Bearing Christ

Hi darlings!

I am just sitting here with my Palm Sunday service pretty much wrapped up, and thinking about the week to come. I recall to you the words of my dear mentor, the recently deceased Rev. Peter Gomes, who wrote,

You may be aware that this Sunday has two titles, those of Palm Sunday and the Sunday of the Passion. Today also has two moods. There is that festival frenzy of the palms, the marvelous chaos which we organize every year. We try to capture the mood of that triumphal entry with donkeys and asses and yelling Jews and screaming disciples of which the gospel speaks. The only one who seemed to have any peace or calm about the whole thing is not Jesus but the donkey. The donkey is the only one who knows where he is going. – Peter Gomes, Sermons: Biblical Wisdom For Daily Living, p. 69

My sermon, called “Hoofing It To Jerusalem” is on that very theme, the calm of the donkey walking step by step and doing his job. I conclude, “We are the cheering, expectant crowds, we are the determined, courageous and resigned holy one, we are the cynics and the merely curious bystanders and the hopeful disciples and we are the rocks and trees and dust of the road – the things of Earth which will never perish. And we are the donkey, sweet and sure, hoofing it to Jerusalem in our steady way, grounded in purpose and unwavering in determination, mindful that we carry the Divine with every step we take.”

Get a good night’s sleep tonight, dear ones. Rise early enough to clop steadily through your morning. Take time to groom yourself beautifully, eat well, pray, dress carefully, get to church in plenty of time to attend to details, and don’t let anything throw you off your course. You are getting ready to lead a community through Holy Week. The other things can wait. In fact, they’ll have to. This is no time to plan next year’s budget or start drawing up plans for the building project or hire a new youth director. It is time to draw close as God’s people, stick our faces in the Bible, hold hands and break bread together, and encounter the living God who will raise us from the dead.

Remember the burden you bear, and walk proud.