A number of years ago, Mel Gibson set the Christian world on edge with a highly violent portrayal of the events of Holy Week. Many people opined about it, but among the best thinkers was Robert Franklin, Professor of Social Ethics at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. 

Professor Franklin suggested that while white congregations prefer a Jesus who looks like a well-manicured, middle-class model citizen and a "sanitized" crucifixion, black congregations will not be as put off by the violence and will more readily identify with a poor, persecuted victim of state-supported terrorism.

 

Franklin also pointed out that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. kept one book in his briefcase always, everywhere he went, right up to that fatal, violent day in Memphis. The book was Jesus and the Disinherited by theologian Howard Thurman, in which Thurman wrote that "whenever we disguise the violence and whenever we sanitize the grotesque image of a suffering servant, we again inflict violence on his identity and mission ("Black Theology and The Passion," Sightings). "

 

It's a considerable challenge: inviting people to consider the implications of Jesus' triumphal entry (Palm Sunday), betrayal (Maundy Thursday), execution (Good Friday) and ultimate resurrection (Easter) while staying faithful to the nuances and difficulties of the story.

 

We'll try to do it all in the coming week, using music, art, drama, and every ounce of energy and insight God offers. This Sunday, I'll be preaching in the Sanctuary services and Julia Watkins will be preaching at the 8:45 a.m. Chapel service. We'll both be using this text.

 

I hope to see you often.

 

Peace,