| April 5, 2009 - Palm Sunday
You are welcome to reflect on this message Today is the beginning of what Christendom has called for centuries “Holy Week.” I’m struck by the contradictions, because it’s anything but “holy.” We call the Friday “good” when something bad happened. Then there’s the irony of “the third day,” which was really only a day-and-a-half. Our text from the Fourth Gospel frames a couple of undertakers, standing at the crossroads of Calvary. The Bible indicates some strange things happened when Jesus died too. As if to say: “Boy ya’ll really did it this time!” Darkness fell when the sun should’ve been shining, the curtain at the temple was shredded from top to bottom, earthquakes shook the ground, tombs split open with the dead spooking everybody (Mt 27:45-51).
And perhaps the biggest surprise of all came from two unusual members of the religious council that sponsored Jesus’ death, who ended up tenderly taking down his body from the cross. They couldn’t keep a secret either. But neither could they just leave him exposed to the crows. At the most critical moment in the ancient story of God ... all of Jesus’ followers become cowards. And two timid ones show up out of nowhere! As Tommie Lee Jones would say: “‘At don’t make no sense!” They were part of the elitist Sanhedrin, a body of 70 chief priests, scribes and elders, which orchestrated the crucifixion of Christ, even choosing Barabbas the nationalist zealot over Jesus the Galilean preacher. Any "body" involved in such punitive activity would seem the least likely place to include any Jewish heroes going-to-bat for Jesus.
They are named: Joseph of Arimathea is identified as a covert disciple of Jesus, “for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). It appears that he had good reason to be thus. And Nicodemus, who “came to him by night,” under the cover of darkness, also “for fear of the Jews.” Both fit nicely with the sarcasm of holy week: publicly Jewish, but privately believers. One foot in both worlds, enjoying neither. We call it “having our cake and eating it too.” But it was probably wise ... for anybody with a reputation to uphold. These are the kind who feel a lot more comfortable shadowing Jesus than following him. With friends in high places, they had to be careful. So they remained secretly interested but openly vague. Clandestine discipleship tries to have it both ways. Maintaining neutrality is how you win elections; get the choicest positions. Being impartial; refusing to take sides; or declaring yourself is safe. Somebody might use it against you. Remaining under the radar about something controversial has its benefits. Nobody knows where you stand, so you get to avoid being challenged.
Looks to me like the majority of us are floaters, neither here nor there. Not Joseph and Nicodemus. They changed from wusses to heroes, and no-doubt ruffled a few feathers. There’s something to be said for nuance, avoiding snap judgments. Sidestepping complexity, dodging the difficult issues, and remain perpetual spectators. It happens a lot of the time because we just want to be liked. Or stay off of a cross! But they the bright lights in the dark passion narrative because they jettisoned their fears, and came out of the shadows like gangbusters. Something happened inside of them after they witnessed the crucifixion that wouldn’t allow them to remain incognito. The time had come to “stand up for Jesus.”
So it wasn’t St. Peter, heir to the “keys to the kingdom,” or the “sons of thunder” or John the Baptist. Just these disguised Christians, who came to the forefront during the most critical three day juncture of human history. And the world has never been the same. Joseph is mentioned in all four gospels because he did not consent to the Sanhedrin’s decision execute Jesus. Where Arimathea is nobody knows? Like the road to Emmaus -- nobody knows that either. There’s a certain mystery about secrecy. You know, the Masons? CIA? NSA? But Luke describes him like he did old Simeon who blessed Joseph and Mary the first time they took Jesus to church and only two showed up. But they were “waiting for the kingdom of God.” His actions stood out because he pounced at the right time, in the right way -- and stood tall like the one they recently buried.
Joseph’s wisdom is reminiscent of Gama-liel in the Book of Acts: a pragmatist with common sense. A rarity these days! After Jesus died Joseph asked Pilate for the body. Considering the violence that had just taken place, that took guts -- the opposite of secrecy. What changed them? What enabled them to come out of the closet? There’s a lot of Christian discipleship that ought to be kept secret! When Christians revert to violence; child abuse; the crusades? Lord knows somebody should keep a lid on that! Witch hunts and inquisitions – and various and sundry faux pas that make you blush, one wishes that were kept out of the limelight. A lot of things done in the name of Christianity are embarrassingly public, giving the church, sometimes deservedly, a bad name. Keeping such distorted discipleship decently reticent would be preferable.
Pilate was cautious because members of the Sanhedrin had already manipulated him once that day. So he summoned the Centurion and was surprised to hear Jesus was already dead. Then he gave the body to Joseph. With Pilate’s permission, Joseph and his colleague lowered Jesus from the cross. Nicodemus also opposed the Sanhedrin when he realized they were condemning Jesus in a way contrary to the Mosaic Law. (John 7:50-52). With a “75# mixture of myrrh and aloes,” they wrapped Jesus’ body with spices in strips of linen, in accordance with Jewish burial customs. The tomb where Jesus was buried was Joseph’s own new tomb, hewn out of solid rock. There in the garden, they laid what was left of Jesus to rest and then rolled the stone over the entrance. These two men are shining while Judas was pretending to be a follower of Jesus, but embezzling cash from the treasury. Peter was weeping in shame for denying the Lord. The rest were scattered far and wide.
But the Sanhedrin listened well to Jesus and remembered his promise to “rise again in three days.” So they made the appeal for the “guard at the tomb” (Mt 27: 62). Jesus’ enemies took him much more seriously than his friends. None of his disciples garnered any encouragement from the stuff about “the third day.” Rather, they just gave up in despair. They took him literally when he said, “It is finished.” It’s like the cowards swapped places with the courageous. One of the puzzling incongruities of Holy Week. I guess the point is we can expect to find secret disciples in the most unlikely places, if even in the most influential places are not exempt. God has a habit of choosing the least likely persons. The day the sun eclipsed at noon, Joseph was in the right place of influence to play an important role in the story of God. Even in the worst of places people rise up to do the best of things. Because bravery isn’t about geography, but a matter of the heart.
Aren’t we all in some fashion “secret believers?” You know, that great mass of devotees that you can’t pin down if you tried. Surveys estimate 112 million of them, which is definitely low. The church-less “de-baptized,” those "secret disciples." When it comes to matters of the soul, all believers, such as we are, are moving more or less along the spectrum in the process of faith. Nobody’s arrived. Least of all Jesus’ disciples. And of necessity I must add: the church. After Nicodemus had his confidential meeting with Jesus in the Third Chapter of the Gospel of John, he apparently went through a progression of faith, and became more and more convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. It takes time folks. Finally he courageously spoke out in opposition to the Sanhedrin’s fateful decision to waste Jesus.
Believers remain secretive because they have too much to lose. Joseph and Nicodemus served in the most prominent positions of their day. That’s when faith costs something. Not many are willing to pay the price. Even after making their bold stand, they remained behind the scenes, and maintained a low profile as minor players in the Passion. Neither man is mentioned again in the New Testament. Still, secret disciples have their public moments. And public disciples have their secret moments. Jesus must have realized the potential in his previous encounter with Nicodemus. He’ll take anybody he can get. Who would’ve guessed, when Nicodemus came “after the sun went down” that this would later lead to a decisive moment when this Pharisee was one of the few living souls with the guts to stand with Jesus? Crisis occasions frequently become our most open doors of opportunity, to see somebody we least expect, begin to follow Jesus. Whatever it takes.
On the Friday we call “good,” when momentous things were happening to our Lord, only the women and the beloved disciple remained. God didn’t have much to work with. Mother Nature cooperated when His only-begotten-Boy got fastened down with spikes. So God's best options was left to show up in a dying thief and a baffled Centurion. And these two “secret disciples” of the Jewish Sanhedrin, who were quite gallant the day Jesus died.
The scriptures say there was gambling going on at the foot of the cross: the “soldiers rolled the dice for Jesus’ robe.” But there were other risk-takers there that day too: betting on a lost cause. I can’t imagine anything more hopeless. The odds were 10,000 to one. But that’s precisely when Joseph of Arimathea risked his neck for Jesus. And he’s the one who won!
Pastoral Prayer (Palm Sunday 4/5/09)
We join our prayers for this historical city of bright lights and broken hearts; whose towering spires never quite touch the sky. We thank Thee for everything that humbles us before the mystery of complexity and enables us to rise above the need for scapegoats. We especially remember those surviving the ravages of nature and human nature, the endless senseless shootings, devastating unemployment, and staggering off-the-scale issues in a deeply troubled world. Good Lord forgive us for still not being very good at getting along. Give us the good sense in a time of utter nonsense and loss of confidence, to learn about a better way to live. In a day when the confounding problems that confront us seem more than we can handle, open our eyes to use the common sense you’ve given to us.
By Thy providence, guide those who are down on themselves into experiences whereby their worth is affirmed; call back to Thy side those who can recall a time when they loved Thee more. And for those who weep the tears of the bereaved, renew the vision of the hopes that soared on that first Palm Sunday, that they may conceive of the death of those they love as one of the “all things” that “work together for good.” Work Thy will through us, O Lord. And if not us, then -- “Thy will be done” through others. Keep us mindful of the past and hopeful toward the future. May it be our joy and uppermost intention, to rest in Thee, to work for Thee, to become more like Thee. In the name of him who became like we are, to make us like he is. Amen. |
