On the Road
March 20, 2005
Psalm 118:1-4, 20
Matthew 21:1-11
I love this story because it’s a mess. It’s difficult no matter how you read it. As a story we’ve got Jesus riding two animals, surrounded by throngs of people, out in the street, who are absolutely convinced that Jesus is a new kind of King. Yet, in our reading today we are already realizing that in four days everything disintegrates. How can we go from throngs who are loving this guy and lining the streets to throngs that want this rebel’s life.
Theologically, it’s an equally difficult work. This story from Matthew is being written 90 years after Jesus’ birth to a community that has been kicked out of the synagogue. Historically, we’ve got a tight Roman rule and in no way would anyone be having a parade with any amount of people proclaiming anyone any kind of King other than the emperor. If that had been the case he’d have been eliminated on the spot…And this is where we recognize, realize, this has all the signs of parabolic storytelling. And things come back into focus.
We’ve got a community that has lost its compass. Jesus has been dead over 50 years and the Jesus cult has been separated from the community. You can imagine the kind of fighting that must have been going on. Who remembered things the best? Who was doing things “the right way”? Who had the most authority with the story, the preaching, the community? The writer of today’s gospel was working to find foundational material for the new community. Texts that would function like the Torah and this is where the storytelling begins. Storytelling that is working to strengthen the community from within. Storytelling whose purpose is to engage the imagination of the people. That they might see themselves within the story and be transformed through its hearing.
We’ve been working for the past five weeks on a book by Marcus Borg entitled Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. Borg does this work because we often have a quite unconscious connection between images of Jesus and images of the Christian life. He’s reminded us that Jesus didn’t think of himself and speak of himself as the Son of God, his message was not about believing in him. Instead, Jesus was a Spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew. The Jesus community had a social vision that was shaped by the core value of compassion instead of holiness codes. Borg pushes us to broaden our framework for thinking about images of Jesus and images of the Christian life to include the whole stories of the Bible. Stories appeal to the imagination, to that place within us where our images of reality, life, and ourselves reside. The great stories of the Bible image what the religious life is about.
And today, in this tradition we have a great parable acted out for us that unites the story of Jesus with an image of Christian life.
Bible Story: So, the story goes…Jesus at the edge of the city asks the disciples to retrieve a donkey and its colt for him. Just as the Torah commands that the sign will be fulfilled when the new prophet would arrive. And as these preparations are made the word spreads that Jesus is coming to town. So the crowds gather and as they line the streets they cover the streets with their cloaks, the palms, anything that this King may not have to touch the earth. Mobs of people shouting and praising and celebrating this new possibility hooray!
To journey with Jesus means listening to his teaching—sometimes understanding it, sometimes not quite getting it. It can involve denying him and betraying him. Discipleship means being on the road with Jesus, an itinerant, a sojourner trading conventional wisdom for alternative wisdom of life in the Spirit. Discipleship means eating at his table and experiencing his banquet. Discipleship means being in the alternative community of Jesus. So on this joyous occasion today we remember. We remember the alternative vision of the subversive, compassionate, humble leader. And, we are challenged by his actions. His action to return to the city that has cast him out. He walks into the place where he is forbidden and his life is in danger. He continues to challenge and work in his subversive wisdom even against the authorities and the powers that be. He chooses to stand up, to ride in, and to live from the compassion of God for all of the people. This story today is foundational in our discipleship, our Christian living. It is important to show up when there are palms to wave and hoorays to shout. It is important to celebrate the wonderful compassion that is central to our community of faith. But, it is also a reminder that it is an altogether different thing to unite our living and walking with the real presence of Jesus when difficult choices must be made and when a direct route must be taken. What does it mean to engage our political figures, our friends, our neighbors, our enemies in a compassionate challenge for all the people. We have the kind of faith and kind of leader who rolled up his sleeves, jumped on a donkey, told a lot of stories, and scared the Roman Empire to its core because of compassion. And today in our discipleship we are called to do no less. We are called to ride into the places where compassion is missing. We are called to use our talents, our voices, our bodies, our lives to walk into those tight places. The Good News for today is no matter how difficult it is to walk into a situation, God goes with us. No matter what our struggle is, God’s compassion lives for us. No matter how corrupt or controlling the powers and principalities may be God is with us. No matter who tries to call you out, tear you down, end your life, God is with us. Hooray! This is the day, this is the story, this is the time, that we celebrate. We have the kind of God who allows us to choose our path. We have the kind of God that offers us compassion and courage for creating subversive wisdom. We have the opportunity to choose a new kind of living with every day of our being. Let’s join Jesus on this political road finding out that this compassionate God will be with us in each step deepening the experience of compassion for all. Let’s work this week to meet this Jesus in these tight places and celebratory places again for the first time. Let us pray.