Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Mark 14:1—15:47

What will it take to turn us around today, to turn us from our self-centered, self-serving concerns and interests to the way of self-giving love modeled by Christ Jesus? We know the biblical stories of those who turned their lives around 180 degrees to serve the purpose of God: Moses hearing the voice of God coming from the burning bush (Ex.3:1-6), Jonah rescued from drowning after he tried to avoid his call to Nineveh (Jonah 1:3-6, 15—2:10), Paul struck blind on the way to Damascus (Acts 9:3-19), for example. Notice all those experiences took place out of doors; they were subject to the vagaries of nature, vulnerable, without protection from the elements. Perhaps we today are too insulated from God’s handiwork in creation to recognize the Divine at work in our lives, too set in our forward-looking ways even to consider turning around to allow God to change our focus, our direction.

The concept of turning brings to mind the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts:”

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free,

‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

“Til by turning, turning, we come round right.

“Right” on the path to Easter, leaving our palms behind, following Jesus through Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the empty tomb, we will come to the valley of love and delight of Christ’s resurrected Presence.