Rev. Tara Barber
The Community Church of Sebastopol
April 4, 2004 Palm Sunday
Luke 19: 29-42a
“They had began to praise God joyfully for all of the things that God had done for them. “
We don’t usually testify in this church, but that is what this is asking us to do – to praise God loudly, joyfully. So if I were to ask you, and I am going to ask you, to shout out something that God has done for you in your life in this world, what might you shout?
You are great with the answers, but not the shouting! I am not hearing shouting! Feelings… my children, love, health, presence…beauty… hope… roses…family, compassion, good merit, laughter, music, happiness, confetti, spring flowers…. Now I am going to stop repeating your words – I would like you to shout, all at the same time – a cacophony of sound praising God… one… two… three…. (the congregation shouts in unison)
Great! And all too soon the parade is over, the Pharisees concerned that the Romans might see this parade as a disturbance, shushed the crowd. Jesus, who is so certain of God’s presence, declares that even the stones will testify to the power and presence of God. And sometimes, it seems that only the stones or the trees will be the ones to testify, for our fears and good etiquette keep silent.
Now, I am a little cautious about this next hand out – we just threw confetti, but I trust that you will not throw the stones. Choose a good rock, a good stone… remember, no throwing!
This is a story from Megan McKenna. Megan holds a Ph.D. in Liberation Theology and Scripture from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. A notable storyteller, Megan is also on the Board of Directors of Pax Christi, U.S.A. and she says: “There is a story told in Italy about Michelangelo and stones. Whether it is true or not is not debated. What it means, though, is open to interpretation.” And this is how she heard the story:
“Everyday God would look down from heaven on the earth to watch over his people and to see what they were up to. And every once in awhile he would go down to visit his people and dwell with them, though usually no one recognized him. Sooner or later, however, someone would come along and find him and then he would disappear from their sight and return to the heavens. And it seemed that some of his best hiding and watching places were in rocks, stones, canyons, caves, wells, and tombs.
Soon there were stories about a stone that Jacob used for a pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending to earth and where he wrestled all night before receiving a blessing from a mysterious angel. And then there is the story about Jacob's well or Sinai's mountain and many about a Temple in Jerusalem. Then Isaiah the prophet promised the presence of a cornerstone (but was it a rock or a person?). The quote from Isaiah says, ‘Therefore, says the Lord God: See, I am laying a stone in Zion, a stone that has been tested, a precious cornerstone as a sure foundation; the one who puts faith in it shall not be shaken.’” Sounds more like a person than a stone. The story continues: “Then, not so long ago, Jesus came and told his people that it wasn't necessary to worship in certain places anymore. He told a woman at a well: ‘Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... an hour is coming, and is already here, when authentic worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth’. But then Jesus died on the place of the skull and was buried in a rock-hewn tomb and he became the place to worship at, he became the place to worship in. It wasn't long, though, before people began building high places and piling stones up to go and worship there. Many years passed and God grew uncomfortable again. People were having trouble recognizing him; they seemed to be looking only in these places that they had built for his honor and glory, and God wondered what he should do about it.
One day God's attention was drawn to a commotion that was going on around a man in Italy. This man loved stones. All day he would chisel away at the barren slabs and after time, energy, and painstaking effort, the stone would live. It was almost as if he discovered something alive inside the stone and went about freeing it with a passion. He had set many people free already and this time he was attempting to set God himself free! For years he had been working on one huge piece of marble, and slowly over the years the figure of a woman holding the body of her dead son was emerging from the rock. And this time even God was surprised at what was being born out of stone. He went to Michelangelo and spoke to him.
‘Michelangelo’, he said, ‘what are you doing?’ ‘Lord’, he answered, ‘I am setting you free, so that everyone will recognize you -- not only in stone, but in everything, everyone that dwells on earth, but especially in all those who suffer unjustly and die violently at the hands of others and in those who mourn for the loss of such vibrant life. I don't want people to forget you.’ And the Lord spoke again to Michelangelo: ‘Do I really dwell in that stone? I know in the past I have often gone to rocks and mountains, wells and tombs, but I don't remember going to dwell in the stone you are working on.’ And Michelangelo answered God: ‘But my Lord, since your child came to us, you don't have to pick and choose your places of rest; (Jesus) left your Spirit everywhere we just have to search it out, discover it, touch it and reveal it to others. That's what it means to live now.’ And more than satisfied with Michelangelo's answers, God left him to set (God) free from the stones.”
And in the words of Luke, “I tell you, if these people were silent, the stones would shout out.” And again, this is the congregational participation part (but not throwing)… you have a rock in your hand. The rocks are hard, some of them are pointy, some are smooth, solid; but each of them is alive and has something to say.
What might these stones speak for God? What might these stones shout out? What is God struggling to birth in our world today?
Megan concludes :“…history can be seen as a struggle between building up the temple of God, of calling forth life from the stones of the earth and encouraging one another to see God's presence hidden in every rock and leaf, man and woman, and nation and people. It is the task and the work of doing justice, making peace, and bridging differences, being living stones, peace-makers and those who remember that we are all one, all holy and all of a piece….It takes intensity, passion, sweat, and patience looking to see to the heart of matter and struggling to birth life out of stones, struggling to set all of us and God free.”
As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” Jesus’ vision. Our vision.
“We know the vision, we have the hope, we are summoned to the work, we are born to the trade: we are peacemakers, in the tradition of God who made us and sculptors like Michelangelo. Let us begin by looking for stones, missing pieces of (our) souls, and together we can build the temple of peace among us.” So ends Megan’s story, but not ours.