Palm Sunday 2008

Yet another politician is going down. The Governor of New York, a man who campaigned on morality h= as resigned because of his role in a prostitution ring. What is it about powerful people and risk-taking?

A study done by: CAMERON ANDERSON1* AND ADAM D. GALINSKY2 of the 1University of California, Berkeley, USA an= d 2Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA

Concludes: “ Powerful people might be so focused on the payoffs and not focused at= all on the consequences of their actions, and more optimistic that they can get away with a range of actions, that their behavior becomes more risky, less inhibited, and more likely to violate social and ethical norms. It might be= that optimism, rather than any inherent wickedness, leads powerholders to engage= in such egregious acts.” European Journal of Social Psychology Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 36, 511–536 (2006) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.324

I have also read that powerful people, once they reach= the pinnacle of their abilities, need to find ever riskier challenges to take. Hence the Enron story of a few yea= rs ago. When you have every thin= g you have ever wanted…what’s next?&= nbsp; Another goal, another challenge, another risk.

So the headlines show us the dirt and the fall from gr= ace and power. We don’t see= the consequences to family and friends. The shame and guilt and work to recover.

Let’s contrast this type of power, a power that makes you think you a= re invincible…with the power of God as seen in today’s readings.

After all, who is more powerful than God? Anyone? Yeah. God is pretty much what we have at= the peak of power. Creator = of heaven and earth. Redeemer of humankind. Savior and king.

Doesn’t get much more powerful than this. And yet, and yet the king of the w= orld arrives in Jerusalem on an…a donkey. N= ot a war horse but a beast of burden. But he gets the red carpet treatment… by those outside the cit= y. These people see God in Jesus. Not a war god or a vengeful = god, but a loving servant god.

And then, God, almighty and powerful, is called before Pilate. Not because he took unnecessary im= moral risks. Not because he w= as threatening to overthrow the Roman government. Not because he made bad financial decisions.

But because he preached equality, hospitality to all,<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> a forgiveness of sins and a societ= y of equals. This one, Jesus, was a threat not because he= had military might, but because h= e had compassion. And he was a threat because he questioned the status quo, the abuses of religion and politic= s…the way things were.

And for it, the almighty God doesn’t roar in anger and strike Pilate, Herod, the Roman army dead. God doesn= 217;t end the world right then and there. God doesn’t send in the heavenly hosts to battle the wicked of= the world.

This powerful God,&nb= sp; takes it. Humbly. Calmly. Takes on the name-calling and the taunting, the beating and the spitting, the suffering. And the death.

God takes it. Takes it into his very heart and soul: Body and blood. And there, in the very breath of Jesus…= the last breath…it is transformed. The hatred and the frustration,&nbs= p; the confusion and the defensiveness, the shame and guilt and sin of = the world. The shame and guilt an= d sin of the most powerful who have fallen from grace and the ordinary souls seek= ing to get through the day.

Jesus takes it in.&nb= sp; And takes it to the grave. Dead. Buried. The stone rolled over the tomb. The women gone home now to weep. The disciples in hiding. Those villagers who followed Jesus= into town have taken their palms and gone home wondering what went wrong.

And we enter Holy Week, this holy time of standing in = awe of a God who can take it, who can absorb all the pain and hurt the world can d= ish out.

And then we wait.&nbs= p; We gather to wash feet and eat the meal. We gather in the dark to hear agai= n the way Jesus dies. And the= n we wait.

Knowing, even as we listen and sing and pray, knowing even as we eat this bread = and wine, knowing that this is no= t the end. It is not the end.=

But we must wait, not jump ahead to Easter yet. Because in the waiting God comes t= o us, takes our pain and shame and guilt and fear. In the waiting we realize what pow= er really is. What strength real= ly comes from weakness. What life really comes from death. What God can take from our own darkness and pain.

So wait with me. Remain here with me. W= atch and pray.