A Weekly Devotion for Clergy and Lay Leaders by Bishop Kevin S. Kanouse

The Rev. Jane Mar, Bishop Assistant for Mobility and Congregational Care has written this week's LifeLines 

 Great Expectations 

Great expectations – that’s what those present must have had on that spring day when they gathered in the year 30.  It was the beginning of the week of Passover, the most sacred week of the Jewish year.  We know that day now as Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week.  With its climax of Good Friday and Easter, it is the most sacred week of the Christian year.  But let’s not get there too quickly. 

Two processions entered Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday.  From the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor rode into Jerusalem on the back of a magnificent stallion.  He led a display of imperial power – cavalry, soldiers, armor, and helmets – glinted in the sun.  It was standard practice for the Roman governor to be in Jerusalem for major Jewish festivals, not because of their religious devotion, but in case there was trouble.  Those watching Pilate enter that day must have been filled with a sense of awe, majesty, and might, along with a bit of terror.  Their expectations were great and rightly so, after all Pilate represented the earthly manifestation of God’s authority and presence in that region.  His procession embodied the power, glory, and violence of the Roman Empire. 

From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem.   Luke’s gospel records the crowd’s enthusiasm that day.  They spread their cloaks on the road to welcome Jesus and praised God for the deeds they had witnessed.  It was a moment filled with possibility.  As they welcomed him with open arms and joyful hearts, did they tremble with expectation?  The thought of what might be must have been exhilarating.  Was this the king who would deliver them from the Romans?  Was this the Messiah who would bring the blessing of age to come and the return of the children of God who had been scattered in other places?  Was this the time for God’s kingdom to be established?  Underlying their communal hopes and dreams there must have been personal dreams of restoration of family and lifestyle, and social standing and economic prosperity – all of which had been denied through years of Roman rule. 

Their last hope was riding on that borrowed donkey.  Ah, what might have been.  If Jesus had only seized the moment; if only the people of Jerusalem had responded as they should have, if only God had fulfilled the dreams of those who followed Jesus.  Life is full of those moments of what might have been – times when everything seems right but then for some reason it just doesn’t work out as hoped.  The crowds could not have anticipated the turn those two processions would take later that week when they collided.  By the end of the week those who had gathered to welcome Jesus were scattered in fear, grieving the loss of their king of peace and their smashed hopes.  Unfortunately, the disciples’ limited imaginations caused them to miss seeing God doing something more powerful that day.  There is always a danger when we try to chart the course for what God should do.  Thankfully Jesus was willing to let God’s will be done. 

Great expectations – they are often a part of every new beginning.  We say to ourselves “Perhaps this time….” and our hearts are filled with hope.  In my position as the Bishop Assistant for Mobility and Congregational Care working with Call Process I am blessed to hear call committees and councils begin to whisper their expectations as they prepare for a new pastor.  It is exciting to hope and dream about what God will do as their ministry begins together.  It is also a moment filled with fragile possibility.  Our expectations, hopes and dreams can cause us to let our limited imaginations chart the course for ministry instead of allowing God’s will be done.  Congregational expectations of pastors can set the relationship up for failure.  I have heard call committees and councils voice the expectation that “When the new pastor arrives …membership will grow twofold… giving will increase seven times seventy… all concerns and problems will cease to exist.”  While that statement may be a bit of hyperbole, too often the new pastor is seen as the magic bullet.  Luther reminds us that we are a priesthood of believers gathered to proclaim the good news – the ministry’s work and success belongs to all of us.  May our prayer be the same one that Jesus prayed in the garden that Friday evening before his crucifixion, “Not my will but yours be done.”  Grounded in Scripture, gathered as God’s people, gifted for the proclamation of the gospel, we dream dreams and expect God to do great things in and through us. 

Luke 22:42 
   “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” 

 

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