luke 19:28-44 and Luke 23:1-24.

This Sunday would usually be a Sunday of joy, with our exciting palm parade and celebrating the King that has entered Jerusalem. We might end on a minor note as we being Holy Week, but most of the service would focus on the celebration.

This year, we’re combining the Palm Sunday traditions with the liturgy of the Passion – the last supper, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Worship will look a little different as we use a piece called “The Cry of the Whole Congregation.” The author, Walter Wangerin Jr, has this to say about our worship: “This drama has no audience. All are actors. None objective. All subjective – or else the objects of the driving love of God.” No one will be objective – the congregation will be actively participating in the reading of the Scriptures. All will be actors, as we all have a part to play in condemning Jesus.

We will sing the praises of Jesus with “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” And in the same service we will shout “Crucify him, crucify him!” We will force Peter into denying Christ, we will mock and ridicule him, we will go with the women to prepare the body for burial. Isn’t that how our daily lives go all too often? We praise Jesus on Sunday morning in worship, and then forget to love our neighbors, forget to tend to the least of these, forget to live the way Christ teaches us. We are caught in the tension of being sinful and redeemed, of knowing the call to live a Christlike life but finding it more difficult than it sounds.

So join us as Sunday, as we are iWitnesses to the palms and the Passion, to the praise and the betrayal, the Last Supper and the last words of Christ. Come and let us remember once more.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

Even the Stones Would Shout Out

When we envision the triumphal procession of Jesus parading into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey or colt with cloaks or clothes or palm branches spread out before him (depending on the gospel writer), we're happy to cry out our hosannas, wave our palm branches, and shout out "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"  Especially in the safety of our sanctuaries this scripture (Luke 19: 28-40) seems full of praise and fulfillment:  The King we've been waiting for has arrived!

The Pharisees, responsible for their Judaic heritage, are all too aware of the parade full of pomp on the other side of town, through another gate comes Pilate with chariots, war horses, and the Roman soldier squadrons in their fullest military regalia - come to ensure that Roman rule (Pax Romana) is not threatened by this upstart prophet, Jesus.  The Pharisees are all too aware of the threat to their peace and order - a tension they maintain with the Roman government.

So, it's not surprising that the Pharisees would tell Jesus to rebuke his followers - quiet the crowd - keep the peace - be less passionate and more orderly.  After all, when we take our children to the recent St Patrick's Day parade or travel to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, we want to be assured we're safe.  Policemen along the parade route are reasuring.

But Jesus' response is powerful:  "If these [disciples] were silent, the stones would shout out."

I wonder what Jesus means?  Stones are inert - gray, brown, black, speckled - often dirty - heavy.  How do we envision stones even shouting?  Would they shout out about the sinfulness of disciples who dare to keep silent?  Or do stones cry out about those who reject and turn away from Jesus?  Or is it possible that stones will proclaim the mighty acts of God in the face of disciples who maintain the safety of silence? Or is it that it's no more possible for stones to keep silent than it is for faith filled disciples to keep silent as Jesus rides by?

Any of these interpretations is valid, depending on your perspective.  Where do you find yourself in this parade?  Do we follow Jesus all the way and stand at the foot of the cross of crucifixion or do we betray our Lord with our silence on the sidelines?  One thing is sure:  No matter how paralyzed we are with our fears and temptations, Jesus will enter Jerusalem on his way to the cross and God will prevail over death.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

The Promise of a King and a Lamb

Sunday is April Fools' Day, technically not a holiday recognized by the church. But I think there is something to the fact that Palm Sunday is falling on April Fools' Day this year. Who do you think of when you think of fools, of something foolish? Today, in the workplaces or at school or even at church, we feel shame and humiliation if we say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. We don’t want to be fools – on April Fools' Day, we want to be the ones playing the tricks, not the ones being made a fool!

Read Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and John 12:12-19.

The Gospel reading this week shapes how our Palm Sunday feels. It is mostly a joyful celebration of Jesus as the promised King, Jesus as the one to fulfill the covenant, Jesus as a miracle worker, who can bring life out of death. The people offer a welcoming parade, pledging their loyalty to Jesus as the King of Israel, running after him, stampeding after him. And yet, we end not with their joy, but the Pharisees as they continue to plot, their current plans being foiled yet again. Their presence, however, seems to be an ominous sign that reminds us of what will come later this week: a meal, a betrayal, a trial, a cross, a tomb.  

And yet, somehow, Jesus plays us all. Jesus takes on the role of the fool on Palm Sunday – riding in not on a warhorse but a young donkey, his feet probably dragging on the ground. Jesus the king rides the animal of peace, not the Messiah the people expected to violently overthrow Rome. Jesus lets the people call him king, knowing that later in the week they would be calling for his crucifixion. Jesus turns everything upside down, making wisdom foolish: emptying himself that we might be filled; saying that the last will be first and the first will be last, to save your life you must lose it; feeding multitudes with a couple loaves and fish; healing those who were said to be beyond help; and bringing life out of a dead Lazarus in a tomb. 

In a court, the fool or jester was the only one who could actually speak truth to power, who could actually criticize the king or queen or government, who could mock those in power through the gift of humor. It is said that Queen Elizabeth once threatened her fool because he did not criticize her severely enough! That is the role of Christ on April Fools' Day, on Palm Sunday: to subvert the Roman concept of Lord, to speak to the power of peace instead of violence, to find value in the people who are marginalized and oppressed. As a fool, Jesus invites people to see and live in the world in a different way. For Jesus himself is the stone that the builders rejected – only for that very stone to become the chief cornerstone, the foundation of it all. Jesus fools us, as we are promised a king and are given a sacrificial lamb. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” Thanks be to God for responding to our Hosannas with the foolishness of the Messiah, the only one who could really save us once and for all.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate