Palm Sunday – April 2, 2023: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
This past week in the Thursday night bible study group, we were talking a bit about the upcoming Holy Week as we discussed the readings for this very chaotic day. And as we talked about the palms, I was reminded about something I told you’all a few years ago, something I saw on that reliable source of theological knowledge – Facebook (and yes, that is a late April Fool’s statement, to be sure). Anyway, it was about something called PACE catholics. Now we all know about the C&E crowd, the ones who come to church only on the two biggies – Christmas and Easter. But PACE folks, they are C&Eers who come to church not only on those major feast days, but also on days when there’s a giveaway: Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Christmas, & Easter. PACE! Who knew? So, welcome any PACE folks out there.
Now, if you’ve been coming here awhile, than you already know that what we are about to do on Palm Sunday we really shouldn’t be doing, and didn’t do for most of our history…move from palm to passion in a single service. As a refresher, despite the insistence by some that it wasn’t in response to declining attendance at Holy Week services, there seems to be an avalanche of folks who claim otherwise. The reason may not matter in the larger scheme of things, but what is very true is that if we don’t include the Passion on Palm Sunday than many folks will go from “Glory to Glory” – from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the victory over death in the empty tomb – and that, that truly would be an Easter robbed of meaning. So, while this really should just be Palm Sunday, with the passion being our Holy Week journey, we do include it, because Easter, without the passion, is an empty experience.
So, as I say each year, the result is that Palm Sunday becomes a wild rollercoaster ride of emotions – from the near carnival atmosphere of the procession of the palms, to the horror of the cross. And this year, it will be an exceptionally immersive entry into Holy Week, as we are blessed to have the return of the Dzieci Theatre company. They will once again engage us in a telling of the Passion, which promises to be something that will push our imaginations, awaken our senses, and challenge our assumptions. And, so as I do each year, I will preach on the story of the palms, not the Passion.
One of the things we sometimes miss on this Sunday, in our haste to move from palm to passion, is the last line from the gospel I just read. The author of Matthew concludes this parade narrative in this way: “When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”
“Who is this?”
But maybe that isn’t the question we need. Perhaps the question that should be asked is “Who are you?” Who are you in this story? And there is one “character” that, while not often given much due, represents who I hope to be in my life in Christ. It is the donkey.
Now, some of you might be thinking that I have accomplished my goal then – to be a jack…well, you know – but, let’s not go there. What we do need to get clear though is that whole weird set up we see in this gospel of Matthew. Was Jesus doing a rodeo act riding on two animals – a donkey and a colt – at the same time?
Well, remember how I generally warn against reading the bible literally? If only the author of Matthew took that advice, because he drew this from the passage in Zechariah which prophesied that one would come “on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” We heard that in the text we read in the Parish Hall this morning at the start of our service. That would be a literal translation – two animals. However, it would seem this author was looking at a Greek translation of Zechariah that didn’t understand the poetic style of the Hebrew text, which – given that this is the gospel that is written specifically with the Jewish community in mind is kind of odd. See, the author of Zechariah was using a form of parallelism, in which there is repetition as a literary device to underscore importance or some other characteristic. Thankfully the other gospel authors of Mark, Luke, and John, did not make this mistake. So, while it might be fun to imagine, we can rest assured this was not some crazy scene of Jesus trying to straddle two animals, one a full grown donkey, the other the smaller colt or her foal. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one donkey or colt.
And it is this donkey that I want to talk more about today, so let’s recap how this pack animal ended up in this crazy parade into Jerusalem. Jesus sends two of his disciples into the town telling them there would be a donkey (and yeah, in this version) her colt, both tied up. They were to untie them, and if anyone says “Hey! What do you two think you are doing?” Just tell them that the Lord needs them, like you are Obi-Wan Kenobi using a Jedi mind trick – “these are not the droids you are looking for.” Um…yeah, okay.
Well, apparently it worked, and Jesus got his ride brought to him. Now, you might think – not a very good ride. Jesus metaphorically went for a bicycle over an Uber Lux. That is exactly the point though. And, it is one of the reasons I think that this donkey, and donkeys in general, are a model for us today.
For one thing, this noble beast is present at the beginning, and at the end, of his earthly life. A donkey carries his pregnant mother to Bethlehem. A donkey carries him into Jerusalem. I suppose you could argue that makes the donkey the symbol of the C&E folks – kidding, of course. Then there is Balaam’s donkey in the Hebrew scriptures who tries three times to protect him from death by the sword of the messenger angel, being beaten by Balaam each time for turning off the road, before God opens the donkey’s mouth to give Balaam a word or two or three.
Of course, the coolest donkey of all was the sidekick to Shrek. Now he was totally 
awesome, and in many ways exemplified the true characteristics of donkeys – okay, maybe not hilariously funny animals (though I don’t know, maybe they do well at the local comedy club open mic nights). See, Donkey in Shrek was intelligent, loyal, loving, and willing to take on difficult tasks.
In fact, Shrek’s Donkey was willing to not only stand bravely against the scary fiery dragon, but also to see beyond the breath of fire and scales to the lonely and loving dragon’s heart and the beauty that others just wanted to kill. They get married, and have a litter of…wait for it…Dronkeys. Yup – sappy and a bit silly, but hey- it is Dreamworks after all.
But setting aside animated donkeys voiced by actors, let’s consider actual donkeys, like the one in our gospel. The thing is, if you ask most folks about donkeys, they will say they are stubborn. You know – stubborn like a mule (which, by the way, is not a donkey, but a cross between a donkey and a horse). What some call stubbornness is, according to research about donkeys, really about self-preservation – more about that in a sec.
According to one website donkeys are “… pragmatic, intelligent, and they have astonishing memories….Because donkeys are so darned smart, they have surprising reasoning abilities and must be shown not just how to do something, but why they should do it…They are also very affectionate, and become so attached to their friends – fellow donkeys or other animals – they can grieve to the point of illness when a companion dies. And while they have a very keen instinct for self-preservation (just ask Donkey in Shrek or Balaam’s Donkey), they are also courageous protectors. A lead donkey of a pack will place themselves in harms way to allow their herd to escape safely in the face of a predator. And, they are the pack animal of the poor – carrying the burden of a people who themselves are weighted down by their circumstances.
And so I thought about the donkey of our story today as symbolic of our lives in Christ, especially given what we heard today about this particular donkey. Here was one who was sent for, untied, and who courageously carried Jesus into the carnival atmosphere of a jam packed Jerusalem filled with thousands of the faithful who came to celebrate the Passover. That, my friends, is our call as followers of Jesus too, and based on the news this past week, we need to live into it fully.
For we can no longer seem to get through from one Sunday to the next without hearing about people cut down by guns in our country – but when it is children, whose little bodies are torn apart by the effect of an AR-15 – our pain is indescribable.
Each week we also hear about another climate related disaster, destroying lives and leaving destruction in its wake – tornadoes, wildfires, massive storm systems – the earth is responding to our decades of neglect and abuse.
And this past week we heard about migrants who died in a fire at a facility in Mexico, where the US has outsourced our immigration deterrence policy. They had apparently ignited mattresses in protest when they discovered they were about to be deported, and when the fire went out of control, the guards refused to let them out – allowing them to die. Following the incident, rumors abounded about possible entry into the US, and many flocked to the border. Said one human rights advocate “While we were trying to explain to them that the rumors are not true, sometimes you can’t compete with hope…”[1]
“You can’t compete with hope.” Or as we heard earlier today from Zachariah: “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.”
All through the world are people who wait in hope – just like those who greeted Jesus as he entered the city of Jerusalem.
Hope that freedom and peace are possible.
Hope that despite all odds, they are not forgotten.
Hope that tomorrow will come, and will be better, much better, than today.
“Who is this?” the people asked about Jesus as he rode on the donkey.
“Who are we?” is a question for his followers today.
We are the ones who have been untied in our baptism and called to serve the Lord.
To be the loyal bearer of him in our hearts.
To be the humble servant of the poor.
To be willing to be a part of things others may not understand, might think are a bit crazy, or where people may judge us to be something we are not, all to reveal the love of Christ.
To feel such love as he modeled for us that we are willing to stand against those who would harm any child of God…even to our death.
Amen.
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[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/misinformation-fuels-false-hopes-migrants-mexico-fire-rcna77398
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
April 2, 2023
Palm Sunday
1st Reading – Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
2nd Reading – Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel – Matthew 21:1-11
