This day was given to writing - some for Palm Sunday - and a lot for Holy Week. I don't know how clergy do it leaving their reflections for Saturday night. I guess some people thrive - or are addicted - to stress, but it just makes me crazy. I need to work my way through study and prayer in a deliberate way early in the week so that I can walk around with my message well in advance of Sunday. Here's my brief reflection for this Sunday to be shared before our long multi-person rendering of the Passion Narrative. Thanks be to God for both Walter Wangerin and Ayanna John Watkins. We will use Wangerin's "Way of the Cross" reader's theater to proclaim the Passion Narrative. And I found the article by Ms. Watkins in the current Christian Century profound and insightful. Both servants guided my prayers and thoughts about Palm Sunday with their deep wisdom and faith.
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The whole
movement of this day in worship, Palm Sunday 2015, urges us to recall how
easily our expectations are disappointed – and how such disappointments can
become deadly. We like to believe that
we are in control. We often act as if we
know what is needed – or what will help – when life goes south and we’re
hurting or afraid. We go through life
certain that we truly know what kind of change would really make a difference in
our finances, our health, our politics and just about everything else. In a word, most of the time most of us are so
full of ourselves that there isn’t room for God’s still, small voice to be
heard in our hearts.
+ So Jesus
comes to us today on a donkey – not a stallion, not a Humvee, not a Mercedes or
a private jet – a donkey.
+ Like the
disciples, we have orchestrated a parade for our man – a public display of affection
and commitment – because we LOVE parades. In our community we have a parade for
everything: Halloween, the Fourth of
July, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving. I’ve never lived in a place
that loves a parade as much as our town. All of our
political leaders – and many of our economic and civic institutions – come out
for these parades. Intuitively we know
that these are times for celebration, times to show what binds us together,
times to honor our past even as we march into the future.
Parades also
point to a culture’s expectations – they paint a picture of what we honor and
value – they offer a very clear public portrayal of those things we hold near
and dear to our hearts. They speak volumes about how we understand the world to
work - and Jesus shows up on a donkey. In fact, Jesus chose a donkey – a
young, inexperienced one at that according to the Scriptures – so at the start
of Holy Week I need to tell you that the donkey matters more than the parade in
this story.
The Hebrew
prophets often used symbols to speak God’s truth in ways that cut deeper than
words: the prophet Ezra once tore his
outer garments and pulled out some of his hair and beard to express God’s
sadness over the destructive habits of the people; King David wore ashes and
sackcloth as he mourned the loss of Abner, commander of King Saul’s army; and
John the Baptist’s chose to wear a shirt of camel hair tied with a leather belt
to remind Israel of Elijah, God’s prophet who came to proclaim the coming of
the Messiah. So let’s be clear that when
Jesus chose to ride the donkey into this parade, he was acting with prophetic
symbolism.
Specifically
he was telling this disciples and the whole of Jerusalem that he – and God –
would NOT “ride above their sins and suffering.” God is with you in all your fear and sadness
– in all your trials and pain – and if you have any doubt look at this donkey! (Ayanna Johnson Watkins, Christian Century, March 18, 2015)
+ It is the
beast of peace – not war or power – it is a beast of burden not ceremony or
parades. And I am riding it. I am not towering above you, I am not putting on
airs, I am here on your level looking into your eyes with love.
+ Remember
what the prophets called Jesus before he was born? Emmanuel – God is with you –
not above you or beyond you – but the God who is with you. That’s what the
donkey is all about: God is with you.
Now in the
moment – in the midst of the parade – almost nobody grasped the meaning of this
+ Their
expectations were not only disappointed by that damn donkey, they were
shattered. But that’s the way God works.
God doesn't give in to our expectations nor does God feed them; most of the time, God turns our desires and wants upside down and tells us: this is where I am – in your sorrow,
in your confusion, in your disappointment – on a donkey.
+ Like you and
me, the disciples missed all of this on Palm Sunday – and quite frankly
throughout the rest of what we now know as Holy Week, too – they let their
expectations blind them. But, in time they got it. And in that there is hope
and grace for each and all of us.
So today we
open the door to a week of walking in the way of that donkey – Holy Week
invites us to let go of our expectations about God’s power in order that we
might experience the presence of God’s love in our ordinary lives. In that spirit, I invite you to come to the Lord’s
Table, to share your gifts for ministry and open your hearts to meet the Lord
as we break ordinary bread with one another…
credits:
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