Who Can Open the Locked Door?

Devotional Reflection, Thursday, June 10, 2021

Proper 5, Thursday of the second week after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrase for reflection in today’s Gospel reading:

33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ 34They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’

(You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.)

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 970)

AM Psalm [760], 71; PM Psalm 74

Ecclus. 44:19-45; 2 Cor. 12:1-10; Luke 19:28-40

Today we celebrate the Feast of Evelyn Underhill. (See below.)

David's Reflections

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a young German theologian who participated in the resistance to Hitler. Arrested after the failed assassination attempt in late 1943, Bonhoeffer was hanged by the Germans in April 1945 with the Allied armies only a few miles away. Bonhöffer's Letters and Papers from Prison still is in print and worthy of careful reading and attention (The first edition, translated by the late Dr. Reginald Fuller, an Episcopal priest and New Testament scholar whom I came to know in Richmond, VA, where he lived in retirement).

His first Advent in prison, Bonhöffer wrote: "A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes, does various unessential things, and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent." (21 November 43) *

Our Gospel reading, Luke's report of Jesus entry into Jerusalem for his final confrontation at Passover with the leaders of his people (a confrontation that would lead to his rejection and death) contains a quotation from Psalm 118:26, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Those words appear in our celebration of Holy Communion and refer to Jesus' response to our prayers to become present in bread and wine.

Bonhöffer's words came home to me with new freshness recently. The Israel of Jesus' day was in a prison cell of Roman oppression and of spiritual blindness and powerlessness. Jesus’ coming to Israel, so poignantly captured in miniature in this entry into the city, expressed God’s intent to liberate them and fulfill the salvation promised in Abraham (Genesis 12). Jesus had the key to that cell door; it only opened from the outside.

In what prison cells do we sit? Could it be the prison of fear, of guilt, of shame, of addiction, of anger, of broken relationships and unforgiveness, of feelings of failure? How do we imagine Jesus’ coming to us will bring freedom? Our prison cells only open from the outside, and Jesus has the key.

Our "prison experience" can become even more routine and deadening if we accept that this is what will always be. We can become so habituated in certain patterns of behavior, and so discouraged about it that we can feel powerless. We get to a place where we do not expect anything very different from what we've always experienced. Have I lost all expectation except what always has been with its attendant lack of genuine freedoms? Have I secretly and almost unknowingly concluded that I will have to live with the level of freedom or lack thereof that I've always known?

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus came to Israel on a donkey's back in fulfillment of the image of the gentle shepherd king of Zechariah, rather than the military deliverer many in Israel expected--a king who delivered from political oppression like David or Moses had done. He came to them in a way they did not expect, and they did not recognize and accept him and his message. Hence, their prison cell door remained securely fastened.

Can we get in touch with the nature of the prison cells in which we sit? Can we entertain the thought that God intends that we not be in such bondage? Can we call up the expectations with which we have been operating? Can we pray with those ancients, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." and trust that God is coming to me in ways counter to my habitual expectations? Can we live into the freedom and deliverance that he so desperately desires for us? He has prevailed over all the forces and powers that limit our freedom and smother our lives. Can we trust him? Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Bonhöffer’s imprisonment by the Nazis serves as a harsh and vivid reminder that the doors to our prison cells open only from the outside. And, Jesus approaches those closed doors with the ability to release us and seal our freedom and healing. He has the key to our door. May we persist in faith that God offers us a larger place, a larger space of freedom, joy, and hope

* Dietrich Bönhoffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, trans. Reginald Fuller, Frank Clark, John Bowden (New York: Macmillan, 1971), p. 416.

Collect of the Day, Proper 5 The Sunday closest to June 8

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Evelyn Underhill, theologian and mystic (died 15 June 1941 CE). http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Evelyn_Underhill.htm

Collect of the Feast of Evelyn Underhill

O God, Origin, Sustainer, and End of all creatures: Grant that your church, taught by your servant Evelyn Underhill, may continually offer to you all glory and thanksgiving, and attain with your saints to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have promised us by our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.

A Collect for Protection

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 124)

For Peace

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 258)

Night Prayer: New Zealand Prayer Book

God our Creator, our centre, our friend, we thank you for our good life, for those who are dear to us, for our dead, and for all who have helped and influenced us. We thank you for the measure of freedom we have, and the extent to which we control our lives; and most of all we thank you for the faith that is in us, for our awareness of you and our hope in you. Keep us, we pray you, thankful and hopeful and useful until our lives shall end.Amen. (A New Zealand Prayerbook, pp. 696-697)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength ofour life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 125)

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 19:28-40

28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of

Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this, “The Lord needs it.”’ 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ 34They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’ 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ 40He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer