Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem riding on a colt. The disciples and perhaps

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1 Sermon Sunday 1 st April, 2012 Lessons Isaiah 50: 4 9a Philippians 2: 5 11 St Mark 11: 1 11 Prayer of Illumination Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Sacred Mystery, in Jesus Your Spirit was pleased to dwell. Let His truth illumine us, His Passion instruct us, and His love constrain us. Let Your Holy Spirit dwelling in us show to us the things of Christ, and bring His life and words to our remembrance. In Jesus Name, we pray. Amen. Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem riding on a colt. The disciples and perhaps the crowds all around are singing and shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David.Hosanna in the highest! It is almost Passover, one of the most important of the Jewish festivals, and thousands of visitors, Jews from across the known world, are gathering in the holy city. The noise and excitement of so many people is almost overwhelming. Jesus, the prophet from Galilee, enters the city from the east, from the countryside. In churches across the country on this day, ministers hire donkeys to lead processions of children around the sanctuary. Palm crosses may be given out: it is a joyful day. But is it really a day for gimmicks to entertain children? Is the occasion of Jesus entering the holy city on a colt really a day for joy? 1

2 Jesus stage-managed His entry into the city. He timed it to coincide with the entry of the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, who was arriving at the west gate, from the coast. Pilate did not live in Jerusalem all year round: it was too hot. His main residence sat at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Pilate needed to come to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover because of the large number of visitors; he brought with him a vast column of imperial cavalry and soldiers to reinforce the garrison. Pilate s entry into the city was a supreme expression of Roman authority and might. One commentator says: Imagine the imperial procession s arrival in the city. A visual panoply of imperial power: cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armour, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds: the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. The swirling of dust. 1 What an occasion! We begin to see that Jesus humble entry into Jerusalem on a colt is not for entertainment. Within a few days, He will be arrested, tortured, convicted and murdered by the state. In February this year, an 18 year old monk died after setting himself on fire at a monastery in western China. He died shouting slogans in favour of Tibet and the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. On Wednesday last, a 27 year old Tibetan, Jamphel Yeshi, died in a Delhi street of self-immolation. In a letter discovered after his death, he said, We (Tibetans) demand freedom to practise 1 Marcus Borg The Last Week 3 2

3 our religion and culture. We demand freedom to use our language. We demand the same right as other people..in the world. Within the last year, thirty young Tibetan lives have been lost the same way. The day after young Yeshi died the Dalai Lama, Tibet s spiritual leader, was awarded the Templeton Prize. The prize is awarded to an individual who, in the estimation of the judges, has made an exceptional contribution to affirming the spiritual dimension of life. Arguably, the Dalai Lama is humanity s most famous contemporary voice for non-violence and compassion. Despite his prestige and standing in the world, China says he is a wolf in monk s robes. The Dalai Lama wants greater autonomy for Tibet within China but the Chinese authorities accuse him of Nazism, promoting the racial policies of the Nazis. The Chinese government website says that the Dalai Lama is a tricky liar and skilled at double-dealing. It goes on, The remarks of the Dalai Lama remind us of the uncontrolled and cruel Nazi during the Second World War.How similar it is to the Holocaust committed by Hitler on the Jewish people! The Chinese government, it seems, at least from this stand point, wishes to crush the religion, culture, identity and very soul of a people and they are not above violence, misinformation or seeking to discredit one of the most spiritual and humane people on the face of the earth. The deaths of the Tibetans is a tragedy but I hope that you can see that there is something in the story of Tibet, the Dalai Lama and the struggle of a people for justice which has an echo from 3

4 two thousand years ago in Palestine. What do you think would happen to the Dalai Lama if he went back to Tibet? The so-called triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on a colt with His disciples and the crowds all around, shouting and singing, is not a story for children. This is a stand for the religious, cultural, political and social life of a people in the face of a Roman state which was vast by comparison and knew how to protect itself. From the Christian perspective, every claim we wish to make about God must in some way, somehow, be reflected in the life and death of Jesus. What, then, can we say about God from this story? The first thing we can say is that, in that ancient context, in that struggle of a small and fragile people for their survival, autonomy and religious and cultural freedom, God took a stand against the violence, domination and oppression of the Roman Empire. The second thing we can say is that, in looking at Jesus on a colt, we see the humility and vulnerability of God, even the powerlessness of God. Too readily we think of God, the creator of the cosmos, as omnipotent, all-powerful, able to do anything, able to intervene in human history, performing magic miracles and truly triumphant! However, it seems that the Creator of the cosmos, of the stars and all the galaxies and universes, is, paradoxically, a humble, vulnerable and, in some sense, a powerless God. The third thing I want to say concerns the i words. God does not intervene in 4

5 human history: not on a global scale, nor on a national or personal scale. The Bible is written in largely religious language: the language of myth, metaphor and poetry. It is not a catalogue of historical events as they unfolded. In theological circles, it is said that all theology must now be written post- Holocaust. In other words, if we want to speak about God it cannot be the allpowerful and interventionist God because He wasn t there! There is another i word, one that I much prefer. God does not so much intervene in His creation or with human history but, rather, interacts with it. In all the noise of the city of Jerusalem, with the crowds, the singing and shouting, and the two processions, did you notice what Jesus said as all this was unfolding? Picture the scene yourself: as He rode towards the city, with the deafening noise and commotion around Him, did you hear what He said? Jesus is silent. Take yourself into that scene; imagine yourself there, close to Jesus. Jesus is silent. St Benedict says that silence is the supreme expression of humility, but I think here there is more than that. Writing in the seventh century, St John Climacus said that prayer is connected with stillness. He said: Stillness is the putting away of thoughts Stillness is unceasingly to worship God and wait on him. Let the remembrance of Jesus be united with your breathing. Then you will appreciate the value of your stillness. Rowans Williams says that, in prayer, speech ripens into silence. In prayer, once focussed, God is too full, too present, too bright and piercing. Words are 5

6 distracting because they have been emptied of any useful meaning. Milton says that God is dark with excessive bright. God interacts with us, each one of us, in ways that are meaningful to us. Albeit on the back of a colt, Jesus sat mindful of God, was absorbed by His sense of the Presence of the Holy within Him and all around. In stillness, in a silence that needed no words, He was at one with the Father: God interacting with the mind and soul of a human being and together shaping their future. In a few moments, we will witness the baptism of baby Eilidh Rachel. In the myth or faith narrative of the Christmas story, God comes to us in a newborn Child. We are being encouraged to see God in a new way: gone is the interventionist, triumphalist, omnipotent God and instead we are asked to think about the Mystery of God through a child; vulnerable and powerless. Like Jesus on a colt, humble, vulnerable and powerless. This is a way to think about God. Let me close with a piece of heresy! It is a story from the Proto-Gospel of James. This ancient book did not make it into the Bible, but it dates from the same period. In the Proto-Gospel, we read about the birth of Jesus. Joseph has gone off to find a midwife; Mary is still in the cave. As Joseph is walking through the village, suddenly everything stops. Joseph himself relates how he sees a shepherd in the field dipping his bread into a pot and his hand arrested 6

7 half way to his mouth; a bird in mid-flight halted as it flies. For a moment, everything stands still, then movement begins again and Joseph knows that the birth has happened in that moment of absolute stillness. God interacts with us, in ways appropriate to each one, but, perhaps, supremely, in stillness and silence. In His life, Jesus prayerful interaction with the Holy ultimately leads Him to face the might of Rome, in the cause of justice, freedom and peace and in the name of His Father, the vulnerable, humble and strangely powerless Creator of the universe. Amen. 7