‘Contraditions’

On Palm Sunday in sunny Florida, a state full of palm trees, I walked out of church. It was the first time I walked out of a sermon. No, I wasn’t preaching, although maybe at that moment I was. The text in this Presbyterian church was Luke 19:41-44, Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem. There was no weeping in this sermon. There was an attack from a moralistic Christian Nationalist on the modern “evils” of American society, so fallen from the virtues of Jamestown and the Pilgrims. This was not the Gospel.

What did I do? I wept. Apparently, the preacher did make me feel the emotions of the text.

Palm Sunday

For me, palm trees evoke vacation. For Jesus they did not. What were they to him? Palm Sunday is a day of contradictions.

The crowd is festively coming into Jerusalem for Passover celebration. They are re-enacting the Maccabean victory procession, praising God and celebrating King Jesus. Are they right or mistaken in their expectations?

The Jewish leaders think they are wrong. They want Jesus to silence the crowd, but Jesus will not silence praise. Jesus’ reference to the stones crying out reflects Habakkuk 2, a passage Paul makes foundational to his letter to the Romans (1:17), contrasting the faithful and the wicked. The stones cry out for justice for the faithful and for the downfall of the oppressors. The Jewish leaders took the wrong side. Their judgment was coming.

Jesus warns, but he does not gloat. He weeps. He is weeping for what will happen to his enemies.

“Contraditions”

I weep for “contraditions.” What could be a typo instead brings clarity. “Con” means “with.” “Traditions” means “passed along.” This is what Jesus did. He brought transformation while living and working within the traditions of Judaism. He brought passion (suffering) and compassion.

Controversy

We are in a time of controversy. This is not new, although the issues may be. I am often reminded of the Biblical contradiction in Proverbs 26:4-5. “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.”

How do you choose? By wisdom. Each proverb simplifies the complex. Together they complicate the practice. Wisdom by an old definition is “knowledge of the way and the prudence to walk in it.” Wisdom understands how to move forward when stuck. It is far-sighted enough to see beyond the barriers. It is not sitting like a guru on a mountain removed from life but combining knowledge and experience like a dancer moving along twisted paths.

I pray for the wisdom to sit or walk out. Even more, I pray for compassion. I weep. I weep for the church. I weep over self-assured and self-righteous leadership and poor preaching. I weep for the crowds who are mistaken. I weep for those whose lives are being destroyed by the lack of Christian compassion and wisdom. I weep for the controversies.

How do we move into the future wisely with tradition and compassion? Let’s improve our “contraditions.”