March 29, 2026 · Rev. Derek van Gulden · Psalm 37:1-9; Luke 19:28b-40
On Palm Sunday, at the end of a Lent spent walking the Camino together, Rev. Derek van Gulden sets two parades side by side: Pilate's soldiers entering Jerusalem in imperial splendor, and Jesus on a young colt, feet dragging in the dust. Two parades, one choice: which will we join, and where will we be by the end of the week?
Transcript
People of God, would you join me in a moment of prayer? Gracious and loving God, in this hour of this day, I ask you to move the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts by your love, and help each of us not to be the instrument of our own or anyone else's oppression, but to be an instrument of peace in every breath, in every step, in every moment of every day. Amen.
Throughout lent, we have been doing a sermon in a worship series called The Way. The way is the Camino de Santiago. It is the oldest Christian pilgrimage in the world, and it starts in the Pyrenees in France and goes through Spain to the cathedral in Santiago. It's the way of James the disciple James. When the disciples decided after Jesus had passed where they would all go, they divvied up as somebody told me, the different parts of the known world, and James was given Espanola and the Camino. The way is how he got there and his travels along. Some of what you see over there are shoes and backpacks and walking sticks and shirts and other things that were actually worn on the Camino by different people in this congregation.
One thing about a journey that I've learned is when you get to where you think is the end. What happens next? I can remember distinctly in Gillian and James, you probably may have had the same experience. I can't speak for you, but I remember getting to this place where you could overlook the valley and you could see the Camino. You could see Santiago and the cathedral, and it looked close. It wasn't that close. And the day I did it and Sarah did it, it had been raining because we did it in March when no one does it. But we were wet and there were some other people with us. Two doctors from Ecuador that we had met and been walking with. And we saw it. And there's a statue of James and his companion, huge overlooking it. And it was this great thing of, oh, we've made it. Not quite. The next part of the journey took longer than I felt. The whole week that we'd been out. We'd been out eight days getting down and getting through the city and finding the cathedral. I don't know if you guys remember that day, but as we walked, it rained more and more and more and eventually you get there.
The reason I'm pointing this out is sometimes when we reach what we think the journey's end is, and there's that completion and you go, ah, I made it. What now?
Has Jesus entered and prepared to enter into Jerusalem? We heard the scripture. He sent a couple disciples to go and get a colt, a donkey, who was a colt, little one, tied. And if the person who owned it said, what are you doing? Just tell him the Lord needs it. And they got it. Told the person the Lord needs it. And they brought it to Jesus. And the disciples put cloaks on top of it and lifted him up and put him on the donkey. Which sounds funny, because the colt would have been. And then Jesus started his parade into Jerusalem, and people were waving palm fronds and singing Hosanna in the highest. Welcome to the one who comes in the name of the Lord. And they were throwing their cloaks down on the ground in front of him to pave the way.
Now, on the other side of Jerusalem, there was another parade going on because it was getting ready for Passover. Pontius Pilate always came to Jerusalem before Passover, because Jews from all over would descend upon Jerusalem and has the person representing Rome in the area. He wanted to be there with this military might, to ensure people knew that peace was brought through them, as long as they didn't do anything. And Pontius Pilate was coming in on a road that had already been kind of laid flat. So it was easy and nice for him. And he wrote in most probably in his whole regalia. With Roman soldiers marching behind him, he can picture it, the sunlight bouncing off all the metal and stuff that they wore and people lining the sides and waving. And as a friend of mine said, she sees this picture in her head of people doing all this and then people behind them making sure they're doing it. Now, I wasn't there, actually. None of us were there.
But I want us to think about that. Two parades. I had a friend of mine call me. We've known each other since college. Back then, he and I, he was a long haul trucker, and I had just walked off One of the ships of the Navy I'd been serving on, and we both got to college two weeks after they started and we thought, ah, the journey has ended. Oh, it changed. But he has become a dear friend of mine. He was at our wedding. We vacationed together. And I remember him once asking, what is the significance between these two parades? And I know you're listening today, Paul, and if I am speaking out of turn, I apologize.
And the difference is in the cult. Now, this is just for me. I'm not a theologian. I'm a pastor. I do have education in theology and spirituality and scripture. But for me, it's always been the cult. Why did Jesus get on a donkey that was not just a donkey? but a cult.
Now we have no idea how tall Jesus was. We actually don't know what he looked like. There's the Western European Jesus. Very white, very tall. And then there's other ones from around the world. But I imagine any person, even if they were a little short getting on a cult, their feet would have been dragging in the dust. For me, that picture has always been of somebody very humble. Somebody who sees this cult not as a small animal, but for the beauty that God had created the cult to be part of creation, quite often overlooked quite often. If you talk to any farmer or anybody who has animals, the beauty that they see and the rest of us do is amazing. And here's Jesus on this cold feet dragging in the dust. People around waving palm fronds welcome him who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, Hosanna.
Bringing what I've always looked at as Jesus, showing his servant leadership, walking with the people, showing his humility, what he brings and has brought in his ministry and what he would bring in the future. Now nobody knew except for him what was going to happen at the end of the week. How many of the people that were waving palm fronds and yelling, Hosanna! Hosanna! Welcome him who comes in the name of the Lord? By the end of the week, on Friday, we're yelling, crucify him!
It is theologically a very hard concept to grasp. How could you go from one to the other? But today, I want you to think about Jesus entering, knowing this was the end of his journey, his his ministry. He'd reached Jerusalem finally, the way when we walk the Camino, the way when we hike, the way, when we go anywhere, as my grandson points out. Yeah. When we travel with you, when we finally get home and know that there's food because you don't have car snacks. But it's that important thing of knowing that you've ended this journey. And then what happens next? And what do you do next?
I'm not going to ask who was at the No Kings rally yesterday. That's between individuals and your choices. But I was in downtown Gloucester about four o'clock yesterday in a shop looking for some candles. And there were some folks that came in and knew the proprietors, and they, the proprietors said, did you go? And they said, yeah, we did. How was it? And they were talking about what it was. And the proprietor was thrilled to hear because she had to work. And as they were leaving, one of them who was not that close to the group, said, I'm not sure why I was there. I'm not sure if I would have gone there if there was a big rally on the other side. I don't know.
At the start or at the end of this Voyage. We've been on this journey, we've been on together in this congregation, sharing this walk together, talking about different aspects of it and where we were and where we're going. We come to this moment, Palm Sunday, two parades, one of military might, bringing peace by power to keep peace in Jerusalem. One, a prophet sitting on a colt dragging his feet through the dirt. My question always is, which parade will you attend? And my other question is, by the end of the week, where will you be? Two parades. One choice.
Now I think about that. And sometimes I think, well, what if I did go to this one over here? I love parades, music, shiny stuff, lots of things going on. So what if I went just to see part of it? Would that make a difference? Just me. I know in my heart I'd be at the other parade because I know it makes a difference. But the challenge for us is where do we feel ourselves called? Where do we find our heart? Where do we find the love and the compassion we have for each other? One parade, two choices. The week and the journey continues in a new way. And we'll see you throughout the week. As together we walk through it and come together at Easter. Amen.