Palm Sunday 2008
Jerusalem, the holy city is any city or crowd in which power of church and state collide. The Passion narrative gives us a dramatic way of understanding the power of this world and the power of God. Entering as a hero of the peasants, Jesus is hailed with hosannas but the city people asked, “who is he”? The powerful leaders of church and state are not at this triumphant entry but elsewhere plotting how best to get rid of him. Jesus is in serious trouble with the powers of church and state.
The disciples who have witnessed his miracles and know his divine authority are also aware of how dangerous this situation is. It is easy for us to see the situation then and not recognize our place in the narrative. We think – well that was 2000 years ago – things were different then – we may be moved by the story but fail to see our own place in it today. We are however like Peter when our friends or associates are bashing the reputation of the Church if we fail to defend our faith or offer examples of how our church is committed to peace and justice in this world. We are like Judas when we want or demand our money goes to those things we think are important. Like the disciples that ran away and could not watch the crucifixion, we may be tempted to stay away when there is conflict in the church, in this parish, or in the larger Episcopal Church or in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
We teach our children to go along to get along. We collect things rather than seeing that the poor are fed and the homeless are sheltered. We draw into family units, protecting our own while others die of treatable diseases and the street mobs do their worst. We turn away in order to avoid conflict, controversy and the possibility that God is doing a new thing in our midst.
Power is raw in Jerusalem as Jesus enters not on a warhorse but a humble donkey. The words, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,” come from an ancient coronation hymn in Psalm 118. Jesus is a different kind of king. His kingdom is not of this world. His reign is not like the oppressive and tyrannical reign of Rome, which claimed divine agency but is not divine. Jesus is divine but does not claim worldly power. Jesus’ kingdom is not base d on military violence and does not employ social and economic exploitation or legal privilege. The kingdom Jesus represents and opens is one of mercy, welcome, hospitality, healing, where all are welcome. It is marked by servanthood and friendship.
Pilate, the representative of the Roman Empire had the power to crucify Jesus or let him go. Pilate may have been worried about the crowd rioting but I doubt it. Pilate had military all over the city. The Roman soldiers could keep law and order. I think Pilate knew that the crowd would do what they were told to do. The working poor are never free to think and act according to their experience of Jesus. They are led around by charismatic leaders who tell them when to do what. They listen to the people in leadership. They allow the leaders to do violence and support them in the cause. They are weak, conditioned to being herded about without any sense of worth. They follow the rules, they pay the taxes, and they work hard to barely survive. If they have to scream, Crucify Him, they will. Deprived of education, living on the margins, what else can they do?
We too let the poor remain at the margins of society. If they can’t afford health insurance, we are sorry but what can we do? If they live in a world where dirt is the only floor their homes will ever have and the water is unsafe to drink, well that is just the way the world is and we must deserve our status. If they would work harder or clean up their corrupt government they would do well. We wish them well and buy more stocks or land. The poverty that undermines a person’s dignity more than any other is an attitude of scarcity. If you think you are poor, you are. If you believe you or your family or your parish lacks resources, people, talent, or money, you will remain poor. We have a choice: we like the peasants on the hillside who ate their fill of bread and fish and had 12 baskets of food left over, ought to remember that Jesus has shown us the abundance of God. If you think you are poor, renew your faith in God and you will find you are rich in many ways.
Jesus would not be swayed by the power of church or state, by political rhetoric, or religious rules. Rather than compromise his integrity he accepted the judgment of the world and paid the price of truth and justice. You can’t pretend to be a king in a ruling country without exciting the ire of the empire. You can’t ride into town even on a donkey in a tradition associated with the coronation of a king without being observed by the men who think they are in charge of religious orthodoxy. They know the right way. If you step out of your place or challenge their authority, you will pay the price. You will be the object of their judgment, ire, condemnation, and they will get rid of you one way or another.
Jesus demonstrates that true power and authority is in God. True power is service, humility, and love. Peace is greater than violence. Love will conquer all but not in the way we imagine victory. We hear these words and we know at some level they are true, but living them is so difficult.
God’s love knows no human power limits, is not encased in some hierarchical system, cannot be kept inside a religious system, but always is to be found wherever human beings are in need. There God meets us, just as Jesus will confront Peter about his betrayal and forgive him, just as the women will find an empty tomb and the disciples will encounter the risen Lord. Just as we are, wherever we are in our faith journey, there Jesus will find us, offer us reconciliation with God and empower us to love as we are loved. The passion narrative is about how much God loves you!
As we begin the long journey with Jesus from the dark evening of the Last Supper through Good Friday and into the dawn of Easter, let us see, hear, and experience the abundance of God’s love poured out for us. Each year we get another chance to stay at prayer after the last supper and the arrest of Jesus…to stay at the foot of the cross and remember the horror of his death and see through the pain the good news of the divine Son. Waiting in the stillness of the hours after his death returning in the quiet, somber hours of Saturday evening, the background of scripture prepares us to see as for the first time the glory revealed in the resurrection. One of the reasons we tell this story year after year is so we can begin to live the way of the cross and begin to understand and believe the power of Love.