It started out simple enough. A cough . . . a complaint about a headache .
. . simple things that happen probably millions a time a day. But who would have thought that something so
simple . . . so unassuming . . . would be the cause of a pandemic that is
sweeping across the world? Not me . . .
probably not you. Yet, that is how it
happened. All it took was one infected
person . . . one stone in the great pond of humanity . . . to ripple across the
world and putting everyone at risk. It
is a ripple that has change all our lives.
Think about it . . . a ripple. In life there is something called the “ripple
effect”. The
“ripple effect” is a situation in which one event produces effects which spread
and produce other effects. For the
past couple of weeks our lives have been touched by a ripple. The COVID-19 pandemic is a ripple. From a tiny microscopic virus that one cannot
even see with the human eye, a ripple has been set into motion radiating it
waves across the world until no one can escape its presence in his or her
life. It has touched everyone’s
lives. It has changed all our lives. There is no escaping the ripple.
It seems as life and history are filled
with stories of ripples. The story of
Jesus is a ripple story. Think about it
. . . a simple baptism sets it all into motion.
A ministry that gets to the roots of God’s desires . . . love for the
Holy One, love for others . . . that starts out simply enough—person to person
as Jesus go about sharing God’s love wherever he encounters others. And, it grows. We read the gospels how as Jesus continues to
preach, teach, and heal the crowds of believers grew. As it continued to grow it made some nervous
. . . the religious and political leaders were taking notice and it was making
them uncomfortable. But it continued to
grow as Jesus swept across the landscape.
It grows to such a point that we see on
this Palm Sunday that it is marked with a parade into the city of Jerusalem . .
. a happy, joyous, hope-filled celebration of Jesus and what he
represents. The ripples have grown into
a movement and would soon come smashing into another ripple . . . a more
ominous one.
This ominous ripple set into motion long
before Jesus was being marked by a parade too.
In stark contrast this parade was more somber and serious in its
presence. It was not a parade of
celebration, but a message. As the Roman
governor Pontius Pilate marched his soldiers through the streets of Jerusalem
it was not meant to be a celebration but a reminder of who was in control
during this time of gathering to celebrate the Passover . . . Rome! And, Pilate did not want the people to
forget.
These two ripples were course for a
collision as the lives of many were about to be changed forever.
Which brings us to our reading this
morning. We witness the collision of
these two ripples as they come banging together. We see how the one side represented by the
religious and political powers react . . . the time has come to get rid of
Jesus and to stomp his movement once and for all. Judas agrees to betray Jesus. Jesus is arrested . . . he bounced around as
he tried by the religious and political authorities . . . and, he is condemned. Condemned with crucifixion. And, we see him
die on a cross.
From the shouts of Hosanna to the final
scene of Jesus dead on a cross we also witness the collision from the other
ripple. We see the disciples abandon
Jesus . . . first, Judas betrays him . . . they fell asleep while he was
praying in the garden . . . they ran when he was arrested . . . Peter denied
knowing him . . . and, they stood in the shadows—hiding—through the trial and
crucifixion.
Remember, the “ripple effect” is a
situation in which one event produces effects which spread and produce other
effects. As the two ripples collide, a
new ripple has started. It will slowly
radiate out and it would change the world.
Even today, that ripple is felt among those who call themselves the
followers of Jesus. But we don’t want to
get to ahead of the story . . . we will save that for next week.
We should not view the disciples and
other followers in a bad light. No, I
think that their reactions and actions were very human in a time of great fear. They did what anyone would do in a
threatening situation in order to survive . . . fight or flight. Apparently, they saw the folly in staying to
fight, so they ran. They ran for their
lives. And who could blame them? They
did what they needed to do to survive.
Remember, as the two ripples collide a
new ripple begins. What we witness in
the reactions and actions of the disciples and followers of Jesus is only the
beginning of what is to happen next. Out
of their fear they will find strength, they will embrace a purpose—a renewal of
love of God and others, and it would ripple across time and generations until
we too have felt its ripple.
From something so simple we get a ripple
. . . a ripple that changes our lives forever.
Whether or not those changes become permanent will probably come down to
us as individuals and as a collective whole.
We have had our moment of fear, though that fear is still real today . .
. but, we have had our reaction to the crisis upon us through this COVID-19
pandemic. As our reactions have
subsided, we have begun to act instead of reacting. We are stepping out of our fear to discover
our strength of faith as the followers of Jesus. We have begun to embrace our belief in a God
that never abandons us. And, we have
started to reach out to care for our neighbors and others. We have discovered that we are a family—God’s
family—no matter where we are in the world . . . we are brothers and sisters
created in the image of God and loved by God.
We have come to realize that we are in this together and we’ve got each
other’s backs.
The ripple has changed us . . . it has
changed us for the better.
I read this quote this week about a
person asking a rabbi after a natural disaster how to explain such a tragic act
by God. The rabbi responded that the
disaster was an act of nature. Then he
said, the act of God occurred when people stepped up to help each other.
To love one another . . . this is the
change we are living as we continue to follow the stay at home and social
distancing orders. We do it for each
other so that we may all come out in the end safely. We reach out to family, friends, and
neighbors through phone calls, social media, and even good old letter writing
to check up on one another. We do it by
remembering to purchase gift cards from local restaurants to help keep them
afloat when people are not eating out.
We do it as we shift our prayers of “why” to prayers of concern . . .
not only for ourselves, but all of God’s children everywhere. We do it as we surround those who have to
work so that we may all live . . . the medical people, law enforcement, all
those who work tirelessly to protect and serve . . . with prayer. We love one another.
A ripple . . . a change. Will it last?
Will the effects of this ripple change our old normal into a new
normal? I hope so. I share this quote from last week about this
idea: “Nothing should go back to normal.
Normal wasn’t working. If we go back to the way things were, we will
have lost the lesson. May we rise up and
do better.”
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