This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day the Church celebrates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The city is getting ready for the Passover holiday. There were a lot of people coming to celebrate Passover. Jesus comes in humbly riding on a donkey and many of His followers put palm branches on the road and shouted “Hosanna]”; “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”; “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”; “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” It was beautiful!
The Roman governor came as well, he had his own triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The governor represented the powerful Roman empire. They were not humble; they ruled by violence and wealth. They made the rules and forced others to obey.
What a contrast! The Roman empire represents empires throughout history, they value their own importance over their enemy. Their rights and safety come at the expense to the rights and safety of others. People create and use wealth for their own personal benefit. Their greatest use their power and wealth to control the least of these. Non-citizens have little to no rights. It is a place of individual power or group power over good for everyone. It is an us vs them. We are right and they need to suffer.
The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus wants to bring to earth is completely different. It is love for the enemy, a concern for their well-being. They are valued just as much as themselves. The rights of everyone matter equally. Wealth is used to provide for everyone. It is a Kingdom of equals without borders. It is about a global community. It is a beautiful vision
They had a choice of which parade to follow and we do today.
On April 5th, I took part in the Hands Off protest and march in Richmond VA. It was to protest cuts to services for the poor, the elderly and for the vulnerable in general. It was to protest against the erosion of rights for LGBTQ individuals and for immigrants. It was to protest against elevating the rich and powerful by lowering the weak and vulnerable. It is about protesting an empire that does not care about the rights and wellbeing of everyone.
A few days later I heard that Trump was planning a military parade to celebrate his birthday. We can not afford to care for starving children but have millions to show our worldly strength? That is evil. It is to show how we and how he can use force and violence to force others to his will. It is about individual strength without concern for the least of these. Again, it is evil.
I left the protest on April 5th feeling the best about my country and the world than I had since November. There are a lot of people out here that want to create a world where the needs of everyone, especially the least of these are met. A world community that cares for each other. They want to create something very similar to the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus preached about.
The rest of the story has Jesus being killed at the hands of some religious leaders working with the worldly power of the Roman government. The worldly power seemingly had won, there was a time of darkness…. BUT EASTER!!!! Evil did not win then and it will not win now. I dont know how this will
end but I have no doubt about who wins. If you look at the long trajectory of history, the world has moved toward wider freedom, we have moved toward greater acceptance of others that are different. We are going through some dark times, but God is still in charge.
Stay strong, stay in Love!
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