A LETTER HOME

Dear Grandson:

I have become a little older since I saw you last, and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I have become a frivolous old gal. I am seeing five gentlemen every day. As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me get out of bed. Then I go to see John. The Charlie Horse comes along, and when he is here, he takes a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis shows up and stays the rest of the day. He doesn’t like to stay in one place very long, so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a busy day, I’m really tired and glad to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life. Oh yes, I’m also flirting with Al Zymer.

Love,

Grandma

P.S. The preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking of the hereafter. I told him, “Oh, I do it all the time.” No matter where I am, in the parlor, upstairs, in the kitchen or down in the basement, I ask myself, “Now, what am I here after?”

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 (Message)
Thank God because he?s good,
because his love never quits.
Tell the world, Israel,
?His love never quits.?
Swing wide the city gates?the righteous gates!
I?ll walk right through and thank God!
This Temple Gate belongs to God,
so the victors can enter and praise.
Thank you for responding to me;
you?ve truly become my salvation!
The stone the masons discarded as flawed
is now the capstone!
This is God?s work.

We rub our eyes?we can hardly believe it!
This is the very day God acted?
let?s celebrate and be festive!
Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
Oh yes, God?a free and full life!
Blessed are you who enter in God?s name?
from God?s house we bless you!
God is God,
he has bathed us in light.
Festoon the shrine with garlands,
hang colored banners above the altar!
You?re my God, and I thank you.
O my God, I lift high your praise.
Thank God?he?s so good.
His love never quits!

Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, ?Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ?The Lord needs them.? And he will send them immediately.? 4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5?Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.? 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ?Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!? 10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ?Who is this?? 11The crowds were saying, ?This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.?

I can?t remember if I told you this story?but for me, it seemed like a good story of celebration and waiting to share. I remember seeing the 3-mile marker as I was coming down the road. That meant there was only .1 of a mile left. So my feet started to move a little faster, my head was down and determined, then I lifted my head at the sound of my voice. My dad said, ?Go Devers!? And my mom was yelling her ?whoo-hoo?s and go babe!? People were lined up on both sides of the road, offering words of ?you can do it? and ?almost there? and there were runners who had already finished and were coming back, clapping for all of the slower runners, and running next to those who were still coming in. And I saw the finish line. Then when I saw the time clock, my feet started moving even faster and I knew I could get in before it turned to the next minute. I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face, hearing the cheers of my family and the large crowd of people, knowing that all my hard work had paid off. I had run the first 5K and met my goal to run the whole thing under 37 minutes. The celebration lasted for a bit longer. Then we went home to spend time together as a family. The next day I woke up. And could barely move. The celebration was over. And the next journey of pain to recovery had begun.

This is one of my stories of great celebration from others. Do you have a story to share today that we can celebrate with you too?

Celebrations typically happen after some sort of event, trial, or life change. Thank you for sharing yours! Yet we also know that there is always more to come after a celebration, the celebration is not the ending, there is always something else on the horizon. These experiences have allowed for us to grow and prepare for whatever is next. For me, this is a part of what Palm Sunday is about. Jesus has been preparing privately for this journey for about 30 years and publically for close to 3 years. So imagine that day, Palm Sunday, with me.

?The excitement and confusion of the week of Passover has the city of Jerusalem in a place of unrest, busyness, and turmoil. In a city where 40,000 reside, this holy city is about to be inundated with hundreds of thousands of people. Then, unplanned, two very different processionals enter Jerusalem on that spring day in the year 30. One procession is coming from the east and largely comprised of ordinary common folks. All of these friends and strangers, approximately 200,000, have decided to follow a man named Jesus from Galilee who is riding a donkey down from the Mount of Olives. In doing so, they have become connected to one another because of Jesus. Coming in from the opposite side of the city, from the west approaches, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. He is entering the city on a warhorse leading an army of imperial cavalry and soldiers, who are required to protect him.? Pontius Pilate has come all the way from Caesarea Maritima for the purpose of maintaining law and order during the potentially tumultuous days of the Jewish festival of Passover. As Jesus? procession of people, coats, palms, and cries of Hosanna proclaim the kingdom of God; Pilates? procession proclaims the power of the empire. Do you see where the tension lies in this image? The tension lies between the kingdom of God and the Power of the Roman Empire. And this is just the beginning of the week.?[1]

At this time of celebration, the time of waiting to see ?what will happen next? is on the minds of what this newly formed community and those who were on-lookers are thinking. Have you every experienced times of celebration that quickly transformed into something else? That is what happened on the first Palm Sunday.

Something transformed between the day where people were crying out ?Hosanna, save us, help us, Lord? and ?Crucify Him.? The ordinary common people and the religious leaders and authorities begin to face the tension between the kingdom of God and the Roman Empire. Something was transformed from the questions being of Jesus to answers becoming real. Something was transformed from a people and city of welcome to a people and city of rejection. Something transformed from total rejection to risen, from death to resurrection. My, how things can change in a week?when something goes from one thing to another, or there is movement from one state to another?transformation happens and is happening. Sometimes transformation is so extreme that it could be even called a reversal, when one?s whole world is turned upside down. To me, that is what happened between Palm Sunday and Easter morning. A complete and total transformation for everyone-those who had their eyes on the kingdom of God and those who had their eyes on the Roman Empire.

Our Lenten journeys are journeys about self-examination and reflection into our hearts about what is important to us. It is time set aside to explore what our relationship with God looks like and to consider what our relationships with our neighbors are all about. Self-examination and self-reflection are ways in which we can explore how we become more connected in our relationships to God and others. Through this journey, I have hoped that we can experience transformations in our lives that lead us to wanting to cry out to God, Hosanna?Help me, help us, save us, I pray! Looking within should allow for the Spirit to move within you to seek to know Christ more and enable you to continue to transform your life each and every day.

On the first Palm Sunday, the people truly began to desire to make Christ known in their lives and the lives of others. They wanted to be made whole with Jesus. So they cried out together, as a community of people who were friends and strangers, searching and broken, tired and hungry, yet hopeful because of their experience with Jesus? peaceful presence, compelling message, and complete love. It was these things that brought together a community of friends and strangers and followed Jesus to Jerusalem. I wonder if that can still happen today.

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on that day, the celebration came to an end. Jesus had enjoyed the cheers and cries of Hosanna. Those who followed and gathered to celebrate Jesus, would soon disperse and go their separate ways in the city to enjoy the festivities of Passover. Yet the whole city wasn?t in a place of welcome and accept Jesus? arrival. No, the scripture says, ?When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.? The Greek literally means ?shaken? or ?trembling.? Not quite the atmosphere to enjoy and continue a celebration of Jesus followers. Then those in the city began asking, ?Who is this?? Which comes from a place of anxiety, fear, worry, and political unrest and tension. And when the crowds respond by saying, ?This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee,? I doubt they realized their celebration and desire to be saved would take on a whole new meaning. Because their hopes would be squandered by whippings, beatings, an innocent man?s life on a cross, and would then end with a stone rolled over the tomb of the innocent man. I also doubt that the crowd who learned, walked, and followed Jesus knew during that time of celebration that they would be part of the crowd who would put him in the tomb.

As we walk this journey together through Holy Week, I pray we continue to spend time in self-reflection. I hope we are able to ask ourselves if we desire to be in relationship where we cry out ?Hosanna, save us, and help us? in and through each and every moment of our lives. Do we continue to seek transformation in our lives through the one who walked to the cross for us and our world? In addition, are we hopeful and able to share a message that allows others to experience Jesus? peaceful presence, compelling message, and complete love, just like those first followers of Jesus? Friends, as we celebrate today with palm branches, I invite you to wait and see what God is doing in our lives and the lives of those we meet. Blessings to you this Holy Week.