Turmoil. The Greek word behind this comes from seismos...like seismology or seismogaph - like an earthquake or shaking of the earth. The image is of the foundations themselves being in upheaval. Something radical is taking place. In modern language it's a paradigm shift...but more. Incidently, it's the same word, only the noun form, that reappears on Easter morning when the women go to the tomb and experience an earthquake. Things are shaking!
And, by the way, that's sometimes what ministers do...say something that shakes things up. So just in case I do need to ask that you turn off all tape recorders and put away all video cameras.
But things had been shaking in Jerusalem. You have to put it within the context of the City's history. It's used to upheaval. A quick summary...so stay with me... The revolt of the Maccabees led to war with the Syrians 160 years before Jesus. Then 60 years before Jesus the Romans conquer the City. Roman rule is in place. And then in the year 70 - about the time Matthew was writing his account of the Gospel story - the Jewish Wars led to the siege of Jerusalem and ended with the destruction of the Temple. Ever since then, through 2000 years, all that's remained is the West wall...the wailing wall. Talk about shaking of foundations!
It makes me think of war and the reports of what it is like. I remember from the first Gulf War the soldiers who spoke of the rumble of the B-52's. Shaking...
What we know of the Romans is that they were masters of war. They changed the world by conquering it. They shifted the balance to their will. They shook things up alright, from temples to lives. You can conquer a people by force. You can bend their will that way, but you never win their heart.
And maybe that's why the people were expecting a Messiah whom they envisioned as a military leader who would shake up the Romans...give a little payback. It's what Rambo was all about, a new version just out I understand - a righteous warrior who can fight force with force.
And it's clear that people saw some kind of power in Jesus. He is hailed as King. The way Matthew tells it anyway, even at his birth, he is clearly worshiped as the new-born King. He has a rule. He has authority. He has a power that people sense through the words and deeds they've witnessed. He is evidence that God is at work in the world, and the balance doesn't simply go with the physically strong.
I was interested in the news of this last week...not just about candidates and their pastors. There was the story of the Governor. But what I was really interested in was the other story - the one that was oddly a contrast with the Governor's story...the one about Alton Logan who has served 26 years of a sentence for a crime he did not commit. The attorney's were bound in their duty to protect their client who actually did commit the crime. And all that they could do was get an affidavit only to be released on his death, that includes his confession. Then Alton Logan might be absolved of his crime. After 26 years the attorneys and the affidavit have come forward.
Innocent, in prison. I wonder if anything about that has a familiar ring to it as you think about this coming week and the events that we will remember in it?
The report is that Alton Logan entered the prison angry and resentful. For five or six years that was his attitude. That was the emotion that dominated him, that controlled him. But somewhere along in year 5 or 6 something changed. He came to realize that this injustice is something which he had no control over. And rather than let these circumstances control him, he began to change the only thing he could change - himself.
It's a lesson that takes some of us a lot longer and a lot more therapy to learn. The only thing we do control is ourselves. And that's not everything...but don't underestimate how important it is. It means the course is not just predetermined. It means we're not just trapped by forces and circumstances that are beyond our control. It means that we can decide how we respond, what we will do, how we choose to fill our lives with meaning. It means we perhaps have more power than we ever imagined.
A colleague of mine who was talking about this story, and who has had more experience with prison ministry than I said that prisoners often go one of two ways. Either they have such difficulty dealing with the circumstances of their confinement that they can't cope. They come apart. Or...or they develop a kind of "nobility." (Rev. Cliff Lyda, First Presbyterian, Elmhurst) Nobility. An odd word to use, in terms of a prisoner. But that's what he said. Odd. Unless you're thinking of Nelson Mandella. Unless you're thinking of someone innocently held. Unless you're thinking of Jesus.
So odd the news... A Governor for whom all I can feel is sorry, but a prisoner of 26 years whom I admire...
Some have suggested that on this day we can imagine two alternative processions entering the City of Jerusalem. On one end of the City is a Roman procession, with marching feet lined up in a legion that cause the earth to shake when they step in unison. They would have carried all the signs of their position...the metal of armor and weapon. They would have presented a certain image of power.
On the other end of the City was another procession. At the heart of it is a man dressed in plain clothes, dusty from travels. His face would have been weathered from his journey, but it would have tenderness in it as well. The people who accompanied him would carry no weapons, just palm branches which they cut from the trees along the road. And they could be heard shouting an ancient cry of praise...from of old, used for another King that once ruled the City. "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." On he rides....humbly it says....and you can read between the lines and it suggests "nobly." And, says Matthew, this is the procession that truly shook the City. (See The Last Week, San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2006)
The call that we've been talking about these Lenten Sundays...and perhaps it is a call that has never been more needed...the call is to witness to this power of God. And the first step is to develop it within ourselves....to be patient with each other as we seek it, but at the same time to be clear about it, and to not be confused by the illusions of other processions.
And this always comes to us in a way that startles and surprises. It's at least a paradigm shift...or a heart-shift. It's earth-shaking.
Let us pray,
God, we dare to claim you as God...above every and all other powers that pull at us, that lay claim upon us, that seek to own us. But during these holy days allow us to nurture our love, that love may lead to peace, and peace may lead to strength. Amen.
Children: Parades are held for celebrations, to honor people, to allow us to see them. Jesus is the leader of this parade. We are followers.
Stillspeaking Lent Devotional: Sunday, March 16 March 16, Palm Sunday
Ridiculous
Matthew 21:1-11
Quinn G. Caldwell
Think about it: a ragtag bunch of peasants chanting, throwing their
cloaks on the ground and waving palms. In the midst of it all, a man
waving to the crowd from the back of a braying ass. Have you ever
heard the sound a donkey makes? The onlookers must have split their
sides laughing.
Not exactly the "Triumphal Entry" they taught you about in Sunday
School. Then again, there's a lot they didn't teach you in Sunday
School. For instance, the fear and hatred engendered by Pilate's military
processions entering Jerusalem each Passover, with warhorses and
glinting spears and fluttering banners and chanting of the Emperor's
titles: "Son of God," "Lord," "Savior."
Jesus' entry that day wasn't spontaneous, and it wasn't glorious. It was a
procession as ridiculous as it was planned to be, a piece of guerilla
street theater, a counter-demonstration designed to mock Pilate, and
Rome, and all who sought to build or maintain any kingdom but God's.
It was designed to show the ultimate ridiculousness of militarily-enforced claims on eternity or divinity or ultimate salvation. It was
designed to make the people laugh at their oppressors, even in the midst
of hatred, fear, and despair. It was exactly the kind of thing those
oppressors executed people for. It worked.
Prayer: O God, grant me courage enough to laugh at all that is ridiculous about the powers of this world, and hope enough to follow you through all that this week holds. In the name of Jesus, Son of God, Lord, and Savior, Amen.