Palm/Passion Sunday (2007): "Forging True Friendship"

Liturgy of the Palms & Passion Sunday (2007): "Forging True Friendship"
Palms: Luke 19:28-40;
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a;
Psalm 31:9-16;
Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 23:1-49
Preached by the Rev. Preston Parsons, April 1st, 2007

This is an odd Sunday in the church year. It feels like we just gave away everything that we should have held onto until Good Friday. The tradition of reading the story of Jesus' crucifixion on the Sunday before Good Friday arose for some good reasons. It arose out of the desire for people to hear the passion when there is no Good Friday service, though it is probably kept in some places by anxious rectors who knew that a lot of people wouldn’t show up for Good Friday even if there was a service. Though I have no such anxiety. I know you will all be here, right?

Without hearing the passion, you go straight from celebrating Jesus' Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, straight to the celebration of the resurrection, without any of the nastier more difficult bits in between, like Jesus' betrayal and his death on the cross.

But I didn't choose to keep Passion Sunday because I don't expect to see you on Friday.

It's partly because the prayer book makes no allowance for anything else, but it's also that if we did substitute some other gospel lesson, the passion according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke would never be heard on Sunday mornings in church. The other passions simply don't come up again in the Sunday lectionary, so all we would ever hear is John's passion.

But in the other passions, Like Luke's, there are details , that preachers might like to take advantage of. And in Luke's passion, this preacher would like to do just this, and lift out something unique to Luke: and today that is Luke's thoughts on friendship. We'll save the crucifixion sermon for Friday. Today, I'll talk about friendship.

***

Imagine for yourself two young men going away from home to study. They're both devout Christians, but they find themselves in a whole new world, a world of drinking and carousing – perhaps a little like going to university now – except that these two young men aren't coming from a small Manitoba town in the 1950's to go to the University of Manitoba. Instead, these two young men are coming from small towns in Turkey, to go to study in Athens, and it's not the 50's, it's the middle of the 4th century. And these young men are in an ancient world where students didn't just drink a lot, by the way - they also fought in the streets with rocks and clubs for the prestige of their teachers.

These two young Christian men who went off to study together in ancient Athens would later become saint's of the church: St. Gregory the Theologian and St. Basil the Great. But for us, in our story, they are just young Christian men, living together and loving God, praying, studying the scriptures, living a common life, both trying to get a good education from a good Christian teacher. (And while they're at it, trying not to get clubbed in the head by rival students.)

They had a very close friendship, Basil and Gregory. And friendship then, in the old old world were not quite like ours. Your friendships were closer than your relationships with your wife or your husband. Gregory would even write that his friendship with Basil was made with eternal bonds, that their friendship was "a full harmony of heart and nature", and even that, though he and Basil had two different bodies, they nevertheless shared the same soul.

***

In Luke we read of two more friendships. The first one we read of is a new friendship between Herod and Pilate. Luke writes in Chapter 22, verse 12, that "that same day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies." These two Roman governors came to a new friendship, according to Luke, through Pilate recognizing Herod's authority, and Pilate’s sending of Jesus the Galilean to Herod, because it was Herod who was governed Galilee. This new friendship between Herod and Pilate was born on the day of Herod's mockery, the day of Herod’s disappointment about not seeing Jesus perform a sign. In other words, this was a friendship born out of the recognition of temporal, earthly authority, and in the context of the inability to recognize the meaning of Jesus’ innocence and his heavenly kingship.

"That same day," the day of Jesus' trial and crucifixion, "Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies."

***

And the third friendship is the friendship between Jesus and the confessing criminal on the cross beside Jesus. This was also a friendship born out of a recognition of authority, like the friendship between Herod and Pilate; and this friendship was also born out of a sign, the sign that Herod didn’t care to see.

The confessing criminal on the cross recognizes two things: he recognizes the true sign of Jesus's power, the sign that Herod looked for but could not see, the sign of Jesus' innocence. "This man has done nothing wrong," says the confessing criminal, yet he "stands under the same sentence of condemnation." This confessing criminal Jesus' suffering lets slip the truth, that the friendship of Herod and Pilate is deeply corrupted, because it is built upon the denial of Jesus' true power, built upon their inability to care at all about the sign of Jesus' innocence.

The confessing criminal, crucified with Christ, recognizes Jesus' true authority, his heavenly authority, the authority that Herod could only mock. So the confessing criminal on the cross asks: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." The heavenly Kingdom, the true Kingdom. And Jesus, the one who wouldn't even speak to Herod, says to the condemned and dying man on a nearby cross, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Jesus and the criminal make, through the confession that Jesus is innocent though suffering, and a king though in the form of a slave, through this confession the bond between the criminal and Jesus is made sure and eternal.

***

I began this reflection on friendship with those two young Christian students, Saints Gregory and Basil. I should be honest, though. The friendship between Basil and Gregory, the friendship born through their common confession, their studying the scriptures together, and their common life; the friendship with Basil that led Gregory to say that their hearts were in full harmony, their bond was eternal, and that though they were in two bodies, that they shared the same soul; the truth of the matter is that their friendship fell apart. Basil left Athens and the Christian affection, and deep deep friendship between Basil and Gregory, was in ruins. And Gregory had a very hard time forgiving Basil for this.

Years later, after both of them had become powerful bishops and theologians, Basil died. Even after years of this estrangement from his friend, Gregory gave a speech about Basil, still saying that their friendship was an eternal one, even while speaking truthfully about their friendship falling apart. Despite the very real bitterness, Gregory still said his friendship with Basil was made with an eternal bond.

Even Pilate and Herod, if they were the best of friends to their last days, hanging out at the circus and going to the theater together, the friendship between Pilate and Herod would never have been what Basil and Gregory had.

The friendship between Pilate and Herod was born out of the mockery of Christ's kingship; it was born out of a recognition of earthly power apart from this King Jesus. Their friendship, though revealed through Jesus, was born in lies and untruth.

But Gregory, despite his estrangement from Basil, could look in hope to the maker of eternal bonds, the one who will make all things well in good time. That Christian friendship was marked by an eschatological hope in the Christ that promises reunion in paradise: Gregory with Basil, Christ with the criminal, and all of us who are marked by hope in the King who rules eternally.

Even that confessing thief on the cross can turn with confidence. Even the friendships faltering now, if they be friendships forged in the eternal bond of Christ the King, the friendship will be restored in truth through the promise of paradise. Trust and believe, all things will be made well, thanks be to God.