Year A Passion-Palm Sunday 2023 Whose Story?

 Year A Passion/Palm Sunday, 2 April 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Whose story?”

Collect: Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This morning’s lengthy scriptures, Matthew 26:14 through 27:44 is the whole final week of Jesus' life. I encourage you to read it in one sitting. Here is the: Link

We are all the heroes of our own stories. Every single character today, to some extent, thinks this is their story. Peter. Judas. Pilate. Pilate’s Wife. The High Priest. The Centurion. All of them, and all of us, too.

We hear of the Last Supper with friends, the Passover Seder, where the righteous remembered God’s deliverance from slavery.

We hear of the Garden, and the unknowing innocence that led to betrayal with the sleepy eyes and foggy brains of friends.

We see the betrayal of a trusted friend and disciple, with the most awful of weapons, a lecherous kiss.

We see political intrigue, and authoritative ennui.  We see illegal trials, and an Innocent condemned.

We see a murderer chosen over a healer who preached love, an insurgent over a man of peace.

We see a scourging, one blow less than what was considered lethal.

We see mockery and scorn.  We watch the way of the Cross, to the place of the Skull.  We see it all played out before us.

We see the crowd who had waved the palms in praise, morph into the crowd who cried out, “Crucify!  Crucify.”

We see it all.  We see Jesus hung high.  We see Jesus suffer.  We see Jesus die.

We see it all, but do we?  When we tell this tale, is it a long time ago in an empire far, far away?

Or do we see ourselves in the story?

Are we the ones invited to break bread with Jesus?

Are we the ones trying to stay awake?

Are we the betrayers for silvered palms?

Are we the ones who flog and mock?

Are we the ones who do not intervene when we have the power to stop this atrocity?

Are we forced to carry a shameful cross, imposed by brutes, for a perfect stranger?

Are we the executioners, worried more for our winnings than the souls we are dismissing?

Are we the fellows condemned with him, mocking still with our last breaths?

Are we there?

Is this then, or is it now?  Has the story ceased?  Or do we live it our still to this day?

When we come to Christ’s table to RE-connect and to RE-member, is it then, so far away and so long ago?  Or is it still horrifying and brutal, and real, more real than anything we know?

What is it that happened then?  What is it that happens here, every Sunday, week in, week out?

If our rituals are enactments of this life-changing story, then obviously we are trying to make the There-and-Then our Here-and-Now.  

How do you practice the Last Supper in your life?  How do you practice the Garden?  

How do you embrace being scorned and scourged?  How do you practice taking up a cross?  

How do you practice crucifixion?  How do you witness the injustice?  How do you experience the awe?  How do you make this story your own?  

What do you do with the rest of your story?  Do you see Christ’s story as a part of your own? Who is the hero of your story? Yourself or Jesus?

However you see it, my prayer for all of us this week, this Holy Week, is that we echo the words of that Roman centurion from our reading today.  May this story, and its enactment at this table and more importantly IN OUR LIVES, always drive us to say, "Truly this man was God's Son!"  Amen.