Palm Sunday: Sixth Sunday of Lent
Apr 13, 2025: Walking Together in the Wilderness
Matthew 21: 1-11

Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching

One ancient tool of prayer is walking a labyrinth. Prayer labyrinths are winding, twisting paths — often set in stone in cathedrals or outside, shaped in grass-that people walk along as a form of embodied prayer. There is a labyrinth at the Community of the Great Commission. First Christian Church of Vallejo brought their labyrinth to the Annual Gathering when we hosted it in 2023 and 2024. Walking the labyrinth is a spiritual practice.

Unlike the dictionary definition of “labyrinth,” however, prayer labyrinths are not mazes — they contain one path leading to the center. That does not mean that walking a labyrinth is direct. There are timeswhen the path appears to be close to the center and then veers back to the outside of the circle. There are times when you are almost dizzy with how much the path turns. There are times when you feel far away from the center, but you are actually very close.

The wilderness road can feel like a labyrinth — twisting and turning — but the truth is that the path of Lent leads here, to this week, where all that has been set in motion finally unfolds. Like the labyrinth path, though, it still isn't a straight line. The disciples are sent on a strange and specific mission to find a donkey and a colt. Jesus' triumphant ride into Jerusalem subverts the expectations of what a Messiah should be, as the Son of God is carried, like his mother once was, on the back of a donkey. His methods are strange, but his direction is sure: he is heading closer and closer to the center. He is heading closer and closer to the story by which we order our lives. The forty days are almost over.

Based on Matthew 21:1-11

 Music this week:

• All Glory, Laud, and Honor

• Build My Life

• Come and Fill

• How Majestic is Your Name

• Empty Me Out

• Table of Love