Rev. George Miller
April 5, 2020
Mark 11:1-11
During this time of the Corona pandemic and social distancing, creativity has been birthed by the chaos, as it so often happens.
All over social media we are seeing creative personalities emerge in which they’re not only entertaining themselves, but they are emotionally and socially feeding us with nothing more than the basic ingredients of time, space, and mind.
For example, a young lady who took three rolls of toilet paper, marked them up with numbers and images and staged her own slot machine.
She created an interactive skit about a gangsta grandmother who just wanted to be left alone while at the casino
This was broadcast live with people from all over the country watching, posting comments, and forming community…all over a single person who had nothing more than Charmin, a cell phone and a cunning imagination.
What we are witnessing is not just the positive power of social media, but something else, something much older, more ancient, and more ancestral-
The ability to turn nothing into something.
The ability to make something out of nothing is as old as creation itself when God’s spirit moved over the vast void and said “Let there be light.”
The ability to turn something out of nothing is as sacred as God looking upon Sarah and saying “From your empty womb I will bring forth a nation. Get up and GO!”
The ability to turn something out of nothing is as holy as Mary placing her baby in a manger.
The ability to turn something out of nothing is what our mothers, our aunties, our grandmothers, single parents, and nation’s forefathers knew all about.
Because we were created in God’s image, humans have the uncanny ability to take absolutely nothing and turn it into something so, so good.
For us in the south, we know just how good and healthy greens are. But we also know the history of greens-
They were left over parts of that the slaveholders didn’t want, so they tossed them to the slaves who said “We’re going to make this work.”
With cleaning, seasoning, and creativity, a dish was created that signals for millions of people comfort, love, and family.
For those in New England, lobsters were first seen as a poor person’s food, considering how abundant they were.
Women would hide their lobster stew when the preacher came by just so he didn’t think they were poor.
For those of Italian descent, you may know that ravioli was most likely just a way for mothers to feed their family with meat that was starting to go bad. By placing the protein in a pocket of noodle, no one could see what they were eating.
Sonny’s Barbeque, Red Lobster and Olive Garden all owe their existence to wise women who were simply trying to feed their family by turning nothing into something.
I think of my own mother who recently passed away this week. My mom had an incredible talent for turning the mundane into something special.
She’d wrap aluminum foil around a bottle of ginger ale to create the illusion of champagne.
She’d make edible necklaces by stringing Froot Loops on a piece of yarn.
On Sundays, she’d toss spaghetti with ketchup, cheddar cheese and parmesan.
Because she served it alongside grilled steak, I grew up thinking it was a classy pasta dish.
Then, about 10 years ago, someone burst my bubble and brought me into reality –
“Oh, that’s poor people’s food. Your mom was using ketchup instead of spaghetti sauce.”
Talk about a reality check…
….But you know what, I still make that dish all the time. In fact, I love it even more, because now I know:
it’s a dish created by creative survivors-
by family members who did what they had to do in order to make it through and make things last.
Something out of nothing.
Stale bread turned into croutons, water poured into soap containers and shaken all about, empty jelly jars turned into drinking glasses.
Something out of nothing.
Think about Communion. It’s nothing more than bread and juice.
Back in Jesus’ time, bread and wine were staples in every person’s home, no matter how rich, no matter how poor.
Something out of nothing.
Think of today, which is Palm Sunday, a story told in all 4 Gospels- Jesus rides into Jerusalem and is greeted by folk with signs and songs of exaltation.
But none of the 4 Gospels tell the story the same way.
Mark and John have the crowd shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Luke has them shout “Blessed is the King!” while Matthew has them say “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Then there are the items the people use to welcome Jesus into their lives.
John has them using palm branches.
Luke shows the people spreading cloaks upon the path.
Matthew has them cutting tree branches.
But Mark? Mark is more raw, more earthy. A bit more like a mother.
He reports that the people spread their cloaks upon the road, and-
The people go out to the fields, taking whatever they can find- grass, rushes, leaves, branches, straw, and they spread out all these things upon the path.
The people literally use anything and everything they could find to welcome the Lord into their lives, climbing up trees, gathering items on the ground.
Like our mothers, abuelas, grandmothers, and field soldiers, they were creative, using what they had, and making it work.
The people in today’s story literally make something magnificent out of nothing.
So magnificent, that 2,000 years later we still remember what they did.
This moment is their collard greens, their lobster stew, their ravioli, their spaghetti and ketchup dish.
We can learn a lesson from our spiritual ancestors-
that when it comes to worshipping Christ, when it comes to welcoming Jesus into our existence,
we can use anything, anywhere, anytime.
We can worship and welcome Christ through song,
we can welcome Christ through silence,
we can welcome Christ in a sanctuary,
we can welcome Christ via LiveStream.
We can welcome Christ in French, Spanish, English and Sign.
We can welcome Christ with bread and juice, toast and coffee, a slice of pizza and sip of soda.
We can welcome Jesus into our lives with literally anything, in any place, at any time.
After all, welcome and worship is about your heart.
It’s about your testimony.
It’s about what your soul hungers and thirsts for.
What your spirit is thankful for.
What your conscience is sorry for.
What your heart hopes for.
Welcome and worship is about what you most desire for
Your family, Your friends
Your community, Your country
Yourself.
We can take absolutely nothing and turn it into something if we honestly and truly want to praise the Lord.
So here is what we invite you to do-
Just like the people in Mark’s gospel, take a moment and go- go and find.
Find something, anything that you can wave about.
We don’t care what it is-
A dishcloth
A newspaper
A t shirt
A cat.
Regardless if you are worshipping with us live via Facebook or hours later on YouTube,
We are all participants.
And just like that crowd in Jerusalem, in the true tradition of the human spirit,
Lift up your item and wave.
Wave your item knowing you are making something out of nothing,
wave knowing you are welcoming Christ,
wave knowing you are showing hope for the future.
In every time zone, in every place,
From Sebring to Haiti
Cuba to Canada
Ohio to Alabama
From California to Tennessee
Missouri to Michigan
Arizona to Orlando
From New York to Massachusetts
Let us all join as one colossal voice to say:
“Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!”
“Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!”
“Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!”
“Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!
Amen!
A UCC Pastor's walk through the spiritual waters of Scripture, pop culture and life.
No comments:
Post a Comment