29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “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. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 Now as he was 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, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the king

    who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

    and glory in the highest heaven!” (Luke 9: 29-38)

 

Liberals and Conservatives said their rallies drew thousands.  We decided to count.  (CBC Headline, April 11, 2025)

 

“If everyone was going to jump off a cliff would you go too?” (Parents everywhere when their teen asks to go to a party because everyone else is)

 

This morning when I picked up the news online; as is my normal routine, I read the above quoted headline with growing disappointment and despair.  For those of you who don’t read CBC News, the gist of the story is that both parties have cited crowd numbers at their rallies that are substantively higher than the crowd count done by using still pictures and some good science on how to do so.  One party even quoted numbers that were ten times higher than the count.  Both parties named numbers that were over the safe room capacity of the space they were in.  I really really wanted my fave party to not be doing this kind of shady reporting, but the news article found both the Liberals and the Conservatives culpable of this exaggeration.  NDP and Green parties were not examined; just so you know.

 

The attendance at political party rallies is supposed to be reflective of the kind of support the political parties have.  I couldn’t find any news articles supporting this in my quick google search this morning, but it makes intuitive sense, right.  Big rallies equal big voter endorsement.  Which then got me a little worried; because if this is true, and both parties are perfectly willing to spin the numbers in their favour, what’s the next move?  To start hiring professional rally attenders just to boost their numbers?  To start AI enhancing all photographs and video footage so that rallies appear to be huge and well, ‘votable’?

 

But we think ‘big’ is best, don’t we.  We think that if there’s a large crowd following someone and doing something that that must be the ‘right’ thing to do.  Our own beloved church has fallen into this kind of thinking in planning for the 100^th anniversary celebration.  Huge venues have been rented.  People have been encouraged to travel great distances and worship together in buildings that are meant for Fairs and Gun Shows.  “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity” is the rallying cry.

 

And its true.  There will only be one 100^th anniversary of the United Church of Canada.

 

And its also true that we like big epic events.

 

But the other truth is that whenever the only things that are ‘endorsable’ are big and epic, it means that the small, the meek and the marginalized get left out.

 

That’s a very stark statement.  And I don’t want to point fingers and get people all up in arms.  But the message of the Gospel has always been that ‘the meek shall inherit the earth’, that ‘let the little children come to me’.   The message has always been that the one lost sheep is important and worth searching for and that “where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there”.  Big and Epic events only allow for the ‘middle of the road’ to attend; those who are middle-class and able to travel, those who are able bodied, and those who are of an age where crowds are safe and they can navigate spaces on their own.

 

This Sunday is Palm Sunday.  And we all love Palm Sunday, right?  Because we have parades and shout ‘Hosanna’, and allow the kids to bonk each other over the head with palm fronds.  But the part of the story that we forget is that the Palm Sunday described in our Gospels was a small resistance rally set up in opposition to the Parade put on by the military at the other end of the city.  A parade that actually did have hired performers to cheer and boost the crowds.  A parade where everyone was expected to attend and to demonstrate support for the ruling elite.  And it is against this parade, this exercise in showmanship, that Jesus rides in the back door, on a ‘borrowed’ colt with his little group of followers shouting and cheering.

 

A push against Big and Epic.  A push against making the powerful the most important.  A push that reminds people that everyone needs recognition, and care, and support.

 

So, today, my dear Bethel friends, I hope you will remember the Truth of our Good News on Palm Sunday; and that is that you don’t need to be powerful, or large, or even popular to be worthy.  Our worthiness as individuals and as community is marked by who we love, who we care for, and who we embrace as being part of us and welcome in our midst.  Our worthiness is marked by our embracing and inclusion of those who are on the margins, who aren’t the ‘popular’ vote and who may be overlooked in other circumstances.  Or worthiness is marked by the ‘least of these’ not by the ‘most popular’.

 

And that we need to vote according to our conscience not by who seems to have the biggest following.  (And its perfectly o.k. to stay home from large events even though ‘everyone else’ is going).

 

Blessings today, and Remember you are Loved.  No matter how small.

~Rev. Lynne