Rev. Nancy S. Taylor

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Beginning in March of 1905 – one hundred and sixteen years ago – Albert Einstein published papers which convinced doubters that atoms exist; that described special relativity; and introduced the photoelectric effect. He persuaded the world that light travels faster than anything else, and that space and time are not distinct, but a continuum.

His papers and their consequences bombarded the world as a fusillade of ideas … new ideas … ideas that turned the academy on its head.

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Jesus has arrived at a turning-point. He is almost at the point of no return, but not quite. It’s not too late to turn back. Not too late to abandon what he has been doing and go home.

Home to Nazareth. Home to the carpentry shop. Pick up the tools. Finish that cabinet he was making. Earn a living. Get married. Have children.

He can still turn back. It’s not too late.

Or, he can continue on, toward Jerusalem, toward confrontation with the powers and principalities of the world … of his world.

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At its core, Christian faith is concerned with the purpose of human existence. As creatures created in the image of the Creator God, among our highest purposes: creativity. We are made by God to create: to fashion and to form, to invent and to imagine, to compose and to produce, to spawn and to construct, to plant and to build.

Another of our purposes—equally high and holy: to imitate God in resting that we might delight in that which has been created.

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The story of Palm Sunday is featured in all four gospels. The story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, with the humble beast, the shouting crowds, the branches, the coats and cloaks spread on the road … this story has center stage in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Making the cut in all four gospels is a big biblical deal.

Christmas didn’t make it into all four gospels. Two of the gospels make no mention of the pregnant Mary or shepherds abiding or angels singing, or the star, or the wise men, or the babe.

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Have you ever wondered why churches are so large? Why the ceilings are so high? Why there is so much space?

Let me explain.

Some of you will recall back to the 1970s and 1980s, Death Squads wreaked havoc and terror across Central and South America. Sponsored by government, landowners, and business interests, these Death Squads acted with impunity.

In El Salvador alone, they killed tens of thousands of peasants and activists, including nuns and priests who resisted the oppression.

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Five and thirty years ago, as a young, brand new minister, I was serving three very small churches in very rural Maine, in an impoverished community … an area of Maine often referred to as Northern Appalachia.

Shortly after arriving there, I took my first funeral. A beloved and ancient matriarch had died and the small wooden church was packed, standing room only: family, neighbors, also with people I hadn’t seen before … folks from shacks and cabins tucked back deep into the Maine woods.

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Today is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day, Moms.

Today is Mother’s Day … but here’s the thing: Mother’s Day can be complicated.

Mother’s Day was born in rage and outrage against men’s wars. It was birthed by Julia Ward Howe who was outraged, beside herself, undone because we were sending into war, into harm’s way our sons, our children … sending bright youth to fight old men’s battles. Bright youth who too often returned—when they did return—damaged and broken.

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When England voted itself out of the European Union, it felt to me as if the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way.

Founded in the wake of World War II, the EU was created as an antidote to the extreme nationalism which had devastated the continent … the extreme nationalism that gave rise to the woeful events to which Elie Wiesel, of blessed memory, devoted his life exposing.

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In today’s reading, Jesus delivers a hard, sharp word. The gentle Shepherd is nowhere to be found. Instead, he is angry prophet. He is stressed, distressed and frustrated. His words are harsh and fierce … and not without judgment.

Because today’s scripture is a hard, sharp word, I am going to read it softly. Listen.