Marvelously Mundane

            As I sat in Linda Bowden’s living room last night and listened to her tell the story of how our palm branches got to the church yesterday… of her banging on the windows of a tightly-shuttered florist shop, calling for someone’s attention… of her tripping on the uneven sidewalk in her panic and falling on her titanium knees, only to learn that the skin that covers those knees is not made of titanium… of cell phone calls and the discussion of clandestine meetings with off-duty florists, bringing pails of palm fronds to the church… it reminded me of James and John… or whoever these two disciples were… and their efforts to find… secure… and bring to Jesus one young, unbroken donkey’s colt.   Sometimes, the tasks assigned to Christians are not glamorous… they just need to be done.

I don’t know whether you have ever thought of it or not, but more than half of the verses of this Bible story about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem are not about crowds shouting ‘Hosanna’ and waving those palm branches.  No.  More than half of the verses are about these two disciples going into a village… finding a donkey’s colt that had never been ridden… acquiring it… and bringing it to Jesus.   This is not something that you do in a suit and a tie on Sunday morning.  This is something that you do when others are eating lunch… or watching cable TV.  This is something you roll up your sleeves… wade into smelly stables… wipe manure off your shoes… push… pull… and drag into place… while trying to avoid a well-placed kick… just because it needs to be done.

It could easily have been James and John who did it… for Jesus often turned to the two brothers and asked them to do things.  These same two brothers had just asked Jesus if they could sit beside him… one on his right and the other on his left… in the glory of his kingdom.  How like Jesus it would be to respond with… “This is what the work of the kingdom of God is really like… not fame and fortune… but muscles and manure… not glamour and glory… but the marvelously mundane.  It is hard work… often unappreciated… often done behind the scenes… in little villages and dirty stables.  Is this what you signed up for?” 

Palm Sunday and Easter… and, in fact, all the events of Holy Week… and even the big celebration that our Anna Claire Boyd Dinner will be…are filled with those marvelously mundane tasks that often feel like stepping in manure and wondering if you will ever get it off of your shoes.  Jesus and the twelve disciples spent more than two hours of their Saturday yesterday here in the Fellowship Hall… rehearsing their parts for the Living Last Supper.  Most of you won’t see that rehearsal time… or think of the hours it takes Evelyn Bryant to chop apples and walnuts to make the charoset… or Paul Fisher to get the roasted lamb prepared… or John Darby to drape our cross… or Ralph Taeuber to repair our public address system… or Wanda Solley to coordinate our Seder Meal… or Diana Council to work out the details of our Anna Claire Boyd dinner… or Kathleen Huckabee to put together our beautiful capital campaign brochure… or Carol Gonzales to photocopy the questions for our Lenten Meditations… or Sylma Smith to put together our bulletins for the four services this week… or Diane Taeuber to run to Costco get paper towels and toilet paper.  It takes an army of people working in little ways behind the scenes for us to share all the wonderful events of this week… events we hope you will simply come and experience… just as the people in the crowd came and experienced the joy… the shouting… the triumph… of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem… without thinking about where the donkey came from.  

Last week, as I sat in my sister’s living room and thought of last Sunday here in Stephenville, I didn’t think of Dr. Charles Rice and his sermon… or of all of you gathered in the Fellowship Hall for Two-Cent-A-Meal.  As I contemplated this scripture, I thought, instead, of Jennifer Carey cutting the check for Dr. Rice… and of those who stayed behind after Two-Cent-A-Meal to wash the dishes… to empty the coffee grounds… and to wipe down the tables.  When we ordain our elders… with due pomp and ceremony in worship on Sunday morning… and they promise to serve us with “energy… intelligence… imagination… and love,” I doubt that they are thinking of the times when the toilet stops up in the bathroom… or the grape juice disappears from the refrigerator before communion… or lightning takes out our sound system… or bees swarm in our sanctuary… or florist shops close before we get there.  These things just happen… and someone steps in to take care of them.  And sometimes, it feels like looking for donkey colts in dirty stables… or cleaning up palm branches and clothing from the road after the parade.  But it is all part and parcel of what it means to serve God… wherever we are.   How many years did Mother Theresa serve the poor in obscurity in India before her efforts were finally seen and recognized by thousands who had also seen those same poor outcasts and passed them by without stopping?  How many years do many church custodians wipe down the pews… vacuum the carpets… clean the restrooms… and empty the trash before Sunday services without ever receiving the accolades they deserve?   We do plan to recognize Barbara Bays for her years with us, as soon as we can find a mutually agreeable day to do it.

As we move into Holy Week and enjoy all the marvelous worship experiences that bring to us the passion of Jesus during his final week on Earth… as we explore the many facets of our faith… from the sacrifice of one man to atone for our sins… to his descent into hell to secure our redemption… to his triumphant resurrection to open the doors to eternal life for all, I would ask you to pause from time to time to think of all those who have worked so hard to make this week a special one… whether it is Jim Durden and Raymond Kenny who built the platform that we use for a stage… or Evelyn Bryant and Jo Butler who fold the bulletins… or Leesa Levisay and the members of our choir who bring us such great music.    I don’t think anyone has been left out… and if they have, it’s probably because we will need someone to fetch a donkey this week and you are holding the short straw.   Welcome to the world of Christian service.  It’s probably not something Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt would do on camera… but rather something that their makeup artists… stunt doubles… and gaffers are taking care of behind the scenes.  They are the things that must be done so that all of us can glorify God and sing ‘Hosannas’ to his name… the things that are the blood… sweat… and tears… of Christ’s triumphant parade.  It is just the work of two disciples to secure a donkey… and the faithfulness of all the saints in the work they do behind the scenes… as they scrape the manure off of their shoes.   Amen.

Mark 11:1-11