Palm
Sunday
“...Sing
me your songs,
But not
for me alone.
Sing out
for yourselves,
For you
are blessed.
There is
not one of you,
Who cannot
win the kingdom,
The slow,
the suffering,
The quick,
the dead...”
(excerpt
from “Hosanna,” Jesus Christ Superstar)
I went to see Jesus
Christ Superstar in 1970, in Columbia, SC. At the time, my husband
and I were members of a small Presbyterian church just outside the
air force base near Sumter. We went to Bible study every week and
regularly attended Sunday school and worship. But when we went to see
Jesus Christ Superstar, we were all but kicked out. It was considered
blasphemous. Heck! We just liked the music! A special meeting was
called at the church to pray for our souls. When I think about that
now, it just seems silly. The things we get caught up in are
sometimes pretty ridiculous—such as deciding that someone else is
doomed to eternity in hell because they went to see a rock opera.
What's that all about?
Today is Palm Sunday in
Christendom. The day commemorates Jesus entry into Jerusalem at the
beginning of Holy Week. Jesus took the mantel of King Solomon and
rode into town on a donkey, as Solomon had. The crowds went wild,
with songs and palms and celebration. They thought that restoring the
throne to a Hebrew king would change their circumstances. But as we
know, within a few days, that same crowd was chanting, “Crucify
him.” One wonders whether that switch came because Jesus refused to
lead a bloody revolution to overthrow Roman rule. Jesus' revolution
was one of the heart, not of the sword. At any rate, the week
devolved and at the end, the crucifixion took place. So much for the
King of the Jews.
So what are we to learn
from Palm Sunday? Are we still looking for a savior? Someone to
martyr themselves for us, so that we won't have to do the hard work?
It didn't work then and it's not likely to work now. Here are the
words of Jesus to his disciples at the end of his life: “Feed my
sheep.” Not “celebrate me,” not “re-create my story every
year,” not “create an institution that condemns people for seeing
a rock opera.” Simply, “feed my sheep.” In other words, take
care of one another, and take care of my people who cannot take care
of themselves. That's what Jesus wanted. If we want to call ourselves
as his followers, let's do that.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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