Sermon Notes, Palm SUnday (Year C)

 Dichotomy of the week: a bit of liturgical whirlwind

Begin with palms – hosannas, joy, expectation, exuberance!

Move so quickly – too quickly – to the Passion.
The challenge – the fear – the disappointment

We move with the crowd: the people then who were caught up in crowds of the parade – and the crowds of the cruelty

We move because we don’t know what else to do.
Emotions: shared – amplified – expanded

Beyond our logic –
Into uncertainty.

With palms: Hope – yes – but without clarity.
With fear: don’t rock the boat; don’t notice me and turn your anger toward me.

Emotions amplify our reaction to the world.

Return to the emotion that God calls us to this week – Holy Week – from the Palms to the Passion:
The emotion is LOVE.

That’s a hard one – love is hard: unpredictable, often asking for more than we expect, more than we planned for, more than we think we can do, more than we think we can handle.

What makes love different from the other emotions: it stays.
Fear dissipates; anger fizzles,
Love remains.
It may shock us, unsettle us, rearrange our lives – but it remains.

It shows up, it sinks in, it stays: whether we get the outcome we want, or don’t, or do and don’t yet recognise it:
Love is there.
Permeating, Prevailing, Predominant.
Love is there – it’s here – and always will be
What a ministry for us all to continue THAT parade: of carrying love into the world:
The places where it’s expected and wanted, or unrealised and unrecognised.
Love Is there:
We see it. We believe it. We proclaim it.
For love wins.
May your Holy Week be a time of Holy Love.