Let us pray – True and humble
king, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know you and love
you; that we may be found beside you on the way of the Cross, which is the path
of glory. Amen.
“Let
the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And
being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point
of death— even death on a cross.” Those are the opening verses to an ancient
hymn of the earliest church which St. Paul quotes in his letter written from
prison to the church in Philippi. These seven verses that we heard from
Philippians this morning may well function as one of the earliest creeds of the
Church, and they give us insight into what is at the core of Christianity and
this week, which we call “Holy.”
The
key word in this hymn which people focus on is the word “emptied” – the act of
Jesus coming in a lowly form and being obedient even unto death. The
theological word for this concept is kenosis
– which is the Greek word for that action. When we look at Jesus, we see the fullness
of God. And what we see isn’t a god like Zeus or Mithra: a capricious,
egotistical, or super-human type of god. But rather we see a God of
self-emptying. Part of what makes Christianity such an interesting faith is
that it’s central story is one that we would have never come up with on our own
– that God embraced the lowliness of humanity. Sure, other faith traditions
have stories of a god visiting humanity, but none have a story about a god that
fully embraces the pain, suffering, and death that humans experience. Kenosis is a uniquely Christian
doctrine.
Kenosis gives us a glimpse into God. And
what we see is that the ways in which we think of power are not the way that
God thinks of power. When we call someone “powerful” we generally mean that
they can do whatever they want, that they have access to things that the rest
of us don’t. Power is often used in exploitative ways, as power is often seen
as having power-over people. But Jesus shows us a very different kind of power.
Rather than exploiting, it is a power that enables and gives power to others.
Instead of power-over it is power-with. God’s power is not self-asserting or dominating.
Jesus emptied himself of his power as a radical reimagination of what power
really is. God’s power is liberating, loving, life-giving obedience to God by
service to others.
So
often in our prayers and theology, the primary attribute of God is named as “Almighty,”
which has connotations of having all the might and being able to do whatever
God wants. And while it may be true that nothing is off-limits to God, I can’t
help but wonder if almightiness should not be the first adjective that we use
to understand and relate to God. What if we took a clue from St. Paul in
Philippians and recognized that the fullest revelation of God, which is Jesus,
gives us an image of kenosis? As much as God is almighty, God is all-giving
and self-emptying. And because God conceives of power differently than we so
often do, it means that there may well be tensions between these two
understandings of power.
Speaking
of tension, Palm Sunday is full of it. Matthew writes that “When Jesus entered
Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.” That word “turmoil” is seio in Greek, where we get the word “seismic.”
As in an earthquake, forces were colliding, upsetting the foundations of many structures.
A bit of historical context helps greatly in understanding the turmoil of that
Palm Sunday. Jerusalem had a population of around 40,000, but during the
Passover festival, that number swelled to 250,000. Can you imagine 200,000
people coming to Salisbury for a meeting? It would certainly cause some issues.
And these
people weren’t coming to Jerusalem for a convention or sporting event, but to
celebrate a religious festival of liberation. Passover was the yearly
remembrance of when God led the Jewish people out of slavery under Pharaoh in
Egypt. Israel was now under Roman occupation. Both political oppression and
economic exploitation were common. And the hope of Israel was for another
Passover event – this time with liberation from Rome. A part of the tension
that was in the air was a longing for salvation or sedition, depending on
whether you were on the Jewish or Roman side of things.
Historians
tell us that at the start of each Passover festival Pontus Pilate would march
through the city with a show of military might. It was a parade of soldiers,
horses, and prisoners dragged in shackles. It was a not so subtle message to
the Jewish people – “I know you have rebellion on your minds, but don’t get any
stupid ideas.” It was a show of power-over, not the power of kenosis.
From
the other side of the city, there was another parade that day – the one we
remember this morning. Jesus comes, not mounted on a gallant steed, but on a
lowly donkey. Those partaking in this counter-protest don’t have swords and shields,
but palm branches, which were a Roman sign of victory. It was a mocking of the
Roman parade. The tension must have been palpable – finally, God’s Messiah
would overthrow Rome and return Israel to glory.
But
Jesus’ parade had a destination, and it wasn’t to the Roman headquarters in
Jerusalem, it was to the Temple. As we heard in our Gospel reading, Jesus goes
to the Temple and challenges the ways in which the Temple had become complicit
in the economic and political domination system of Rome. Jesus then tells a
parable of a fig tree that isn’t producing fruit withering and dying. It is a
clear metaphor for faith – we should be bearing fruits of repentance, of care
for the widow and orphan, of obedience to God. But so often, we choose
convenience, comfort, non-radical and fruitless faith.
And
here we see the seeds of Good Friday planted – the collusion of the most powerful
government in the world and the most well-established religion in the world.
They found a common enemy in Jesus. Jesus was showing them a version of power
that was troubling and challenged their own power. Jesus’ power was a power
from below, not above. In Jesus’ way, those without money, without status,
without swords could have as much power as kings or priests. This sort of
subversion of the world order was, and still is, just too much for us to
stomach. And so Jesus’ power of kenosis
and the powers of this world were set on a collision course.
In
Philippians, Paul writes “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord.” But I worry that my knee doesn’t always bend and that my
tongue doesn’t always make that confession. I worry that sometimes I don’t
recognize the salvation of God that is in my midst. Like those who were dazzled
by the show of power in the Roman parade, I worry that I am too comfortable to
go and join Jesus’ parade, or too afraid to stand against the Roman one.
There are many
forces that I am captive to – financial security, ego, pride, fear. These are
powerful forces that animate our world, and they will not let go of us easily,
they will not abdicate their power over us without a fight. Jesus takes on that
fight on our behalf, opening to us a new way of being. But Jesus does not fight
worldly-power with worldly-power. Instead, Jesus uses a kenotic power. His is
the power of love, which is vulnerable, non-violent, and non-manipulative.
Holy Week is the
clash of these different sorts of powers, of these two parades that we see on
Palm Sunday. This week, we will see the unfolding the judgment of this world,
as these two approaches to power will be on trial. Jesus’ kenotic power is the
means of our salvation, as he becomes obedient even unto death – but that is
difficult and challenging understanding of power to embrace. The powers-that-be
of our world have a grip on us, and this week is about God’s resistance to and ultimate
triumph over them.
The beginning
of the hymn in Philippians exhorts us: “Let the same mind be in you that was in
Christ Jesus.” Let that be our work this week, opening ourselves to this way of
kenosis that was manifest in Jesus. Go
deep this week. Pray regularly. Worship often. Be challenged. Empty yourself so
that God will have room in your life. Embrace the Passion of our Lord.
