Lessons from a dying man 3.24.13 Palm/Passion

M. Campbell-Langdell+

Liturgy of the Palms/Passion (Year C)

3.24.13

Imaginen el escenario.  Imagine the scene.  The songs have died down in the air.  The palms are strewn around the streets that have cooled from the heat of the day.  Todavía sienten en el aire la electricidad de su momento de entrada en Jerusalén.  But Jesus is once more alone.  Él está solo con sus ideas diferentes, su manera diferente de ser un Mesías y rey diferente.  Jesus is alone—the coats laid down in the Street for him to pass have been picked up and dusted off, coats that will turn against him so soon, so very soon.  Pronto estará rechazado su rey, su bendito Mesías.  Las canciones van a convertir en gritos violentos.  Soon the happy songs will turn to the shouts of a violent crowd.  

So, alone on that quiet street, imagine him.  See our humble king as the man he is in that moment.  Imagínenlo allí, solo.  Before the disciples fold him back into the fellowship and the stories.  Sus amigos estarán con él muy pronto, pero él también sabe que ellos no van a poder caminar todo el viaje consigo.  There is a part he must walk alone.

Perhaps you saw the Star last Sunday.  It had a big headline, “Death be not Proud: Jarvis Streeter is Dying.”  Era un artículo sobre un profesor en la Universidad Luterana quien está muriendo.  This professor at Cal Lutheran knows that his cancer is most likely terminal and in the article you see him working with his students, his family and others to deal with that. 

Él sabe que va a morir pero lo enfrenta con amor y sin miedo.  He stares death in the face.  The writer says that he doesn’t cry talking about the cancer but instead he tears up about the students and others who have made a special effort to come and visit him.  En el final de cuentas, los dos cosas más importantes para Profesor Streeter son: sus relaciones con su familia y sus amistades y su libro; las palabras que le van a sobrevivir.  There are two things that are important to Streeter: his relationships and finishing his book—the words that will survive him.  The rest of the bucket list is unimportant.  Las otras cosas—los viajes, etc. no importan tanto como sus relaciones con los demás y su legado en forma de su libro.[1]

Perhaps the reason Streeter can face death this way is that he believes in Christ, who also faced death valiantly.  Jesus, too, is a man facing his own mortality.  Jesús también sabe que va a morir.  Jesus knows that he will ultimately pay the price for showing us the way of love. 

No es cáncer pero su entrada en Jerusalén es un acto peligroso que le abre a recibir el cargo de decir que es un rey, el Mesías, el hijo de Dios, todos los nombres que ellos van a levantar en contra de el en muy poco tiempo.  Soon all the wonderful praises lifted up to him today will be hurled back at him as insults and charges of blasphemy.  Bendito el que viene en el nombre del Señor. 

So Jesus, too, focused on relationships—on being with his disciples and teaching them, some of the most powerful moments of which we will relive on Thursday with our Foot washing and remembering of the Last Supper in the Eucharist.  Van a recordar su enfoque en las amistades el jueves cuando lavamos los pies y compartimos la cena del Señor.  Jesus, too, focused on his Word—not on a written book as our professor has done, but on the words shared with his disciples, words that continue to nurture and instruct us.  

So draw your hearts close to the tale that continues.  Traten de escuchar muy atentos a la historia que sigue.  Este es el cuento de un hombre que sabe que va a morir, y quien enfrenta a la muerte sin temor, porque nosotros sabemos el fin de la historia.  We know the end of the story, but don’t jump there yet. 

Be there as we learn from the bravery of this dying man, facing the end with love.  Meditate on his word as we strive to be in relationship with him.  Mediten en su palabra, mientras tratamos de estar en una relación aún mejor con nuestro Señor.  Remember that death doesn’t have the last Word.  Y recuerden que la muerte no tiene la última palabra en el cuento.

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[1] Tom Kisken, “Death be not Proud: Jarvis Streeter is Dying,” Ventura County Star (Sunday March 17, 2013), 1A