Good thing that I’m not
preaching this week…
It’s Palm Sunday.
It happens every year
and I've run out of things to say other than, “Hosanna!”
Fascinating discussion
evolved in my Tuesday 8am Bible Study.
Now, to be clear, this isn't Bible Study, like you see on TV… it’s not a
gathering of dour people who listen to some scripture and then look to the
leader who points on an a map where all of these things took place; there are
no “flannel boards” and not once have we hugged and sung “Kumbaya”.
The six to 10 people
who gather on a given Tuesday have varying political views, differing
theological perspectives and life experiences.
Some rush off to jobs, others are retired… (oddly, it’s the currently
employed folk who hang around the longest in the morning). The first 20 minutes are usually reserved for
political discussion, world events or things that amuse us… Pope Francis, Rob Ford, Justin Timberlake
share time with Alice in Wonderland and the many creations of Charles
Dickens. We have coffee. We often get around to talking about the
scripture that will be read for the upcoming Sunday. (note, I didn't say “always”)
This week we started to
talk about Palm Sunday and whether or not Jesus staged the whole thing and if
he did, was it a political statement or was it a conscious decision to “fulfill”
the written prophecies. Of course, it was
agreed that no one believed in pre-destination… the idea that everything is
already decided, set in motion inevitably by God. Pre-destination seems to be come from a need
or desire to see God so completely in charge; so powerful, that nothing happens
that God has already ordained will happen.
If you’ve read my earlier blog on
the Omni-God, you know that I have a problem with such an understanding. It was stated with some confidence that if
you went out into the streets, work places and educational institutions in and around
Toronto and asked people if they believed in pre-destination, the vast, vast,
almost beyond vast, majority would say “No”.
(except for a few extreme Calvinists, who knew that you were going to
ask that question….). This was a rare
moment when we all seemed to be in agreement….. UNTIL
“What if you asked the
question another way… what if you asked people if they really had much choice
in life… or any choice… I’ll bet a lot
of people would tell you that they/we don’t really have much choice… most of
what happens to us in life is inevitable”
So, we may not believe
in Pre-Destiny, but many of us live our lives as if we are co-opted by fate,
routine or the powers that be. I’m not
making a case here for pre-destination, but I wonder if maybe Jesus was when he
arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and made his way to the cross.
Personally, I do think
that Jesus made choices that lead him inevitably to the cross: He could have
avoided Jerusalem at Passover, stayed in the country and stayed off the radar
(perhaps those who go away for Easter Weekend do so as a religious observance,
ritually saying “if only Jesus had done this); he could have slipped into town unobtrusively,
he could have avoided Judas’ kiss (PDAs will get you every time), he could have
engaged Pilate in a conversation, he could have pointed out that Barabbas was
not such a great guy… but he went to the cross.
So that he could be resurrected? Possibly… although again, I think that
he was as surprised as anyone at his resurrection that weekend. So why go so obediently to the cross?
This is where I think
that our classic depiction of the three crosses on the hill can be
misleading. Contemplating this image we
can sometimes think that what happened to Jesus was remarkable or “special”. The record suggests that it was anything but….whether
the suggestions that the roads outside Jerusalem were lined with the crucified
are accurate or not, it is agreed that Pilate was not reluctant to put down
civil unrest by crucifixion. Is it
possible that Jesus’ foray into Jerusalem, confrontation with and execution by the State, is meant to reveal
and “unspoken” truth that if we are to be governed by an Empire based on war
and the threat of war, then the death of innocents is inevitable or
pre-determined? Jesus goes obediently
to the cross to be in solidarity with the tens, hundreds, even thousands put to
death on crosses, to reveal the truth about such a state and our choice…
Let’s remember that
Rome was not particularly bad for Judaism.
Rome allowed the Temple to stand and function, Pax Judea was a decent
deal… and the economy was good under Rome… the roads were good, sanitation was
good… I don’t want to sound like a scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Brought Peace?
Oh, peace... shut up!!
But it all comes at a
cost… If you want peace the comes from the threat of force; of war and/or death – the cost is that
political dissenters will be executed.
Innocents will inevitably be killed…. There’s nothing you can do about
it.
Or you might decide
that instead of that kind of state being in charge of your destiny… God is in
charge. Jesus presents the choice quite
powerfully: Rome’s way… God’s way. God’s
way is revealed in his way of Jesus’ life, his parables that invite radical
hospitality; question the hoarding of resources; invite us to trust and rely on
one another – all very scary prospects.
And the cost? Your life… but your
life poured out willingly by you, not a life taken by the state.
I don’t know… maybe Jesus
is not so political.
And I’m not preaching
this Sunday, so maybe I’m going to let it go for now… but I do wonder
sometimes.
The horrific rape case
is Stuebenville and coverage that seems to focus on the lament the damage done
to rapists’ futures as young athletes and scholars over the “actual” victim’s
pain and loss. Dare we say that in a
culture that objectifies women, celebrates power and commodifies sex, it is
inevitable that woman are going to be raped and rapists protected?
In a culture that
demands “lower prices” and puts the
consumer’s rights above all others, could we say that it is inevitable that
workers will be exploited somewhere… even if it’s our of our view?
As I consider the
plight of miners and those who live near mines in South America, I am moved.
But when I consider what part of my pension might be invested in those mining
stocks and the economic impact my family might experience if we divest… I focus
my gaze on the three crosses on the hill on Good Friday and try not to look at
the hundreds of crosses lining the roads.
Could we say that in a culture
that focuses on profit and economic security for some without regard for the
rest; in a system that says more is better than less and that it is the
responsibility of financial institutions to make the most money for their
clients… it is inevitable that innocent people will suffer and die, as the fund
managers say “I was just following orders… I had no choice”?
Today, I think that
Jesus goes to the cross to be in solidarity with all those who die needlessly
and unfairly… all those who are made to pay the price for the security and
luxury of others… and I think that he does so trusting us to look around and
realize that we can choose our destinies… we can follow the ways that lead to
death, or the ways that lead to life… but whatever we choose, there will always
be a cost. So, spend your life… or spend
somebody else’s… your choice is not pre-determined, it’s up to you.
Then again, I’m not
preaching this week…
(God must have planned it that way)
Killing is people is wrong.
We all know that. As a Christian,
I know that and I’m given guidance and support as I try to honour that
sacredness in others. But please… don’t
tell me that I should care more about certain people because we often share a creed…
let me be outraged, angered, grieved and distraught because human beings have
been senselessly murdered…. And let me be inspired and directed by my faith to
make the world, not more “Christian”, but more compassionate and humane for everyone. 
