Holy Week: Meditation 5

I wonder if this first Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was in any way like this one – just five days ago.

Some people I met in Palestine recently were among those arrested in the Palm Sunday demonstration, and I understand two of them still haven’t been released.
Have you ever considered the original Palm Sunday as a kind of demonstration – guerrilla theatre – performance art? The whole week was full of this kind of thing – riding the donkey into Jerusalem, letting his followers make a lot of noise, cursing the fig tree (as we’ve seen), cleansing the temple, and so on.
That first holy week was full of danger. There was defiance of the authorities, threats of arrest, criticism by those who thought Jesus and his group were going too far too fast. Danger. Controversy. Fear. Courage.
When was the last time you and I took risks for God’s mission in the world? What would it look like today if we had Jesus’ courage, determination, and wisdom?

Lord, we don’t want to be foolhardy. We don’t want to be unwise. But neither do we want to be overly comfortable and cowardly. Help us to make all our weeks more holy by seeking to take wise and courageous risks each week, as your Holy Son did – risks of love, risks of honesty, risks of service, risks of generosity, risks for justice. And so let us be instruments of your peace, in the way of Jesus, by the power of your Spirit. Amen.