Sunday Sermon -The Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining (March 29, 2026)

[00:00:28] Speaker A: The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to St. Matthew. Jesus stood before the governor, and the [00:00:37] Speaker B: governor asked him, are you the king of the Jews? [00:00:41] Speaker C: Jesus said, you say so. [00:00:44] Speaker A: But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, do you [00:00:53] Speaker B: not hear how many accusations they make against you? [00:00:57] Speaker A: But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge. So that the governor was greatly amazed. Now, at the festival, the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd. Anyone whom they wanted. At that time, they had a notorious prisoner called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said [00:01:21] Speaker B: to them, whom do you want me to release for you? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus, who is called the Messiah? [00:01:30] Speaker A: For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, [00:01:40] Speaker B: have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him. [00:01:49] Speaker A: Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, which [00:01:59] Speaker B: of the two do you want me to release for you? [00:02:03] Speaker A: And they said, barabbas. Pilate said to them, then what should [00:02:09] Speaker B: I do with Jesus, who was called the Messiah? [00:02:12] Speaker A: All of them said, let him be crucified. [00:02:16] Speaker B: Then he asked, why, what evil has he done? [00:02:20] Speaker A: But they shouted all the more, let him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, [00:02:35] Speaker B: I am innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourselves. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Then the people as a whole answered, [00:02:44] Speaker D: his blood be on us and on our children. [00:02:48] Speaker A: So he released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. And after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, hail, king of the Jews. They spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on it. Then they led him away to crucify him. [00:03:40] Speaker C: Please stand. [00:03:45] Speaker A: As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a Place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. They offered him wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots. Then they sat down there and kept watch over him. Over his head they put the charge against him, which reads, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, you who would [00:04:40] Speaker D: destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. [00:04:49] Speaker A: In the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, he saved others. [00:04:58] Speaker D: He cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he wants to. For he said, I am God's son. [00:05:15] Speaker A: The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way. From noon on, darkness came over the whole land. Until three in the afternoon. And about three o', clock, Jesus cried with a loud voice, eli. [00:05:34] Speaker C: Eli Lima Sakbattini. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [00:05:44] Speaker A: When some of the bystanders heard it, [00:05:46] Speaker D: they said, this man is calling for Elijah. [00:05:49] Speaker A: At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, wait, let us [00:06:01] Speaker D: see whether Elijah will come to save him. [00:06:06] Speaker A: Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection, they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now, when the centurion and those with him who were keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, truly, this [00:06:50] Speaker B: man was God's son. [00:06:54] Speaker A: Many women were also there, looking on from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, [00:08:02] Speaker D: sir, we remember what that imposter said while he was still alive. After three days, I will rise again. Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away and tell the people he has been raised from the dead. And the last deception would be worse than the first. [00:08:29] Speaker B: Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers. Go make it as secure as you can. [00:08:38] Speaker A: So they went with the guard, made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. [00:08:53] Speaker C: In the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated and those who are going for story time for old Carolyn out. As the war machine, with all its show of military might, descended upon the strategic cultural and economic stronghold in the Middle east, volatility erupted. The economy fluctuated wildly. The poor suffered, while the wealth concentrated more at the top. And amidst all of this, some claim that the combat is God's plan and those in power are God's agents. Now, the city at the heart of all this power has seen its share of protests. It's a time of marching to war and a time of marching for peace. And all of this, the militarism, the unrest, the cries for justice, took place on one spring weekend. And of course, I'm talking about that being in the year 30, as Pontius Pilate, resplendent in military garb, rode into Jerusalem through the west gate and brought with him the most advanced weapons of his era, the ultimate symbols of empire. Meanwhile, down at the east gate was a peasant protest as Jesus rode in on a donkey and people cried out and laid their palms at his feet. If that history in any way sounds like our current times to you, we should be wondering to ourselves, which procession are we in? What path are we following? On Palm Sunday, we begin Holy week, the most sacred time of year for Christians when we sit seek to walk the way of the cross with Jesus. And it starts here at this very well planned out bit of street theater and protest, a sign act that Jesus has engineered perfectly to correspond with Pilate's annual entrance into Jerusalem, just on the other side of the city. Honestly, to take part in this service every year feels like an emotional roller coaster. It's one of the most bizarre liturgies we have. We are asked not to start in the comfortable fashion that we are accustomed to, but by starting outside, taking part ourselves in this sign act and remembering the very actions of Jesus from the jump. It is meant to destabilize us out of our comfort zones. And indeed, to Episcopalians, there may be nothing more destabilizing than not coming into your comfortable same pew and getting your coat arranged just as you like it in the pew itself. How will Jesus Jesus know where to find us if we're not in the same pew? But then suddenly we are confronted with how very quickly we can go from shouting hosanna to crucify him, literally in just a matter of minutes in this service. The design of the Holy Week liturgies are as carefully orchestrated as Jesus procession that are meant to constantly destabilize us, to look at part of our life and society, our good and our bad, our shiny sides and our shadow sides, and not just as individuals, but as collectives. The point of this week is not simply to give us all another reason to admire how good Jesus is and all he did for us. Every single day of our lives exists for that. Rather, these holy days are for us to see that Jesus last days must become our current reality. This week we don't just tell the stories, we try to live them, remembering them into ourselves, the past, present and future as one. It's a metaphor for the entirety of our Christian journey. And it decides starts with deciding which procession we will join. The path of power or the path of peace. This choice is as timely today as in Jesus moment. But please don't think that this is kind of a no brainer of a question of which path we want to choose. Peace versus war. If it were easy, this world would never know war. In fact, Rome would say that they brought a kind of peace. The Pax Ramona, they mentioned that, of course, as a kind of conformity that came at the end of a sword. But they had great roads. And if you were a wealthy male citizen, you just kept getting richer under that system. And it's hard not to see a kind of logic in their ideals. Heck, we still turn to their architecture, philosophy, and even governmental systems to this day. So Jesus parade, with its silly donkey and its protest that lead to danger and death, seems rather a hard sell for those who are benefiting from things staying as they are. So we need to explore these two paths very carefully to know where we are in the line. And I warn you, right now, the exploration will leave us with more questions and answers. In fact, this sermon at the end will be taking its cues from the weird abruptness, the liturgies. This week they all end abruptly, letting the questions stay with us for each and every day. If you follow Jesus closely this week, you're going to hear those questions. He asks all kinds of them. Do you betray me with a kiss? What is truth? Do you understand what I have done for you? Will you not stay with me? Will you not watch and pray with me? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Each one we must answer in our own time, just as those who were originally asked those questions had to answer them in theirs. But as I've said, beginning today, on this day, the most important question for us will be to discern in real time, what path are we walking? So here are some questions woven into the narrative to help us answer that. Important to know. On this first Palm Sunday, thousands of Jewish pilgrims descended into the city to participate in the Passover festival. Rome's interest in this season was militaristic and economic. Back then, as is now, this part of the world was a major trade route for goods and commerce that were needed all over the known world. According to the biblical scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan in their book the Last Week, Pilate's procession was carrying the standard of what military and economics looked like. They call it the domination normalcy of society. By this they mean a social system marked by three major factors. Political oppression. In such societies, the many were ruled by the few, the powerful and the wealthy. Economic exploitation. A high percentage of the society's wealth went to the very top. And religious legitimization. In ancient societies, these systems were legitimized or justified by religious systems. In this case, the emperor was seen as divine. So to defy him was to defy the gods. And what's important to note is that these domination systems were the norm in world history. They were the way things were normally done. The poor was poor because the gods willed it. People felt the rich were rich because the gods willed it. You get the idea. And to be sure that the economic interests were secure, Pilate would show up every year in Jerusalem where those festivals were celebrating the liberation of God's people from slavery and Passover, a message ripe for a zealot uprising. And he'd bring this military procession with war horses, chariots, which were the tanks and tomahawk missiles of their time. And the Splendor of conquest. And in case you didn't get the message from this golden parade, the road leading up to Jerusalem itself would have been lined with crucifixions. Some scholars said that during the festivals there could have been hundreds of crucifixions lining the roads, and the empire only crucified for one crime, denial of imperial authority. So the message was clear, mess with us and you die. However, Jesus protest signaled a different way. First of all, it was not a message for the wealthy. By and large, up until this part in the story, Jesus had spent almost all his time preaching outside of cities to the non elites, the non educated, working class, poor, and the kingdom of God that he was preaching about, the one he famously said the poor would inherit, was a kingdom not ruled by violence, but one that was governed by giving up power. Paul reminds us of that today in his letter to the Philippians, where he says, Jesus emptied himself and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Kenosis is the word Paul uses. He came not on a warhorse, but on a donkey to fulfill the prophecies of the Prince of Peace and King of Kings who would come to bring about the reign of God. But even in that, Jesus subverts expectations. He'd not be coerced into a bloody rebellion. He preached God's love and that God's love alone would be proclaimed. Make no mistake, he knew what he was doing. He knew that the poor who waved their palms had no power or influence. He knew that his message would not broker him political clout. He saw the war horses, he saw the crucifixions and the bodies left to rot. He knew where his procession, his path would lead to his death. So to quote Borg and Crossan, again, the two themes that Palm Sunday leads us to are the Christian life's themes. One, that genuine discipleship means following Jesus, following him to the place of confrontation with the normative domination systems of our day. And two, it leads us to death and resurrection. These two processions, Pilate's and Jesus, were always meant to show that, in stark contrast, meant to destabilize our worldview. So here's some questions to find out where we are. One, first set about economic and political systems. How much do we benefit from the current political systems of our day? Most of us here are some of the richest and most highly educated human beings who have ever lived in the history of the world. I don't mean that we're necessarily part of the 1%. But this system works for most of us most of the time. We would have most likely been part of Pilate's procession, or at least comfortable enough with the way things were to be able to ignore the procession. How do we willingly or unwillingly take part in that domination system of our day? How do we care more about the economy and the effects of our gas bill than we do about the human and ecological tolls of war? How do we align our lives with the kenotic power of vulnerability, as Jesus did? And where do we align ourselves with the poor? Two Questions about War and Religion how is it possible after all this time, that we are still fighting the same wars that were happening in Jesus time and before his time as well? Wars that come down to power and money. How will we as Christians, the ones called to continue to bring forth this kingdom of God on earth? How will we ever break these systems and cycles of violence? Maybe even more disturbing, where do we hear Christian voices today declaring that this destruction and this devastation is a moral good sanctioned by God? And are we doing enough to add our voice to a counter narrative to that? And the last set of questions, the ones that are the most important questions about discipleship, the most piercing questions of all, just how far are we willing to go to be vulnerable as Christ, living for others, giving up money, security? What is the modern day equivalent of the crosses that lined the road to Jerusalem? And do we keep our heads down getting along to get along out of fear? Are we willing to put our bodies and lives on the line? Will we be willing to pick up our cross and follow Jesus? As I said, this sermon is going to end abruptly with these questions. But I'll leave us with this thought. Given all these questions, these two parades, these two protests that we see today, are we sure? Are we really sure what procession and path we are following this week? And this Savior bids us follow and find out. Amen.