April 1, 2007 - "You Can't Always Get What You Want"

Sunday of the Passion
Palm Sunday, Year C

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 23:1-49
Psalm 22:1-21


"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need." This is the gospel according to the Rolling Stones. It is something that I have had to learn over and over again. We think we know what we want, but we often don't know what we need.

Today we started out today's service with a triumphal welcome of the king. We greet our messiah, the one who has come to save us. We will end this service with a reading of the passion or the trial and death of our messiah. The same people who lay the palms at the feet of Jesus are the same people who yell, "Crucify him" and then stand at the foot of the cross.

It almost seems ridiculous that this happened in such a short time. So ridiculous that we often want to think those people could not be like us. We would never do something like that, would we?

Palm Sunday forces us to realize we could do this. When we reenact the passion, it is the entire congregation who is charged with yelling, "Crucify him." Liturgy compels us to look at ourselves in ways we may not even want to see ourselves. As followers of Christ, we are forced to look at what we need versus what we desire.

The crowd yearned for a savior who would rescue them and deliver them from Roman occupation. They wanted someone who would make them feel real good real fast. It is tempting to try and make God do what you want.

So often, we become like those standing at the foot of the cross; we taunt God to demonstrate his mighty power at our command. They said it this way: "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

We say something like, "If you love me, God, lift this burden from me," or "You who are so powerful, why won't you just give me a little help?"

But God rarely responds with a quick fix for our problems. And God does not make bargains with us. God's saving help does come to us when we really need it - but not necessarily when we think we need it.

The people of Jerusalem wanted freedom from Roman occupation and what they needed and received was freedom from death.

Holy Week forces us to deal with the reality of the cross and the resurrection. We may not want to enter into the shadows of Good Friday, but we are called to experience the entire journey to the destination of Easter. We, unlike the original followers of Jesus, have the benefit of knowing the light of Easter is coming.

Through the services of Holy Week we are given a mirror to our own true selves. We are compelled to look at our entire selves.

Like Jesus, we give ourselves up to death, so that we, too, are resurrected. We die to sin, to selfish ways, to all that has held us captive. We let go of our need to control, of our anger and our envy, of our intemperate love of power, status, and wealth. We make this journey every year because we, as a community, need to be reminded of where we have been to know where we are going.

We look to what we truly need, and we rediscover what we already have been given. So let us once again muster the courage to look into the face of death this Holy Week and travel the entire journey. For then and only then can we genuinely say, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

Amen.