So writes an un-named Old Testament prophet
in the 9th chapter of the book, Zechariah.

The time is just after the death
of Alexander the Great.
The world is in turmoil
and his generals have divided up much of it
among themselves.

The Seleucids rule by coercive force
in the middle east.

The Temple at Jerusalem had been profaned;
the people diminished, terrorized,
and many killed.

In this writing, the prophet speaks
of hope and vindication.

He writes of the coming of a Messiah
who will enter the Holy City,
not on a war horse, but on a donkey;
not with more death and destruction,
but with humility and gentleness;
not to instill fear and domination,
but peace and joy.

So, today we see Jesus begin near BethPage
(the House of First Fruit)
and BethEl (the House of God),
and he rides into Jerusalem from the East
on a donkey.

He obviously wishes his followers
to perceive him as the fulfillment
of the prophecy of this 9th chapter
of Zechariah.

Listen to the rest of that selection.

"He will banish the (war) chariot from Ephraim
and the (war) horse from Jerusalem.
The bow of war shall be banished
and he will proclaim Peace
for all the Nations.

It is pretty clear, is it not
how Jesus understands his mission.
He perceives that the heart of the people
is a shambles.

They are oppressed from without and within.
They are loosing heart and hope
in the face of overwhelming pressures.
Their humanity is being distorted.

So, he rides into the Holy City at Passover,
the feast of deliverance,
fulfilling the writings of the prophet
of 300 years before
about which all the people
would have known.

And, the people went wild;
for they had, there in that visible act,
a descriptor of the character
and a reminder of the presence of their God.

America now finds itself at war.
Some people think rightly so;
some not. We're pretty evenly divided here on that issue,
and that's OK.

For we all share the same vision
of the same Lord
who comes to us
in the most difficult of times
with a godly Vision of a world
of which he would have us dream.

Three weeks ago
The Rt. Rev. George Packard,
Bishop in charge
of Episcopal Military Chaplains
said, "When America goes to war
the Episcopal Church goes too."
The church goes
in the sense that it accompanies
those who bear the brunt of battle.

I can attest to that fact.

Many of you have heard or read
my personal journal from Easter Day, 1967;
when, covered with dust
and smelling of Water Buffalo dung,
in a tent hurriedly set up
in the midst of mines and barbed wire,
I stood in awe before
an Episcopal Army Chaplain
who said, "Take and eat this,
in remembrance that Christ died for you."

My head felt light, my heart paused,
and I went back into the hot sun
very much at peace.

We shall read the Passion Narrative
in a moment.

That story shall stand alone with no commentary
for it shows the length
to which Jesus went,
to which God will go,
to show up evil for what it is,
to meet us in our places
of passion and death,
and to establish clearly the character
and the compassion of God,
no matter what.

Bishop Packard, only 1 week ago
made a further statement about the war.

"when the nation goes to war
the weapon of the Episcopal Church
is compassion," he said.

"Our chaplains don't gird up with weapons,
we gird even more
with that which our Lord has to offer,
and we become very persistent
and resourceful
in the application of these powerful things.

Our task, he says,
is to minister to those who go
in harm's way.

We have a number of Episcopal chaplains
in Iraq at this moment,
with more on the way.

A greater number remain behind
to be present with families
of soldiers who fall.

According to Jan Nuneley,
who interviewed Bishop Packard,

chaplains provide
that which the military calls,
"Visible reminders of the Holy."

"The task is to bring God close to the soldier,
and the soldier close to God."

"Peace is our destination," says the bishop.
"It's not what we have,
but it is where all of us,
regardless of our personal beliefs
about this war,
agree that we need to go."

If we understand the Character of God
as seen in the readings this day,
it must be so;

and, it begins in the midst of the ordeal.

Last week,
one of the imbedded reporters
by the name of Savage, as I remember,
was traveling with the soldiers
in one of the rapidly-advancing columns
toward Baghdad.

He offered to allow 4 soldiers
to use his satellite telephone
to call home.

Such is a huge offer
to a soldier at war.

The first one said
he would love to call home,
but his platoon sergeant's wife
just had a baby
and he would like to give his call to him.

Very well, said the reporter,
and the man hurried off to find the new dad.

The reporter turned to the other 3 soldiers
and asked which would like
to call home first.

They had been talking among themselves
and their spokesman replied,

If it is OK with you, sir,
we would like to call the family
of one of our buddies
who was killed 2 days ago.

The reporter closed his report
with a frog in his throat
and tears in his eyes.

"Where do we get such young people?"
he asked.

It's called character.

It has to do with rising above
personal wants and needs
to be compassionate and giving
to serve others
even in times of personal danger.

War must always be the last resort,
but in the midst
of more mayhem than that
which most of us could ever dream.

These soldiers, and perhaps you and I
are called not to loose the vision
of the Character of God
and his vision for our humanity.

The vision that is gentle, even when powerful;
compassionate, even when hated;
forgiving, even though wronged;
giving, even in victory.

If that does not describe us,
I can promise you from personal experience,
our memories will not be bearable
as soldiers, as the church, or as a nation.

But, when we hold onto the presence of God,
as seen in today's powerful stories of Jesus
in the midst of turmoil,
we begin to reflect the character of God,

and we can become for others
"Visible reminders of the Holy"
and part of an in-breaking vision
of a new and better age.

"Rejoice, heart and soul, daughter of Zion!
Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem!

See, now, your king comes to you.
He is victorious, he is triumphant,
humble, and riding on a donkey."

Note: This sermon was delivered after the Epistle and before the Sequence Hymn and the Passion Narrative