[Propertalk] Palm - Passion Sunday

[Robert P Morrison]

I can't remember if I posted this or not. I wrote it earlier in the week and have tweaked it and corrected it here and there. No doubt further reading may suggest some more!

Anyway, here's what I have for tomorrow. I hope you have fun shuffling through the palms! and on through the week.

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY  	                 SUNDAY OF THE PASSION: PALM SUNDAY
LUKE 19:28-40							   28th MARCH, 2010
ISAIAH 50:4=9a					                                PSALM 118:1-2, 19-29
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11							        PSALM 31:9-16	                                            
LUKE 22:14 – 23:56

	Things always seem to wait for us just round the corner. The question is, how are we supposed to deal with them? Do we act cautiously? Do we peek round the corner to see what’s coming, and temper our potential approach because of that? Do we, for instance, talk about the rainy day fund under discussion every so often in Salem, and say, “That rainy day IS coming, no doubt about it, therefore we can’t do anything with that money”? Or do we say, “Yes, it WILL rain, but, for heaven’s sake! This IS Oregon. It’s ALWAYS going to rain, so we’d be far better off doing something that will have a positive impact and take a great load off our shoulders right now!”
	Which is it to be? We can’t have both – not without some sacrifices, at any rate. And, more to the point, there’ll be a sacrifice to make, whether we take the money now or later.
	THIS, is, I suppose, right where God wants us – confronted with a decision to make, not sitting comfortably, with the “Google Maps”’ directions in our hands telling us about every last turn on the road between here and where we want to be. God gave us minds to take in facts about what’s going on all around us, and also hearts to respond in whatever way we feel led. God and Yogi Berra may even be related in that powerful comment the baseball coach made, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
	Indeed, we DO have to take it – one decision or the other. We can’t – or at least, shouldn’t – just sit down and sigh, or shed a tear of frustration, not knowing what to do or how to make up our minds.
	Phoebe Griswold, wife of the former Presiding Bishop, and President of the Board of American Friends of The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, wrote, “Education offers an alternative to this frustration.” 1
	The funny thing is that, in a slightly different context, she too was talking about how to face decisions, how to offer a sense of control over one’s life-choices, and how to make an influence on people so that their lives may be enriched.
	That’s what Jesus’ life was about. That’s what He was about on that Sunday two thousand years ago. There were always options that were open to Him. He could choose where and when to go someplace; where to speak; what to say; whether to temper His comments because of who was listening to Him. He could even take a couple of days off if He wanted to! And Jesus was ALWAYS cogniscent of what He did, and how He did it, and when He did it.
	So when He gathered His friends together, and left Bethany, and made His way into Jerusalem, He knew what He was doing. He was aware of potential problems. He could guess how folk might react. He must have had a pretty good idea of who was in the city as the Holy Feast of Passover was approaching.
	It can’t have been easy making some of those decisions. But Jesus acted thoughtfully, in an educated way, not only for His own good, but for that of all people. No matter how difficult the choices, Jesus’ frustration came only from the stubbornness, and thick-headedness, and selfishness of some of the listeners.
	Jesus entered the Holy City deliberately, in a controlled manner, intentionally drawing a comparison between what he was doing and the prophecies about God’s Messiah. Jesus showed the humility of His reign, in contrast to the flashy, showy parades of the Roman Legions which were all over the city, going in and out through the gates. The Romans were making sure that everyone knew who was in charge, and who could inflict enormous pain. Jesus too, in a much more subtle way, was showing who was REALLY in charge, but how the power He held and used was of persuasion.
	Round the corner of the city walls, as Jesus made his way to and through the gate, then, lay the beginnings of a clash – a showdown. Who held the greater power? Who had the higher authority? And who would have the greatest effect on the crowd?
	Jesus kept going. So did the Roman army and officials. The result seemed inevitable – as inevitable then as it is today. Sooner or later, we realise that we’re coming to a corner, or a fork in the road, and have to make a decision. Whom shall we follow, and why?
	That’s where, as Phoebe Griswold said, “Education offers an alternative to this frustration” that’s caused by a clash of opposing wills, neither of which seem to have the ability or the desire to consider much, if anything, beyond their own immediate interests. 
	Phoebe Griswold wrote, “At St. George's School (in Jerusalem), 800 Muslim and Christian boys are being educated in a rigorous curriculum so they can graduate and lead productive lives.  Just around the corner, other boys are throwing rocks and getting arrested.”
Then came the sentence I quoted. “Education offers an alternative to this frustration.  Diocesan schools include respect for differences and tolerance as an integral part of the curriculum – so critical in this environment.”   
	What might have happened had Jesus and Pilate been able to sit down without the pressure of crowds outside? In line with the comment at the conclusion of last week’s Gospel passage – the one about the seeming continual presence of those whom society will abuse and subjugate – it seems as if people will always challenge God. People will always think that they can outsmart justice. People will always believe that their interests MUST be satisfied first and the leftovers can be offered to everyone else. When THAT happens, though, it seems that those so engaged are no better than the second set of boys near St George’s School whose sole purpose in life, and sole means of expressing themselves, seems to consist of throwing rocks and getting arrested.
	Jesus, and Jesus’ followers, will ALWAYS produce a reaction from those who are unable to receive or assimilate the basic sense of love, and of respect, and of compassion which education hopes to provide.
	Of course, no one, least of all Jesus, is naïve enough to think that educating someone will automatically produce a person so filled with love and compassion that she or he will reach out to others to draw them to find safety and release from frustration and powerlessness. Education has to be offered, and re-offered, and offered yet again, not by the “book-up-the-side-of-the-head method”, but by the “please-tell-me-how-I-can-make-you-feel-a-safer-more-productive-dignified-human-being method”.
	Even when the choice is offered, however, the other may still reject it. Jesus’ procession and that of the modern-day Roman legions are on collision courses every day. Our vocation, should we choose to accept it and to follow through with it, is to stand up for what is true, and lovely. Phoebe Griswold concluded, “By strengthening the institutions which teach and heal, we strengthen families and communities.  We provide hope at a time when there may be a chance.
	“What is your part?” she challenged, just as Jesus did. As we enter through the gate into Holy Week, may we find courage in Jesus’ company as we encounter darkness, and meanness, and strangeness, as well as glimmers of light, and of quiet, intimate love, and hope. Let us join the crowd around Jesus, then, and ask His help to stay with Him for the whole week, no matter where it takes us.

NOTE:

1 	“East Jerusalem under a microscope” by Phoebe Griswold. A Special letter from the President of American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. End of March, 2010, Special. 25 Old King’s Highway No., Suite 13, Darien, CT 06820   aklynn at afedj.org  

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Robert P. Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban,
P.O. Box 1556,
Albany, Oregon, 97321

541-921-1076 (cell)
541-967-7051 (church)