PALM SUNDAY

Palm Sunday 2014  - Philippians 2:5-11

 

‘ LORD. I know not what I ought to ask of Thee; thou only knowest what I need; thou lovest me better than I know how to love myself. O Father, give to thy child that which he himself does not know how to ask.  I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations; I simply present myself before thee; I open my heart to thee.  Behold my needs which I do not know myself; see and do according to thy tender mercy.  Smite or heal; depress me or raise me up; I adore all thy purposes without knowing them; I am silent; I offer myself in sacrifice; I yield myself to thee; I would have no other desire than to accomplish thy will. Teach me to pray; pray thyself in me.” Amen.

 

  This may be a prayer that we could pray this week of the Passion .  As I look at it, it is also a prayer that Jesus may have prayed as well.  “ I am silent” “ I offer myself in sacrifice.”  “ I yield myself to thee.”  “ I would have no other desire than to accomplish thy will.”

 

“ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…taking the form of a servant…He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  Philippians 2

 

It hit me when I realized what was being said.  We are to have the same humility that led Jesus to the cross in our lives , our relationships and in our world.  This is a remarkable challenge.  “ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ..”

 

What does this mean for our relationships and our church here?  “ Be of one accord”  “ Be of one mind”  “ Let nothing be done through strife…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

 

A little book called, Living with Contradiction by Esther de Waal describes her week long retreat at the Anglican Monastery of Holy Cross on the Hudson River in the summer of 1988.  She said, “ we are all made up of body, mind  and spirit…due attention must be paid to each element, that each is taken seriously, and can become a way to God.”  Why go on retreat?  Too busy? Or do we think we are indispensable ?  Going on retreat is taking the form of a servant acknowledging that we need God, and that we are in need of renewal and rest.

 

In her thoughts and meditation on the Rule of ST Benedict Esther wrote this and I think this is at the heart of our problem as well: “…unless and until we can live with ourselves, we cannot live with other people.”  What do you and I do to reflect on God and His ways for us in our busy lives?  Listen….more from some very difficult words but words we need to hear now:  “ We all stand in need of healing.  We are all seeking wholeness…unless we attend to our inner conflicts and contradictions, not only will we find ourselves torn apart by our inner divisions but also we shall very likely inflict wounds on those around us.”  Sound too familiar ?  How many times have we failed to take those deep breaths and pauses and silent moments and lash out with words that do not have any love or concern for others behind them?  We are to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus.

 

FR. David Curry said in a sermon on Palm Sunday from Nova Scotia, Canada:

	Holy Week unfolds the drama of our salvation.  Through the extreme intensity of this week, we contemplate the two great spectacles of sin and love – our sin and God’s love for us.  Both are made visible for us in the Passion of Christ.  He is “made sin for us”, meaning that he bears the true meaning of our sins in his body.  In Christ crucified, we contemplate the meaning and nature of sin itself.  This week will reveal the full spectacle of our human hearts in complete and utter disarray.   It isn’t just about Judas.  He isn’t the scapegoat.  He is the symbol of what is in all of us.  Which is exactly what all four gospels each in their own way show us.  “His blood be on us, and on our children”, the people say about Jesus.  The point of our liturgy is to place us in the crowd.  The point of our liturgy is to know the Judas in all of us, that we are the betrayers of Christ in one way or another.  The ways are at once unique to us and boringly the same.  Nothing more boring than sin, yet our sins are uniquely ours.  They are made visible to us in the spectacles of this week.  We are the actors in this drama and we confront ourselves in the picture of Christ crucified who prays the “forgiveness of his foes’ fierce spite.”  We behold the spectacles of sin and love.  Such is redemption.    “Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children”

I must make amends.  I must confess that I have sinned and have come short of the glory of God my Saviour.  For Jesus went to the Cross for my sin.  “ The Cross tells me that there are no short cuts…the first step for transforming pain is to look at it with all honesty, and then open myself up to God’s healing and transforming love.” Esther de Waal

 

There are no short cuts when it comes to my shortcomings and sin.  “ I must not forget the pain that went into the shaping of a living tree into a cross…IT IS IN THE CERTAINTY OF THAT LOVE , that total and unconditional love that makes all things possible.” Esther de Waal

 

LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU AND I WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS.

   HE HUMBLED HIMSELFAND BECAME OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS.

 

But , that is not the end.  “ Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”

 

So as we begin Holy Week, I ask, “ how can you and I be servants, and have the mind which was also in Christ Jesus?”

 

St. Benedict says that Christ is the model for all our love.  We are forgiven. So forgive. Be servants.  Have this mind.

 

“ O  Merciful God, Grant that I may ardently desire, wisely investigate, truthfully recognize, and perfectly fulfill whatsoever is pleasing unto thee, to the praise and honor of thy name.”