St. Margaret s Uniting Church

Transcription

1 St. Margaret s Uniting Church Mooroolbark Sunday 17 th April, 2011 Palm Sunday GOSPEL Matthew 21:1-11 NEW TESTAMENT Philippians 2:5-11 REFLECTION ON THE SCRIPTURES It wasn t long after Ani and I moved to Melbourne that we discovered the Astor Theatre in Prahan. It is one of those wonderful places where we can imagine life in an earlier and simpler time. In case you aren t familiar with it, the Astor shows many old classic films on the big screen in a movie theatre that is itself a relic of a bygone era. I was delighted to find the Astor because plot lines and character development in old movies are not complex. There is usually some obstacle or difficulty in life until all distress gives way to a happy ending. And it is the happy ending that is so alluring. Even when I was young I wanted movies to end well. There was something satisfying about the world ending right, about the restoration of order, or justice, or love. I suspect this is a core theme to Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It looks as though this is heading towards a happy ending. The crowed give great adulation to the one they think will cure all their ills. He had already proven his credentials by healing many people who were sick and by casting out demons. He had spoken of his kingdom and there were suggestions emerging that he was the king of the Jews. And there must have been an irresistible urge to see him as the Messiah as he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, on the colt of a donkey - to fulfil ancient prophesies.

2 And maybe the parody wasn t lost on Jewish hopefuls either. As Pilate was parading into Jerusalem with his legion of soldiers in a pompous ceremony of imperial might, here was Jesus parading into Jerusalem in a way that seemed to be mocking imperial power. Humble and riding on a donkey? Who is this? The question from the crowd is key to this passage. Who is this? And how we answer makes all the difference. I know I can be tempted to want a different Messiah than the one who actually came. I still want a world of happy endings. Won t somebody fix what is going wrong with the world? As Jesus enters Jerusalem this week, don t we want him to create a peaceful settlement in the mess of Afghanistan? Don t we want some kind of restoration in Lybia, whatever that might look like? Don t we want the people of Tully in North Queensland who still have houses without roofs because of disputes with insurance companies don t we want them to have their homes restored? Don t we want to see the end of child labour in Uganda? And don t we want the restoration of our broken relationships, to be able to undo the often messy things we ve done? And don t we want a Messiah who can do all this for us? Ravanel reminded me of this longing with his Easter poem for this year: I wonder as I ponder The mystery of why That cry of God forsakenness Uttered from a cross of brokenness Was met in history With silence from eternity.. I wonder as I ponder How human cries of pain Seem pointless and in vain When from the divine ONE Nothing seems to come To comfort and to aid The one with sorrow laid. P a g e 2

3 P a g e 3 I wonder too as I ponder The mystery of an empty tomb, A body raised from graveyard womb. I wonder as I ponder that the answer To that cry of dereliction Comes in the silence Of that Resurrection I ponder as I wonder If my cries for help In times of need Are given heed By one who went through sorrow To gain for him and me A new tomorrow. Well we might ask ourselves the question of Jesus: Who is this? Our problem is that the Messiah is often not the person we want him to be. Although there are elements of hope and restoration that come in his name, we are anxious with waiting for a new tomorrow. We are frustrated by the lack of real action towards the kingdom of heaven. We are annoyed that Jesus seems to promise so much and yet deliver so little At least that is how I read it. And if any of those things are in part true, then we really need to wrestle with that tantalising question: Who is this? Maybe in our hearts we already know where the answer will lead us. Maybe we know and yet we don t want to go there. I fear resist it because I still want that happy ending. And I want the saviour of the world to produce that happy ending for me. But let us dare to take this journey into Jerusalem and consider the cross it leads to As we look at what is going on here, we need a little background in Roman history. Legend has it that the great Caesar Augustus was the fathered by the god Apollo. He was known throughout the empire as the son of God, as lord and saviour and the one who

4 P a g e 4 had brought peace on earth. Do any of these things sound familiar? We often think of them as uniquely Christian, the terms we apply to the Messiah. But in the context of the first century world, something else is going on. At the time that Pilate is doing his annual parade into Jerusalem to oversee the Jewish Passover festival and maintain order through force, Jesus is parading into Jerusalem to usher in a very different kingdom. On the back of a donkey is a vastly different Son of God, Lord and Saviour. No imperial king parades on a donkey. But as Jesus parades into Jerusalem we see the conflict and contrast in powers. Rome shows the might of a worldly kingdom, while Jesus leads us towards a kingdom of the heart and soul. Rome is an enforcer of peace through military power, while Jesus invites a peace based on justice in God s love. As the two parades find their way into Jerusalem, we can see the conflict of powers. The greatest crime in the Roman world is not giving allegiance to Rome. And if you set yourself up as an alternate king, with titles like son of God, lord, and saviour, then there is only one path to tread straight to the cross and crucifixion. What happens on Palm Sunday makes the rest of it inevitable. This is the trigger point, where the events of Friday can no longer be avoided. Neither Rome nor the crowd seem to really understand. For that matter the disciples don t look all that good in the week to come. Amongst that camp we find betrayal and denial, and when Jesus needs them most they are either asleep or have run away. They don t want to suffer the same fate as Jesus And we still have trouble today. What kind of saviour do you want? Do you want one to provide a happy ending? Or has the Messiah come with a different kind of hope? If the story of this week were not shocking enough in itself, maybe the longing expressed in Ravanel s poem is just the thing to point us

5 P a g e 5 to something more shocking. For aren t we called as disciples of Jesus? Aren t we called not just to follow but to do as he has done? Might that mean we are called to confront the powers and the demons and offer healing in Jesus name? Might that mean we are called to journey to those places like Jesus and risk the cross ourselves? Might it be there is no happy ending except where people like you and me live out our discipleship? The disciple Peter may have made a mess of things in this Holy Week as he denies Jesus three times, but doesn t he ultimately show us what we are called to do and be? There is a hint of that from our Philippians reading. There we are reminded of Jesus faithfulness to the way. We are called to be people of the way, pilgrims on a journey to usher in the new kingdom. This poem from Kate McIllagha invites us to think of the legacy we might leave this earth as people of faith. It is titled Pilgrimage is a Circular Route. (From Dandelions and Thistles p 81). Full text available at: ( Rome to Canterbury Derry to Iona Sometimes Christians are referred to as people of the way. The way of Christ is often not what we expect, or even what we hope for or what we want. But the story this week leads us to a before unimagined place where the kingdom of heaven is ushered in. And as the gate of hope is opened wide, Godly imagination invites us to be people of the way: of hope and faith and love. It is an intense journey and we have a dramatic week ahead. But for today, let us reflect again on the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem and find our place in that story as people of the way.

6 P a g e 6 There are a couple of simple ways to think about how we respond faithfully to this story. The donkey and the donkey s owner often pass us by as being to the side of the story. But it was the donkey that carried Jesus into the city. And the donkey owner freely offered the donkey as a gift to Jesus. So these are questions we might ponder on as we leave worship today: How will we carry Jesus? What gift can we offer to Jesus?