It is a sobering reality to know that last year’s palm branches are this year’s ashes.

My Catholic friends know this, of course – that the ashes dispensed on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of Lent are created from burning the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday.

Palm branches…into ashes. Triumph…into tragedy. Life…into death.

It seems to me that we miss something when we think of Palm Sunday – with all its loud Hosanna’s! accompanying Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – as anything resembling a triumph. The disciples, of course, thought that Jesus was coming to overthrow the Roman government – that’s why they waved the palm branches, which were a symbol of freedom and defiance – that’s why they shouted “Hosanna!” which means “Save us- or liberate us – NOW!”

But the triumphal entry does not end in triumph. It ends at the Cross – in Jesus’ crucifixion.

Palm branches…into ashes. Triumph into tragedy. Life into death.

That’s a strange itinerary, don’t you think? We religious people like to think that the way of faith always leads in the opposite direction – from tragedy to triumph, from death to life. It would make much more sense to us if the ashes of Ash Wednesday were turned into the palm branches of Palm Sunday, instead of the other way around.

But they’re not. Last year’s palms are this year’s ashes.

And Jesus shows us that the journey of faith is always a journey into ashes.

Its true for all of us.

A few days after Kerry died, a handful of her friends gathered together to say goodbye and to scatter her ashes into the sea that she loved. Her friend Dan – a pastor – led the little ceremony. As Kerry’s son Kincaid poured her cremains into the water, Dan said, “These gray, gritty particles were borrowed from the stuff of the universe. They once had been muscle, bone, tooth, hair, nerve. Before that, they had been bread, milk, fruit, vegetable. And before that, they had been soil, mineral, rock, rain. And before that, billions of years before that, they had been part of the substance of the stars. And before that, the subatomic particles that constituted these ashes had emerged from the big bang, the flash of energy that flowered into our universe at the very beginning.”[1]

In other words, Kerry had come from God. And to God she returned.

This is the story of our lives. We are dust to dust. Ashes to ashes.

And the revolutionary truth that we see in Holy Week, as Jesus walks slowly but steadily toward the Cross, is that in life and death alike, we need not fear stepping into the ashes. Jesus is showing us that faith is always about giving our lives back to God.

Most of us live just the opposite way. We are uncomfortable with ashes, so we wave palm branches instead. What I mean by this is that we take life into our own hands. We make ourselves responsible for the outcome of our days and of our years. The palm branches the disciples waved on that day long ago were symbols of freedom and liberation. The disciples thought of themselves as revolutionaries, marching into Jerusalem with their leader to take down the government and gain control for themselves.

And that’s how many of us try to live life.

By being in control – strong – willful – determined – capable – captains of our own fate.

But it doesn’t work.

So Jesus calls us to a new kind of living. In life as well as in death, we can give our lives back to God.

And then trust God to make it all work!

Not palm branches. Just ashes.

This is what we see on Palm Sunday. While the disciples wave their branches and shout that happy days are here again, Jesus rides along on a humble donkey. And make no mistake about that donkey. It is a powerful symbol signifying that Jesus has decided to climb aboard the will of God even though the crowd has a will of its own. They want to overthrow the government. Jesus wants to give his life back to God.

Ashes. Not palm branches.

It takes faith to trust God like this – to give ourselves and our lives back to God, and to take God’s will over our own will. We all come to that moment in death. But that kind of faith is learned in life!

At the end of Holy Week – on Good Friday – we see Jesus face death by giving his life back to God. That is a moment we will all come to in due time. Dust to dust. Ashes to ashes. It is the true story of our lives.

But before we ever come to that moment, you and I will face many Palm Sundays of our own when the noise of the crowd and the needs of the moment tempt us to take up palm branches in search of gaining some measure of control.

And those are the days when we have a choice to make.

To claim the day as our own, to do with as we please.

Or to give the day – and all that is in it – back to God who gave it to us in the first place, and who is able to do with our days – and with our lives – and with our families – and with our relationships – far more than we ever dreamed possible!

The Gospel of Jesus teaches us to not be afraid of life’s ashes.

We come from God. And to God we shall return.

And God can be trusted all the way.

___________

[1] “The Story  We Find Ourselves In” by Brian McLaren, Zondervan 2003, p. 193-194