Hey, it's Palm Sunday! I've always loved it, how about you? Palm Sunday means kids waving palms processing around the church, it means singing songs we only get to sing once a year, it means excitement and celebration. My favorite telling of the story is from the Gospel of Luke (chpt. 19). I love it because the disciples and everyone on the streets are cheering so loud that it makes the Pharisees angry. They tell the Jesus and his friends to be quiet and Jesus explains that even if they were quiet the rocks would cry out. I love it! I love the idea that even the rocks will cry out in praise because Jesus coming into town is that important, that exciting, that awe-inspiring! It always makes me reflect on the role of praising God in my life.
Today I heard a wonderful sermon on the role of the donkey-giver in the Palm Sunday story. As I was listening I got to thinking about this donkey. I get the significance of the donkey in the story as another reminder of Christ's humility. I get that it would have seemed absurd to the people for their King to come riding into town on it, that it would have made them celebrate all the more that this King was like them....a King for the people! But then I get to thinking about the donkey. I'm no cowgirl, but I'm pretty sure that riding a donkey through town in a crowd of people might not go so well.
I rode a donkey once. I'm pretty sure it was an act of animal cruelty, but it was to raise funds for something. I was in high school and it was donkey basketball. My donkey literally went to the circle in the center of the court and stopped. He wouldn't move forward or backward. He was just done. I tried everything I could think of, only to have him drop his head down and send me to the floor. I think he was mad that he was supposed to carry around all 5'11" of me. It became a cycle of getting on, standing still, getting thrown off....getting on....and so on. He was stubborn.
I'm stubborn too. I've been trying really hard lately to be more focused on God's presence in all situations and less on what I want/desire. I am pretty used to controlling things in my life, and with a great ambition to succeed and for my ministry to succeed I sometimes forget that it's not about being perfect, it's about trusting God and having faith. This seems to be a lesson I learn repeatedly. Maybe I'm more like the donkey than I want to be, too stubborn to realize how much God is at work in the details, how each person I encounter has a story that will now be intertwined with mine if only I slow down long enough to let it. I've also been realizing lately that if we do our best to 'bloom where we're planted' we might be surprised at what God can do. Rather than always looking ahead to the next big thing, or trying to do something huge to make the world a better place I really believe it's about doing our best where we are, right now.
Jesus had much more to deal with than a stubborn donkey, he had to constantly deal with stubborn people who didn't want to change, who thought he was too radical, too different. He didn't follow the rules the way the religious leaders would have liked. He healed on the Sabbath, spent time with the untouchables, and didn't seem to get discouraged in the face of adversity. He loved people. He loved ALL people. And that is why there was a parade when he rode into town...and a cross waiting for Him at the end of the week.
If we really want to be like Jesus we can't play it safe. We can't always be looking for a better church, more money, more power. If we really want to join in the parade shouting "Hallelujah! Hosanna in the highest!" we can't be quiet about loving radically. If we love like Jesus we will be embraced and celebrated in the midst of nasty people who aren't willing to change or embrace the new things God is doing in our midst. If we want to be like Jesus we must bloom where we're planted. In the midst of the known God interrupts with Jesus-size-opportunities. In the midst of the stubborn, wanting-things to-be-a-certain-way-situations, we have to trust the leading of the Spirit more than our own desires or experiences.
So tonight I'm praying that I'm more like the cheering crowd and less like the donkey. How about you?
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