Keep on keepin' on

 

Mark 11: 1-11
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
March 28, 2021

First, we need to set the stage, for this is indeed high drama with political overtones and undertow. It is the day when Passover will begin at sundown. A river of pilgrims, a caravan of peasants are making their way to Jerusalem to celebrate one of their most important holidays, holy days, and Jesus and his disciples are among them. Before Jesus enters Jerusalem, he instructs two of his disciples to acquire a colt for him to ride on. All they have to say is that the Lord needs it and that it will be returned to the owner.



Some of the disciples put their cloaks on the colt and Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem and enters by the east gate. Other pilgrims nearby form a procession, some spreading their cloaks on the road like a carpet for a king, others scattering leafy branches that they had cut from the fields on the side of the road. Some folks then go ahead of Jesus, shouting “Hosanna! Save us! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”



On the west side of the city there is another procession, a military parade. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the region, is entering the city as was the custom, not to honor the Jewish holiday, but to exert a presence of power to discourage and quash any uprising or protest. Passover is a feast that celebrates liberation from enslavement and empire. The Romans wouldn’t want these peasant laborers getting any ideas. Most likely riding a war horse, Pilate would be leading a garrison of soldiers, some on horseback, others marching on foot, armed to the teeth, with the emperor’s colors flying high. Pilate also comes in the name of his Lord, Caesar Tiberius. As Jesus Seminar author Marcus Borg writes, for Jesus this is a planned political demonstration.

Peace vs. war. Humility vs. ego. Non-violence vs. weapons designed to kill. Vulnerable human lives vs. armor and might. Poverty vs. riches. The occupied vs. oppressors. God’s kingdom, God’s kindom, the Beloved Community vs. empire and the domination system. We think we know which side we’re on and yet we benefit from the side that crucified Jesus.



Minister Candace Simpson of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, NY invites us to think of Palm Sunday in contemporary terms. What if these were Black and brown disciples, gang members, which is another way of saying ‘chosen family’, Jesus’ ride or die folks, part of Jesus’ local Black Lives Matter movement? What if they were hotwiring a car in downtown L.A. or Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis or Milwaukee, and when asked what they were doing, replied, “The Lord has need of it and we’ll bring it back as soon as we’re done with it”? There would have been no triumphant entry. Someone would have called the police and the only triumph would be that hopefully no one got shot.

Remember that in none of these stories is Jesus White. Jesus is Black, brown, Indigenous, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and so is his God. This Palm Sunday protest looks more like Dr. King’s march to Selma, like Gandhi’s march to the Indian Ocean, like a Black Lives Matter protest, than it does any of our childhood celebrations. There really isn’t anything sweet about the word hosanna, “Save us”, when it comes to the oppression and criminalization of those empire can crush. In effect, their hosannas were more like “I can’t breathe”, “Hands up, don’t shoot”, “No justice, no peace”.



What is it that the Lord needs of us? If we were asked, would we give it? What would compel us to do something strange, something that makes no logical sense?



Church is about building covenant community and trusting relationships, but it is also about practicing community among and with strangers. One of the things I have missed this past year is helping and talking with strangers, chance meetings, unexpected requests. We think about getting a return from our money, how is it spent, but when the stock market goes south and we lose money, we chalk it up to chance, bad luck, better luck next time. Why aren’t we as willing to risk less than what we would spend on a stock purchase on a human being who must prove their worth? Meanwhile, the nine wealthiest people in the U.S. made over $360 billion in the past year.

What is it that the Lord needs of us? If we were asked, would we give it?



An average of more than 500 unaccompanied minors have reached the U.S. border each day in the first 21 days of March. As the climate continues to change, as violence and living conditions worsen in other countries, migration around the world will continue to increase.



What is it that the Lord needs of us? If we were asked, would we give it?



Mennonite pastor Tim Amor tweeted, “It’s always easier to flip the tables that don’t give us a seat. It’s very hard to flip tables when we’ve got the best seats.”

What is it that the Lord needs of us? If we were asked, would we give it?



Author Austin Channing Brown writes, “…I am not impressed with America’s progress. I am not impressed that slavery was abolished or that Jim Crow ended. I feel no need to pat America on its back for these ‘achievements’. This is how it always should have been. Many call it progress, but I do not consider it praiseworthy that only within the last generation did America reach the baseline for human decency. … This is the shadow of hope. Knowing that we may never see the realization of our dreams, and yet still showing up.”



In this discomforting protest parade, Jesus is asking what Kierkegaard called a “leap into faith”. The Lord has need of us. Sometimes we’re not given all the details, what we might think of as good enough reasons. Sometimes we push back, and yet this protest parade just keeps going on and on. I know this is hard stuff, but that’s because it’s true. Author Sue Monk Kidd wrote, “The truth may set you free, but first it will shatter the safe, sweet way you live.” The needs are never-ending, but so is the militant parade of systemic injustice.



Even so, Jesus says he will return what was needed. And so we keep on keepin’ on caring for each other. We keep on keepin’ on coming together as church. We keep on keepin’ on with what restores us and sustains us, what gives us joy, what helps us grow. We keep on keepin’ on examining our choices, our actions, our motivation. We keep on keepin’ on with this on-going revolution that was started long before Jesus so that it keeps going for those who come after us. We keep on keepin’ on imagining and dreaming what a transformed world would look like, what would we look like transformed. The long moral arc of the universe bends toward justice when we bend toward justice. Keep on keepin’ on. Amen.



Benediction – enfleshed.com


Moving through the gentle and angry,
the humble and bold,
the hopeful and resolute,
Christ makes known the power of God.
It does not trickle down from on high but rises up among us:
In the streets.
From deep within.
Among all the creatures of the earth.
Let us go, declaring, Hosanna!