Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 27:11-54
When we think about this coming week as a whole - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday - the verse that seems to stand out above all, that represents everything that has happened and that we will remember and do our best to follow, is the one from Paul in the letter to the Philippians, “In humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, with the crowds lauding him and waving palms - welcoming him as a conquering hero, really - he remained humble. He did not seize power, like the Romans had done when they came in. He rode in on a donkey. A donkey! That’s hardly very king-like. Most kings don’t ride in on donkeys, they ride in on horses, or in chariots, or carried in a litter. Kings come in with trumpets and peacock-feather fans waving before them, not branches cut from the nearby trees. Kings have flowers cast on the road before them - our modern-day red carpets - not other people’s coats. But not Jesus.
And throughout that week, he continued to be humble. He was given several opportunities to proclaim that he was anointed and sent by God, that he was indeed the Son of God, and he didn’t. He could have elevated himself, he could have claimed all things, he could have stood before the people of Jerusalem as the true ruler of the world, but he didn’t. Instead, in the time between riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and being taken before Pilate, he tells the people to give to the emperor what is the emperor’s, he refuses to claim that he has the authority of God, he condemns the elite for their hypocrisy and using their power for their own benefit, he shares a last meal with the one he knows is going to betray him, and, in the garden of Gethsemane, he voluntarily gives up his power and submits to the arrest that will lead to his death, and even rebukes the disciples who draws out a sword to defend him.
And finally we come to his trial before Pilate, who asks him, are you the King of the Jews? And Jesus does not claim that he is, nor make any attempt to defend his actions or exonerate himself. When he is crucified with two thieves, he makes no objection to being in their company, even though they, too, make fun of him. And he dies for them.
“In humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
So how do we follow this today? It’s tricky, because generally speaking, we tend to think we already do this. At least, we like to think of ourselves as people who do this. We like to think of ourselves as humble, and we like to think of ourselves as putting others first. But do we really? Do we really do it to the extent that Jesus did?
I would hazard a guess and say that we don’t, not as a society, and not as individuals. As white Canadians who have lived here for years and years and years, we think we are better than those who have only recently showed up and expect access to the same health care and unemployment and retirement benefits as we do. As Christians, we certainly think of ourselves as better, religiously speaking, than those who aren’t Christian. We consider ourselves to be living better lives than those who have never gone to church.
As individuals, we don’t follow Jesus like we should. When we vote, we think about what’s good for us, not about what’s good for minorities, or those who have been historically oppressed in this country, like First Nations peoples. When we buy a car, we buy one that suits our needs and that we can afford, rather than one that is good for the environment and for the air that others breathe. When we buy electronics or clothes, we buy the things that suit us best and that make our wallet happy. We don’t make our choices based on what is good for the labourer in China or India who makes these products under appalling working conditions.
And we make our excuses for that. It’s not practical. It’s not realistic. It’s expecting too much for us to live like Jesus did, and die like he did. He was the Son of God, and we’re just mere humans.
But it’s not humanly impossible. It is not true to say that only Jesus was able to sacrifice to that extent. Throughout history, there have been individuals who have given their lives, metaphorically and, more importantly, literally, for the interests of others. Martin Luther King, Jr., for instance. He knew that continuing on the path of demanding equal rights for blacks would kill him - he had already received several death threats before he was assassinated. He had a wife and children whom he loved, he pastored a church that he loved deeply. But he knew that his message and his work - that God loves all of God’s children equally and that God demands we treat one another that way - was for the better and greater good. And so he continued, putting aside his own interests. And he died as a result.
And there’s Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who is commemorated today in the church calendar, as a saint of the church. He grew up in a privileged, well-to-do family, he had a teaching position in the States, he did not need to move back to Germany and engage in the resistance against Hitler. But he did. He put the interests of others above his own. He considered the lives of others to worth more than his own. And he, too, died as a result.
And so we are stuck in this position, of being told to regard others as better than ourselves, and being told to put others interests above our own, and of seeing both the Son of God and mere humans manage to do it, and somehow we find ourselves making excuses. Rationalizing and justifying our decisions to protect ourselves even though we know it is the wrong decision.
I know that my house is on Treaty 7 land and should be returned to the Treaty 7 peoples, and yet I can give you many reasons that I haven’t done so. My kids need somewhere to live, I paid for the house, if we all gave Treaty 7 land back the city would be in ruins and lives would be destroyed, and I’m sure you can even come up with reasons of your own to justify my lack of action.
For the first time in my life, we actually have some money in our savings account. And I know that we should be giving that money away - to the Red Cross, to Syrian refugees, to all of these amazing groups that are on the list that St. John will be giving money to. But, we need that money in case of an emergency. My kids will need that money for university. I already give 10% of my income to charity. The excuses go on. I am able, with all kinds of logic and solid reasoning, to find ways to put my interests before the interests of others. And I’m sure you all would find ways to excuse me, too.
But there is no excuse. Not for any of us. We are just like the crowds on Palm Sunday who praised Jesus and then so quickly turned on him. They welcomed him because they thought he was coming to reestablish the throne of David and overturn the Roman occupiers - they thought he would make their lives better. And when he didn’t, they chose themselves over him. They distanced themselves from him. “Crucify him,” which really meant, Crucify him, not us. Punish him, not us. Take his life, not ours. And this is what we do. Jesus himself said that he is the one who is hungry, the one who is thirsty, the one who is sick, the one who is a stranger, the one who is in jail. And “Just as you did not do it for the least of these, you did not do it for me.” Just as we do not consider the least of these better than ourselves, we do not consider Jesus better than ourselves.
So what are we to do? This day that began in joy and parades has turned into one of gilt and condemnation. And it will get worse, because this week will progress to the betrayal of Jesus and to his death - our betrayal of Jesus and us nailing him to the cross. But, if we hang in there, and I know we can because we’ve done it before, we will arrive at Easter. We will arrive at forgiveness and resurrection and new life. But let’s not rush it, to get it over with. Let us, instead, take our time to walk this road with Jesus, to put his story above our own, to regard his suffering as more important than our own discomfort. Because Jesus himself did not look to his own interests, but to the interests of others, and that has made all the difference. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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