March 20, 2016, Palm Sunday

We begin this day with a parade. We gather strange branches and sing a song reserved for the occasion. (Sometimes we even walk around outside!) We are remembering ancient customs of praise. We are acting out Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We are also re-enacting a cycle of pilgrimage and hope. For centuries, devout believers followed a similar path as they entered into Jerusalem for a solemn festival. We are all looking forward to praising our true king. Our ancestors were looking for a new David. We are celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ. We are all looking for a better way and better times.

Somehow, it doesn’t turn out as we hoped. This story is our story. We recognize ourselves in all the hope and anger and fear and despair. We begin the day rejoicing for God’s unexpected blessing. We finish by seeing all our hope destroyed by our fear.

We take on roles in the narrative. We are the disciples – the false and the frightened. We are responsible for the corrupt and self-serving political establishment. We are the smug, self-righteous, religious elite, who are content to be right even if everyone else is lost. We are the ugly mob, satisfied with brutal punishment – if we can’t get what we need, at least someone else is worse off than we are.

In the end we share the same shock. We can’t believe it has come to this. “How did we let this happen?” we ask, even as we know that it happens all the time. We are guilty of murder – out of fear, or selfishness, or convenience. The difference this time is that we know that we have killed our best hope.

This horrible truth is necessary for us to move on. Jesus’ sacrifice means nothing if we blame it on ancient superstitious people, or if we blame it on one race or one religion. We can only be saved through participation. We must be guilty of the whole thing. Jesus confronts us at our worst. He takes on all our sin. He bears every terrible deed and insult.

But this is not enough. It is well that we consider all our failures and betrayals. It is a good discipline for us to consider what we have done and how we need to repent. God will use our regret and our desire for a different life. However, it’s not enough for us to feel bad and live differently.

Jesus shows us the way. The way of the cross is the way of life. We are called not only to consider how we have wounded God; we are called to participate in death and resurrection. We are called to follow Jesus and take up our own cross.

Of course, this is impossible for us. We cannot bear the cross – and this is why we need Jesus to do it for us. Yet we are able to follow if we do not rely on our own strength and our own wisdom. Jesus shows us the way of humility. He shows us the way of self-emptying. Paul writes a great hymn to Jesus in his letter to the Philippians. We are to have the same mind as Jesus.

who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

We are still far from any place of glorification. Jesus has shown us the way of life that walks through death. As we set aside everything we have that makes us think ourselves worthy, we come closer to the place where God transforms us.

The only person who hears a word of hope is the thief on the cross. He alone admits his sin and asks for mercy. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” However this thought came to him, through pain or his last breath, Jesus honors his faith. The thief who repents at the last minute is the one who gets the reward.

We mark this day not merely to feel bad for our sins. God always has time to hear our confession. We mark this day to remind ourselves of all the illusions we are capable of believing in – and how all those illusions fail us. We mark this day also to remember the true path of life – and how we are called to take it.