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Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues
We choose Bedford!
Think about the significant choices (Luke 19:28-40)
Context
Arguably, it’s been a week of less than obvious choices. Global politics and the world’s economic systems have been left reeling after choices that did not seem obvious to most people bar a few who sit in Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. The headline tariff news has been tumultuous, destabilising for many and the decisions being made by those in power are difficult to process. But there has been another, lighter choice made this week that also seems less than obvious. – that is the decision to build a Universal theme park in Bedford!
Adding to the sun-soaked parks in Orlando and Hollywood and the selection in the east – Japan and Singapore included, by 2031 Universal will have a new park in sunny(?) Bedford.
Whether you’re a fan of high-octane rides or not, the decision to build the park in Bedford is interesting. It will have a huge impact on the local area, potentially make Bedford a highly appealing destination, and forever connect Bedford to Hollywood and the tourist hotspot that is Orlando. Universal World Bedford is an excellent example of a less than obvious choice having huge ramifications that will change the area forever.
When Jesus chose the unridden donkey as his mode of transport into Jerusalem his disciples must have felt some surprise. The donkey may not have seemed the obvious choice for a triumphant arrival. But this less than obvious choice had huge ramifications and changed the world forever. The donkey fulfilled prophecy, the donkey symbolised peace. But the image of the Lord of all arriving in a city which will soon become the scene of his death also speaks to us of absolute humility and of a new way of understanding power and authority that is not found at the end of a sword but in full submission to God’s will and his universal purposes – life changing for all of us.
Jesus riding the donkey is one of the most enduring images of our faith. ‘Not the obvious choice’ speaks louder and with more authority than the more obvious choices we might have made.
Ideas for reflection
- Use the words from Psalm 118:22-24 (the stone the builders rejected) as the opening for a reflection on the choices God makes. Use the following questions:
- Can you see evidence of God’s choices rather than the obvious choices in your life?
- What would it look like to make choices inspired by today’s gospel and Psalm?
- What situations which require a choice do you need to pray for today?
- Invite people to think about choices they are struggling with, or have found difficult to make. Give everyone a cut-out palm leaf and a pen. Encourage people to draw or write on the leaf something which expresses their situation. On the other side of the cut-out ask people to write ‘Blessed is the Lord’ – the cry of Palm Sunday. Invite people to take their leaves home and pray for the choices on their mind while remembering to also praise God.
Fiona is a freelance leadership consultant and mediator.
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Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people
Not the obvious choice
“Decisions we take in the coming days and weeks, will be guided only by our national interest..” as quoted from Sir Kier Starmer the UK prime minister in early April, in relation to US tax import increases.
On hearing these words I could not help be taken straight into Holy Week and how the decisions made by many of the groups and cultures around Jesus, were also claiming that their actions during those days and week leading up to the death of Jesus, were in the best interest of the people and the nation. How do you feel you would have reacted if you had witnessed the Messiah arriving into Jerusalem in such a way? What is it you would have expected from such a leader?
In our passage today we encounter Jesus, our King of Kings, riding into Jerusalem on a humble colt, which is a great contrast against the backdrop of the US President’s ideas and plans to increase money and wealth, and therefore power and status. Jesus' ideas and plans are only for the increase in wealth and strength of the Kingdom of God, not for the things of this world.
During the run for the presidency in 2016, and again in 2024, President Trump was not the obvious choice for so many. And for many in the UK Sir Keir Starmer may not have been their obvious choice of leader either. I wonder how many people who voted for these leaders are not experiencing what they had expected? World leaders can often make decisions that aren’t obvious; and often the leaders themselves cannot be obvious choices, for good and bad reasons.
But what can we take away from this?
Our leader and King of Kings made decisions that weren’t the obvious ones because he is mightier than any other leader, or human to walk the Earth. Because of that, we too are called to be set apart from the culture and the world around us - not setting our hearts on money, or fame or status, which seems like an obvious route for success today, but instead to be humble, selfless, loving and full of grace.
CS Lewis famously said:
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
This week reflect on the world leaders and influencers around us, the predictability of their actions, and the worthiness of those actions. Then lift your eyes to our leader Jesus, who does the impossible, not the obvious.
Natasia Bullock is Director of The B Tales
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