Two Parties to Celebrate the King by Heid Jakoby

Are you ready to Party! With St. Patrick’s Day just last week, many were out partying and attending parades or marching in them. Many people love to party and to celebrate things by gathering together around a common theme. As we enter into Holy Week we begin with Palm Sunday and the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem Luke 19:28-40. Jesus riding into Jerusalem started a party, people were yelling “Hosanna – Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord”, and they were excited and happy. Check out this link to the Musical Jesus Christ Superstar What's the Buzz

I have always loved this musical, because it put an edge on the story and this particular song talks about the good things that can be if everyone just listened and accepted Jesus. At this point in the story the people did not know what was to come, they were on a high of celebration and joy. In our modern world have we as a society been on a real high just to be disappointed or have had to face a tragedy?

Jesus was promoted as the “New King” he did not embrace that label until this day and then he wanted the idea of King to be different than what came before. As Peter Wolf ruminates on his blog Palming off the Donkey King

Jesus could not accept the association with Kingship and rule until he had opportunity to correct the popular experience and understanding of what that meant. Lord knows the current exemplars of kingship and rule were far from Jesus’ concept. ... Power, control and brutal consequences for those who dissented.
This was not what Jesus wanted to be associated with and so he avoids being proclaimed king until he had had a time to reorient his disciples understanding of kingship.
In three and a half years he has modeled what kings are intended to do for their people:
• He has healed the broken and restored them to full participation in community
• He has forgiven those who missed the mark of required ethical and religious standards and included them in his new community.
• He has raised the dead so as to offer social security to those women who would be destitute by the deaths of the men (Lazarus, Widow of Nain)
• He has raised and healed children to break the bondage of bad theology that blamed bad things on parental conditions and culture (Children of Jairus and the Canaanite woman)
• He has been inclusive, unconditionally accepting, and restorative in his words and actions.
This is who kings and rulers are meant to be and now it is time for him to own the archetype and to associate with the kingship that the stoned prophets were trying to bring to the palaces of Palestine.(yes probably both meanings of “stoned”, they were high on God remember?)

Who have we viewed as kings and how have we celebrated them, Elvis Presley the “King of Rock N Roll” or Michael Jackson the “King of Pop”. Currently the Newseum in Washington has a special exhibit on Elvis Presley check out the promotional video.

Both of these popular “Kings” died at an early age, both had and still have a following throughout the world. What makes these individuals so different? What do you think? How do you decide who to follow? As I reflect on the life of Elvis and Michael Jackson, I just wonder why they both turned to drugs at some point. How difficult is it to be referred to as King?

For Jesus it was more difficult than we could imagine. Inviting everyone to follow a very different kind of king led to suffering and death, but also to new life. By giving his life for all, Jesus brought the whole broken humanity into God’s arms; to find healing; to find a different way to live. To find Life-for-all that’s truly worth partying about! It’s a mystery that’s hard to explain. You almost have to experience it and then talk it over with a friend or two.

That's what Holy Week is all about. You've got the week book-ended with parties: the palm-waving party for the King-on-a-donkey (a wild new kind of peace-making King) and then the biggest party of the year: the joy of Easter (the King is back!). In between, you get to live through the reasons for all the partying. I encourage you to attend as many Holy Week gatherings as you can in order to live the journey, in real time. Please come back to the blog or to our facebook page to share your experience. If you need help finding a place to go in your community please e-mail us at www.bytheway.nashua@gmail.com and we would be happy to help you.

Don’t forget we will be on Skype “bythewaycommunity” this Thursday March 25th from 7-8 PM for conversation.

Your comments are appreciated.

Everyone Loves A Parade

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, when believers around the world pause to mark Jesus’ welcome in a parade where cheering crowds waved branches cut from palm trees and shouted hooray for their hero and for God. The city was abuzz about this Jesus when he came to Jerusalem and they all wondered if he was the leader they should rally behind. Would he really save them from all their troubles and oppression was he the one?

In the heat of a presidential election year, in a world full of uncertainty, I can certainly relate to getting caught up in the excitement of a parade or campaign rally. We wonder if that person is the one, can he or she bring stability, strong leadership, and comfort through their resolve, their strength of mind or might? We are not that different from those crowds in Jerusalem who were filled with hope and longing for change.

But like the aftermath of a parade, streets littered with trash, manure from marching animals, and a let down found in the empty silence, the people of Jerusalem wondered and clung to their hyped-up visions of hope and change. We begin this holy week as our oppressed brothers and sister in Jerusalem did more than 2,000 years ago, elated and wondering what it all means.

In January I was in China and on the campus of Fudan University in Shanghai I was struck by a statue of a robed man on a donkey. The image for the Chinese is a symbol of intellectual spirit, which is humility and wisdom. For me I saw Jesus on Palm Sunday not riding heroically on a strong horse in a position of power, but sitting on an ass... a gentle animal that carries burdens and works for human benefit. From the back of an ass, the Jerusalem crowds cheered for a leader to crush their occupiers, calm the terror in their hearts and bring change. But Jesus in his humility and wisdom came not as a super hero but as a gift from God to carry our problems, our imperfections, and our fears.

In our world of entitlement and consumerism, we may think that we have a right, or are owed the basics of comfort, freedom, and love. But we are owed nothing; all we have is a gift from our creator God. We don’t have a right for God’s love, God doesn't owe us anything, but God loves us anyway. Anyone else would take other measures to solve the problems of the world, but God loves and gave us Jesus as a sign of that love.

What kind of leader are we waiting for? Which crowd will you follow? Palm Sunday begins the dramatic story and reality that Jesus came not to fulfill our selfish needs, but to die to save his people; people who in their selfishness became the crowd who turned against him, that crowd, those people are you and me. Dear Jesus, these are tough times for us and for you. Keep us in the parade of believers; remind us of the love of God and gather us around the events of this week so that we may rise with you on Easter.

+Bill Petersen