Sunday Gathering

Gathering

(Follow link _____ to a virtual Palms Sunday Parade!) 

Call to Worship

[you may want to actually light a candle]
Take a deep breath and pause.
Be present to each other.
Take a deep breath and pause.
Imagine God's love, a warm light filling you and your prayer partner.
Take a deep breath and pause.
Send love and affection to the person with whom you are worshiping.
Express your appreciation to one another for this time and this contact at a distance.  

Opening Prayer

Holy One,
thank you for gathering us together in this simple way.
Make us mindful of your presence as we read, reflect, and pray together.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.  

Reading
(see below for responsive reading relating to Zechariah 9:9-10)  

Matthew 21:1-11

21When [Jesus and his followers] had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,  

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  

10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”  

Reflection: “The Earth Shakes”  

“When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil.”  

The Greek word for “turmoil” is seio. It appears three other times in the Gospel of Matthew that are of significance: when the disciples are almost overwhelmed by the waters, when the earth quakes at Jesus’ death, and when the stone is rolled away from the tomb on Easter Morning. In English, we get the word “seismic” from the same root.  

On Palm Sunday, Jesus is leading us into a city that is “shifting seismically.”  

The Earth shakes.  

What is our natural inclination when the earth shakes? Do we freeze? Do we run and hide? Do we seek shelter and comfort?  

Indeed, in the days to come in our gospel story, the people most ardently following Jesus will run and seek shelter, betray him, call out with the crowd, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”  

However.  

Resurrection is on the other side of the quaking earth.
The Glory of God is on the other side of the shaky ground.
The Kingdom of Heaven is beyond the tumult of the angry city.  

If we want to follow Jesus to the resurrection, we must follow Jesus through the chaos.  

It is so against our instinct to walk willingly onto shaking ground!

And here we are.  

Palm Sunday.  

The point of no return.  

There is no turning back now… Jesus is on his way, ready or not. Live and die, and live again, Jesus has warned his followers three times but they do not yet understand. Today, Jesus knows he is going to die.  

And he goes.  

And here we are. The ground shaking beneath our feet. Things will never be the same.  

May we be people of such faith that we trust enough to follow Jesus into the shaking city, through the trials and into the Promised Land. Amen.  

Prayers

Holy One, as Jesus enters
into Jerusalem at this
the beginning of Holy Week,
the ground beneath us begins to shake. 
We have only your promise
that resurrection waits for us on the other side.
We feel the sinking feeling in our stomachs;
the grip of fear;
we freeze, we flee, we abandon, we betray.
In the turmoil of the city,
we see ourselves for who we truly are.   

Though we are eager to rush out into the streets
to proclaim the coming of the promised one,
the beginning of peace and harmony on earth,
we are reticent to follow Jesus to death.
We cling to the past,
we grasp the way things were,
we hold on to power. 
We will not let go and let you lead us.   

As it is with us
as individuals and as a community of faith,
so it is with the world. 
We pray for so many people
in so many places
where humans deny your entry into the city.
We pray for victims of violence.   

We pray for the United Church of Canada
as the seismic shifts shake us to our core. 
As the world changes around us
and we pray and discern a way forward
that is faithful and true to your calling and mission.
We pray for Trinity United Church
and the seismic shifts we are feeling
as we follow your son forward,
sometimes courageously, sometimes begrudgingly,
sometimes willingly, sometimes fearfully.

We pray for a generous discerning spirit
for the whole congregation
as we continue into an uncertain future.
We pray for our leaders, we pray for our volunteers,
we pray for our membership, and those we serve.  
We pray for members of our community who are suffering,
who are lonely, who are healing or waiting for medical procedures. 
We pray for members who need comfort,
and those who are grieving. 
We pray for... [You may name people you are carrying in your own heart].  

Holy One, as Jesus enters into Holy Week,
help us to hear in the Hosanna’s
the promise of prophecy fulfilled,
to remember the hope of resurrection
and to hold on to the vision
of a new heaven and a new earth.  

In the name of the one who entered,
and gave all for all, we pray. Amen.  

The Disciples’ Prayer

Our Father who art in Heaven…  

Sending Forth

Express your appreciation to each other for this time of closeness and prayer  

Announcements and Additional service materials

Giving

• if you are already on Pre-Authorized Remittance, thank you
• a special thank you to folks who have made extra gifts, knowing that without gathering on a weekly basis, our finances may suffer
• we do ask that you continue to offer your financial support even though we are not meeting face to face, our ministry together continues 
• at the very top of the screen you will see a "Donate Now" button. If you click on it, it will lead you to our donation page  

Readings

The Prophet Zechariah (based on Zechariah 9:9-10)  

A long, long time ago, the people of Israel were returning from Exile to the land they had once called home: Judea.  

They had long dreamed of the day when they would return to their holy city, Jerusalem: to the homes, the temple and the farmlands that had been their parents' and their parents' parents and their parents' parents' parents'.  

But when they finally returned to Jerusalem, the farmland had been fallow for many decades.  The walls of the city lay in ruins and the temple had been razed to the ground.  All was rubble and desolation.  There were enemies on every side, to the north, south, east and west, larger armies waiting to conquer them again, threatening to take them back into exile, preparing to utterly destroy them.  

But a prophet rose up among them, a prophet named Zechariah and Zechariah proclaimed:  

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!    
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!
Lo, your king comes to you;    
triumphant and victorious is he,
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!
humble and riding on a donkey,    
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!
He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim    
and the warhorse from Jerusalem;
and the battle-bow shall be cut off,    
and he shall command peace to the nations;
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!
his dominion shall be from sea to sea,    
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!  

And the people had hope that a new king would come to destroy their enemies and bring peace to all the nations from one end of the Earth to the other.
Hosanna!  Hosanna in the highest!