Palm Sunday

It was kind of fun preaching on Palm sunday in Tasmania this past week-end. I was over for the final weekend of Graceworks (which was a blessing) and stayed on for the Sunday to preach at a corps and a divisional youth event. Beside Tasmania being filled with great people - it also really reminded me of British Columbia - with lush green colours and bush and hiking and hills... good times.
The Palm sunday was a refreshing lead up to the Easter weekend events coming. I was struck, as I prepared, by the deep meaning of the events.. how political and justice focused Jesus was and for the youth meeting I camped out on Matt 21 when Jesus entered Jerusalem 'everyone was stirred.'
It got me thinking that Jesus does do a lot of stirring and reminded me of Martin Luther King Jr. quote 'peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of Justice'. Catherine Booth has said it herself, 'there is no changing the future without disturbing the present'. I was challenging myself really to be a disturber of 'fake' peace (that Vanilla comfort status quo curse thing)... the events of Easter were (and are still) disturbing things... Jesus going the distance - all the way through the pain of death, and death on a cross to bring about a final victory where love triumphs over all. I wonder if we are willing, like his example, to be the people who stir it up? When you enter a city, a home, a workplace, a school - is the whole place stirred? That's something to aim for...