The Stones will Shout Preached on April 14th, 2019 At Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: Luke 19:28-42 The procession into Jerusalem we heard of about in our gospel reading today is often called the “Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.” The Palm Sunday hymns are upbeat, and many churches hold processions in which adults and children cheerfully wave palms. Before Palm Sunday, I often play my recording of “Hosanna Hey-sanna” from Jesus Superstar as I prepare my sermon. Like the birth stories of Jesus, the different gospel accounts of the entrance into Jerusalem are often melded into one. In fact, John’s gospel is the only one that includes the waving of palms. And in the account we heard today from Luke, there is no singing of “Hosanna”. The “great multitude” of disciples cry out: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" At Jesus’ instructions, the disciples have acquired the colt that has never been ridden. The scene is set for an enactment of the ninth chapter of the prophetic book of Zechariah. In this oracle, a peaceful king rides humbly into the city on the colt, a foal of a donkey. This is a different kind of king, a meek king who commands peace to the nations, who lets the chariots and war horses loose. This is a completely different kind of rule, from that which the people of Jerusalem are experiencing under Caesar. Jesus enacts this vision of peace, as he follows the steep and stony road down into Jerusalem on the wobbly little colt. The disciples are emboldened. This peace seems to be within reach. They are so pumped, with love, joy and hope, that their praise is noisy, rambunctious, undignified. It is reminiscent of King David’s wild dance before the Lord, as he accompanied the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. I suspect Luke of hyperbole when he talks of “multitudes of disciples”, but still, there are at least enough to make a ruckus. And among them there are some Pharisees – religious leaders – who get uncomfortable with the scene. They are the responsible ones, who look over their shoulders nervously for signs of the Roman governor’s spies. They are well aware that the authorities are already on “orange” alert. The festival of the Passover is approaching, which is a high holiday of liberation for the Jewish people. Pilgrims from all over the land are flooding into Jerusalem for the holiday. There is an atmosphere of celebration, and yet the mood could very easily change. With the right provocation, the balance could be tipped toward rebellion and the bloodshed that comes with it. The Pharisees get alongside Jesus, whose legs are dangling over the sides of little colt. “A word in your ear … could you get them to tone it down … we don’t want too much attention, you know, of the wrong sort.” But he replies: "I tell you, if [these folk] were silent, the stones would shout out." This feeling of longing, for a leader who brings peace, healing and liberty to the oppressed cannot be put back in the box. If the Romans were to swoop in now, and take all the followers to jail, the very landscape would continue to echo their chants and songs. The stones would shout out. The landscape would bear witness and the stones would cry out, drawing attention to Jesus’ courageous, peaceful act. There are many places in the world where the landscape and the stones bear witness to what has passed in that place. Here in the United States, the grounds of Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, tell a story that will not be silenced. On a circular concrete setting there are sculptures that memorialize the Little Rock Nine. The sculptures are of nine African American High School students, each carrying books, each resembling a particular student. These nine students were the first black Americans to be enrolled at Little Rock High School in September 1957. This was a test case for Brown vs Board of Education, the Supreme Court bill that ruled segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The students, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls, were recruited and vetted for their strength and determination. The NAACP in Arkansas knew that they would face fierce opposition to desegregation. The hostilities the students faced, as they attempted to make their way into school each day, have many parallels with Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem and toward the cross. Before school began, the Arkansas Governor recruited the National Guard to resist the students’ entry into the High School, and the Mothers’ League of Little Rock High School held a sunrise service to protest the integration. But a Federal Judge ruled that the desegregation would stand. And so on September 4th, the first day of school, eight of students arrived together in one carpool. But Elizabeth Eckford arrived alone, and was spat upon by the mothers as she navigated hostile white students and parents in her way. On September 20th the school was ordered to remove the National Guard, and the police department took over, to escort the 9 students into the school. But the mob of around 1,000 protesters was so violent that President Eisenhower had to send the Army to maintain order. Finally on September 25th the nine students were able to attend their first full day of school. All nine students were routinely harassed and subjected to violence throughout their first year at the school. Melba Patillo, was kicked, beaten and had acid thrown in her face. Gloria Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs. The Little Rock Nine were barred from participating in extracurricular activities. White students burned an African-American effigy in a vacant lot across from the school. Minnijean Brown was expelled from the school in February 1958 for retaliating against attacks. The Little Rock Nine are remembered today for their courage and nonviolent resistance to an injustice that had to be overcome. Their way of peace was public and painful, like that of Jesus. This demonstration of what peace looks could not be done quietly. May the sculptures in the Little Rock Capitol continue to cry out and bear witness to their courage. [1] The stones and the landscape cry out in many places. Some stones have been fashioned into memorials, while others simply stand in witness. And sometimes the stones and rocks that are constructed to oppress a population actually bear witness to their liberation. In April 1990, while we were living in England, I went with my husband to visit his sister, brother-in-law and their young daughter in Germany. Our brother-in-law, Rolf, was particularly affected by the split of Berlin by the wall built by the Soviet occupiers of East Germany. And so we decided to take a trip to Berlin to witness the destruction of the wall, and the symbolic end of the Soviet Union. When we arrived in West Berlin, there was a party atmosphere. People were picnicking in the grass in front of the wall with their friends and family. Rolf lifted our three-year-old niece, Christina, up onto the partly demolished wall and took pictures as she walked along it. My husband, Simon, jumped up onto the wall, and reached down to pull me up. There’s a picture of that too. On the western side the wall was covered with graffiti. Street artists painted slogans like “no more walls”, “dancing to freedom”, “save our Earth.” These artists had courage. The “death strip” had been just the other side of the 12 foot wall. Soldiers had guarded East Berlin from watch-towers and were ready to shoot anyone who attempted to climb over. And yet, those graffiti artists could not allow the wall to remain silent. The stones were crying out. We were amongst the visitors that brought home a small piece of the concrete wall from Berlin that spring. It was our own piece of a stone that cried out for the end of brutal restrictions on the people of Eastern Europe. The atmosphere was of partying in Berlin that spring, and also there was a party atmosphere in Jerusalem, those many years before. In 1990, the wall came down without bloodshed, the Cold War ended. Eastern Europe opened up. The Little Rock Nine had to wait for their party. But in 1999 they were each honored by President Clinton with a Congressional Gold Medal, and, as senior citizens, the students were honored guests at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Later this morning we will read of Jesus’ continued journey toward the cross. Then the party will be over for a time and the crowds will be silenced for a while. But the stones will not remain silent, they will continue to cry out for all time. May all God’s people say "Amen" [1] https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration
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