Palm Sunday
By Michael Wilson Pastoral Letters March 22, 2024

 

 

 

Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:

Palm Sunday Worship Service Video

 

 

Join us for Worship Sunday at 10:00 AM followed by fellowship and refreshments in the He/SheBrews Café

 

Please join us for Good Friday on March 29 at 11:00 AM

Please join us on Easter Sunday, one service on March 31 at 10:00 AM

 

 

  • “Let’s Talk…and Listen” –  Our first mental health support group night is this Wednesday, March 27 at 7:00 PM. This is for anyone who finds interest or need in this subject and follows on our “Let’s Talk” Information night in January.            

 

  • Tickets are now on sale for Quiz Night on Saturday, April 6. Fill a table or sign up and let us connect you. See Life and Work

 

  • The return of our annual Rummage Sale is getting close. It will be on Saturday, April 13. For more information and to see what and when you may bring donations please visit:  Life and Work

 

  • “SoulCollage” Spirituality Workshop led by Rev. Nancy Finlayson is coming up on Saturday, April 20. See Life and Work

 

 

 

Dear Friends

Welcome to worship for Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Pilate didn’t live in Jerusalem. The Roman Governor of Judea was responsible for the Jewish capital but had no interest in residing in an inland hilly town full of people he didn’t understand nor like very much.

So Pilate lived in a place called Caesarea Maritima, which literally means Caesar’s town by the sea. It had been built by Herod the Great, who unlike Pilate was not Roman but nonetheless ruled with Rome’s permission, as what some call a ‘client king’. The primary purpose was to provide a deep-sea port on the Mediterranean, north along the coast from Tel Aviv, so goods could come and go from this far off province near the eastern edge of the Empire.

But Herod had it built with an abundance of Roman amenities. It had Roman architecture. It had an amphitheatre for Roman style entertainment. It had a hippodrome for chariot racing. Pilate could not only enjoy a more Roman lifestyle living in Caesarea, he could literally stare out over the water and dream of the place he would much preferred to have been.

However, the Governor of Judea sometimes needed to be in Jerusalem. Especially at the time of the important festivals such as Passover. He wasn’t trying to make an impression on his subjects so much as wanting to ensure that no one got out of hand and forgot who was in charge. Pilate’s justice was Roman style too. Swift and cruel. So when Pilate needed to go to Jerusalem he made a display of Rome’s strength and power. It was a parade of sorts, a military and empirical demonstration that stretched for miles. And when he arrived at Jerusalem in full regalia, all the city needed to stop and take note of his entry.

But one year was different. As Pilate arrived from the west, another parade was forming to the east of Jerusalem. It was a demonstration of another kind of power. It was what scholar Ched Myers calls a form of political street theatre. Jesus orchestrates his entry into Jerusalem in such a manner that not only could the people recognize the fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah 9:9 (here comes your king, lowly and on the foal of an ass), but they would also have known here was a counter narrative to the story Pilate’s procession was meant to tell.

No wonder the shouts that day were “Hosanna, Hosanna” a Hebrew word meaning “save us now”. The people was anxious for a leader to offer something other than the life they knew, the life of a nation occupied and controlled and disciplined by Rome. Jesus came prepared to offer an alternative to the ways of Pilate and of Rome in every was imaginable and I suppose ways unimaginable.

Two parades entered Jerusalem. One of loveless power. The other of powerless love.

 

Grace and peace,

Michael

 

 

  • For news and events please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work

 

  • Did you know you can support this ministry by e-transfer, automatic withdrawal (PAR), and gifted securities, in addition to weekly or monthly cheques? For Offering Information please visit: https://charleswoodunited.org/support/  We have begun to receive donations for this summer’s Roofing Project which will be held separate from Operations and Mission & Service. Thank you for your generous support.

 

  • Through the United Church of Canada’s membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, an appeal for donations has been issued for the Humanitarian Crisis in the Middle East. For more information and to donate please visit:  Humanitarian Crisis in the Middle East Appeal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Wilson / About Author
Michael’s involvement in the wider church has included ministry with children and youth, membership on the National Division of World Outreach, supervision of campus ministry, and the Ten Days for Global Justice National Committee. He has been blessed by the opportunity to represent the United Church of Canada in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Africa on different occasions. Michael has taught at the University of Winnipeg – Faculty of Theology and is past President of the Conference of Manitoba and North Western Ontario.
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