Jennifer DeBisschop
Congregational Church of Brookfield
04-09-2006 -- Palm Sunday
A Different Perspective
Psalm 31:1-8, 14-16
Mark 11:1-11
As I read through the familiar scripture passages that
tell us the Palm Sunday story all I could think of was the fact that it is a
true task to be diligent in walking the Holy Week journey. It is a true task to
walk this journey without wanting to change something about the way things
happened…without wanting to figure out another way, a different way. Holy Week
has been one of those times of year for me that I have been invited into. I have
been invited to final Lenten reflections, to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday
services, to Easter Sunrise Services as the light comes up once again after we
have seen Jesus betrayed and crucified. I have been invited to stop, to pray, to
reflect on what is happening in the lives of people who came to begin a faith
movement that we now know as Christianity. It is a heavy week, there is no
question about it. We begin and end with celebrations but what is in between,
the events that came to pass, give us reason to pause. We follow from
"Hosannas" to jeers and tears to "Alleluias." We run the
gamut of emotions as we prepare to spend time with family and friends on Easter
Sunday, and in our faith lives as we try to faithfully walk this journey with
Jesus, with his disciples, with the people who watched and participated as this
Holy Drama took place some 2000 years ago.
So as I began to think about this morning, about the task
of inviting all of us into this holiest of weeks, I couldn't get the phrase
"a different perspective" out of my mind. But what different
perspective? Whose different perspective? What does that mean anyway? When I
look back at the Holy Drama of Palm Sunday I am reminded of how many different
characters there were…how many different perspectives. There were the people
who perhaps had received the word that Jesus was coming into their city, who on
short notice came to see what we would now describe as a parade…a normal
occurrence when someone important either politically or religiously was coming
into town. There was of course Jesus walking on a journey that he had already
predicted would end in resurrection from death, but who knew that he had to face
the difficulties and suffering that lay ahead before his joyous reunion with God
in heaven. Then there were the disciples walking on the journey with him,
realizing that he was someone special, that he was the Messiah, but still not
certain what that meant for them, believers who figured that the Messiah would
be mighty, powerful, and forceful. There were the two disciples that he sent
ahead of him to find the colt, following Jesus' command and finding that almost
miraculously again he knew exactly what they would find and where they would
find it. And then there was the colt…what about the colt? Imagine with me, if
you will the thoughts of a humble animal servant.
If only I had known then what I know now. Looking back I
remember that day well. It began as a normal day like any other. I was very
young and awaiting the day when I would be given a job, when I would figure out
what my purpose was. I was lying down when I heard the sound of two unknown men
approaching. Without so much as a glance to my caretakers the men, looking road
weary, came over and untied me. I was confused to say the least. I had never
seen these men before and here they were to take me away. My caretakers promptly
questioned them to see what this was all about. The men mentioned that a very
important gentleman, a Master or Lord of some sort needed me in order to ride
into Jerusalem. I grew a bit excited. Not only would it be the first time that I
carried someone, it was to be someone important. After some bargaining and a
promise that I would be returned, the two men led me back to a group of people
who seemed to be waiting on something. Then I realized that the something they
were waiting on was me! A man stood up when we approached. There was something
about this man that I just could not figure out. I knew that this was the
important man that I had been led back to carry, but he didn't look very
important. He too looked road weary. He was not dressed in the fancy clothes of
a person of political importance or of a king, instead he had on a very simple
outfit of skins and fir. And he wore sandals upon his feet which looked like
they had seen years of hard travel. It was then that I realized it really was a
good thing that they came to get me. The men who traveled with him truly cared
about this man. They knew that he was special. They took off their own traveling
cloaks and put them on my back for him to sit upon. Although he was a slight
man, not large by any stretch of the imagination, when he sat upon my back he
felt so heavy. I know it was the first time I had carried someone, but this was
a different kind of weight. It felt as if the weight of the world was on this
man's shoulders.
Despite the seeming burden of carrying this heavy-laden
man into the City of Jerusalem I was full of nervous excitement. What awaited us
in the city…what awaited him in the City? Immediately upon entering the gates
I thought that my question was answered. People lined the streets with palm
branches in their hands. They laid their cloaks before me to walk upon, and they
laid down their palm branches. They shouted cheers "Hosannas." There
were so many of them shouting and praising the man who was on my back. Who was
he? I had no idea what all of this meant at the time. After he reached the
temple, the man got down off of my back, gave me a good pat and ran his hand
along my head and neck. It felt almost as if he had blessed me, and the weight
of the world was lifted off of my shoulders. The other two men brought me back
to my home where I spent time thinking about what had just happened.
Thinking back that was an amazing day for me. If only I
had known then what I know now. If only I knew how important the man was who I
carried that day. If only I knew what was going to happen next. Would I have
done anything differently? Would I have changed how quickly I walked? Would I
have let him go or would I have held him there next to me patting my back and
running his hand down my neck somehow? I don't know that I would have.
It is pretty clear now that he knew what his purpose was.
It is pretty clear to me now that it was a true blessing to have helped him
fulfill his purpose in some way. Now I know what that extra weight he was
carrying around was. Now I know what happened next. There was something about an
outrage in the temple, overturned tables and very upset important religious men.
There was something about him going into the Temple to teach people lessons
through stories and examples, and about his ability to foretell what might come
to pass.
And then word came to my caretakers that the man was going
to be put on trial. "What man?" my caretakers asked. "Jesus of
Nazareth," was the reply. "Jesus of Nazareth", that was the name
of the man I carried that day. Sure enough he was asked to plead his case in
front of the governor called Pontius Pilate. Many of the people who came to
watch me carry him into Jerusalem that day turned out…and yelled awful things
about him, about what the authorities should do to him. Then word came through
my caretakers that he was found guilty and was crucified. I still am not sure
what it was that he did. All I know is that he was miraculous, or someone who he
knew very well was. Jesus was crucified alright, but he was also raised from the
dead. Now that is amazing. If only I had known then what I know now…would I
have done anything differently?
The difficultly of Holy Week for me personally, beginning
with today's celebration and procession with palms, is that we know the story.
We can imagine it from all different perspectives, but we know it. We know what
happens next, and no matter how hard we might want to make the circumstances
different we cannot change them. The challenge is what we do with that. Amidst
the busyness of our everyday lives and the knowledge of this celebration and the
celebration on the other side, how do we stay faithful to this final week in our
Lenten journey? How are we able to take a step back and realize the intensity of
the journey we are called into, that we have been called into for the past five
weeks?
Throughout this Lenten season more than perhaps at any
other time during the Church Year we have been called into reflection and
spiritual renewal. We have been called to be faithful, to renew our own faith
with the stories of an amazing ministry and movement from scripture. We are
called to repent and to infuse our lives with faith. We are called to make
decisions based on the lessons that we have been taught through the life of
Jesus of Nazareth. We are called to bear our crosses with dignity and to
celebrate our blessings and gifts with humility.
My friends, today we are called and invited to live into
the stories of this week…to share the emotion, to feel the pain, to sense the
anxiety, the confusion, the questioning, and finally the hopeful fear and
faithful joy of Jesus' resurrection. Like our imagined colt we are called to
realize the gift that has been given for us. The weight of the world has been
taken off of our shoulders by the only One who is capable of bearing that
weight.
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Amen.