Subvert the Dominant Paradigm

Readings: LK 19:28-40; IS 50:4-7; PHIL 2:6-11; LK 22:14—23:56

Palm Sunday marks the start of the “high holy days” of the Christian calendar culminating in what is called the Triduum which starts on Holy Thursday and ends on Easter Sunday.  This week is the microcosm of the faith and encapsulates the wide range of human emotion.  In summary, what you “need to know” about Christianity was meant to summarized this week, and in the early church the “new Christians” (called catechumens) were initiated into the church through baptism at the Easter Vigil.  This is a really BIG week in our faith calendar!

I always loved Palm Sunday as a kid because the palms were something fun to play with during church.  When I was young we also read the passion with multiple readers, and even the church goers had a part.  But I never liked how our lines were always the negative ones like, “Crucify him!” I also had no real idea what this story was about.

If you grew up Christian/Catholic/Non-Denominational, did you have a particular Palm Sunday memory?  What did you think the story meant back then?

The scripture scholars who have influenced me have helped me to see so much more happening in this drama.  People like Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan (in their 2007 book The Last Week) help to provide some incredible context that changes the story entirely for me. And that’s a bit of what I’ll reflect on again this year – because I think we need to keep returning to this alternative interpretation year after year.   (I am also aware that as I write these words, NATO countries that had formerly been turning away from military buildup are re-engaging the tools of empire.  And places like the United States have even more “justification” to shore up military budgets and building weapons of war…)

The Palm Sunday pageant that we celebrate is really an anti-imperial counter demonstration and street theater.  Think about protests that you have seen outside of significant meetings in Washington, DC, for example.  There may be an important bill being considered, and hundreds, maybe thousands converge outside – with signs, puppets, costumes, etc. to send a message to legislators.  But also think about #BlackLivesMatter protests. Think about the Women’s March in Washington. Think about #Occupy protests. That’s kind of what is happening today.

Jesus knew that every year during the Passover (one of the Jewish tradition’s holiest times), Rome paraded their military through the city just to remind people who was in charge.  The Passover festivities brought out a lot of people, so Rome always got a bit nervous about crowd control.  In response, they flexed their muscle, and they were not forgiving if you crossed them.  

So at the same time that the Roman army is coming in one side of the city, Jesus and his ragamuffin band of folks are coming in the other side.  He rides on a donkey – partly mocking the war stallions that the military leaders would ride into town – but also telling people that he is not going to war against anyone, ever.  And instead of waving weapons, his followers have palm branches (which were an ancient symbol of imperial might).  They are shouting, “Hosanna,” which means “Save or rescue us.”  

In a context where the emperor is considered a “god,” these are words of sedition.  Maybe the crowd did not realize the full extent of what was going on, but surely Jesus did.  His direct confrontation of “the powers and principalities” put him on a collision course with those in positions of power. And he was doing it out in the open for all to see.

Let’s also remember that Jesus wasn’t just doing a “demonstration” and then congratulating himself for standing up to Rome. He was living the alternative – being in radical community with the outcasts and the poor, feeding people, healing the sick, etc. And he was doing these out in the open too.

That’s, in part, what Lent is supposed to do for us.  The gospels are meant to be an alternative to business as usual in the world, and Lent is supposed to help us cultivate alternative space inside of us and in the world.  It is a space of nonviolence, compassion, generosity, forgiveness, love and the creation of the beloved community.

But it’s not just theoretical space.  It is meant to have economic, political and social implications.  And these are public.  

Scripture scholar Ched Myers says that every year we “recreate” Jesus’ demonstration on Palm Sunday and yet seem to fundamentally miss its point.  He wonders what it would mean to undomesticate the story and re-contextualize its meaning.

So we might wonder:

If Jesus wanted to make a similar statement, where do you think he might go – locally and nationally?

Who would likely be in his company?

What holiday might he choose to demonstrate on?

What would he be challenging? (and who might already be taking up that challenge)

And when we think of the responses to all of those questions, we might also ask, “And where are we in the midst of all of that?”

Our “worship” and faith – if they are to be true to the gospel – ultimately lead us into the public space in order to subvert the systems of power and domination that operate in our world and work to create a viable alternative.  This may be scary and difficult work, but that is our tradition, and Lent is intended to help us prepare for that witness.

Just sit with whatever comes up for you today.