[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”on” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” custom_width_px=”750px” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_button url_new_window=”off” button_alignment=”right” background_layout=”dark” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#e09900″ button_letter_spacing=”0″ button_use_icon=”default” button_icon_placement=”right” button_on_hover=”on” button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ button_url=”http:\/\/sangabpres.org\/?page_id=3027″ button_text=”Return to Reflections” button_text_size=”14″ button_border_color=”#e09900″ \/][et_pb_post_title title=”on” meta=”on” author=”on” date=”on” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”on” featured_placement=”below” parallax_effect=”off” parallax_method=”off” text_orientation=”left” text_color=”dark” text_background=”off” text_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” parallax=”off” \/][et_pb_divider color=”#ffffff” show_divider=”off” divider_style=”solid” divider_position=”top” hide_on_mobile=”on” height=”4″ disabled_on=”on|on|off” \/][et_pb_text background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”justified” use_border_color=”off” max_width=”750px” header_font=”|on|||” header_font_size=”66px” header_line_height=”1.7em” _builder_version=”3.0.94″]<\/p>\n
We have just begun Holy Week, that long walk from the shouts of praise and adoration at the entrance of Jerusalem that will land us, in just a few short days, squarely at the foot of the cross. Yesterday we celebrated \u2013 we raised our palm branches high and shouted our hosannas. We often think of the word \u201chosanna\u201d as fairly generic, religious acclamation of praise. A holy form of \u201chooray!\u201d But in reality, the word \u201chosanna\u201d is transliterated from the Hebrew words that mean \u201cWe beg you, save us!\u201d<\/p>\n
What a powerful image it is to think of those words \u2013 \u201cWe beg you, save us!\u201d \u2013 shouted as the cries of joy and acclamation as they were heard on Palm Sunday. It is not normally with tones of joy that one would beg for help. But that joy came from the hope and expectation that the people had already chosen to entrust Jesus with that their salvation was assured, that the powers of Rome would be defeated and all would be set to right. Of course, we know that the people\u2019s expectation for what would happen with Jesus\u2019s arrival in Jerusalem was not what came to pass. Instead, something far more reaching, world-upsetting, and expectation flipping happened.<\/p>\n
Holy Week is about God defying our expectations and bringing us to something so much bigger and world-changing than we could have ever hoped for. My favorite part of this passage is the end of it \u2013 \u201cHis disciples didn\u2019t understand these things at first. After he was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.\u201d How often do we look at what is happening in the world and in our own lives and have a set of expectations for God\u2019s actions in the midst of them that do not come to pass? How often do we ourselves cry \u201cWe beg you, save us!\u201d and then wonder why God has not swooped in with all of God\u2019s might to strong-arm a victory in the world, or in our lives? How often do we wonder if we have put our hopes behind a God who does not deliver?<\/p>\n
But what would it mean if we, like the disciples, were able to look back on the events of our lives and the events of the world and look for the ways that God met us where we were in the ways we would never have expected? It is a well-known adage that hindsight is 20\/20. When the world around us seems lost and unstable, can we look to our own histories to see where God has been, and perhaps trust that if God was with us then doing things we could not have anticipated, is it not possible that God is doing the same today, saving us all in ways that subvert ours and the world\u2019s expectations?<\/p>\n
There is power in looking backwards. When we see where God has been with us along the way of our lives, we are better able to see where God is with us as our lives move forward, even if we move forward with uncertainty. Starting in May, as the Chaplain to Retired Church Workers of our presbytery, I am beginning a monthly newsletter specifically for our retired church workers, aimed at helping us to trust the road forward by looking back on where God has been and what God has done to bring us to this point in our lives. Expect it to arrive in your inboxes on May 1st, and if you don\u2019t receive it at would like to, please reach out to me at RevLaurenEvans@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list.<\/p>\n
As we walk into this Holy Week together, as our cries of \u201cHosanna!\u201d fade into the tears of Maundy Thursday and Holy Friday, may we wait in joyful expectation of Easter morning. When the light grows dark this week, may we trust that the bright light of the resurrection promise, the light of the God who subverts our every expectation to truly change the world and change our hearts, is on its way.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be afraid, Daughter Zion.
\nLook! Your King is coming.<\/p>\n
Blessings,<\/p>\n
Rev. Lauren Evans
\nChaplain to Retired Church Workers<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav in_same_term=”off” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have just begun Holy Week, that long walk from the shouts of praise and adoration at the entrance of Jerusalem that will land us, in just a few short days, squarely at the foot of the cross. Yesterday we celebrated \u2013 we raised our palm branches high and shouted our hosannas. We often think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":22333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27778,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22329\/revisions\/27778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sangabpres.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}