March 29, 2015
Palm Sunday

“When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he 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.”

Mark 11:1-11

In the days of the Roman occupation of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate was a big deal. Herod the Great ruled from 37 B.C.E. to 4 B.C.E. At his death, his kingdom was subdivided among three of his sons. One son, Herod Antipas, took the northern territories of the Galilee and those on the east side of the Jordan River. Another son, Phillip, took the areas to the east of the Sea of Galilee … the area now thought of as the Golan Heights. The third son, Archelaeus, took the major portion, and in fact the most important cities. Now this region, which we would probably call Judea, was really the most important of the three sub-divisions. But Archelaeus, in contrast to his two half-brothers, didn’t fare as well as his father. And within ten years, he was removed by the Roman overlords, and replaced with military governors — what we usually refer to as Procurators, or Prefects, posted there by the Roman administration to oversee the political activities of the state. Pontius Pilate, is one of these first round of governors posted to the province of Judea, once it was given over to Roman military governorship. When Pilate would enter the gates, there would be a royal fanfare – a procession of people shouting — treating him as a king. There was a big deal to be shown to the king. It was the Passover after all – and though the Jews would be preparing for a major festival, Pilate needed to make sure that there were no riots.

Jesus was not the first person to enter Jerusalem as a kingly figure. Simon Maccabaeus, a revolutionary Jewish leader, processed into Jerusalem “with praise and palm branches and with hymns and songs” (1 Macabbees 13:51). “Menahem, a leader of urban daggermen, political assassins known as Sicarri, led a kingly procession into Jerusalem in 66 A.D. during the years of the Jewish revolt. (leohartshorn.blogspot.com, April 5, 2009) The streets buzzed with popular expectations of a kingly ruler, a Son of David, who would come and end the reign of foreign rulers and liberate Jerusalem from injustice and oppression.

A number of royal pretenders and messianic figures did come and lead armed revolts against the Romans and their upper-class Jewish collaborators. Not only were the people’s hearts filled with these kinds of expectations, but the location of where Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem was to begin had symbolic undertones. According to the prophet Zechariah, the Mount of Olives was to be the place where the Israel would engage in a final battle against her enemies (Zechariah 14:1-4). So, you see, in that politically charged atmosphere Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem was loaded with military and nationalistic symbolism. Jesus was well aware of this symbolism. It appears that Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on a donkey was not simply happenstance, but something that he deliberately planned and choreographed.”

Today we will stand outside our churches and gather to hear again the story of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry. We will carry palm branches, turn them into crosses, and some will stab them at their brothers and sisters as parents try to ignore them. In the sanitized version of this story we have created, remember that Jesus came not so that our lives would be soft and “happy” – but so that we might live forever. For that to happen, he had to take on a political overlord who knew how to torture and kill people to keep them in line. This is a Triumphal Entry – let’s not turn it into “cartoon theater”.

Pastor Dave

March 26, 2015

“Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of G*d liike a child shall not enter it.” Mark 10:16

“There is no better way, in contemporary thought, of approaching the meaning of commitment than by reference to Marcel’s (20th century French philosopher) distinction between “believing that” and “believing in”. To be committed is to believe in. Commitment, which includes belief but far transcends it, is determination of the total self to act upon conviction. Always and everywhere, as Blaise Pascal and many other thinkers have taught us, it includes an element of wager. A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely wins his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional into a single pattern of self-giving. That Voice is Jesus Christ. A Christian not only believes that (Jesus) was; he believes in Him with all his heart…” D. Elton Trueblood (1900 – 1995) “For All The Saints” volume III (p. 983-984)

D. Elton Trueblood was a noted 20th century American Quaker author and theologian, and a former chaplain both to Harvard and Stanford universities. Trueblood was “part of a renaissance of American Quaker thought and action spurred on partly by the common experiences of Quaker intellectuals as conscientious objectors during World War II, although Trueblood himself was not a pacifist. He actively sought to mentor younger Quakers into his nineties. Trueblood also founded the Yokefellow movement and supported Stephen Ministries.” (Wikipedia citation)

Our Apostle’s Creed has three petitions: they all begin with “I Believe In…” As Christians, every Sunday we profess that we “Believe In” something. In making this statement, we are professing that we believe in G*d, we believe in Jesus and we believe in the Holy Spirit. But we also believe that this requires a commitment. Did you realize that? Did you ever think that while you were rotely repeating the words of this or any Creed, that you were making a “Commitment Statement”? So, do you believe “that” Jesus died for you? Or, do you believe “In” the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? “Believing In” Jesus means commiting everything you have to your faith in Him, and trusting Him with all your heart. And yes, I believe that “Believing In” Jesus requires the work of the Holy Spirit – that works within us to build that faith that is necessary to profess with our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls our belief “IN” Jesus.

Pastor Dave