Monday, March 18, 2024

This week's sermon

 

PALM SUNDAY 2024

          It probably wasn’t as big a deal as we make it out to be.

          We call it THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

          It was probably more like sneaking in the back door.

          Who was it, after all? A country bumpkin of a rabbi (what good can come from Nazareth?) along with his equally provincial followers—ragged and dusty from three years of traveling—and the riff-raff hanging around the gates of the Holy City, looking for some entertainment.

 

          Oh, it caused a stir—Jesus arriving and going immediately to the Temple. The Pharisees were nervous because the rabble seemed to love him and the rabble could never be trusted to toe the line. The ones who welcomed the strange prophet from the sticks were uncontrollable by the authorities of the Temple. So the Sanhedrin—the equivalent of the Bishops in our church—watched and waited and bided their time. This troublesome Teacher was a problem that could be dealt with successfully.

 

          Oh, it caused a stir….The Zealots, those “freedom fighters” of the Jews—the ones the Romans saw as “terrorists”—had a breath of hope. Perhaps Jesus was the figure around which a popular rebellion could be mounted. Perhaps he could be the one to restore the Throne of David and return the land of Israel to the Israelites.

 

          Oh, it caused a stir….Pilate was troubled because his wife was having nightmares about this Prophet Jesus and when Pilate was troubled the Roman Legion was troubled. It was almost Passover and the city was full of pilgrims who were full of religious fervor. And religious fervor is always a threat to the “status quo” and the rule of the occupying army.

 

          Oh, it caused a stir….The common folk were mesmerized by the wisdom and the miracles of Jesus. He brought them something that touched them deep in their souls, something so long missing from their lives, dashed by oppression and almost extinguished: he brought the faint, almost bitter sweet hope that God still loved them.

          But it was probably still much less spectacular than we make it out to be. A little band of people—dispossessed, powerless, mostly poor…outsiders of all the political and religious intrigue of the day—laying palm branches and, yes, their own cloaks, on the path up to the city for this strange, eccentric, inscrutable rabbi who had “rocked” their marginal lives with the possibility of love.

 

          In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul wrote that Jesus “emptied himself out”. The Greek word is lovely. Kenosis: “to empty out”.

          It seems to me that Jesus was practicing “kenosis” all the way up to Jerusalem.

          He was emptying himself of pride and ego and whatever ambitions he might have had.

          He was emptying himself of anger and resentment and petty disagreements.

          He was emptying himself of power and influence and the ability to “change the world” in some profound way.

          He was emptying himself of the hope that clings to life against all odds, of the longing to “make a difference”, of the glitter and attraction of worldly things.

          He was making himself completely empty—cleaned out, purged—creating a vacuum within his heart that could hold LOVE for the whole world, for all of it, every single bit of it.

 

          It was LOVE that entered Jerusalem by some side gate, riding on a colt, listening to sounds of “Hosanna!”, being fanned by fronds of palm.

 

          It was LOVE—love for the Pharisees, for his close friends and companions, for Pilate and the Romans, for the Zealots who would make him King, for the common folk who ran beside him, guiding him toward the Temple Mount. Love for you. Love for me.

 

          It was LOVE…love and love only, always love, already love, total love, all-embracing love, love to fill his heart and break it too, love beyond imagining, love beyond pain or suffering or life or death, love “once and for all”. Simply LOVE and nothing else at all….

          Just that.

          Love on the back of a colt entering the Holy City.  

          So, I guess it was a “big deal” after all….

Saturday, March 16, 2024

doing taxes

 It's that time of year--I have to do our tax stuff.

I've got everything I need--income and expenses--on the main table in our dining room.

I dread starting.

I'm more of a 'big picture' person than a 'detail' person.

It's a pain.

But it must be done.

And, eventually, I'll do it.

But not without mental agony....


Thursday, March 14, 2024

Doctors every day

 When you get to my age you spend lots of time with doctors.

I had 3 appointments this week but missed the one on Wednesday because I was a the funeral for my friend's wife.

Cardiologist on Tuesday and Cancer doctor today.

Good news from both.

But the beat goes on.

I'm not getting younger.

More doctors to come.


Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Funeral for a friend's wife

I went to a funeral for a friend's wife today.

I never met her, but he is a good friend and I needed to be there.

It was at a church I'd never been to and the church was packed--200 people, I'd say.

A bishop was there to lead the service and celebrate communion.

I knew bishop's came to priest's funeral--but priest's wives?

I won't tell Bern, she wouldn't like to know that.

A sad but hopeful day.

I don't really know what I think about the afterlife--but I'll hope for the best.

 

Monday, March 11, 2024

Yelled at and insulted at Stop and Shop

 I almost always go to Big Y--one of the two large supermarkets in Cheshire. But I needed ground beef and rice to make food for Brigit and I went to Stop and Shop because it's closer.

I only had two pounds of hamburger and two bags of white rice so a kind lady let me go ahead of her.

The guy in front was putting his large order in bags, along with the store cashier. He was and elderly guy--or 'another elderly guy.'

He came to put his credit card in the machine and thought I was too close.

"Back up!" he yelled. "Don't stand so close to me."

I was about a yard away and didn't get it.

"Honor my personal space!" was his last comment before telling the cashier how rude I was.

I told the woman who had let me ahead of her, "all the good folks are back here."

He was still mumbling as he left.

Another reason I like Big Y.


Sunday, March 10, 2024

I am soooo sleepy....

Daylight savings time started today.

I lost an hour's sleep.

I was afraid to sit down in church because I thought I'd fall asleep.

Driving the 33 miles up and back to Milton was a challenge.

I love to sleep.

I should have had a nap today when I got home.

Don't think I can stay up and watch the Oscars tonight.

 

Saturday, March 9, 2024

This week's sermon

 

LIFTING THINGS UP

        The title of this sermon is “Lifting things up.”

        It’s the Old Testament lesson and the Gospel that the title comes from.

        Remember how in Numbers the people of Israel had turned against Moses and God because they thought they had been too long in the Wilderness.

        So, God punished them by sending poisonous serpents to bite them and make them die.

        When the people repented God told Moses to make a poisonous serpent of bronze and ‘lift it up’ onto a pole and when anyone was bitten, they needed only to look up at the bronze serpent and they would be healed.

        Then in John’s Gospel, Jesus reminded the people that Moses had “lifted up the serpent” in the wilderness and tells them “the son of man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

        He, of course, is talking about being ‘lifted up’ on the cross to be crucified and how, after he is Risen, he will be “lifted up to heaven” to sit on the right hand of God.

        That got me thinking about what we ‘lift up’ in our lives.

        I came up with quite a few and want to share them with you. I’ll begin with the mundane and move up to the holy.

1.  A thoughtful man lifts up the toilet seat when he’s going—oh, you know what he’s going to do….

2.  We lift up a hat to put it on our head.

3.  We lift up windows to open them on a warm day.

4.   We lift up our bodies getting out of bed or up off a chair.

5.  We lift up our glass to drink our wine.

6.  We lift up our pets to put them on the table when we visit the veterinarian.

7.  We lift up flags and banners to show our patriotism or display things we like.

8.  We lift up our children as babies to hold them or lift them up over our heads to give them joy.

9.  We lift water from the baptismal font to put on someone’s head to baptize them.

10.       We go out of our way to lift up a friend or a little child who has fallen.

11.       The priest lifts up the bread and the wine during the communion service.

12.       As we will do after the Nicene Creed, we lift up our hearts to God in prayer.

You probably have other examples.

“Lifting Things Up” has many uses.

So, lift yourself up, stand up tall and offer your life and your belief to God.

 

Shalom an Amen.

 

 

 

Blog Archive

About Me

some ponderings by an aging white man who is an Episcopal priest in Connecticut. Now retired but still working and still wondering what it all means...all of it.