Palm Sunday
By the Reverend Martha Frances
Year A, Palm Sunday
16 March 2008
Text: Matthew 27: 1-66
Other Readings: Isaiah 50: 4-9a, Matthew 21: 1-11, Psalm 31: 9-16, Philippians 2: 5-11
What a journey we are on! In fact, some have called this "Journey Sunday" & we have once more acted out Jesus' entry into Jerusalem with our palm procession this morning, remembering Jesus' decision to return to Jerusalem when he responded to Mary & Martha's call to Lazarus' bedside. Then we have heard part of the story which we'll be enacting during this Holy Week leading up to Jesus' death, recalling that those who traveled with him the first Holy Week didn't know about the resurrection but traveled with him on faith. We began the morning shouting "Hosanna!" upon Jesus' entry & soon "Crucify him!" as we join the fickle crowd with our own varying ability to be faithful. Today we find ourselves at both the celebration of the palms & commemoration of the passion.
Why all this attention to Jesus' travels, especially this last fateful one to his death? We modern folk usually avoid the reality of death as long as we can & trust the care of the dying & those who have died to professionals who can clean up the most distasteful elements for us.
But we who have grown up in the Judeo-Christian tradition are people of story, aren't we? We learn & remember best through narrative, & this Journey Story is THE story which makes us a people—defines who we are as Christian. The crucial difference between Christianity & other faiths is that our God is embodied in a human called Jesus who came to earth to travel with us, to teach us how to be fully human & in so doing, to embrace our becoming more like God. Jesus entered our world so truly that those who were threatened by the fullness of his humanity had to kill him to preserve the paltry power structure they had established.
This week we enter the Journey with Jesus once again, seeking to experience as fully as we can the fullness of his gift to us of life as well as of death so that we may die with him, therefore living more abundantly into the resurrection life he offers us. Tenebrae, the service of shadows, carries us through many of the Hebrew scriptures of lamentations which capture the mood of a people broken by the weights of various principalities & powers upon them & the anticipation of a savior who would redeem them from being downtrodden. On Thursday, we will reenact the first Lord's Supper when Jesus instituted the Holy Communion, the central liturgical act of our community, but also taught us how to be servants by washing his disciples' feet. We join other Christians in the neighborhood at noon on Friday in an ecumenical service to commemorate Jesus' crucifixion & then have the opportunity to walk that final journey to the cross either at 1:00 or at 6:30 with the Stations.
Though modern folk often avoid reality with compulsive shopping or video games or TV & movie-watching or alcohol or tobacco use, the Christian faith is not escape from reality but rather strengthens us to face reality, walking through it with dignity accompanied by our living Christ. Our worship this week is the true reality show, for it draws us into the reality of this world as the human Jesus submits to the worst that humans can do in order to grace us with the best we humans can be.
At the Easter Vigil next Saturday evening, we review the drama of salvation starting with God's creation & moving us to the brink of the resurrection so that, by Easter morning, we have journeyed with Jesus & can truly celebrate with him into the assurance of a full & abundant life from this time forward.
Three years ago this was our first service together as a community now called Hope. We celebrated with great hope & not a little trepidation as we began a journey together. During the dramatic reading of the gospel that day, I was called over to the parish hall where the paramedics were trying to revive my husband Bill from a diabetic reaction, yet I returned in time to preach my first sermon as your pastor. During these three years, I've let go of that dear husband, moved to my own little house, learned to live a single woman & welcomed a new granddaughter so I can now enjoy grandmothering 2 little girls.
During those three years, you have each had your own journey, much of which you too may recall today with me. We have shared some parts of those personal stories with each other as we forge our parish story as Hope. Today is a day to look back at the accomplishments we've made in three years & forward to ask Christ in faith what we as Hope parish are called to be & do on our journey together. We are people of a journey; our own journey is intertwined with the Story, the journey of faith which Jesus walked for us & we are privileged to walk with him. With which of his companions do you most closely associate this week? To what mission is Jesus calling you to out of this Holy journey? To what mission does Jesus call Hope? Come, let us discern together.
Year A, Palm Sunday
16 March 2008
Text: Matthew 27: 1-66
Other Readings: Isaiah 50: 4-9a, Matthew 21: 1-11, Psalm 31: 9-16, Philippians 2: 5-11
What a journey we are on! In fact, some have called this "Journey Sunday" & we have once more acted out Jesus' entry into Jerusalem with our palm procession this morning, remembering Jesus' decision to return to Jerusalem when he responded to Mary & Martha's call to Lazarus' bedside. Then we have heard part of the story which we'll be enacting during this Holy Week leading up to Jesus' death, recalling that those who traveled with him the first Holy Week didn't know about the resurrection but traveled with him on faith. We began the morning shouting "Hosanna!" upon Jesus' entry & soon "Crucify him!" as we join the fickle crowd with our own varying ability to be faithful. Today we find ourselves at both the celebration of the palms & commemoration of the passion.
Why all this attention to Jesus' travels, especially this last fateful one to his death? We modern folk usually avoid the reality of death as long as we can & trust the care of the dying & those who have died to professionals who can clean up the most distasteful elements for us.
But we who have grown up in the Judeo-Christian tradition are people of story, aren't we? We learn & remember best through narrative, & this Journey Story is THE story which makes us a people—defines who we are as Christian. The crucial difference between Christianity & other faiths is that our God is embodied in a human called Jesus who came to earth to travel with us, to teach us how to be fully human & in so doing, to embrace our becoming more like God. Jesus entered our world so truly that those who were threatened by the fullness of his humanity had to kill him to preserve the paltry power structure they had established.
This week we enter the Journey with Jesus once again, seeking to experience as fully as we can the fullness of his gift to us of life as well as of death so that we may die with him, therefore living more abundantly into the resurrection life he offers us. Tenebrae, the service of shadows, carries us through many of the Hebrew scriptures of lamentations which capture the mood of a people broken by the weights of various principalities & powers upon them & the anticipation of a savior who would redeem them from being downtrodden. On Thursday, we will reenact the first Lord's Supper when Jesus instituted the Holy Communion, the central liturgical act of our community, but also taught us how to be servants by washing his disciples' feet. We join other Christians in the neighborhood at noon on Friday in an ecumenical service to commemorate Jesus' crucifixion & then have the opportunity to walk that final journey to the cross either at 1:00 or at 6:30 with the Stations.
Though modern folk often avoid reality with compulsive shopping or video games or TV & movie-watching or alcohol or tobacco use, the Christian faith is not escape from reality but rather strengthens us to face reality, walking through it with dignity accompanied by our living Christ. Our worship this week is the true reality show, for it draws us into the reality of this world as the human Jesus submits to the worst that humans can do in order to grace us with the best we humans can be.
At the Easter Vigil next Saturday evening, we review the drama of salvation starting with God's creation & moving us to the brink of the resurrection so that, by Easter morning, we have journeyed with Jesus & can truly celebrate with him into the assurance of a full & abundant life from this time forward.
Three years ago this was our first service together as a community now called Hope. We celebrated with great hope & not a little trepidation as we began a journey together. During the dramatic reading of the gospel that day, I was called over to the parish hall where the paramedics were trying to revive my husband Bill from a diabetic reaction, yet I returned in time to preach my first sermon as your pastor. During these three years, I've let go of that dear husband, moved to my own little house, learned to live a single woman & welcomed a new granddaughter so I can now enjoy grandmothering 2 little girls.
During those three years, you have each had your own journey, much of which you too may recall today with me. We have shared some parts of those personal stories with each other as we forge our parish story as Hope. Today is a day to look back at the accomplishments we've made in three years & forward to ask Christ in faith what we as Hope parish are called to be & do on our journey together. We are people of a journey; our own journey is intertwined with the Story, the journey of faith which Jesus walked for us & we are privileged to walk with him. With which of his companions do you most closely associate this week? To what mission is Jesus calling you to out of this Holy journey? To what mission does Jesus call Hope? Come, let us discern together.
posted by
Hope Episcopal Church
at 8:56 PM
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