A Holy Week - And a King - We don't Expect

4-5-20- Palm Sunday

Grace to you and Peace from God our Creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sometimes, when you’re having a good time, or you’re “in the zone,” and hours or an entire day can pass in the blink of an eye. Other times, time can stretch out and feels like an eternity. Especially when you are at home, social distancing - an hour may feel forever, or you may collapse into bed every night wondering where the day went, and we can’t stand the thought of doing the exact same thing tomorrow.

During these forty days of Lent, we are deliberately stretching out time, so that we are spending six weeks with our eyes on the cross. And now we are here, the beginning of Holy Week, starting with today, Palm Sunday.

It all began with such high hopes, when Jesus entered Jerusalem in a parade, palm leaves flying. It’s no wonder – for the people have seen some pretty amazing things from Jesus in the last three years. Jesus has healed people with skin diseases and people who were paralyzed. Jesus has calmed storms and cast out demons. Jesus has feed thousands and told story after story about the amazing love God has for his wayward people. So they shouted “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosana – save us! But these are dangerous words, especially when this country is under occupation by a ruling force that is both powerful and swift to punishment.

The people wanted this Jesus to be a king to rise up and send the Romans packing. Those backed by Roman power and authority feared that this Jesus would rally enough support to be a threat. Later on this week, Jesus will pay the price, and be labeled as a failed king by his enemies.

This was not the first time, though, that Jesus had been called a king. Long before this, back at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, a group of wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem, and asking “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” This terrified the entire city of Jerusalem, and with good reason. Then, as now, there can only be one king, and his name is Caesar. So, when Jesus was arrested, the religious elite imagined charges that would get the Roman’s attention – that Jesus claimed to be a king.

Jesus, who seems so harmless to us – welcoming children, talking to women, feeding people, healing the blind and the infirm. But the great irony is that Jesus is actually guilty of the trumped-up charges against him. Jesus really IS the King. “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name, it’s his title. It means the one who is anointed, selected and set apart by God, to rule as king.

But Jesus is not just a regular old king, like the brutal and cruel Caesars of this world, set apart above and beyond the people they rule over. Jesus is not a king that comes with armies and weapons to vanquish his enemies. Jesus came to be a king WITH his people, to rule them by example of self-giving love. His is a kingdom that conquers by peace, rather than the violence and death that SEEMS to win by taking Jesus’s life. Death seems like the only option to shut Jesus up. After all, even kings die. No ruler, no emperor, no king, no matter how powerful, has ever defeated the power of death. But then again, Jesus isn’t just a regular old, king, is he?

And this is not going to be a regular old Holy Week, is it? This is a Holy Week for the history books, and years from now our children and grandchildren will ask us – what was it like, in 2020, when there was no palms and no parade and no in-person gatherings at all?

I admit, this year I had such high hopes. I really wanted to try Dinner Church for Maundy Thursday, and I was excited to have an even bigger turn out for our Noon Five Senses Good Friday service than the forty we had last year. I think we could say that we would all love for Jesus to rise up and send the virus packing. Hosanna – save us! We could really use it right now.

But this isn’t the first time that unexpected circumstances have stretched us and challenged us, and it’s not the last time that Jesus is going to show up in ways we didn’t expect. So this year, instead of a parade around the church to usher in Holy Week, we stay home to protect our vulnerable neighbors and keep it safe for all the medical staff and essential workers who are working hard to heal the people who are sick. They are the real, unseen heroes, putting themselves on the line, who are working hard and so doing are showing us the way of Jesus. And so, the least we can do is help them – by staying home, by not stashing away toilet paper….. but also for advocating for fair pay and compensation for those left vulnerable.

This is not the Holy Week we’re expecting, just as Jesus is not the king we expect. Jesus may not be the king we want, but he is exactly the kind of King we need. Because no matter what happens, Jesus is here.

This week is what the forty days of Lent have been leading up to. We are about to enter a week where time is more than just seconds ticking by on a clock. Where the cross - an instrument of torture and intimidation - becomes the means through which we are saved. Where our sacred and meaningful rituals have been temporarily stripped away from us… but our faith remains. Jesus remains. And, as the Roman officials and Jesus’s enemies found out the hard way at the end of this week – Jesus is NOT going anywhere. Thanks bet to God. Amen.