One of my early forays into conflict resolution happened when I was in 6th grade. I sat at a pod of 4 desks with Alan Huggins, Carol Mooney and one other person I don’t remember. One day after lunch recess, before the teacher returned to the room, Carol and Alan – who were not fond of each other to begin with, starting getting a bit snippy with each other. Slowly, their arguing escalated and they were screaming at each other. Most of the rest of us (or at least me) were more concerned with where the teacher was than the substance of their ever-loudening fight. It went on for what seemed like a half hour (in reality it was probably a minute). When the teacher did finally come in, they stopped immediately and started laughing with each other and with the teacher.
What we all thought was a spontaneous argument between two antagonists was in fact all staged by the three of them. It was the beginning of a lesson plan, staged to help us begin a conversation about conflict negotiation in a visceral, gut level way. It was an attempt to move the topic from “out there” to “right here.” So, even though it took me most of the afternoon to get over my own sense of fear that a major brawl was barely averted, it was all educational theater.
In their book, the Last Week, Marcus Borg and John Dominac Crossan point out that on that Sabbath day before Passover, there were TWO processionals. The one read about in Mark involves Jesus entering on a colt. On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, Roman governor, entered the city at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Pilate’s procession was a demonstration of both Roman Imperial power and Roman imperial theology. According to Borg and Crossan, EVERYONE in Jerusalem on that day would have known about this other processional. It was standard practice for the Roman governors of Judea to travel from their coastal city, Caesarea Maritima, to be in Jerusalem for major Jewish festivals. They did this not out of faithfulness, but to be in the city in case there was trouble. This would be especially true at Passover, a festival that celebrated the Jewish people’s liberation from an earlier empire. Theologically, the procession also displayed the belief that the emperor was not just the ruler of Rome, but the Son of God.
Understanding this dynamic, one can easily imagine Jesus’ arrival as a planned counter procession. It was a calculated demonstration of an alternative vision to that of Rome, a vision of God’s kingdom or realm. Even though he knew that opposing religious and political authority in Jerusalem was perilous, the text continues that on Sunday night he visited the temple, and then returned to Bethany. It was the next day that he turned the tables in the Temple court. His every action was symbolic, calculated and laden with resistance to the religious and political powers of his day.
What difference does it make that this “parade” was religious theater – full of intentional symbolism – to contrast the realm of God with the realm of Rome?
What difference does it make the cleaning of the temple was not a burst of anger, but a pre planned event. The system was oppressive to the poor. They were required to use the temple currency to buy sacrificial animals, but didn’t have any and thus were subject to the wim and wickedness of the moneychangers. Furthermore it took place in the very house of worship.
In our teaching, Palm Sunday has often been about the praise Jesus receives. While he does provide an avenue for adulation and praise among his followers – he is at the same time sending a clear message to his detractors – the realm of God is real, it has strength and power that will outlast and surpass the power of the temple and of Rome.
If it is true that Jesus knew a show down was coming, his intentional actions early in the week helped to prepare him to be fully present to the “moments” that would come his way later in the week. The events of Holy Week, rather than being seen as “pre-ordained” and “pre-destined” –can be seen as the final unfolding of the clash of power. Jesus put himself in a position to respond even though he didn’t know what would happen, didn’t have some kind of special fortune telling powers.
His actions highlight the paradox in our lives between intentionality and spontaneity.
Most of the time in my life I am too calculated, to governed by the watch, too organized with meetings, events, and situations scheduled. I like my computer calendar that can be put on my phone, I like my ability to put many things into a day. What I sacrifice, of course, is the Holy Spirit, the Wind of Spontaneity.
I do remember one occasion when I was in Israel’s Arab region in the Galilee. Through a wild series of events, one member of our group lost a wallet that was later found and given to a man who entertained many Americans like us. In fact, we had been with that man earlier in the week and he called and offered to bring the wallet back to the school where we were staying. Early in the evening a group of us were sitting around wondering what we would do that evening. Some of our members were given home stays, but we were the “left behind” ones. When Elias Jabbour drove up with the wallet he said, “would you like to see if we can find the man who found the wallet to say thank you in person? I would be happy to take you to his home to see if he is still there?”
It wasn’t my wallet, but I realized immediately this was an opportunity too good to pass up. It may be a bust, we may not find the man. On the other hand, if we did, it could turn out to be a rare occasion to sit with a Palestinian family in their home. I wasted no time in jumping into the back seat of the car. We did find the man, we did have tea with he and his sons, we had a wonderful evening of conversation and insight. As I look back on the trip, that spontaneous decision proved to be as meaningful and insightful as all of the wonderful, preplanned events of the week.
For me personally, it is a metaphor about the paradox of intentionality and spontaneity in the life of our faith. It took a lot of planning and organization and study and intentionality to get myself to the top of the hill at Mar Elias School in Ibillin. But that setting, its people, its struggle, and its gift to the world became so much more clear because I allowed myself – on the spur of the moment – to respond.
How does our spiritual journey prepare us to “be ready” when the time calls from us the extra courage, strength, hope and joy needed in our lives? How are we preparing our hearts, our minds and our pocketbooks to be ready when the Spirit moves and we are called into action? How do we keep our well-laid life plans fluid and flexible enough to respond, react and step forward when life calls that from us?
More than that – how does our balance of intentionality and spontaneity give us the freedom to live life guided by the values we profess rather than the tyranny of the urgent. How often are we not able to respond to the world in the ways we want because we are too beholden to busyness, and over full schedules?
How might we develop the spiritual discipline of attentiveness to our lives so that we can live the lives we want to live, and refrain from living in a way that is mindless, or worse, destructive?
One of the gifts of the Christian faith and Christian community is the spirituality of attentiveness and awareness. As we gather together, as we pray and sing and protest and serve others – we are given the chance to hone our perceptions about the world, given the opportunity to develop a spirituality of noticing the world around us. It is why we share joys and concerns, take urban immersions and mission trips, write letters to Amnesty International, pray prayers from Hindu and Buddhist and Catholic traditions – just to name a few things – is to develop an intentional spirituality that allows us to move and respond with quickness and grace as it is needed. A family has an accident, we can make time in our busy lives to cook a meal. War breaks out, we hear reports from behind the lines, and we can organize to send relief. Friends or even strangers suffer a loss, and we can embrace them in prayer and love.
My colleague in Fresno used to speak to this dynamic of being ready for the work of the Spirit in worship by saying, “you have to be there to be there when the good stuff happens.”
Architect Lewis Mumford once argued that the beauty of a particular house comes from building it on the most challenging feature of the land. If there is a depression in the land, use it. If a big boulder lies in the middle of the spot where the kitchen should go, put the boulder in the kitchen. If the land fails a percolation test because of a waterfall, put the waterfall in the living room—and build the house on stilts.
In other words, don’t make beauty easy—make it tough. We may be surprised what flows from that first, and often most difficult decision.
Anticipating a difficult week in Jerusalem, Jesus puts himself in the tough spot, in order to be ready and open for the movement of the Spirit that flows from that choice.
We are entering holy week today. Celebrating the movements of the Christian faith is an increasingly unpopular and difficult choice.
We are reminded, however, that the ancient call to faith asks us to make the difficult decision of creating space for the Spirit to move in our lives. We also remember the ancient promise of life that flows from this decision. Our Palm Sunday story, however, foreshadows that life will prevail. As Thomas Merton wrote in our devotional passage from this past Friday,
You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.
We give thanks for the boldness of Jesus to remind us of just that. We pray for the strength to be ready and open when our opportunity comes. Amen.
Today’s text:
Mark 11: 1-11, 12a, 15-18
11When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ 4They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ 6They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany…they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’
18And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
