[Propertalk] Palm-Passion Sunday

['Robert P Morrison']

Greetings, folk!

We begin the parish hall for the Liturgy of the Palms. After the Palm
Gospel, I offer the homily. Then we process into the nave with our
palms. The Passion Gospel is at the very end, after the Prayer of
Thanksgiving, after which we depart in silence.

Happy processing tomorrow!

Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY    THE SUNDAY OF THE
PASSION: PALM SUNDAY 

	ISAIAH 50:4-9a           29th MARCH, 2015 

	PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11      PSALM 31:9-16 

	PALM SUNDAY GOSPEL MARK 11:1-11    PASSION SUNDAY GOSPEL MARK 14:1
– 15:47 

	 It’s funny how we all tale some things for granted. We may have
heard them so many times that we don’t think twice about them. It
doesn’t even cross our minds to question these things, so we go
along, imagining we know what’s happening, or who said or did a
certain thing, even how we need to respond. All I need to say, for
instance, is “The Lord be with you.: and you’ll reply,
“…..”! 

	 It’s NOT meaningless. It’s just so ingrained in us, some of us
from childhood, others for a little less time. It’s a good habit to
have this prayer on the tip of our tongues. We all need’s God’s
blessing constantly, and to pray it for each other is such a comfort.
I hope that, no matter what, I’ll never take this for granted. 

	 What came to my mind, in pretty much the same way as “The Lord be
with you” was the cry, “Hosanna!”  

	 We don’t use it in everyday speech quite so often these days,
usually only in listening to scripture readings, or in some worship
situation like reciting a psalm. It’s hardly likely that we’ll be
standing at the cash register in Costco and someone say to another,
“Hosanna!” Unlikely, but not impossible!! For that matter, I’d
be really pleased to stand there and hear someone say, “The Lord be
with you”, with or without the response! 

	 I was used to thinking of the crowd at the gate into Jerusalem as
yelling something like, “Yahoo!”, as if they were too excited to
get out any other comment. And that certainly may have been one of the
thoughts the people had as they watched Jesus enter the Holy City.
After all, He was coming home, to the one place on earth which God
seemed to touch most closely, where God seemed to embrace the people
in both joy and comfort. It is, still, such a place, although the need
for comfort is much more necessary these days, regrettably. 

	  Yes, “Hosanna!” was a tremendous sign of celebration. Jesus,
who was viewed by some, at least, as being God’s Christ, God’s
anointed messenger of peace, of hope, of reconciliation, coming into
that holiest of holies to repair everything that had dis-eased the
relationship between God and humans. 

	 But what’s at the root of the Hebrew word “Hosanna!” is much
deeper than that. It’s a tremendous cry which rises from the soul of
the nation as a whole, as well as from each individual. Its meaning
has crossed into the Greek words used at the beginning of the liturgy
– “kyrie eleison” – “Lord, have mercy.” It has in it the
element of celebration, of recognition of who Jesus is, but the part
we usually forget is that when we, collectively or individually, meet
Jesus, our first thoughts will probably be, “Have mercy on me, on
us, sinners all.” 

	 We NEED redemption – and this is the heart of the week we begin
today. Even after all our participation and conversation with God in
prayer here, at home, and everywhere in between; even after making
promises to God and receiving Jesus’ promise of company, support and
friendship; even after that we all know how we still fall short. We,
as we’ll go in procession from this space in a few minutes, will be
just like the crowds around Jesus, His close friends, those who
didn’t know Him quite so well, yet were intrigued and on the way to
a commitment with Him and the pilgrims who were caught up in the
excitement. They and we have at least one thing in common. So do those
who were travelling through Jerusalem on their way to some other
destination, perhaps some who were not able to complete their journey
for a few days because the holiday had intervened and disrupted plans.
We too find ourselves in places at which we may not have had any
intention of spending more than an hour or two, but something prevents
our moving on, so we’re stuck with looking around, with looking and
interacting with those in the city. 

	  Whoever, we are, whatever brings us to this place, whether or not
we admit it, somewhere within us we can sense that we all need and
seek the mercy of God which Jesus promised. 

	 It doesn’t matter who we are or what we do, we ALL need blessing.
We, or someone close to us, is going through incredible hardship.
There are decisions to be made, decisions that will impact the rest of
peoples’ lives. What someone else chooses to do will affect us; what
someone is afraid to do, or not do, will affect us and people who may
not even know the person with the choice to be made. It may be that we
cannot even see clearly what the choices are, or that we need to
respond in one way or another. It may be that we don’t know that
what we said or did hurt, or abused, or frightened someone else. Every
morning I – and you can make up your own minds for yourselves – I,
at any rate, have to begin breathing “Hosanna” when I wake up. I
need to be cleansed and strengthened from the opening of every day. 

	 There are attitudes that need to be changed, attitudes which can
bring healing or death to body and soul. There are responsibilities to
accept which can turn our own and others’ lives around. All of these
and more can redeem us through God’s blessing, through God’s
mercy. But it comes at a cost, a tremendous cost. 

	 The Love of Jesus is NOT free. It IS exciting – YES! It IS
reforming – YES! It IS so powerful that it can help us to face any
challenge that may come to us. Love, Jesus, Love, merciful Love, comes
at a tremendous cost to the giver, as we’ll hear and see again at
the end of our procession. It involves surrender. 

	 God surrenders to Jesus, to us, in order that Jesus can make that
decision about how much, how fully He’ll love. God gives freedom –
gives up any hint of insisting on God’s own way. God gives the
freedom in order that Jesus and we may choose. 

	 As did and does God, Jesus gives of Himself, finally, in order to
generate the passionate love, or rather, to make it apparent to us how
much God desires peace, and hope, and excitement for us, with such an
abandonment. Jesus surrenders to bring wholeness and freedom. All the
costs are covered by what Jesus did from Sunday through Friday and
beyond, and this is what you and I are invited to begin to reconsider,
but especially to take with us today. This blessing, this mercy, this
loving dedication is given to enable us to face everything we may
encounter this week and beyond. This word, on the lips of the pilgrims
to Passover, is ours to say, in joy AND in stress, a way of linking us
to Jesus in such an intimate way, from first breath to last. 

	 Will this make our procession more subdued? Will this prevent us
from laughing, from feeling some sort of exhilaration as we walk from
here to the Nave of the Church? Will this prevent us from being
uplifted and enriched as we go to whatever awaits us this afternoon?
No – and it shouldn’t. This is the last thing that Jesus wishes
for us. But Jesus wishes us to find the depth of the meaning, the
depth of the pleasure that God offers us each day, on our various
tasks and journeys. And Jesus prays that we’ll take life seriously
enough to find the wonderful potential we have, even in crises 

	I wonder if you remember the words we say as we commend someone at
death into God’s care. Even at the grave we make our song. 

	 So today, once more, in hope and happiness, we say, “HOSANNA –
LORD, HAVE MERCY!” and we continue to follow Jesus, wherever.

	-----------------------------------------
 Robert P Morrison
St. Alban's Episcopal Church
PO Box 1556
Albany, OR 97321

541-921-1076
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