Palm Sunday - Sermon for week ending April 4, 2020

Brene’ Brown was on 60 Minutes last Sunday. (Thanks to Cathy Brandt for that info, as I don’t usually watch it.) I know many of you are familiar with her books and Ted Talks and Netflix special. As we heard in the reading, her years of research have led her to the conclusion that vulnerability is one of the best qualities we can have, and it is a crucial element in courage, connection, and compassion. No one displays these characteristics better than Jesus did, So I thought we would take a look at how he exemplified those qualities during the final week of his life.


First is his procession into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, which is today. In their book, The Last Week, Marcus Borg and Dom Crossan noted that while Jesus was entering through one gate of the city, Pilate, the Roman governor, was entering through another gate. And there were great differences between them. Pilate entered on horseback, flanked by an armed battalion of soldiers.  Jesus entered on a borrowed donkey, surrounded by peasants. Pilate was posturing and blustering, a picture of grandiosity. Jesus was silent and humble. Pilate wore armor. Jesus wore no armor, leaving himself vulnerable to attack. Pilate was under the illusion that he was in control. Jesus had no such illusions. He knew that what he was doing was risky, and the outcome uncertain. Pilate’s message was might is right. Jesus’ message was that there was a better way for humans to live together. Jesus was the one who had real courage.



The next day, Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, went to the temple to teach. And he witnessed some unscrupulous priests (which there have always been and always will be) cheating the poor peasants who had journeyed to the city for Passover, requiring that they exchange their money for the official shekel to pay their temple tax, charging them extraordinary sums and keeping the difference for themselves, and overcharging them for birds that were required for temple sacrifice. When he drove them out of the temple, Jesus knew it made him even more of a target for Pilate, who was looking for a reason to use military power against the Jews. But he was willing to take that risk in order to speak the truth, that, in the kindom of God, everyone is equal. There is no letting some in, while keeping others out, counting some worthy and others unworthy. Everyone is worthy.



Then on Thursday, while celebrating the Passover supper with his disciples, in a borrowed room, Jesus did something that Pilate and all those like him would never do.  He connected with his disciples in the purest, most loving way, by physically touching them as he washed their feet, allowing himself to be emotionally exposed in order to show them, not just tell them, how much they were loved and how worthy they were. Traditionally, guests at Passover would have their feet washed by servants, so Jesus was also showing them the importance of serving each other as a natural part of loving each other. Then he gave them a new commandment, “To love one another as I have loved you.” Shortly, his followers would be without Jesus, but he left them with everything they needed to know about how to live, and he implored them to keep sharing it. And they did. In the book of Acts, they carried to everyone they met the message that love, not hate, vulnerability, not power, connection and compassion are what the world needs. Acts, chapter 2, says, “They were all together and had all things in common. They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all who had any need. They spent time together in the temple, they broke bread at home, and ate with glad and generous hearts.” The apostle Paul helped get Jesus’ message to his followers, through starting those early churches.



And here we are. Jesus isn’t physically present with us, but we too have his example, and his lessons on how to live and treat each other. May we continue to share that message in our time and place. Especially during these most difficult days, may our actions reveal just how much we love one another. Amen.



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Readings 



I have 4 readings today, because I want to talk about some of the major events of Holy Week.  So I edited them down to their core messages.





Mark 11: 1-10



When they were approaching Jerusalem, 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. They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. 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 God!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”



Mark 11: 15-17

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves, saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house should be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.”



From John 13

During the Passover supper, Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself. He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel. After he washed their feet and returned to the table, he said to them, “As I have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example that you should do as I have done to you.”


Then Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”



Our 4th reading is by Sociologist and author Brene’ Brown on the role of vulnerability in courage, connection, and compassion.



There is no example of courage that does not require uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. There is no courage without vulnerability. Courage is not doing something because you are fearless. The most vulnerable people I know are the toughest people I know, not posturing, blustery tough. They are real tough. Connection is why we are here. It is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. To practice courage, connection, and compassion is to look at life and the people around us and say, ‘I am all in.’