Palm Sunday
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Its all about the journey ...
Its all about the journey ...
Last years palm Sunday of course was preceded by a procession with a ‘Ponkey’ (we could not manage a donkey so we had a pony in disguise!) who paraded from the Sunday breakfast/Village Hall. He turned into being a bit of a liability though - we didn’t appreciate that he did not like load noises or waving things. He did 360 degree turns down the road! It was a quite a journey!
But actually that sense of danger and expectation and false perceptions of what was going to happen pretty much mirrored the first ‘Palm day’ pretty well as we remember Jesus entry into Jerusalem.
Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem. And like our journey it was not a calm one. He is under a extraordinary amount of pressure from every side.
The crowds are gathered for him, full of expectation and happiness. Here is the one! The Messiah! A King! He is going to overthrow Roman rule, he is going to make Israel good again. And boy do we need rescuing they say!
That is why they are shouting 'Hosanna!' - Save Us Jesus - Welcome Saviour - King of Kings ! Quoting from a great psalm of praise and thanksgiving. It talks of victory and praises God.
His disciples - what were they thinking? Well I would have been thinking - great! This is more like it! Jesus has been putting a downer on all this by saying its going to end soon, he is going to die. They probably can forget all that just for a minute. This is it - He has made it - They have realised he is a king.
They might even be thinking: Maybe he really will over through the Romans somehow?
They even spread their coats over the Donkey they manage to obtain ready for him. and over the road.
Great - the stage was set! Everybody knew what was going on - they had come to celebrate this together. Nothing wrong with this right?
But what about Jesus?
Jesus seems to be the only one who knows how this journey is going to end out of those thousands of people.
He knows what he has got to do.
He knows that he is going to die.
He knows that its going to be the worst nightmare anybody can go through.
He also knows that the very people who are now shouting his praise and thanksgiving are very soon going to be puzzled, distressed and even grief stricken. He knows that their hopes are going to be dashed, for some of them forever.
He also knows that within a generation this beautiful city is going to be destroyed , laid to ruins. The temple, everything gone. Some of these people will be dead.
He might well ask - they call me king but king of what?
I am guessing Jesus is not in a celebratory mood. For him it all feels a bit hollow.
But this moment had to happen, it had been foretold hundreds of years before right down to the detail.
So picture his isolation, the irony of the situation as he rides through on this donkey and people are shouting his name and throwing their coats in front of him as a royal visitor.
Jesus riding on towards the end of his journey.
And here, as members of the church of England we are on a mini journey of our own - lent.
Every year before lent I try to think of something to 'do' to mark the occasion. Give something up, do something different.
This year rather than give something up I made a planed to spend less time on administration and more time out speaking to people - more more moments just simply 'being' with God.
Well it worked! My desk looks like an absolute bomb has hit It & it has brought me closer to God.
I have seen God in situations and at work in people. I have been so thankful to see that it has helped my own journey of faith. I have spoken to people going through tough times. I have had the privilege of praying for them.
I have managed to stop and spend time contemplating and waiting on God and its been immensely fulfilling.
When we look for ways to connect with God then is has an affect on other areas of our lives. We feel grounded in God. We feel anchored, we feel inspired. We get more creative and focussed. It puts things into perspective.
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This mirrors our own journeys through life, faith and the life of our churches. Sometimes things go well and we feel God close to us more than ever before. We proclaim Jesus as King and Lord. Things are going our way and the way we think God wants them to.
But then comes along the difficult times. Times in our own lives where it feels God has deserted us. When the type of King we thought Jesus was is all of a sudden different. We are no longer comfortable.
It makes us feel puzzled, distressed just like those shouting sing Hosanna along the road side will be a few chapters on from here. We might even feel grief stricken like those disciples were about to feel.
When really what we need to do it find a way to reconnect with him again.
Maybe as a church, maybe as churches we need to reconnect with Jesus the king again. Not as a all conquering king they thought was coming into jeausalem that day, one who just makes everything ok. But the prince of peace, the king that turns everything on its head. A king we can trust and bring us hope. The king that challenges us and stirs us out of slumber.
We can take great comfort in this journey of Jesus into Jerusalem. Because in amongst all of this expectation and rejoicing it is only Jesus who knows what is truly going on.
Its only Jesus who has this situation in the palm of his hand - forgive the pun!
And we can rejoice in this fact today on palm Sunday.
As churches and as a benefice there may be times when we could not see the way ahead. When everything seems to have been turned upside down. When the future looks bleak. When we maybe even forget God is there.
And there are times when things happen, God breaks through in new and unexpected ways. We start to grow and gain confidence. We can take a great deal of confidence in what is happening all around our benefice, we just need to take the time to connect with God and see him at work among us. Right here and now.
So what it going to happen after lent you might wonder for me? All this admin to catch up on - am I going to get back behind my desk?
PCC’s have doubled my admin time , new office at the hub. This is going to be a life change!
We can have the confidence in Jesus. We can proclaim him as king
A king that sees the bigger picture.
A king that will bring about lasting change.
A king that we an trust in.
A King that is working his purposes out now as we speak in the same way he was doing then on that road into Jerusalem.
So on palm Sunday we can hold aloft our palms with pride and declare Jesus as the king of kings. It reminds us that although its sometimes tough being a follower of his, the journey will end and we will have the victory. If you look hard enough, you will see glimpses of it now.
Amen