Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit: Luke 19: 28-40; Luke 23: 44-49
I don’t think many of us understand what it’s like to live through a time when churches cannot meet, when we have to stay home, and when we must experience the holiest of church days in our homes unable to leave because of and illness we don’t fully understand or know how to fight.
As Christians we’ve been privileged to be able to congregate and pray and meet whenever we wanted to do so here in the United States without fear or worry that this right would be taken away from us. If we ever thought that right may be taken from us, perhaps we thought it would be through force, or politics, or even foes rising against us. But nobody would expect us to be sheltered away from our churches and places of worship for our own safety. That’s something we struggle to understand and accept.
I believe, though, we can find comfort in the story of Palm Sunday and the final words of Christ from the cross. The story of Jesus’s journey into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday is often called the “triumphant entry.” Jesus rides on a lowly donkey through the streets to a hero’s welcome. He is praised and celebrated, honored and glorified by the people. They go so far as to say “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord,” a statement which would have seemed like blasphemy to the religious leaders of Jesus’ time.
The people of Bethany and Bethphage loved Jesus. That had seen him tech and heal, and even bring Lazarus back to life. It was four and a half short miles into the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and these two cities. And in four miles he was met with an ominous warning: the Pharisees complaining about his followers offering hosannas and praise. Jesus rode into the city knowing it would be the end of his mortal life. The crowds in Jerusalem would cry out for him to be crucified, and the crowds in Bethany and Bethphage who had only recently shouted praises would silently say nothing in his defense.
Four miles and five days changed “Hosannah in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” to “Crucify him.” And still Jesus rode on through the crowed likely with fear and uncertainty, knowing that pain and suffering awaited him in Jerusalem. He would experience physical suffering, his friends an followers abandoning him, being alone, falsely accused, and ultimately killed by a corrupt state working in tandem with religious frauds and zealots.
But the answer to the suffering comes in Jesus’s last words on the cross: “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.” There was one place where Jesus could find all truth, all real holiness, and the true light of life: in the hands of God. Right before the end, the darkest point where death was imminent, Jesus tells us where that glimmer of hope is found: in the hands of God. Jesus entrusts himself in his final moments to the Father’s love and mercy, and finds his rest there.
In our tough times this can be a lesson for us. If we find ourselves lonely and bored, fatigued at the lack of human touch, interact, and presence, let us commit ourselves into the hands of God. If we are worried about becoming ill of friends and loved ones getting sick, let us commit ourselves into the hands of God. Many folks have wondered why the church seems to have no answer for why this is happening, or what can be done. But I think the answer is right here: Jesus rode on through the cheers in Bethany and Bethphage, through the questions of the religious leaders, and ultimately to his death. It wasn’t about being right and fair.
Instead it was about us—healing us, saving us, and restoring us. Even our own Savior had to suffer and endure struggles in this life, but ultimate goal was to save, heal, and help. Our mission is the same. In times of crisis, the church can’t sit back and contemplate why this is happening, how we explain it, or what theology makes this okay. Sometimes the answer is simply life is going to hurt. But in those times we can do like Jesus and entrust ourselves into God’s hands. Don’t let trouble run you away from God, instead let it push you closer to God who will strengthen you for the journey, just as Jesus was strengthened for his.
We, too, have a mission to save, heal, and help. There are people out of work, without food, fearful and losing what little hope they may have had. This is the time we can truly show what it means to follow Christ. We can provide Kroger cards to feed those in need, send help to the food pantry, sew masks if able for the medical professionals, We can show that Christ is still very much alive in us and in our communities and houses of worship. Don’t let the struggle demoralize your faith. Let the present struggle inspire you to ride on through just like Jesus showing God’s love and what the church can really do to help, heal and restore. We have an opportunity at this point to make faith come alive and show that faith can still make a difference both spiritually and in this life. So may we rise to the challenge and ride on in hope and glory just as Jesus did. Amen.