Palm Sunday (Matthew 27:11-54)  04/13/2014

As we come into the presence of God, whether alone or in a group as we do this morning, there are many varieties of worship and prayer: sacred music, the reading of Scripture, intercessory prayer, or meditation to name just a few. A month ago I spent a few days at the Holy Cross Monastery and joined the brothers of that Order in their time of silence in the presence of God. Extended periods of silence are sometimes hard to find these days, and there are certainly those for whom this is good news…I will admit, silence is not for everyone, and fortunately we have many varieties of worship and prayer. But silence holds a particular power and silence is something we experience this morning as we listen to the dramatic story of the Passion of Jesus Christ.

Just a few days after his triumphant entry into the holy city of Jerusalem, Jesus ran afoul of the authorities and found himself standing before the governor, Pontius Pilate. Jesus’ ministry was coming to an end and his final moments had arrived, filled with betrayal, false accusations and great torment. All this he endured in great silence. We hear from our Gospel lesson, “When Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?’ But Jesus gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.” (Matt 27:12-14) Words fail to capture the profound circumstance of Jesus’ pending crucifixion…silence was the only response. Jesus was flogged, stripped of his garments and nailed to the cross. In his final moments, he called out to his Father: “‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?'” (Matt 27:46) And God was silent; Jesus hung on the cross and breathed his last…and the world was shaken with grief as the earth shook, and the rocks were split; and God was silent.

The story of the Passion of Jesus Christ begins our journey of Holy Week. The story is the profound and gut-wrenching ending to Jesus’ ministry among his friends and followers. A story such as this fills us with questions and compels us to search for answers. And yet, in our hunger for answers, we find only silence. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal Priest and author, wrote of our desire for answers to life’s great mysteries and our unsettling experience of hearing nothing but holy silence, Taylor wrote: “Only an idol always answers. The God who keeps silence, even when God’s own flesh and blood is begging for a word, is the God beyond anyone’s control. An answer will come, but not until the silence is complete. And even then, the answer will be given in silence. With the cross and the empty tomb, God has provided us with two events that defy all our efforts to domesticate them. Before them, and before the God who is present in them, our most eloquent words turn to dust.”^[i] Today we begin our sacred journey of Holy Week, a journey toward the cross and the empty tomb, a journey so profound that any words we hope will capture our experience of God simply turn to dust, as Taylor rightly observes.

I invite you to join this sacred journey of Holy Week in a real and tangible way. When we come into the presence of God, whether alone or in a group, there are many varieties of worship and prayer. I believe if you devote a bit of your time this week, devote a bit of yourselves to this final week of Lent, you will experience something quite profound as Christ bursts the bonds of death on Easter morning. I pray you will find some quiet time on your own or perhaps join us here in the church for our services of Holy Week. Come into the presence of God, walk with Jesus throughout these final days of Lent, and discover the grace and power of Christ’s reconciling love. AMEN

^[i] Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent, (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1998), 80.