In Jesus, all of our ideas about glory, royalty, exclusivity, and honor get up-ended. People project all kinds of notions onto him, and he just proceeds with his work healing and preaching his message.

One minute (in last week’s text) he’s talking about how it's time for him to be “glorified”  - when what he means is not exactly our ideal glory: death. As opposed to, say, winning military battles or wearing fancy priest robes. And the next minute (in this week’s Palm Sunday text) he’s playing the people’s game, riding into the city on an unbroke donkey. I can imagine him sortof shrugging like, “guess we’re doing this now.”

See, based on his actions here I don’t get the idea that he feels like he needs to be worshipped. He’s trailed by a crowd due to the fact that he’s just raised Lazarus from the dead* but he’s not letting it go to his head or calling attention to himself. He chooses the most lowly of pack animals. He seems happy with paltry palm fronds for offerings. His ego doesn’t require trumpets. He’s the most willing to get down and dirty with lonely and sick people in the streets and byways. I hear his main message as “God’s community is right here for you to join up with” and not “worship me I’m the king of the world.”

And I wonder how often we are getting this wrong: thinking Jesus needs to be put on a pedestal and worshipped rather than learned from and followed. I wonder how often we are that crowd, projecting our need for a loud and rowdy to-do onto Jesus, rather than plugging into the new way of being that he’s embodying and trying to help us wake up to.

God, we witness Christ in the scriptures

Embodying healing love,

Preaching the nearness of God,

Walking along the Path of Peace.

His humble way of love,

Not seeking power or prestige,

Not walling himself up in an ivory tower,

Not following ego’s ambitions,

Is a profound teacher for us,

Who live in a society obsessed with status.

He is victorious without winning military battles.

He is wealthy without owning riches.

He is powerful without lording it over anyone.

His goodness needs no explanation.

We confess that we have often worshipped from afar,

Rather than sitting close to listen.

We confess that we have often observed Christ’s teachings,

Rather than embodying them.

On this Palm Sunday, we ask to be re-calibrated

To the humble way of Christ,

Whose feet were weary with road dust,

Who wept with his grieving friends (1),

Who concerned himself with empty bellies (2),

Who rode into Jerusalem on the lowliest donkey (3)

We hear Christ’s message:

“Turn around, the Kin-dom of God is right here!”

And know that we are welcomed into it just as we are,

And we welcome it into ourselves (4).

We sing and shout the Hosannas along with that crowd (5),

Because we are so refreshed by the realness of Christ -

By his kindness and empathy,

By his invitation and welcome,

By his largeness of heart.

And these are the qualities we intend to imitate.

Amen

*in the John account

John 11:33

John 6:11

John 12:14, Mark 11:7

Luke 17:21

John 12:13, Mark 11:9