Revised Common Lectionary Reflection, Palm/Passion Sunday, Year A
April 5, 2020
Lessons:
Liturgy of the Palms: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21:1-11
Liturgy of the Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66
Theme: God’s faithful and generous people enter deeply into the narrative of Holy Week, experiencing the highs and the lows, the suffering and hope, the sting of sin and the redemptive power of love.
Key Scripture: This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
Holy Week is upon us, even as we shelter in place, practice physical/social distancing, and work on our digital worship services and liturgies for decidedly strange days. Yes, even amidst the strangeness, here’s the thing: We have an amazing opportunity to enter deeply into the narrative of Holy Week with somewhat of a COVID-19 captive audience. If folks want a deeper experience of Holy Week, the good news is that they can have it—with a little help from their faithful and fearless (well, mostly) servant leaders, some out-of-the-box thinking and creativity, and cooperative technology. Because we find ourselves in this unique situation, I encourage you to celebrate this day as Palm Sunday. There’s little need for a condensed-soup version of Palm/Passion. Instead, use this time and the need to gather digitally for community to let the story unfold each day of the week and the full range of emotions felt through more expansive reflection.
NOTE: SOLI will offer daily Holy Week suggestions and activities based on the theme of “hands”— beginning with Palm Sunday and concluding with Resurrection/Easter Sunday. You’ll also find a daily gratitude connection designed to keep people thinking about stewardship in these unsettling times. Look for these on our Facebook page, or by subscribing to SOLI/Update, our e-newsletter.
Raise your palms, people, albeit a little differently this year. Instead of waving green eco fronds or folding long, thin spears into crosses, let’s invite worshipers to quite literally raise their own palms in praise and gratitude. Truly, as the psalmist proclaims, this is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Yes, we can learn a thing or two about hope in time of pandemic from the Jews who were living in oppression under Roman rule. They experienced the full range of emotions, from despair to wild hope, and they were ever on the lookout for the messiah who would release them from bondage and restore the kingdom. History tells us that there were quite a few “would-be messiahs” who rode into Jerusalem to the accolades of crowds. This time is different, however. This Messiah, the radical rabbi from Nazareth, comes riding on a borrowed juvenile donkey; it appears to be a powerful piece of street theater, the first act of a story that continues to be told today.
Imagine the thinking of those oppressed people upon seeing this miracle-working, dead-raising, radical rabbi heading into town to confront the forces of Empire and power head-on. Jesus is a wanted man; the religious leaders are keen to have him silenced. Jerusalem would have been packed with the faithful gathered to observe the Passover. Political tensions are running high. Pilate can’t afford an uprising in the backwaters under his governance. And the people, the dear, fickle, oppressed and degraded people, have high expectations. It is, in many ways, the perfect storm.
Today people around the world are experiencing the perfect storm of a vicious viral disruption to all areas of life. COVID-19 is no respecter of age, race, ethnicity, gender, or economic status. Our lives have been overturned, at least as we knew and understood them. A sense of oppression rises out of confinement in tight quarters, the rhythms and safety nets of imperfect life disrupted. We don’t know what to expect because we cannot see the enemy, and since it is new our trajectory is uncertain. We need someone to save the day with a vaccine, a cure, enough medical supplies and personnel to address the growing number of cases. Like the psalmist, “Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!”
So we enter Holy Week hopeful. We raise our palms in praise. We give thanks to God for our blessings and for the abundance that exists. We welcome our Messiah. We pray for rescue and wave our palms in hope. Yes, we would be saved!
We live in such uncertain times with COVID-19, hunger, climate change, migration, economic disruption, violence, and fear. It is so completely human to want a quick and painless fix or solution, no matter how much delusion has to be swallowed in the process. It is also so completely human to want to go back to the last good thing, to a time when all seemed golden and happy and right. In our hearts we know that we cannot go back because back then had its own set of problems and woes. We know that there are no quick fixes or we wouldn’t be in this situation. We wouldn’t be locked away in our homes for fear of a virus. No, the only way to new life, to resurrection, is through the valley of shadows.
Our present physical distancing and sheltering in place gives us the time and space to walk through Holy Week with Jesus, to walk into (and through!) our own valley of shadows with our Lord, and to experience something of Easter akin to what those first followers of Jesus knew.
In Worship
Consider inviting worshipers to snap photos of themselves raising their palms in the air. You could invite people to hold green branches that are native to your area in their palms or colorful scarves. Form a virtual Palm Procession by replying with photos to a post on your congregation’s Facebook page and/or Instagram story.
How might you tweak your traditional Palm/Passion Sunday service to a more digital and multi-sensory worship time?
Might you invite congregants to join you for a digital “hands-on” Holy Week? Using our daily SOLI suggestions found on our Facebook page you can provide a different focus on how we use our hands each day. Monday’s focus is using our hands to bless. Tuesday’s focus is hands letting go and holding loosely. Wednesday’s focus is hands that betray. Thursday’s focus is hands that serve, and so on. Encourage them to join you for a short morning or evening prayer or reflection time. Offer more substantial worship for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and share a “homemade Easter Vigil.”
Some songs that I’ve been listening to while reflecting on a different kind of Holy Week experience and how God is always able to take our paltry human offerings and make of them something truly amazing. Blessings on your time spent co-creating with God something beautiful and amazing!
“How Great is our God” (Hebrew)
“The Lord Bless You and Keep You” (Aaronic Blessing)
“In Christ Alone” Celtic Worship
With
Youth
If you are able, try to host a digital hang out for your youth group using
Zoom, Google+ hangouts or whatever platform works best for you. Do a highs and
lows check in, answer any questions, share prayer requests, and encourage youth
to participate digitally in your congregation’s weekly activities.
Consider talking with congregation leadership and having the youth facilitate one of your digital Sunday services.
With
Children
This week’s focus verse is Psalm 118:24 – “This is the day
that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Share with the children why the people were so happy to see Jesus coming to town. They were hopeful for a better life. They wanted to be healed. They wanted to be set free. We are lucky because we have Jesus with us every single day. Like the writer of Psalm 118, we can say thanks to God for every single day, no matter what. We can always rejoice and be glad, even when the world seems a little bit crazy.
Note: If you want to carry the palms/hands theme forward with the children, you might also want to remind them that palms are not only for praising but also for washing. Below are a few hand washing songs, as well as a simple children’s song video for Palm Sunday.
Finish with a simple echo prayer and blessing.
Dear God (Dear God),
Thank you for loving us (thank you for loving us). Thank you for Jesus (Thank you for Jesus). We praise you God (We praise you God) and love you (and love you). Please keep doctors, nurses, first responders, (Please keep doctors, nurses, first responders) and other critical workers safe (and other critical workers safe). Keep us healthy (Keep us healthy). Keep us hopeful (Keep us hopeful). Make us helpful (Make us helpful). Amen (Amen).
“Cloaks and Branches” children’s song for Palm Sunday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jtDqKkdS1M
Wash Your Hands Song https://youtu.be/dDHJW4r3elE
Wiggles Handwashing song https://youtu.be/_02FuyeCWFU
Germs song https://youtu.be/whbxePmMNbE
Weekly
Stewardship Bulletin Insert
Even when life seems out of control and ever so strange we
can still give thanks for God’s many good gifts. Take some time this week to
make a list of things in this life for which you are grateful. Keep adding to
the list all week, and you may be amazed at just how many good things are in
your life. If you are able, please continue to support the ministries of our
congregation by mailing in your offering or giving online via our website.
Stewardship at Home
This week we’ll be spending a lot of time thinking about our hands and how we should and do use them. Hands are a fascinating part of our human bodies, so do a little research and learn about your hands. Here’s one place to start. Google will offer many more. Give thanks every day for the many ways God has given you to use your hands. Pray that God will help you use your hands for good every day in many ways.
If you have extra time on your hands due to sheltering at home, check out some of the many films about Jesus’ final days, crucifixion and resurrection. Click here for more information.
2017 Reflection: https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2017/04/the-jesus-parade/
2014 Reflection: https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2014/04/like-a-broken-vessel/
2008 Reflection: https://www.stewardshipoflife.org/2008/03/can-these-bones-live/
Images: Wonderwoman0731, johnragai, and QuinnAnya, Creative Commons usage license. Thanks!
Note: Reprint rights granted to congregations and other church organizations for local, nonprofit use. Just include this note: “Copyright (c) 2020, Rev. Sharron Blezard. Used by Permission.” Other uses, please inquire: thewritelife@hotmail.com.
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