[Propertalk] Passion - Palm Sunday

[Robert P Morrison]

A very busy day, with a late ending to this writing!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL PARISH OF ST. JAMES, LINCOLN CITY        THE SUNDAY OF THE PASSION/PALM SUNDAY 
MARK 11:1-11                         5th APRIL, 2009 
ISAIAH 50:4-9a                       PSALM 31:9-16
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11   			                 
MARK 14:1 – 15:47

	An article about the French composer, Olivier Messiaen, reported, “Given his faith, it is not surprising that depictions of the eternal are a recurrent feature of Messiaen’s music.” 1
	If someone were to critique YOUR life and work - MY life and work - could they say that? that people could catch glimpses of the eternal in what we do and say? That’s such a compliment to make about Messiaen. Given that he was born in 1908, and must have felt some of the impact of the First World War, to say nothing of the Depression and the Second World War, during which he spent time “freezing cold and hungry as a prisoner in Stalag VIIIa in the darkest days of the war”, it may be of little wonder that his whole life must have dealt with a struggle to find meaning for existence, and hope for this life and whatever might follow. Even so, many people of his generation, many faced with similar hardships and brutality, found they could no longer hold on to their faith.
	Instead of giving up, however, Messiaen applied every daily experience to the gifts which he believed sincerely he’d been given by God. Did he question the ability of humans to deal with one another compassionately? I’m sure he did. Was his faith stretched? Certainly - while in prison camp he wrote a famous piece for an unusual combination of four instrumentalists available and called it “Quartet for the End of Time”.
	Indeed, the composer tried various ways to deal with the time we measure on earth and to express how God’s timelessness merges with this. In an organ work Bill has played here, Messiaen depicts the wonderful Banquet of Heaven whose representation we celebrate as Holy Communion. In that piece, “There is logical movement (as slow as it may sound), but it happens almost in the realm of the subconscious. … (It represents) one of the greatest theological mysteries - the ability of God to exist outside time yet to act within it.”
	I mention this by way of trying to get inside Jesus’ head, to think about what this day represents, about how Jesus used time carefully, especially during His last few days on earth.
	Jesus knew that every moment is given for a purpose. On the other hand He experienced the incredible timelessness of God-with-Him. He was living human time, yet He was also moving beyond it. So as Jesus drew near to the city of Jerusalem and entered it in pointed humility, he was directing us towards that experience in which we, like Jesus, may live in direct contrast to the pomp and pugnacity of whatever power tries to control us, to extinguish our creative individuality, to take from us hope that enables us to develop into the full humans God wishes for us.
	So what WAS Jesus thinking and doing? And what does this say to and for us as we deal with friends’ illnesses; and diminishing financial resources; and concerns about aging and its potential consequences; with all the things which come to our minds when we wake up in the morning, and which are still in our consciousness as we lay back down to sleep?
	Several points jump out at me from Mark’s version of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. First, it seems that Jesus is prepared. Second, there’s the matter of making sure that needs are always met. And third, there’s the unabashed demonstration that every opportunity contains a cause for celebration, which should neither be missed nor diminished, no matter what the circumstances.
	It seems that Jesus is always aware of the impact of what He did. He knew when He pushed people’s buttons, or challenged them to hang on to the last thread of faith in the midst of terrible crisis. He prepared for the way He’d trigger people’s imaginations to think of God’s messenger who was to come to rebuild hope in a time of despair - so He entered the city on a colt, giving even the least religiously inclined a reminder of what Zechariah had offered as a sign of hope in God’s love.
	Jesus never seemed to do anything thoughtlessly, and even surprises aroused in Him the ability to sharpen His understanding of how God yearns for our company and commitment. The very fact that Jesus was in Jerusalem at all - Passover observance or not - showed that Jesus prepared Himself to confront resistance to love, and justice, and mercy.
	What does this say to us this morning? How do we prepare, and for what? Are we ready to engage whatever stands in the way of anyone experiencing God’s embrace? 
	In contrast to what the authorities from Rome and Jerusalem offered, however, was the response of the man whose colt Jesus borrowed. All Jesus had to say was, “I need this”, and the owner gave up his animal.
	This was something engraved on the hearts of the Israelites since their meanderings through the desert. Just as God met their needs, so they were to meet the needs of anyone who asked. Indeed, this is a golden rule in culture after culture around the world. No one is to be denied hospitality; no one is to be allowed to starve, no matter what the state of the budget of the host community or individual; no one is to live in pain of mind, or body, or spirit without someone trying to alleviate that suffering.
	These are pretty basic rules. In some cultures, in certain areas, they’re still held pretty well. Which makes one ask what’s happened elsewhere? Why are there homeless students, homeless men and women; socially undernourished and physically undernourished people in Lincoln City and around the world?
                     “I need this” - not to add another Mercedes to my collection; not to have pâté de foie gras for the third night in a row; not even to have meat loaf. “I need this,” said Jesus, because He knew that it wouldn’t do a single thing to enrich Him or His reputation, but instead because He knew that it would illustrate the loving presence of God in the midst of people who desperately needed to be able to hope in something. That’s the only criterion for satisfying need.
	But finally - though surely not exhaustively - this entry into Jerusalem of which we just heard is a celebration. Even knowing that it would bring Him into direct conflict with the Roman authorities, and that He could be crushed brutally, Jesus demonstrated the opportunities we have to find something to celebrate in every moment. Jesus is pointing out to us right here and now that no matter what we heard on the way from our homes up the hill to this building; no matter what happened yesterday, or what may happen tomorrow; right now we’re here, surrounded by people, each of whom is intent on giving thanks for God’s Presence and God’s Promise to love us even through illness or death.
	So we can come with uplifted hearts to pick up our palms this morning, even knowing that shortly we’ll have to address pain - that of ourselves as well as others. We can come knowing that these very palms talk of opening our eyes to all that God has done to prepare for this moment; opening our eyes to all that God needs for and from us at this moment; and opening our eyes to all that God celebrates in us, at this moment and beyond all limits.
	We can come, and then we go to love and serve with Jesus. Even as things appear to break down more and more as we move through this week, as through life, let us remember that it begins with God, and it will end with God.
	What more can we ask?

NOTE:
1	“A Man Inspired” by Christopher Dingle. BBC Music Magazine. November 2008. Pp.30 ff.

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Robert P. Morrison
The Episcopal Parish of St James,
PO Box 789
Lincoln City, Oregon, 97367

541-994-2426 (Church)