INTRODUCTION
On Palm Sunday – and all the
gatherings we celebrate throughout Holy Week – there are multiple truths and
symbols being shared that offer us a variety of insights. There are
messages of forgiveness and hope taking place that illuminate both personal and
political sin. There is
the counter-cultural wisdom of God expressed in these words:
Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human
likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death
on a cross.
There is a summons
to follow Jesus by living as a servant to all. There is a description of what
happens to innocent people when we cast our fears and hatred upon a
scapegoat. And there is a complex and
compelling description of human nature that illuminates how God is present in
our journey from bravado to betrayal into the beautiful embrace of the Lord’s
grace beyond all sin.
It is a universal story that
encompasses all of creation. That’s why
it takes a week to tell it: seven days
to listen and seven days to wrestle with what we’ve heard. Seven days that
become a symbolic journey between one Sabbath and another and seven days for
entering the mysteries of the Cross.
Today we begin again our entrance into these seven days by joining with
Christ as he enters into the city of Jerusalem. It is a ceremony that has been
taking place in Christ’s church since the fourth century of the Common Era –
and for nearly 1200 years has happened in much the same way – with the
blessings of the Palms and a procession in the morning followed by an extended
reading following the last days of Jesus on earth.
As you prepare to listen to
the ancient story made new for our generation, ask yourself: How did it come to pass that in just five
days the crowd that began by cheering “Hosanna” turned into a mob screaming
“Crucify?” Listen now for the word of
the Lord… (we read aloud from Matthew's gospel about the disciples' promise to never betray Jesus.)
FIRST COMMENT
Part One of the Passion
speaks to us of betrayal and bravado – it is something we all know about – it
is something we have all done and probably will do again. In this, we’re reminded that all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.
Peter as well as Judas, soon all the disciples as well as the religious
scholars and soldier: ALL have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.
+ One of the
essential truths of this story that we are asked to make our own is that NO ONE
is to be singled out for blame here: not
the Jews, not the Romans, not the Priests or the Crowd or the Disciples.
+ As the French
scholar, Rene Girard, has noted: “Blaming
anyone is completely beside the point of this whole story… for when we try to
blame anyone, we are missing the exact point.”
The Christian gospel, you see, isn’t about this group or that group
needing forgiveness; nor is about this individual or another needing grace. “It
is about ALL of us needing forgiveness.”
And not just those who sinned on Good Friday – but all of us who have
used our fear and hatred to wound and crucify others as scapegoats.
St. Paul was spot-on: All of us have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God – so – it’s not my brother, nor my sister, nor the preacher, nor
the deacon but it’s ME o Lord that’s standin’ in the need of prayer. (The reading continues in Matthew through Peter's betrayal and shame.)
SECOND COMMENT
Part Two of the Passion
points to the role of fear and how it pollutes our
+ One of the many
truths Jesus exposes is what it looks like when societies make scapegoats of
innocent people. He chooses to become
the Lamb of God who is sacrificed for us in order to show us the invisible
horror that takes place every day when fear is the law of the land.
+ As he is betrayed
and abandoned, as he is crucified to disguise the fears of those in control, he
takes on himself the agony of everyone who is beaten, incarcerated, tortured
and executed to make others feel safe and sacred. It is an ugly and wicked
truth that touches everyone – and Jesus becomes the victim to show us why it
must end. (The reading continues and concludes with Christ's death on the Cross.)
CLOSING COMMENT
Over and over the Christian
tradition has confessed that Jesus became the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world. And in one way that is
true: he not only accepted onto himself
our fears and violence, but he exposed it to the world from the perspective of
the victim. His innocent embrace of our
violence, you see, is an upside-down invitation for us to stop.
+ When we gather
around the Lord’s Table for Holy Communion – when we sing Lamb of God – when we
pray the Lord’s Prayer – we are not only making a decision to live in the
loving way of Christ Jesus, we are promising to oppose the way of fear and
violence.
+ Just as Jesus
served his friends at the Passover Meal – know that all of them would betray
him and then be forgiven even this most vile sin – we come to the table asking
God for the grace to do likewise: to
become servants of peace and hope rather than fear and hatred.
+How does the
Lord’s Prayer put it: forgive us as WE
forgive our debtors? Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on… EARTH as it is
already being done in heaven?
+ Do you hear what
I’m saying?
Coming to the table –
entering the stories and liturgies of Holy Week and spending time with their
consequences – is a gentle form of resistance against cruelty and hatred and
fear and sin. It is a counter-cultural
commitment that celebrates the values of Jesus as Lord. It is a promise NOT to bow down to the idol
of fear and scape-goating, but to trust that God’s love can make us all one by
grace. In a word, we come to the table
to be fed and nourished by God’s peace that passes all human
understanding. And this, beloved, is the
good news for today for those who have ears to hear.
credits:
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