Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.

Today's Scripture Readings

Luke 19:28-40 (NRSV)

After telling a parable to the crowd at Jericho, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord needs it." Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

"Blessed is the king

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

and glory in the highest heaven!"

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

 
Psalm 118 (BCP., p.760)

Liturgy of the Word

Isaiah 50: 4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.623)

Philippians 2: 5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 22:14-23:56

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "Certainly this man was innocent." And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. 

Blog Reflection

Every year that I write a blog post about Palm Sunday, I begin with the words: "Oh! The fickleness of the human heart."

The joyful reception of Jesus on this day.  The Hosanna's that ring out from them and us during the grand hymn: "All Glory, Laud and Honor."   The celebration of Christ as a King.  Hmm.   Where have we thought of that before?

Here we have another comparison between the Last Sunday after Pentecost, the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, and now the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.  A moment of triumph, before we go into a period of horror, death and mourning.  The difference here is, the triumphant mood lasts only up to we enter the Liturgy of the Word.  Then begins the Narrative of the Passion of Christ.  In it's own way, is this not very much like the two faced attitudes of most of us? 

The stories that will be heard this Holy Week leading up to Easter Day, are the stories of all humankind.  In one way, or another.

All of us know what it is to be received warmly by our friends, family and acquaintances.  When we begin a new job, the boss welcomes us.  The receptionist welcomes us. The office manager welcomes us. Our co-workers welcome us. Once the lunch break is over on the second day, suddenly we are everyone's new pest. There is nothing we can do right.  Most if not all who welcomed us are complaining behind our backs. Passing judgement on what kind of a person and/or worker we are. Based on their limited information.

In many ways, are the events of Passion, Palm Sunday not like a young man or woman growing up in a typical American home?  Their parents encourage them.  They push them to become the best they can be at whatever they do. They encourage them in all of their friendships and relationships. Teachers, Pastors, community leaders watch for the perfect person who gets all the best grades in school. Becomes the latest champion on the minor league baseball team. Wins the local spelling bee. Let that young man or woman break the news to those closest to him/her that he/she is attracted to members of the same-sex or thinks he/she may be a transgender person, all the fame and goodness in that guy/girl disappears in a moment.

Let a young girl announce to her father who attends "pro-life" rallies on Good Friday that she is pregnant and her boyfriend took off.  Suddenly, the father who opposes abortion, rather than helping his little girl through the fear and trauma of her situation, kicks her out.  With federal funding being taken from clinics that can help her, job training programs, day care centers, health care programs, not to mention the shame of family and friends, what choices will she have?   What if she was raped and has no recourse over her rapist?

People in our civilized society speak every day of "accepting people as they are."  Yet, there is always something about another person's race, religion, employment situation, health, etc that becomes a reason to push them to aside or treat them differently.  The person that loves others in a very different way, is the person that no one in town wants to know any further.

Holy Week, including today, is about our human relationships.  Much more importantly, about our relationship with God.  Not so much as our relationship with God just in our prayers, fasting and penances which we have engaged in this Lent.  It is our relationship with God as we encounter the Holy One in the person who is different from ourselves.  It is so easy to love God in the silence of our own personal prayers.  It is so difficult to love Jesus in another person.  It takes us so much effort to see others as Christ, Himself.

In The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 71: Mutual Obedience, he writes:

Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the abbot but also to one another as brothers [and sisters], since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God. (RB 1980, p.293).

In A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict Esther de Waal writes:

The importance of obedience to God, to authority, and to our brothers and sisters is something that has concerned Benedict throughout the Rule.  Obedience depends on listening so totally and openly to the other that through them we discern the face, the voice of Christ himself.   This is the root of what obedience that we show to one another. (p.229).

In the stories that we will read this Holy Week and the Liturgies we will participate in, we will again be brought face to face with the reality of our humanity.  We will again meet Jesus experiencing human suffering, resentment, bias, injustice, yet accepting God's will through it all, so that by the way of His death on the Cross, there might be the Resurrection. "By his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5 CEB). We will be given the opportunity to again realize what our Baptismal Covenant (see Book of Common Prayer, p.292-294) calls us to with regards to our relationship with God, our neighbor and ourselves.  We will also be confronted with the opportunity to decide if we too are open to obedience to God's will, no matter what it requires of us in the end, or are we just too good to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Jesus? (See Mark 8:34).  Are we willing to wash the feet of Jesus in the person we despise the most?  If we find ourselves on either side of Christ on the Cross, will we mock Him with the thief on one side, or on the other, asking to be received into His kingdom, recognizing that we are sinners and that without the mercy of God in Christ Jesus we have no hope?

Will we as Christians be drowned in antisemitism as Christians read and hear Gospel stories of the Passion that suggest that the Jews are responsible for the death of Christ?  Or will we admit that it was the sins of all of us, including our sins against other religions, including, but not limited to Jews, Muslims and many others by which God loved us so much, that God did not spare God's own Son? (See Romans 8:32 NRSV).

This Holy Week, let us all agree that even though we disagree, that we can look for Jesus not only in our worship and prayers, but also in our relationships with each other.   May we realize that Jesus is working in and through our lives through communities as well as within our individual selves.  May we respond to Him with "not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). 

Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).


Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our
salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation
of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and
immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (From the Service of Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, p.270).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p.99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: Holy Week Means Everyone Counts

Today's Scripture Readings

Mark 11:1-11 (NRSV)

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, `Why are you doing this?' just say this, `The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

"Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 

Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31:9-16 (BCP., p.623)


Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

The Passion of Jesus Christ According to Mark 14:1-15:47 (NRSV)


Blog Reflection

Holy Week should be the week during which Christians are able to just sit back and take in the events we celebrate.  We should just take part in all of the Holy Week Liturgies the Church offers and just go back to what we were doing before.  Sadly, we Christians already celebrate Holy Week in that way.  As long as I can remember, Christians observe the Holy Week rituals as if Christians are the only ones that matter.  Anyone who doesn't celebrate what we remember this week is doing something wrong.  No wonder so many look at Christians on this week and respond with, "So what!!  It is just business as usual."

Contrary to what many may see and think, Holy Week is so much greater than our own little world.  There is more at stake during Holy Week than our creeds or the Bible being correctly understood and believed.  Holy Week is about every person's journey in the face of human suffering, betrayal and the fickleness of the human heart as prominent as they can be.  We see it every year on Palm Sunday.  Jesus is welcomed by the same people into Jerusalem who will be later portrayed as crying "Crucify Him!! Crucify Him!!"  Yet, if we pay more attention to how the Passion reading happens during the Liturgy, it is the worship congregation that often reads and recites those words.  The meaning is so very important.  It is not the Jews who crucified Jesus and are therefore irrelevant to the rest of the World (all of which is as incorrect as possible), it is our sins, and God's love for all of us.  Our sins were not strong enough for God who is so madly in love with all of us, that God gave Jesus to suffer the agonizing death He endured.  God's love for all of us without exception is so great, so powerful that God identified with all of us in Jesus to the point of the complete abandonment of Self to redeem all of us from the worst of ourselves.

The events of Holy Week, along with all of the ritualistic celebrations are an opportunity for all of us to find God at work in Jesus exactly where we think God is just not interested.  Just when it appears as if all hope is lost, not even death is strong enough to keep Jesus dead in the grave.  Before we can effectively celebrate and grow in our faith life as Christians in the Easter event, we first must face our own brokenness, our humility and humanness in the passion and death of Jesus.  It does not stop there.  Jesus shows us how God can do more than we can hope for or imagine at the very worst of human tragedies, and find new hope and life by surrendering everything we are and have into God's hands with faith and trust.   

This past week we the Christian Faith used as a weapon of mass destruction.  When Indiana passed their law to allow discrimination of LGBT people on the basis of "religious liberty," they effectively made it possible for Christians to excuse themselves from any means of living the message of the Gospel by simply saying that it "goes against our religion."   If you want to talk about an act of sacrilege just before Holy Week, I believe we have the worst kind of example.  Jesus Christ who loved even Judas who betrayed him, is inaccurately portrayed in such laws as loving others with exceptions based on preconceived notions and religious arrogance.  Anyone who does not "measure up" to a particular Christians ideal of what another person should be, becomes justification for spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse.

As we wander into Holy Week with Jesus, we may want to ponder on what the events and rituals really mean to us.  Are we serious about our Baptismal Vows that we will renew together this week?   Or are we just saying such things to get through another Holy Week to eat the ham on Easter Day?  Will celebrating the Paschal Mystery this week really change us to the point in which we trust in God to love others as Christ has loved us?  Or, will we join Judas in selling Jesus for thirty pieces of silver to get that trouble maker who loves others better than we do out of the way?

Holy Week means that everyone counts.  Including us.  Including others around us who are different than us, and with whom we share this earth with.  Whether we succeed or fail, God loves and redeems us all.

As we journey together this Holy Week, may Christians grow and evolve into the Easter People Christ came to save us to be.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday. The Book of Common Prayer, p.219).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: With Whom Are You Entering Holy Week?

Today's Scripture Readings

Liturgy of the Palms

Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)

When Jesus and his disciples had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, `The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 

"Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 

"Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Psalm 118 (BCP., p.760)


Liturgy of the Word

Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.623)


Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death--
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Passion Reading: Matthew 26:14-27:66 (NRSV) 


Blog Reflection

Marcus Borg in a blog post about Holy Week: Palm Sunday writes the following...

What most Christians know about Holy Week centers on Good Friday and Easter, Jesus’s death and resurrection. The former is commonly understood as payment for our sins. The latter is most often understood as the proclamation of life beyond death – that God not only raised Jesus from the dead, but will someday also raise us, or at least those who believe.

But there is so much more to the story of Holy Week. Not only is there more, but the more challenges and indeed negates the common understanding of Good Friday and Easter.

In this blog, I focus on what Christians call “Palm Sunday.” The story is familiar: as the week of Passover begins, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and people cheer him, shouting “Hosanna – blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Less well-known is the historical fact that a Roman imperial procession was also entering Jerusalem for Passover from the other side of the city. It happened every year: the Roman governor of Judea, whose residence was in Caesarea on the coast, rode up to Jerusalem in order to be present in the city in case there were riots at Passover, the most politically volatile of the annual Jewish festivals. With him came soldiers and cavalry to reinforce the imperial garrison in Jerusalem.

It is clear what Pilate’s procession was about. By proclaiming the pomp and power of empire, its purpose was to intimidate. But what about Jesus’s procession, his entry into the city?

Thus for Passover that year, two very different processions entered Jerusalem. They proclaimed two very different and contrasting visions of how this world can and should be: the kingdom of God versus the kingdoms, the powers, of this world
The former is about justice and the end of violence. The latter are about domination and exploitation.

On Friday, the rulers of this world kill Jesus. On Easter, God says “yes” to Jesus and “no” to the powers that executed him.

Thus Palm Sunday announces the central conflict of Holy Week. The conflict persists. In words from St. Paul, the rulers of this world crucified the Lord of glory. That conflict continues wherever injustice and violence abound. Holy Week is not about less than that. 

Are we beginning Holy Week by entering Jerusalem with Pilate in a search for domination, power and exploitation?

Christians would like to believe that all of our yearly rituals of getting our Palms today, kneeling at the words that Jesus breathed His last during the reading of the Passion and shaking our heads at how fickle the human heart is.  Yet, if that is all we do, then Holy Week is a fable.  In so doing, we do not give God the opportunity to bestow on us the wonderful graces during Holy Week that make a difference in our lives.  The story of Holy Week might as well be put on the library shelves with the other religious based myths, to fade away with the coming of the electronic/digital age and quick fix self-help programs.

As long as Christians remain silent and apathetic about how much wealth and power have taken over not only the world's politics, but also in the Church, Holy Week looks like a fiction still in someone's imagination.

When Christians turn our heads and pretend that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are not being bullied in our schools, neighborhoods, homes and churches; and pour money into campaigns to stop anti-bullying measures; we are entering Holy Week with Pilate, not Jesus. 

If we continue to use the events of this week to promote antisemitism saying that the Jews killed Jesus, and/or support prejudice towards Muslims and other religions; we might as well be judging Jesus with Pilate.  Or we probably do not realize that we too are among those shouting "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!"

If we enter Holy Week with Pilate, we might be tempted to think of ourselves as our own god.  It is our way or the highway.  All the world and it's many resources are ours for the plundering.  We excuse the polluting of the waters of the world with oil, or cause earth quakes because of the Keystone Pipeline all with the dishonest thinking that it is creating jobs.   

On the other hand, if we enter Holy Week with Jesus, we will discover that the path to holiness comes through humility.  The same humility that Paul writes about in the ancient hymn in Philippians 2:5-11.   The humility that is prepared to set aside all thoughts of being God, to become a servant of others even to the point of the death of self.   God's love in Jesus Christ is not about seeking self-honor or indulging in the self that is false.  Full of the "what I think...." and refuses to "walk according to the judgement and commands of another...." (Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 5:12).

Jesus enters Jerusalem today knowing full well what is coming later in the week.  Yet, He will face immense hate, injustice and the losing of His life on the Cross.  He is willing to go through it all out of loving obedience to His Father and for all of us.  He will not stop loving those who falsely accuse and refuse to believe in Him.   He will chose to love even Judas who will betray Him with a kiss.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus will become the sin that God cannot look at, and take it all unto Himself and go so far as the Cross to redeem us all.   He will love the outcast, the woman, the LGBT person, the immigrant, the mother who weeps for her son lost to gun violence.  Jesus will love and redeem the one who chose no religion at all, because organized religion just hurts that person(s) so much.  There will be an outpouring of God's mercy that none of us can understand, explain or put into words that make sense.   One thing we will definitely know, is that God's love for us is unstoppable.   To make scapegoats of anyone for any reason, would be to look at what Jesus did for all of us and our Baptismal Covenant and would be the equivalent of Peter denying Jesus three times, or Judas selling Him for thirty pieces of silver.

In Christ, God tells all of us during this Holy Week, that God is with us, hurts with us, and is there to help us know that there is Easter Day after Good Friday.   That is why Jesus enters Jerusalem today.

Hosanna!  Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord.

With whom are you entering Holy Week?


Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.219).

Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony
and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to
take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p.252).

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, p.260).

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday 2013

Today's Scripture Readings

Luke 19:28-40 (NRSV)

After telling a parable to the crowd at Jericho, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord needs it." Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

"Blessed is the king

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

and glory in the highest heaven!"

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, order your disciples to stop." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

 
Psalm 118 (BCP., p.760)

Liturgy of the Word

Isaiah 50: 4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Psalm 31 (BCP., p.623)

Philippians 2: 5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 22:14-23:56

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "Certainly this man was innocent." And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. 

Blog Reflection

Every year that I write a blog post about Palm Sunday, I begin with the words: "Oh! The fickleness of the human heart."

The joyful reception of Jesus on this day.  The Hosanna's that ring out from them and us during the grand hymn: "All Glory, Laud and Honor."   The celebration of Christ as a King.  Hmm.   Where have we thought of that before?

Here we have another comparison between the Last Sunday after Pentecost, the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, and now the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.  A moment of triumph, before we go into a period of horror, death and mourning.  The difference here is, the triumphant mood lasts only up to we enter the Liturgy of the Word, that begins the Narrative of the Passion of Christ.  In it's own way, is this not very much like the two faced attitudes of most of us?   We laugh and celebrate the inauguration of Pope Francis I and the enthronement of Justin Welby as the new Archbishop of Canterbury.   Yet, the first news to hit the air waves to question or criticize anything they have done that we will disagree with, and the triumph because shouting, swearing and in some cases, character assassination.

The stories that will be heard this Holy Week leading up to Easter Day, are the stories of all humankind.  In one way, or another. 

All of us know what it is to be received warmly by our friends, family and acquaintances.  When we begin a new job, the boss welcomes us.  The receptionist welcomes us. The office manager welcomes us. Our co-workers welcome us. Once the lunch break is over on the second day, suddenly we are everyone's new pest. There is nothing we can do right.  Most if not all who welcomed us are complaining behind our backs. Passing judgement on what kind of a person and/or worker we are. Based on their limited information.

In many ways, are the events of Passion, Palm Sunday not like a young man or woman growing up in a typical American home?  Their parents encourage them.  They push them to become the best they can be at whatever they do. They encourage them in all of their friendships and relationships. Teachers, Pastors, community leaders watch for the perfect person who gets all the best grades in school. Becomes the latest champion on the minor league baseball team. Wins the local spelling bee. Let that young man or woman break the news to those closest to him/her that he/she is attracted to members of the same-sex or thinks he/she may be a transgender person, all the fame and goodness in that guy/girl disappears in a moment.

Let a young girl announce to her father who attends "pro-life" rallies on Good Friday that she is pregnant and her boyfriend took off.  Suddenly, the father who opposes abortion, rather than helping his little girl through the fear and trauma of her situation, kicks her out.  With federal funding being taken from clinics that can help her, job training programs, day care centers, health care programs, not to mention the shame of family and friends, what choices will she have?   What if she was raped and has no recourse over her rapist?

People in our civilized society speak every day of "accepting people as they are."  Yet, there is always something about another person's race, religion, employment situation, health, etc that becomes a reason to push them to aside or treat them differently.  The person that loves others in a very different way, is the person that no one in town wants to know any further.

Holy Week, including today, is about our human relationships.  Much more importantly, about our relationship with God.  Not so much as our relationship with God just in our prayers, fasting and penances which we have engaged in this Lent.  It is our relationship with God as we encounter the Holy One in the person who is different from ourselves.  It is so easy to love God in the silence of our own personal prayers.  It is so difficult to love Jesus in another person.  It takes us so much effort to see others as Christ, Himself.

In The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 71: Mutual Obedience, he writes:

Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the abbot but also to one another as brothers [and sisters], since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God. (RB 1980, p.293).

In A Life-Giving Way: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict Esther de Waal writes:

The importance of obedience to God, to authority, and to our brothers and sisters is something that has concerned Benedict throughout the Rule.  Obedience depends on listening so totally and openly to the other that through them we discern the face, the voice of Christ himself.   This is the root of what obedience that we show to one another. (p.229).

In the stories that we will read this Holy Week and the Liturgies we will participate in, we will again be brought face to face with the reality of our humanity.  We will again meet Jesus experiencing human suffering, resentment, bias, injustice, yet accepting God's will through it all, so that by the way of His death on the Cross, there might be the Resurrection. "By his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5 CEB). We will be given the opportunity to again realize what our Baptismal Covenant (see Book of Common Prayer, p.292-294) calls us to with regards to our relationship with God, our neighbor and ourselves.  We will also be confronted with the opportunity to decide if we too are open to obedience to God's will, no matter what it requires of us in the end, or are we just too good to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Jesus? (See Mark 8:34).  Are we willing to wash the feet of Jesus in the person we despise the most?  If we find ourselves on either side of Christ on the Cross, will we mock Him with the thief on one side, or on the other, asking to be received into His kingdom, recognizing that we are sinners and that without the mercy of God in Christ Jesus we have no hope?

Will we as Christians be drowned in antisemitism as Christians read and hear Gospel stories of the Passion that suggest that the Jews are responsible for the death of Christ?  Or will we admit that it was the sins of all of us, including our sins against other religions, including, but not limited to Jews, Muslims and many others by which God loved us so much, that God did not spare God's own Son? (See Romans 8:32 NRSV).

Our responses to Jesus in corporate worship are awesome, powerful and life-giving.  Only if, we are willing to greet Jesus with the same abandonment of our will as we reach out to Christ in the woman who is losing her right to choose.  In the LGBT teen who is being bullied.  In the LGBT couples all over the country watching the Supreme Court as they hear testimonies about Prop 8 and DOMA this upcoming Tuesday.  Do we see and hear Christ in the children losing their education funding through the Sequester?   Are we willing to reach out to help the families of Newtown, PA, Colorado, Virginia, Arizona, etc., and do something about the out of control gun violence?   Do we help Christ in the poor, sick, disenfranchised and those who are not so theologically brilliant?

This Holy Week, let us all agree that even though we disagree, that we can look for Jesus not only in our worship and prayers, but also in our relationships with each other.   May we realize that Jesus is working in and through our lives through communities as well as within our individual selves.  May we respond to Him with "not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). 

Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).


Assist us mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our
salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the contemplation
of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and
immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (From the Service of Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, p.270).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p.99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

 

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: The Events of Holy Week Are Our Life's Stories

Today's Scripture Readings

Mark 11: 1-11 (NRSV)

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, `Why are you doing this?' just say this, `The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.'" They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

"Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 

Isaiah 50: 4-9a (NRSV)

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of a teacher,

that I may know how to sustain

the weary with a word.

Morning by morning he wakens--

wakens my ear

to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord GOD has opened my ear,

and I was not rebellious,

I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,

and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

I did not hide my face

from insult and spitting.

The Lord GOD helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us stand up together.

Who are my adversaries?

Let them confront me.

It is the Lord GOD who helps me;

who will declare me guilty?

Philippians 2: 5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Mark: 15: 25-39 (NRSV)

It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

Blog Reflection

The human heart.  It is a fickle thing.  All of us have the power to be in love with another person one moment, and totally hate or condemn them in the next.  This kind of thing plays itself out when ever a married couple experiences difficulties that appear to change their feelings for each other.  The love/hate relationship often happens when people work to elect someone to office that spoke all the words they wanted to hear.  But, when she/he gets into office and doesn't do quite what people expected, those same people can smear the now elected individual pretty badly.

The Liturgies of Holy Week have their beginnings from the diary of a nun named Egeria, who visited the Holy Land in 385.  They were eventually adapted and created through the work of St. Cyril of Jerusalem.  During this period the events that once took place in Jerusalem were re-enacted from the Mount of Olives all the way to the site of Golgotha.  It is said that pieces from the original Cross in which Jesus died, were brought out to remember that day when he gave up his life.

The various services of Holy Week with all of their emotional trappings are designed to help us know that through all of the ups and downs of life, God is there with us at every point of the journey.
Each of us have experienced in some way what this Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday is about.  How many times might some of us have been hired for a new job, were ushered in with the usual "welcome, we are glad you are here," only to find ourselves at odds with the new boss and/or co-workers within hours if not a couple of days?    The person who comes up to be your best friend in the new work place, later on becomes your worst snitch just because you forgot to do something, no one told you about in the first place?

During today's Liturgy and through out this week, we will read and remember how Jesus was insulted, humiliated, betrayed and experienced every kind of injustice.  Almost too much for one person. Yet, one thing that will be quite unmistakable to see, is that Jesus loves even the worst of his enemies right to the very end.  Even if they make a choice or decision, from which they cannot turn back.

Holy Week is for every one of us who have ever experienced rejection, discrimination, injustice or oppression.  I am a gay man, with Asperger's Syndrome.  I am developmentally challenged.  I have known what it is to have a job and be able to make ends meet pretty well, to going to having to depend on others to help me, because I really do not have any other choice.  I know what it is to be angry as hell with God and others around me.  I also know what it is to be unable to see the entire picture in front of me, before I rush to a judgement.  I have experienced what it means to feel lonely and rejected, to finding unconditional love, the kind that never gives up, and never lets go.  Yet, there are those whom I have met, who have never uttered the Name of Jesus Christ, who have taught me just as much if not more about what unconditional and holy love means, as any one else.

All of us have experienced things similar to what I wrote about in the last paragraph.  So did Jesus Christ, God's perfect revelation. Even now, Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the throne of God, with all of our wounded and broken humanity, pleading and loving us, and calling upon us to see in him and each other God's unique and all-inclusive love and mercy.

If most of us have experienced what Jesus did, then we have also at one time or another betrayed a friendship. We have thought too much of ourselves so as to decide that someone else needs to go.  Maybe we don't actually take a weapon and shoot or kill someone. Yet, we have all perhaps gathered with a group of people, determined that someone we dislike, must be destroyed through senseless gossip and unfair stereotyping.  How many times might we have distorted facts in order to harm the reputation of someone else, for the benefit of our own cause?  Might some of us have asked for a person to prove their qualifications or love for us, by a bargain that we knew was unrealistic?

The events we are making present through memorializing them this week, are for those of us who need to be forgiven by God.  If we are in need of God to show us another way, through the stories of those interacting with Jesus, or the Son of God, Himself, this week is for us.

As LGBT people, we have a lot to learn about how we make this Christian Faith, that we have been told has rejected us, the actual living Gospel stories of our lives.  All that we experience by being of a different sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression, is something that Jesus Christ shares with us in his own flesh.  Many of us have been rejected by our own families, friends, churches and communities. In these and other moments of coming to terms with who we are, we have experienced the excruciating pain of a crown of thorns on our brow, as we experience the mental and emotional agony of those who hurt us so very deeply.  The very crown of thorns that Jesus wore as he hung dying on the Cross.  As many of us have experienced people mocking and so happy that we are hurting, because Christianists win elections of taking away our marriage equality rights and so much more in many other scenarios, Jesus cries out with us, and for us: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"   When we have experienced every pain and rejection imaginable to the point where it has killed us internally to bring about the change of entire generations towards LGBT people, and others who are marginalized by the Church and society, with Jesus we can say: "It is accomplished."

We too will discover as did Jesus, that the only way we shall find greatness and victory, is through allowing ourselves to be at the service of others.  Even those, who are so bloody wrong in what they say and write about us.  We do not have to agree with them, or justify them.  Nor should we ever apologize to them or others about who we are, and who we love.  However, we will be called upon, by the holy example of Jesus, to love them as he loves us.  Should we find that too difficult for us to do, Holy Week reminds us that God meets us at the point of our weakness and failure, and in God's mercy and forgiveness, gives us the strength and hope to rise up again, and continue on. 


Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the
human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to
take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross,
giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant
that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share
in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 219).


Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, p. 217)


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p. 99).


O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love
our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth:
deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in
your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for our Enemies, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).

 

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: Jesus Comes to Liberate

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)

When Jesus and his disciples had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, `The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

"Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

 Blog Reflection

Holy Week has arrived.  So has Jesus at the gates of the City.  Jesus rides in triumph on the back of a donkey, weaponless and looking with love on all who have awaited his coming.  

Yet Jesus comes in triumph not to glory, nor to take up a throne of gold with multiple servants and individuals at his command.  Jesus comes not with the threat of war, discrimination, more violence, anger and resentment. 

Jesus comes to liberate those who are without someone to love them.   Jesus comes as the one who will be betrayed by his closest friend.  Yet, Jesus will love him anyway.  Jesus comes to face those who hate him because he loves differently.  Jesus the liberator will be hated by those who want to use their religion as a reason to smooth over evil.  But Jesus will not consider that the most important thing.  Jesus' purpose is to liberate those who have no face or name because of indifference and exclusion.  Jesus will put a name and a face on the dead, by being raised on Easter Day.

This past week has been a major trial for Jason and I. In an attempt to call attention to how economic and political maneuvering can be destructive, those who were informed preferred to kill the messengers.   I won't write the details.  The details are not as important as the fact that we have been experiencing our own crucifixion in a sense, because we love a bit differently.  Even those within the LGBT communities within the most inclusive and welcoming places can be narrow minded, short sighted, submit themselves to injustice and defend it.  As difficult as our feelings have been during this experience, the important thing is to recognize that we are sharing with Christ this week in what seems like such a defeat.  But, like Jesus, the cross was not the end.  It was the means by which evil met it's match and death was swallowed up in the victory of the resurrection. 

I think for LGBT people, the poor, those marginalized because of race, gender, health status, wealth status, occupation, language and even behavior, the hardest part can be looking for people to trust in either the LGBT communities, churches, politicians and so forth, is the feeling of being betrayed more times than we can count.  

The politician who campaigns on marriage equality, safe schools and ending poverty, helping those who cannot work or get health care through no fault of their own, cannot focus on the issues because there are "more important things to take care of."  Like raising money to get re-elected.   Keeping their corporate donors happy.

Even the greatest of welcoming mainline churches, still have their "institutions to protect."  The word "welcome and come join us" means do not disturb our comfort zones. It is easier to allow injustice to control what they cannot do because of funds to keep them going, rather than face the injustice of money being bargained like Jesus was sold away for 30 pieces of silver.    

No matter how evil things are around us, no matter how rejected all of us are in one way or another, Jesus has come to tell us that everyone matters to God.   God rejects no one.  Not even those that Christianists suggest.

Unlike the image of Jesus presented by Christianists and those who seek to use the religion to justify scapegoating and prejudice, the image I have used for this Palm Sunday, is Jesus Christ the Liberator.

Jesus does not come as one like those who use violence and political/religious and social maneuvering to determine who else can be excluded.  Jesus comes as one like us, who experiences some kind of "otherness".   Jesus cares about where we are broken, left out on the side lines, and as if no one in the world gives a damn. 

Unlike what many evangelists preach, following Jesus does not set everything right as if we've bought the latest gadget.  Jesus does promise to be with us, as Jesus experiences our pain and anguish right along side us. 

That to me is what this Holy Week is about.   Jesus has come to meet us in the middle of our lowliness, to raise us up as children of God in the resurrection of the dead.  God does not give up, even when all seems lost.  God keeps on giving and loving and showing us the depth of God's appreciation and devotion to all of God's people. 

May we spend this Holy Week meditating on how Jesus liberates us in the midst of our most lowest points.  How does Jesus meet us and lead us to a sense of freedom, even when we don't feel free?   How does Jesus call on each of us to be a liberator?

Prayers

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Palm Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, page 219).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

Passion/Palm Sunday: A Story of Passion and Liberation

Holy Week and the events surrounding the passion, death and resurrection of Christ are in their own way a parallel story about life. Each part of the passion narrative presents something we can all identify with. Like all stories in the Bible the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to prepare for the events that will lead to his death and resurrection, have a lot to say to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

As I think of the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem with all of the people shouting to his welcome, I cannot help but be drawn to the reality that many of these same people shouted "Crucify him! Crucify him!" at his trial. What originally began as a wonderful reception, ended with betrayal and character assassination. The very essence of who Jesus was, was ridiculed and ordered to be put to death. This can mirror the experience of many LGBT people who attempt to come to the church seeking a sense of understanding of themselves. The very people that should welcome LGBT people and help them to seek out God's will as they are, sometimes play welcome only to try to change their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression. This is the experience of many LGBT people who might have mistakenly approached a Catholic and/or Protestant Evangelical experience. Those who give a warm welcome, do so with hidden motives that are destructive to someone who is LGBT.

The entire passion narrative in Luke chapters 22 and 23 have many important overtones in it. Out in Scripture for Passion/Palm Sunday offers some insights.

Chapters 22-23 of Luke comprise the gospel's passion narrative. The word "passion" comes from the Latin word meaning suffering. The story catalogues Jesus' suffering as the consequences for being faithful to his identity as God's agent. Jesus embodies a God-given commission that manifests David's rule in the midst of imperial power (Luke 1:32) and transforms societal structures and norms (Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 61). Compare these verses with Psalm 72 for an outline of a ruler's responsibilities to provide justice and resources for the poor and needy.

The Jerusalem elite, allies of Rome in exercising power to defend — not change — the status quo, want to kill this messenger, Jesus, with a different social vision (Luke 22:2, 52-54). Various followers abandon him and the struggle for a different world (22:3-6, 21, 24-27, 31-34, 47-50, 54-62). Jesus is beaten and verbally abused (22:63-71). The Roman governor sides with his Jerusalem allies and crucifies him (23:1-25).

This passion narrative holds within it the rich kernels of the revolutionary struggles of the colonized Jews against the powers of oppression exerted by Rome and their Jewish upper-class collaborators. The hopes of the marginalized for liberation get dashed not only in the lynching of the leader of the revolution but also in the telling of the story. The liberating and revolutionary story has been all too often reduced to an inner religious struggle devoid of its political overtones.

Out in Scripture offers a few reflective questions that we might apply to the commentary they provided.

When do our own struggles for liberation against oppressive policies and doctrines which crush people along lines of race, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, age and the like get perverted? When have we lost sight of the struggles by fighting each other and letting our stories be diverted into escapist religion highlighting "dreams" and ignoring the risky demands for justice?

Among the ideas that the above commentary offers is the idea that Jesus was crucified because of his faithfulness to his mission as Savior and Deliverer. The One who seeks to do justice faces the greatest oppression. Jesus is committed to justice for the marginalized of society. His love for the stigmatized will ultimately cost him his life. Yet, Jesus kept true to his work.

Sometimes in our work for LGBT equality it can be very difficult to keep a good focus on our work. The prejudice that LGBT people are subject to, can weaken us as we speak up for equal rights. Because working for LGBT equality is the right thing to do, we must keep to our task. Seeking justice for those of us who are looked upon as second class citizens is undeniably the right thing to do. Even if churches and political groups think we are wrong. Not seeking equal rights protection in the public policies in society and our churches is wrong.

I know I am very much in danger of contradicting myself from yesterday's blog when I said that the church should stay out of the civil struggle for marriage equality. The goal is to achieve the full inclusion of LGBT people within Society and the Church. We do that by incorporating justice and equality in every area of our lives.

Liturgical worship's aim is to show that what and how we worship integrates itself with every day life. Jesus brought the message of God's inclusive and extravagant love into all the world through his compassionate work for justice. Those of us who are LGBT and follow Jesus, need to follow his example. We may suffer much for being faithfulness, but in the end it is the right thing to do.

Almighty and ever living God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us an example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, BCP, 219).