| Palm Sunday | Rev. Julie Guengerich Martin |
| Sunday of the Passion C | North Salem Lutheran Church |
| April 1, 2007 | |
| Luke 19: 28-40 | |
| Isaiah 50: 4-9a | Psalm 31: 9-16 |
| Philippians 2: 5-11 | Luke 23: 1-49 |
| My grandmother’s favorite expression of her faith
was the familiar “praying hands”. She sent cards with them on it
and had a picture of them hanging in her living room. When she died
we used them on her funeral service bulletins and chose a casket with them
on it. They were an expression of prayer and God’s faithfulness in
hearing her prayers.
This day we gather and begin with Palm Sunday. Images for this day in the church have historically included palm branches and donkeys and people waving madly at the procession, shouting their “Hosannas” to Jesus, the promised Messiah. But as we end our day, we turn a corner to view the events of the week ahead. In the reading of the passion Gospel we hear the final days of Jesus’ life. We are reminded of our own participation as we shout together “Crucify him”. But we begin our day with palms. Certainly these include the kind of palms we waved in our procession…palm branches, palm crosses. But what of another kind of palms, like the palms in the praying hands? What of those palms? Last Sunday was the final Sunday in Lent on the church calendar. But it was also observed by the church as The Annunciation. It is that day when the angel appeared to Mary to tell her she would give birth to Jesus, the long awaited Messiah, the Son of God. And we know that part of Mary’s response was praise to God. She might have held her hands high as she sang to her Lord. Later, those hands, those palms, would hold the baby Jesus, would tend to him as he grew. Later, she would wring them together at the foot of the cross. Jesus’ palms were nailed to the cross so that we would live. Think of that, for each of us, as individuals, Jesus bore the most painful death imaginable, crucifixion. Hands that had touched those living in pain. Hands that reached out to the outcast and the stranger. Hands that drew the line in the sand and told those accusers that if they were without sin they could cast the first stone. Hands that gathered children to himself and reminded us that we are to learn from them, that we are to love them, and not turn them away. Hands that broke bread and shared wine. These were the hands that were nailed to the cross. The palms through which nails were driven. What of our palms? What of our hands? Do we offer them in prayer? We’ve been spending time in our children’s sermons talking about prayer postures. The ancient postures of praying with outstretched arms, palms turned toward heaven. This has been adapted by many today who pray with palms turned upward. Many still pray with palms folded or pressed together, as those praying hands. But the point is, that somehow it is our hands that reflect our prayers…that reach for God. Jesus calls us to reach for one another as well. As we seek to live like Jesus, to follow his example, we reach to one another with our hands. Our hands feed the hungry. Our hands offer a handshake with words of peace. Our hands reach out to embrace the lonely or the prodigal one who returns or the people we love. Our hands sew quilts which keep others warms. Our hands reach up to receive the body of Christ and to take the cup of salvation. Sisters and brothers, this week we will walk with Jesus on a journey that begins with a parade of palms. We will gather together to receive in our hands the body and blood of Christ both today and as we gather on Thursday to recall the last supper Christ shared with his followers. We will assemble in remembrance of those final hours on Friday. And then we will wait…we will wait with hands postured in prayer and with hearts that know what we will find when unseen hands roll the stone away. Thanks be to God. Amen. |