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| Image by Tiarescott |
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A GREETING
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O God.
(Psalm 9:2)
A READING
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
(Isaiah 55:12-13)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
(Psalm 47:1)
REFLECTIVE WISDOM
Know the way of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.
Introduce yourself. Be accountable to the one who comes asking for life.
Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Take only what you need.
Take only that which is given...
Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.
- from "The Honourable Harvest," in Braiding Sweetgrass
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
VERSE OF THE DAY
My word that goes out from my mouth;
shall not return to me empty,
but shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:11 var)
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| Image by Tiarescott |
Although we are still days away from Palm Sunday, during this week we will start to reflect on the events that take place with Jesus after his arrival in Jerusalem. How might it help us to prepare for these days to be thinking about them ahead of time?
On Saturday, we listened and heard as young people sang and clapped their way through a song. Today, the same body percussionist brings us a song which speaks, in the words of the creators, “about how love sustains us through life’s trials.” The performers sing and dance and clap their hands while singing “holy precious one, send thy redeeming love.”
Riotous sound was very much a part of the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. But what were those sounds? We imagine hosannas, but were they all cries of excitement? There are four Hebrew root words that we translate to English as “clap.” Three out of the four describe a negative sound, with synonyms of ‘smite’ or ‘slap.’ It is the clapping of trying to chase away an unwanted critter. It is the clap of ‘scoot!,’ and is a form of derision. In most instances it is accompanied by ‘hissing.’ There are only three times in the Hebrew bible that the final (positive) root word is used. But even as exuberant as the Isaiah passage is, when nature itself claps its hands, we hear that we once had the thorn and the briar. This kind of nature responds to verses like the end of Job 27, when the east wind "claps its hand" at the unrighteous and "hisses at them in their place (27:23)."
In Greek there is only one clapping word and it is nowhere to be found in our scriptures. There is no clapping in the New Testament. Does that mean that the activity of scoot-clapping and hissing, or joyful-clapping in praise -- left when Jesus came? Amid the crowd who shouted 'Hosanna' to Jesus , how many were also clapping in derision and scorn at him? On a day that in some church settings also finds the Passion being read, it might be easier to connect the dots between the Hosannas and the cries to crucify Jesus, if we consider the jeering that was likely also present. The Galileeans were never very welcome in Jerusalem, let alone those who were presenting themselves as a Galileean 'king!'
Today's song describes the hardships of enduring life's storms. The song and the performance hold edges of celebration and of warning/uncertainty, as in the approach of a storm. As Jesus and his friends enter Jerusalem, the surrounding clamour would feel like this. When Jesus was on the sea of Galilee, he was able to calm the storm, but the kind of storm brewing for him now, is not one he wil be able to prevent. All the ways in which the disciples have tried to warn him, and he has tried to warn them of what is coming, potboil as Jesus enters the city.
In our own time, the storm that is coming for all of us might be the many ways that climate and ecological emergency have begun to move past some irrevocable tipping points. The level of microplastics in our everyday drinking water and therefore in our bodies, the amount of waste in the oceans, the droughts and unseasonal flooding that are affecting many parts of the world are already wreaking havoc. But how much do we want to be awakened to these truths?
Jesus enters Jerusalem to shake things up, to wake up the people to what is coming, and that includes us. It's not just a day in a narrative, it's calling to us to shift gears, to work so that we can combat harm through care for others and for Creation, since care for others and Creation is the only path we truly have. How can we be challenged to see the clamour and clapping of Palm Sunday, when it comes, as the aura of the storm that causes us to wake up? How can we use 'clapping' as an image of response: to clap out those who are corrupt, or applaud those working for change. When Palm Sunday rolls round, who will you be in the crowd?
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A STORY OF ENDURANCE
La République des Hyper Voisins (The Republic of Super Neighbours) is a neighbourhood group in the 14th arondissement of Paris, who have committed themselves to caring for each other and upholding their community in small and large ways. The project is a brainchild of Patrick Bernard, a French journalist, who wants to encourage the microcosm of the 'neighbourhood' in order for cities as a whole to flourish. There are more than 1000 people in the group who connect for meals, to help each other with home errands and issues, and who network with others who can improve quality of life in everyday ways. Once a year, in the early fall, the entire community dines together at one long table. Begun in 2017, the Covid pandemic impacted some of these gatherings, but by 2022, the annual meal had returned. The group sometimes partners with Emmaüs Solidarité, founded by Abbé Pierre in 1947, but now a secular group looking to assist those on the margins of society. In December 2021, people masked up to make, purchase and share more than 8000 servings of cakes of many kinds for Emmaüs Solidarité, so that as many people as possible could have a moment of celebration at the end of a long and difficult year. Read a non-paywall article to find out more.
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LC† Awakened by the Spirit is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!