At Christ Church, when I was the rector, we
always did a re-enactment of the very long Palm Sunday Gospel. People would dress up and come down the
center aisle and take the part of all of the people in that incredible
drama. I was always Pilate; somehow I
thought the priest ought to take that role.
There was Judas, throwing the money at the feet of the chief priests and
running away. Someone would take the
part of Jesus and cry out in agony as the cross was employed. I always loved that long gospel because it
encompassed the whole of Jesus’ teaching at the moment of his death. It wasn’t yet time for the resurrection and
we were faced with the horror of what we had all done in the name of ourselves.
Jesus taught us to love one another. He didn’t specify any conditions for
that. He even said particularly that we
are to love our enemies. That isn’t easy
for any of us to hear, not in the wake of 9/11 or the Paris or Beirut
bombings. Our instinct is to retaliate,
to eliminate; to strike back with the same measure of hatred that we are
experiencing. If there is anything for
us to learn from human history, it is that this doesn’t work. It simply produces more of the same. When we can respond with love instead of
hatred, we will turn hearts and minds toward peace. A good start toward that would be compassion for
that great crowd of people who are yearning to breathe free; who need a new place
to start. They bring with them their skills
and their lives. We will be blessed by their
presence, if only we can get past our fear and open our arms to receive them. May God
bless us and them in this struggle and bring us all out on the side of hope and
justice.
At the moment that Jesus entered
Jerusalem on the back of a donkey another procession was also coming into the
city. This was the leadership of the
Roman Empire accompanied by an army, coming into town to show the might of the
people who controlled the nation. It was
the Romans who governed everything and to whom the chief priests and the
scribes owed their allegiance.
What has always stood out for me in
this wonderfully ironic story is the cheering of the crowd and the laying of
palms at the feet of Jesus as he came into the city and how those cheers were
turned to jeers not long after as the crowds called for his crucifixion when he
was brought before Pilate and charged.
It wasn’t only Judas and Peter who denied Christ at that moment. The message is that we all have done
that. I have betrayed Christ by my
selfishness and my fear and by my constant intent to live primarily for my own
welfare.
I think of this curious contrast in
this moment as we have mourned the loss of the lives in Paris in the terrorism
that we witnessed last week and the response to it by those who would blame all
of this on the Muslim religion and deny the refugees who are fleeing Syria and
Iraq any admittance to this country. The
negative response to the call to admit refugees has been anything but
inspiring. It is a measure of the fear
and hatred that we have in our hearts that keeps us from doing anything to help
these people. I remember the words on
our Statue of Liberty that says simply: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free. I lift
my lamp beside the golden door.
Emma Lazarus caught the spirit of America in that wonderful poem that
expressed our welcoming spirit. I have
seen pictures of ships sailing past that statue on their way to Ellis Island
with a cargo of refugees from many countries. Both of my grandfathers came from
abroad. My mother’s father from Sweden
and my dad’s mother and father came from the English midlands. Our nation has been populated by skilled
people from Italy, Hungary, Ireland and many other places where life was hard. Look at the names of the people that you know.
We come from many places. We are a wonderful amalgamation of the human race.
We have become Americans. Because of what has so gracefully happened to us, we certainly can continue to offer a
welcoming hand to those who are oppressed today.
Jesus came and taught us to love one another.
It is not bombs and guns that are a good response to the hatred that we have
seen; but love and compassion. Certainly,
we have shown a measure of that to the people of Paris and Beirut who have
suffered; but we need also to have some compassion and love for those who have
been a part of the perpetration of these tragedies. When we can learn to love our enemies, then
there will be peace on this earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment