“I Love a Parade” is a classic 1932 song introduced in the first show with Duke Ellington leading the band. John Philip Sousa’s marches are part of the tapestry of our patriotic celebrations. There is something about a parade.
The Greenbelt Labor Day parade is the focus of attention every year, followed by friends gathering in our social hall and our lawn for our barbeque luncheon. When our children were young, there were the parades in which they marched with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, High School Band. For many years we broke the winter doldrums by going to the Alexandria George Washington Birthday Parade. Then, on the Fourth of July, the Fairfax Parade was the destination of choice. There is something about a parade.
This Sunday we wave our palms as we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem – a procession, a parade. What attracted the crowd that day?
There had been another parade into Jerusalem just a day or two before. Pontius Pilate had just traveled down the sea route accompanied by the full display of Roman soldiers and ceremony to remind the people of the area who was in charge as the Passover Festival began. Pilate would have entered the main gates to Jerusalem seated on the finest stallion and to the sound of cheers and celebration (whether staged or offered as a concession to power).
Jesus also enters Jerusalem. He knows how dangerous it will be for him. He has been identified as a threat to the peace and security of Roman stability and to the status quo of Temple practices. Jesus also knows the tradition of his faith which says the Anointed One will come from the Mount of Olives area. The prophet Zechariah said the Messiah would come riding on a donkey. The Palm Sunday story says the usual narrative of pomp and circumstance and excessive displays of power are being overturned by a new definition of power. In Jesus we see self-giving, caring, compassion, love as the definition of real power.
This week we have choices placed before us. Which parade do we want to attend? Are we cheering on those who flamboyantly amplify attitudes of totalitarian power, hate toward those who are not part of the movement, and those who want to claim control in the name of Christianity and American patriotism. Or are we going to be lining the road for the One who asks us to love one another, to stand up (by our words, and by our civic responsibilities) for justice and the rights of people to live fully even at the risk of disapproval?
This Palm Sunday we also have two parades in motion. Which crowd is attracting us?
Rev. Clara
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