When they had come near and had reached Bethphage, at the , sent two disciples, 2 saying 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. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.[a]” 4 This 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.” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd[b] spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The 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!” 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from in .”

Will you pray with me: Glorious God, Alpha and Omega, we are trying to listen for you. But our minds are full and our spirits weary. Come, still us. Help us find ourselves in you. Having heard your word, may we come to hear your will. Speak, and help us to listen. So may the words of my mouth and the meditations then of all of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer, Amen.

Where I grew up, in Ellet Valley outside Blacksburg, there is a major road that we traveled to get home, that sort of cuts through the valley itself. And if you traveled much on Luster’s Gate Rd you had to learn an important skill, both as driver, and potentially as passenger. You had to learn the wave. Now this isn’t a wave wave, it is a simple two finger lift. Especially if you were like my brother, who drove our grandpa’s truck as his first car. It was a nod, and a couple of fingers lifted, an acknowledgment. And I find myself hungry every time I go out of my house these days, even for a walk, for that simple of a human connection. There are a lot of ways to wave. The princess wave on parade, or the Mickey Mouse in a parade wave, where both hands have to go, and you just keep turning. There is the toddler wave, which is sometimes to themselves. I have noticed that we are waving a little differently these days, we are waving to our neighbors walking across the street. We are waving at a distance. We are more and more trying to make a connection, to acknowledge to be seen. And this week I began wondering how Jesus would have waved in that parade on . I know it sounds funny to think about, but I wondered. Here was Jesus, riding on a donkey and foal, this simple parade, no military might, no synchronized performance. And yet people take off their cloaks, they make the way easier, more special, and wave their branches. And when Jesus waves back, to these people who cry out Hosanna, blessings. Save us God, pouring out glory to Jesus, I wondered what it looked like. And I wondered if Jesus really did try to make connection, and acknowledge. Can we learn clearly that God doesn’t see God’s self above our world, or our need for connection. No, God is on a donkey, parading down the people who would have been least and lost to what the world considered big time. He was there with a parade on the margins, and I think making connections. You see, I think we learn from Palm Sunday, from Jesus’ walking into Jerusalem, two large truths. 1. Jesus shows up to connect with us and to save us. That is God’s priority, God’s heart, God’s mission. 2. And God’s kingdom in almost every way doesn’t look like we think it is suppose to. But it does more than we could ever imagine.

And in this season where we are so distant, where we are so anxious, where nothing feels normal, where we are worried, I want to tell you that if you cry out like the crowds. God save us and be with us. God you are worthy, that Jesus, the one who walked this earth, who lived and who was traveling to Jerusalem to die for all of our sins, wants to be in relationship with you. God is waving back so to speak. God wants to make that connection with you. And is faithful to do it.

And God’s kingdom that day doesn’t look like we expect it to, and maybe church right now doesn’t look like we expect it to. But God’s kingdom, the church, us, God is still using it all in different forms and in different ways to connect and change the world. God is still in the business of saving and being faithful, and God is still doing that.

Even in the chaos that day of a donkey in a parade. Even now. Even here.

When we pray the Lord’s prayer we ask these same things. To save and for God to get the glory. I think it is important as we remember that when we pray this prayer, we pray it for each other, but we also all pray at the end that THINE be the glory, the power, the kingdom forever.

We don’t give that power, the glory, the kingdom, to anyone else. It is God’s. God’s glory, God’s power, God’s kingdom.

And it means that we are proclaiming that God is in control, that it is suppose to look like how God will have it to look like, that the power is God’s. I don’t have to be the superstar, I don’t have to the fixer, I don’t have to work for glory.

That is all God’s. God who connects with us, who is reaching for us, who shows up not with the might of the world, but with amazing grace and unending love.

God who rode on a donkey, who sent disciples by faith, who waved at the crowds.

God who loved his disciples until the end. Who left them by washing their feet, and sharing a meal of grace.

God who prayed and prayed in the Garden of , even when his followers couldn’t stay awake. Even when he knew they would betray, deny, abandon. Would turn their backs. God who would face suffering and say that it isn’t the final word in God’s work on the cross. Even though it was a long week, God still reached out, waved, connected to the crowds.

What is it for God who longs to connect with us, yet even though the crowd he connected with that day, would be the crowd that would turn in the next days, releasing another prisoner, not Jesus? What is it for God to connect with us, to love us, to come to us, even though we try to make it all about our own power, glory, and rule? When we turn away, when we get too busy, when we deny or forget, or mess up?

Grace, grace is why we know God, and God alone, is the one worthy of the glory, and honor, and praise. Because in God’s surprising and unexpected kingdom, we the left out, the losers, the mess ups and misfits, the anxious and controlling—we are waved into the gates of righteousness. Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory. Even in this moment that doesn’t look like we expect it, we trust that God draws near, that God is in the business of using the unexpected, the unwelcome time, and welcoming a new way, a grace filled way.

As we wave this week, whether it is palm branches like years ago, to our neighbors, or drivers on the street, may we remember that God is weaving connections between the world, that grace is waved between us, that as we cry out God save us, we trust God is worthy of our praise, because God alone can save us. God and God alone, steadfast and loving, even to those of us broken and busted, gracious and full of goodness even when all else falls apart, is worthy of the kingdom, glory and power.

And that is good news.

Glory to god, this day and always, Amen.