Outward or inward passion

 Palms waving in the crowds to welcome one who was to come or at least that is what we celebrate today. There is a certain amount of passion within the crowds on this occasion as the Christ enters into the final week centred around Jerusalem. However, there is more to it than just the passion of an unruly and supportive crowd as we also have the reading of the 'Passion' in the garden just prior to the Christ's arrest and subsequent trial. The passion that is faced is different to that which comes with the crowds and is more personal to the journey to the cross. In this passion the individual suffers under the strain themselves with little to no support from the crowds. It is a storm of doubt and faith that rages within the heart and mind of the individual. So which passion should we develop within ourselves or is it both that we need to look at.

The Passion of the crowd can genuinely be taken as a demonstration of political intent to foster and formulate change within the heart of society. This passion can be clearly seen in the political demonstrations that we see almost on a daily basis. The reason for the protest changes each day or each season depending on the issue being faced. For some years now the mainline churches has stood behind the Palm Sunday march with some passion initially but one often wonders whether these become traditions with no meaning. The reason I suggest this, is not a result of not being in favour of such things but to question the passion inherent in a tradition that appears not to make much change to society. The original procession of passion was to welcome a prospective change that occurred at the end of the week. It was symbolically challenging the arrival at the other end of the city of secular authority and oppression which resulted in death and the risen-ness of life eternal. If the protest does not evoke passion but a stale sense of 'lets do it again for fun' then we must find some other form of procession and protest to invoke the passion of society.

Faith is driven by internal passion not external

For those who follow Christ perhaps it is not the passion of the crowds that we should be emulating but rather the passion that follows in the garden. This is a passion that is more difficult to understand and is thus a neglected path when we think about this day. The crowd is fickle as it is easily turned and this is not the passion that we should be harbouring in our hearts but rather the passion of Christ that enables our acceptance in the darkest of hours. There are a number of Christian mystics and those whom we admire who talk about the dark night of the soul. This is the struggle that we ourselves have with faith. Doubt and despair accompany us on this journey and often we see the church as being against us and not with us on this desperate journey. Christ in the garden is presented with choices that he knows will end in death or reduce everything to mundanity. He wishes for those who are with him to support him on tis journey but they are overwhelmed so do not see his anguish and suffering.

We ourselves are often in the same position with our own faith decisions and our own life decisions. We feel neglected and without the support that we so desperately desire. At times we alleviate this by turning our passion into fleeting outward expressions rather than attempting to cope with them or bring them before God in the anguish of the moment. For Christians as we approach this week we need to submerse ourselves in this inner turmoil so that in the end we come out in newness of life as the darkness falls away at the dawn of a new reality.

Command or coaxing

 In looking at the covenant that God makes with the Israelites we can see that it is one that is dependant on a command situation. In this case we are looking at God laying down commandments that need to be obeyed. In a somewhat similar view to a government laying down the law. The instruction comes from above and if there is any disobedience then you are punished for such disobedience. The command structure, like the armed forces, must be obeyed. It is open to interpretation and human intervention. This changes with Jeremiah (31.31-34) as God now suggests that his commandments will no longer be imposed from without but will reside within. This means that the struggle to be more like God is not a question of following the rules but rather one of interpreting them for ourselves and living into them. The legal beagles no longer have to interpret the jargon of God but we ourselves have to live as if God was with us. The gap between interpreter and the interpreted no longer exists as we become the responsible party.

This view is emphasised as Christ becomes the incarnated one and the word becomes flesh. In John's Gospel, a voice his heard from heaven, as a sign to those present (Jn 12.28-30) yet misheard as thunder or mistaken for angelic voices.  It is as if the people were not used to hearing directly from God as in the days of Moses.  Direct intervention into our lives is something of the past but with God's pedagogic change from direct instruction to a more subliminal instruction of the heart this is to be expected.  This change from an authority figure that directs instruction to one that coaxes our hearts towards obedience is not one that we have totally accepted within our faith lives. We are often still reliant on the authority figure to pass on their perceptions rather than allow the gentle instruction of God's presence to take root in our hearts and soften them into love of those around us.  Even our education systems struggle with these concepts and on how best to have students learn so that they can move forward into their lives expanding their own knowledge and abilities whilst encouraging others.

Do we follow our hearts to God or do we have to be ordered?

The change that God encompasses is from an almost authoritarian stance to one that encourages our own encompassing of love within our own hearts. A move from a junior school scenario where what the teacher says is true to a more adult or andragogic understanding of exploration of our own hearts to find God's ultimate presence expressed in our love for others.  This move is likened by the writer of the Hebrew's letter explaining that babies are fed milk while more substantial food is reserved for adults (Heb.5.13-14).  In our own ways we occasionally need the direction as a child needs boundaries set but it must eventually give way to our own growth and exploration.  Should we transgress the boundaries in adulthood then we must suffer the consequences of our transgression.  Such consequences are found in our falling away from community and the love of a community around us that supports us through our lives.

By building on the love of God and the acceptance of the other into our lives we begin to re-orientate ourselves in terms of our communal responsibilities and the presence of God in our lives.  This may mean that we step back towards childhood and require re-direction and the sustenance of milk and authority figures, but God is forever changing and guiding us in our own need to change.  It is when we become stuck in the ruts of our own imaginations that we begin to fall away from relationship and God's presence.  Let us perceive ourselves more as adults that enjoy God's lure into a changing future that evolves with our growing community and love.

Wisdom of the world or of God

 The snake is a fascinating concept both as a symbol and as an actual entity within the pages of religion throughout the world. No matter where in the world we land up the snake or a snake-like being is associated with the mythopoetic world of the area. It can be seen to represent both good and evil, wisdom and foolishness, death and life. In the Judaeo-Christian realm the snake is associated with the darker side of humanity, either as a rather cheap trickster in Genesis or the full blown incarnation of evil in the personification of Satan. So whilst the obvious symbology of the conquest of evil can be seen in the bronze serpent of Moses  (Num 21:9) and Christ being similarly lifted high it would perhaps be foolish if we were not to pay heed to some of the alternative possibilities.

In the story from Numbers the bronze snake acts not as something that is evil in the traditional Judaeo-Christian sense but rather as a means of healing and thus for good. So, if we become stuck on the imagery of evil then we miss something in the story of the serpent. Interestingly there is an entwining of meanings in the serpent especially as we dig into some of the early Christian writings particularly Ambrose. Worldly wisdom is often represented by the serpent and a derivative formation, sapienta, and so the bronze serpent is seen as the personification of wisdom in its most ancient of forms. Worldly wisdom often leads to our own downfall as we are bitten by the snake of greed and avarice but seeking the wisdom of God we see this as being raised up beyond our understanding. In looking towards God's wisdom we come to our senses and are 'healed' so as to be able to follow God in the larger sense.

The healing staff is full of God's wisdom and not the wisdom of the world

Those afflicted with the wisdom of the world do not necessarily see the truth that God holds up but are rather discombobulated by the truth. One could say that Nicodemus was wise in the world's wisdom and to a certain extent within the wisdom of God. However, the wisdom of the world was clearly the favoured wisdom as he struggled with what God was doing. Christ in explaining God's message to Nicodemus expects him to know what he is talking about and is disappointed with his response (Jn 3.1-21). In particular Christ points out that God's presence in the world brings the light of truth but in its wisdom the world does not seek the truth but avoids the truth as it exposes wrongful deeds (Jn. 3.19-21). 

We can see that this process is played out on a daily basis within our own country and within the world even today. Any sense of truth portrayal is scorned as it highlights our own irresponsibility in the world and our own pettiness. We are so very easily led away from the truth and allow others to create the truths of the world for us. Christ's words discombobulate our own lives because they are so often the opposite of what we expect from our own reading of the world and our own interpretation of what we think God wants from us. In our lives we tend to rely on our own wisdom, the wisdom of the cunning snake. This enables us to bring sense to the world around us and thus enables us to live in a sense of false security. We are enabled to ignore God's voice within our lives a voice that pesters us to live in a manner that is contrary to the modern world. A wisdom that asks us to upset the general self satisfaction that is created by the wisdom of this world to open ourselves up to the ridicule of many for reaching out and enabling those who are ostracised in community.

The work that God enables us to undertake is the work that we do not receive reward for (Eph. 2.8-9) which is contrary to the world's wisdom. Our reward is not financial but rather the good grace of God that fills our lives with the knowledge of love. It is this knowledge that enables us to step forward in Godly wisdom to heed the concerns of the downtrodden and highlight the truth in the eyes of the world rather than masking the unwanted revelations which destroy the edifices of falsehood that we have built based on the foundations of irresponsibility. Christ encourages us to speak out in truth based on love and to build our lives around sincerity and honesty rather than hiding behind falsity.