Envy and Fear
Isaiah sets the stage for the ministry and crucifixion of Christ in 6 short verses: we are told that he will challenge the people, he will teach the people, he will show them wisdom that will sustain, he will open us to hear in new ways, he will open my eyes to see that which was before me that I simply had not noticed before.
Isaiah lays before us a major tenant of the Ministry of Jesus…turn the other cheek…be fearless in your pursuit of faith…no matter what you do you will not lose face or the grace of God because the Spirit is with you.
The fire and passion of faith will ignite in others simply by being in the presence of Christ or having faith in and like him.
I shall set my face like flint…
Courage and vindication to those who believe…God is always near…God is the vindicator…
Then a question is posed…who will bring charges against me? Who is the accuser?
This is followed by affirmation. God is always there to help!
It is the sovereign Lord who helps me.
What will happen to the accusers?
They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.
The images and words engaged by Isaiah to share his prophecy are vivid and full of life…they are full of things familiar to people of his time…yet still ring true centuries later…this is inspired writing…writing that dances upon our ears, hearts, souls, eyes and minds…stirring a yearning for understanding…a wondering of who this amazing one will be.
I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; Then He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
So I pose the question to all here and for all to hear; have we allowed our ear to be woken…have we continued to “that one more thing” that is asked of us…even when we are tried and grumpy…even when we have said: “Lord I cannot bear one more thing to go wrong in my day…”
Isaiah has set the grand stage for the coming of Christ with inspired words that teach and instruct… with inspired words that open our very being to that which is in front of us and that which will transform us; that which will keep us connected to the divine.
In our reading from Matthew we hear the story of Palm Sunday…the jubilation and joy…which we shared at the beginning of our service…re-imagine the walk through Jerusalem…palms in the air and upon the ground…we sought to reflect this is our words and songs this day as we gathered.
Our moods and emotions will shift through this week… On Thursday we will recall the Last Supper… the washing of the feet…powerful symbols of service offered to us… the importance of the Passover meal which is expressed in Christianity through the remembrance of the Last Supper. As believers in Christ who celebrate their faith in community, the sharing of hospitality is an important time for our community…a way of being together…nourishing each other through food as well as our presence for and with each other.
The story we hear in our Gospel from Matthew, is harsh and brutal. It is one that emanates from fear that which is not quite understood, fear of losing power and control…and envy…Jesus, this prophet and preacher from Nazareth, was gathering crowds …teaching and preaching…this was a task set aside for the elite of the day… the educated class who controlled the temples…Jesus was a threat to the system…He was upsetting the proverbial apple cart. He was the son of a poor carpenter… a nobody who should not be able to draw crowds and have followers and perform miracles… so they looked and watched and snarled and grimaced…jealously eating away at their souls until they could not stand it and had him arrested.
We must always remember that emotions are temporal things… anger… fear and jealously, while experienced as visceral and real… will pass…breathe it in… breathe it out…we must not hold them tight within our core being, as these particular Pharisees did…we must not live it…we must let it go…
We are human and will experience profoundly deep emotions that will drive us, taunt us and haunt us…control us …call us to act and do things that may not be helpful to our very well being… we are human, we have choice…the call of Christ from the cross is to seek out choices and ways of living that are life giving… that lift our spirits, voices and souls to the heaven; that connect us deeply to the divine life force that burns within us all…
Christ’s call to us to indeed, turn the other cheek…to drop everything that binds us and holds us back… to come and follow him…in life and in death…walking through the streets of Jerusalem with palms on the ground and palms in the air… to the foot of the cross…that is where our Palm Sunday Journey will take us. Amen
