1st April 2007PALM SUNDAY
Fr Julian Browning
On Palm Sunday the people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. We are going to do just that in our procession when we sing All glory laud and honour. We welcome the king into his new kingdom.
...it turns out it's not just about ourselves, it's not just about all the others travelling with us. Jesus is travelling the same road as ourselves
The procession is a victory parade, and I want to talk about this victory parade because it is all a bit strange when we remember what is going to happen this week. Jesus the king is going to be put on trial and put to death. What is so glorious about that? Let's think about our own position for a moment, the stage we've got to in life. All of us have a sort of private spiritual journey we're going on. It's our own little procession through life, trying to find some significance, some meaning to our lives, enjoying what life offers, questioning, finding out, getting things wrong and going off on a tangent, but whatever it is, it's personal. Today's little procession round the church tells us that this spiritual journey need not be a lonely business. Everyone else is on a similar trip, and there is a lot to be learnt from travelling together, learning from each other, and contributing what we know. The private journey, what we call the journey within, needs a public expression. If the private journey is to make any sense, to be fruitful in any way, it will become a public procession with others, expressing the freedom which comes to those who love God. Jesus's private communion with God, his prayer, will lead to the public expression of God's love when he washes his disciples' feet on Maundy Thursday. Of course, we can rejoice, pray and give thanks by ourselves, but it's never entirely satisfactory, a bit like a birthday party for one. Nor should anyone suffer alone. This new heaven and earth, this kingdom, is for everybody. The kingdom, the way, eternal life, whatever you call it, is not just for those who believe more than others, those who are pious, those who are good, who've got it all worked out. The kingdom of God is for people like us who are trying to love God and His creation, because from what we've seen and heard, God loves us. Now the Palm Sunday procession takes us straight into the Kingdom because it turns out it's not just about ourselves, it's not just about all the others travelling with us. Jesus is travelling the same road as ourselves; that's why we carry these palm crosses. We who welcome him into our lives on Palm Sunday, are prepared to follow him to the cross on Good Friday. His journey becomes our journey. It's as if the slip roads now join the motorway. Our private little journey, pottering along, turns out to be mainstream after all. The significance of the world, the meaning of life, that we've been fumbling around for for years, is suddenly before our eyes when we welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, and follow him through Holy Week, to his death and resurrection. It's not just about us anyway. There's much more at stake. When the Pharisees told Jesus to keep his disciples quiet, Jesus said that if this lot falls silent, then the very stones, inanimate creation, would cry out instead. This is cosmic stuff. Is it all too much for us individualists to believe today? What is faith? What is our faith in Holy Week? Faith is not trying to believe impossible things. That never works. Faith is a decision. Our abilities are less important than our choices. There are no exams to pass, but there are choices to be made. Faith is a decision to join a procession, to choose to take our place among the disciples, and to welcome the King of glory.