Celebratory or supplicatory palms

Today, we begin the final steps in the intricate walk towards the cross and the offer of new life found in the resurrection. We begin that journey in celebratory fashion as crowds join together in welcome and we end in a singularity of supplication prior to the final moments. In our services for today mention is made of both moments, initially in songs of praise and celebration and then a moment of silence and drama as we hear the finality of the journey in the reading of the Passion. We take moments from the week to celebrate and participate in but today is really the only day that we bring the whole together and are able to reflect on the aporia of the whole (a celebration of life in death).

In examining the entrance of Christ into the Passover celebration at the beginning of the week (Matt. 21.1-11) we re-live the anticipation of change that many accept into their lives as they come into contact with the living Christ. We are engulfed in passionate response to an accepted and anticipated change that will throw the whole of our known lives into tumult. This is what is happening as the people come to honour the arrival of one who is going to change the very fabric of their daily lives. The challenge to Empire and authority imposed on us from outside is present in the very procession of entry that is reserved only for the Emperor and his representative. This is the expectation as the populace celebrate and we celebrate the start of this day. Prophesy is becoming actuality because today we see it in action as the Messiah the Anointed one arrives in the city of Jerusalem to take over rulership and lead us all into a new life.

In the excitement that engulfs us we little realise what that changes actually augurs for us. In celebrating our coming into new life there has to be confrontation with the old as it attempts to maintain its hold on us. Analogically we can see this as we move through the week and enter into Christ's passion (Matt. 26.14-27.54). The start perhaps is in the offering of food as we begin our new relationship. Just as any friendship really begins in the celebration of hospitality in the presence of new beginnings. Yet almost in the same breath we a brought up short as we recognise that our lives are about to change so drastically that we ourselves will not be the same. How many of us have felt this agony and reluctance almost as we make decisions that are life changing?

In our present aloneness we can find comfort and identification with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. The agonising decision to follow through and allow the consequences of his actions to come to fruition as God would have it done. We pray in our desperation for this hour to pass as we too struggle with the consequences of others and our decisions in a world that is so much more connected then it was. Yet, as we mourn the loss of our old world, which will largely be crucified by popular opinion, just like Christ, we will rise into a new life. A new life, which while different, will be the one that brings into the comfort of God's presence in our lives. No longer can we hold to our past assumptions but we must open our eyes to a new understanding of community and neighbourliness.

Do we raise our palms in celebration or in supplication?

So to question whether this Palm Sunday is a Sunday of celebration or supplication is to question ourselves at the start of our own introspective journey to new life. Are we still celebrating the possibilities that have been given to us without realising the agonising decisions that still need to be made? or are we at the point where with Christ later in the week we are praying desperately, not as Christ prays but for our own selfish indecisiveness? Are we truly prepared for the changes that are taking place in our lives? Can we in reality overcome the difficult choices that are to be made and open ourselves to the call of God's Spirit that leads us towards new life in Christ, which begins with our decisions and our acceptance of the consequences?