Waving Palms: Choosing Peace Over Power

Here in Matthew's story, as the crowd shouts hosanna, which by the way means save us. Jesus knows where this road is leading. Jesus knows that these cheers will turn into cries of crucify him very very soon. Jesus knows that the same crowd that is welcoming him will abandon him and still Jesus rides on. Still, Jesus chooses peace. Still, Jesus refuses violence because the kingdom, the kingdom, Jesus is building does not come through force. It comes through surrender, through sacrifice, through love that refuses to give up even in the face of death. [00:59:55] (60 seconds)  #PeaceOverPower

And yet, we miss what's really happening here because you see, palms are not just decoration. Palms are an acts of resistance. In the ancient world, waving palms was a symbol in the Jewish community of Jewish liberation of defiance. Waving palms was pushing back. Pushing back against oppression. Daring to believe that the empire didn't get the final word. [00:51:44] (43 seconds)  #PalmsOfResistance

So, when the crowd is waving palms, They're doing more than celebrating. They're choosing a side. They're declaring an allegiance And that matters because we are always being asked in big ways and in small ways where our allegiance lies. Is it with the system of powers? The system of power that relies on fear and division, or is it with the prince of peace who rides on a donkey? Is it with the loudest voice of outrage and retaliation, or is it with the quiet, persistent work of healing and reconciliation? [00:56:31] (59 seconds)  #AllegianceMatters

It's hard to choose non violence when we've been wounded. It's hard to choose the truth when lies seem easier. It's hard to choose love when anger feels justified. And yet that is exactly the kind of life that grows in good dirt. Because good dirt doesn't involve it doesn't avoid the hard stuff. It transforms it. It takes what is broken and compost it into something new. Turning even the weight of the world into soil where peace can take root. [00:59:13] (42 seconds)  #CompostToPeace

We've already mentioned it a couple of times this morning. Not on a war horse, not with an army, not ready to overthrow Rome or to force something to happen. Jesus comes on a donkey. Both humble and subversive. Kings who ride donkeys don't conquer with violence. Kings who ride donkeys don't dominate or crush their enemies. They come in peace. Embodying a different kind of power. One that overturns the world not through force but through love. [00:53:07] (42 seconds)  #HumbleAndSubversive

Good dirt is patient and layered and formed over time through pressure and even through decay. It's where the hard stuff, the manure of life is broken is broken down. Where our brokenness, where our injustice, where injustice, where grief, all of this gets transformed into something that can actually sustain growth. And what grows out of that kind of soil is not fear or violence or revenge but it is peace. [00:55:25] (39 seconds)  #SoilOfHealing

We want solutions that feel immediate and decisive. And we don't always believe that love is strong. Sometimes we don't believe that strong isn't that love is strong enough and that nonviolence can actually change anything. But Jesus shows us different. Jesus is showing us that that what grows in in good dirt comes from love. Good dirt doesn't produce domination. It produces life. [00:54:38] (47 seconds)  #LoveGrowsLife

And that kind of love doesn't stay buried. It grows. It breaks through the soil. It becomes resurrection. It becomes resurrection. So today, when we've lifted our palms, whether physically or in spirit, we're doing more than remembering a story. We are making a declaration. We are saying that our allegiance is to the prince of peace. [01:00:54] (34 seconds)  #ResurrectionThroughLove