Up, Down, All Around
Up, down,
all around--maybe you’ve experienced this myriad of emotions in life, whether
it’s the thrill of victory in a sports game to the next day disappointment at a
failing grade, or the excitement and pride of a new job one moment to the
discovery of an illness in the family in the next moment. It all can be
overwhelming, confusing, even exhilarating, and for others very difficult.
It’s not
unlike how we might feel on Palm or Passion Sunday. Maybe you’ve felt the emotional roller
coaster as you have sat and listened to the texts for the day. How couldn’t you? Maybe you have recognized it, how the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem occurs in the shadow of the cross.
We begin
with the upbeat reading of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the crowds
laid palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” We then finish Palm/Passion Sunday with
Jesus’ arrest, questioning, and crucifixion; we hear the sarcasm and sneering
as the soldiers hung the sign above him that read, “The King of the Jews”,”
while the people shouted with derision, “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel,
come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.”
Yes, on
Palm/Passion Sunday, the beginning of perhaps the most powerful week of the
church year, our emotions in essence are being played with. At one time, the people shouted “Hosanna” and
at another time they screamed, “Crucify Him.”
It’s not
unlike how we are today – up, down, all around.
There are
times we show our love to Jesus by shouting “Praise God” or singing “All Glory,
Laud, and Honor”; but the next day, when we are at work or school, we
essentially say to Jesus, “I don’t need you.
I can do things on my own” or “You don’t matter to me like you did
yesterday.” Indeed, we are a fickle
people.
How great is
God’s love for us in that even though we are up, down, all around, God is not. God is our constant, our relentless giver of love,
and forgiveness. As we enter upon this
Holy Week, may we rely on the persistent, unfailing grace of the one who is our
steady, our stronghold in the midst of a constant changing world, and who walks
with us through the “ups, downs, and all around.”
God’s Peace,
Pastor Percy
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