Requiem

Today is a rather strange Sunday in Christian church circles.  It actually has two names.  It is called Palm Sunday and, alternatively, Passion Sunday.  Worship planners have the choice of doing both or either.   No matter what we call it, however, this is the Sunday that begins the holiest week of the year for Christians - our holy week. This is the week we remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, acclaimed by those who gathered as the hope of the world, the Messiah, the chosen one. But, not everyone agreed and not everyone was ready to follow. And so acclaims quickly turned to questions and cynicism and disbelief.  The waving of palms was replaced with an exchange of insults, the accusations of enemies and the silence of friends. That led, of course, to a betrayal, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus. That part of the story is known as the passion or the outpouring of a love that included a commitment even to death.

Here is what I believe is the holiest part of what we celebrate this week.  This one we call Savior and Lord, Messiah, the hope of the world - knew the world.  We follow one who knows what it is like to struggle like we struggle.  He knew the pain of betrayal.  He knew death - not just his own but the death of family and friends (remember John the Baptist) and the smaller daily deaths that are such a part of life and that lead to loneliness, bewilderment, fear, disappointment, sadness, frustration.  You know - we know - such things.  And this holy week of Jesus reminds us that those things do not have the final word.  Holy Week is not only about Jesus and what happened to him.  It is about us and what happens to us and how we can live our lives with hope - despite the pains and passions of our particular circumstances.  Jesus showed us that fear and death need not ever have the final word.

So, how does a requiem fit with all of this?  It is, admittedly, an unusual way to honor Palm/Passion Sunday.  Unusual - but not inappropriate.  A requiem is a prayer for the deceased. The word comes from the Latin ‘requiro’ which is I shall ask.   What do we ask in a requiem?  Eternal rest for the deceased, comfort for those who mourn, salvation, assurance - all those things associated with that unknown frontier of death.  But we need that same assurance in our living, don’t we?  As we sit here, on the edge of holy week, we need to know that we are not alone.  We need comfort and assurance.  We want to know that fear is not the final word.  As you listen to the Requiem today, remember that because of that first holy week, we know we have a God who loves us, who stand with us in our pondering, our pain.  We have a God who listens to our questions and who lives them with us, who redeems both them and us.  We have a God who, in Jesus, never leaves us alone.  Requiro - requiem - I shall ask - and, in this holy week, God answers.  Listen . . .