Triumph (a Steve Orr Bible reflection for Palm Sunday)

In the 7th grade, I ran for homeroom student council representative. I lost. I lost again in the 8th. And the 9th. And the 10th. The 11th grade, though, was a special year for me. Oh, I still lost my homeroom representative race, and to the same guy who had beaten me every other time: Bobby King (not his real name).  

 

Still, something new happened that school year. 

That spring, I became a candidate for Student Council president—and Bobby King was not allowed to run because he was already overcommitted. Finally, I felt, I was going to get mine. I was finally going to get elected, and not only that, elected to the highest office. I felt excited, happy—assured.

 

Election Day: The moment had arrived when the students could make their choice. The polls would open right after the student assembly for candidate speeches. If I had had any concern, it vanished after we finished our speeches. Based on the applause, I clearly had the upper hand. 

 

Then the principal asked the question he had asked every year at this event: “Is there a nomination from the floor?”

 

For the first time anyone could remember, there was. A guy popped out from the side stage, stepped to the podium, and said: “I nominate Bobby King!” From the very back of the auditorium, Bobby stood and slowly walked down the sloping aisle toward the stage. As he passed each row, students rose to their feet, wildly cheering and applauding. By the time he mounted the stage, it was obvious to everyone that he would be the winner.

 

I was watching it all slip away—and I hated it. 

 

I was crushed—and I was angry. I felt that everything I had worked for had been stolen from me, and not just for that election, but for all those years leading up to this. With each rising row of students, shouting accolades and praise for their chosen leader, my envy and jealousy also rose. And rose. And rose. His triumphal procession to the front infuriated me. I was forced to just watch as it all fell apart before my eyes. More than anything else in the world, I wished him gone.

 

That right there? The envy, the anger, the jealousy, the fervent wish that none of this had ever happened? That is what the religious and political leaders of Israel felt when they watched Jesus descend from the Mount of Olives in a triumphal procession into Jerusalem. 

 

We see it all in this week's two Matthew passages. Those leaders felt it all belonged to them, and they could not abide the thought someone else would take their place, that someone else would have all that power. They wanted Jesus gone, and they set in motion a plan to make it happen. 

 

Not pretty then, not pretty when I was in high school, and not pretty now. Do we, like the leaders of Israel, want to keep hold of the power? Are we trying, even now, to push Jesus from the lordship of our lives?

 

Or, do we embrace “the stone that the builders rejected” as our cornerstone? 

 

It is entirely our choice. 

 

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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

 

BONUS: 

For the full story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, first read the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-17. Then read all three of the Gospels that report it: Matthew 21:5ff, Luke 19:28ff, and John 12:12ff.

 

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Join us at 8:00 Friday on Zoom* and at Our Breakfast Place for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We'll be feasting, getting our hearts and minds prepared for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and all that leads up to Easter. There’s a great breakfast menu, and the spiritual food is the very best.

 

There will be no nominations from the floor.

 

Blessings,

Steve 

  

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR PALM SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Liturgy of the Palms (March 29, 2026)

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=33

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_LiturgyofthePalms.pdf

 

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Matthew 21:1-11

 

Liturgy of the Passion (March 29, 2026)

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=34

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_LiturgyofthePassion.pdf

 

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Matthew 26:14-27:66

 

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Defeating the Biggest Monster (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

When I was young, kids my age often assembled plastic models from kits: cars, ships, airplanes, jets—even the occasional rocket. As for me, I saved my few dollars for something truly special: I built models of monsters. 

 

The Aurora Plastics Company signed a deal with Universal Studios to create model kits for some of the studio’s most famous movie monsters. 

My first was the Wolf Man. By the end of my tween years, I had painted and assembled Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and, of course, the one from the novel that started it all: Frankenstein. 

 

I don’t imagine Mary Shelley envisioned such a future for her creation. When she conceived Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, it was on a dare: a competition among soon-to-be famous writers to see who could dream up the scariest tale. The results were all quite interesting. It was Mary’s tale of science gone wrong, though, that galvanized the public and created the most famous monster of all. 

 

The resurrection of the dead has been on people's minds as long as people have been dying—but the power to do it has never been ours. In Mary Shelley’s time, many thought electricity was the way: It was the cutting-edge science of her day—an idea that (eventually) led to today’s heart defibrillators. 

Still, in the nonfiction world, electricity can only do so much. There remains a point beyond which people do not return to life. In this week’s John passage, that point was long past when Jesus finally came to Bethany. Lazarus was already four days dead. Not even modern medicine could have brought him back to life. 

But Jesus could. 

Shelley’s monster was a complete fabrication, just like my plastic ones. Not all monsters are made of words or plastic, though. Some are quite real. Take death, for example. For most of us, it’s the biggest monster of all. We fear it. There is one, though, for whom a monster, even death, holds no fear. 

All of this week’s scriptures address resurrection and redemption. The two are inextricably tied together. Every redemption story is a Jesus story and every resurrection is a Jesus resurrection. Jesus is redemption and resurrection; neither exists outside of His person. 

 

Like Ezekiel’s valley of bones and four-days-dead Lazarus, only the power of God can infuse us with the “breath of life.” Jesus lives to inhabit both the means and the ultimate method of our escape from death.

 

He is not just alive: He is life.  

 

 

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PHOTO:

https://basementofthebizarre.com/2021/11/01/the-basement-toy-box-the-aurora-monster-model-kits-gone-but-certainly-not-forgotten/

 

About the film Frankenstein:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021884/

 

About the novel Frankenstein:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

 

 

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Life moves pretty fast. Pause and join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom* and in person at Our Breakfast Place. The fun starts at 8:00 and is supposed to stop by 9:00 ... and sometimes it does. 

 

Food, fun, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and the free flow of ideas. What an hour!

 

Bring all your parts. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=29

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_FifthSundayinLent.pdf

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 130

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 22, 2026)

Katz and Dogs (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

Jon Katz is an author well-known for his books and articles about dogs. They are his passion. Many say his works have transformed their relationships with their dogs—to the better. One of his books, The Dogs of Bedlam Farm, tells of a year he lived on a farm in upstate New York. His idea was to borrow some sheep and teach his border collies to herd them. 

 

He discovered so much more.  

 

The first lesson he learned was that what he was really doing was “trying to become a better human” through his interactions with his dogs. He reasoned that his dogs would be better behaved if he were.

 

There is one outcome, though, I’m sure Jon Katz did not expect. Through many trials and tribulations that first year—struggling with the farm’s ever-crumbling infrastructure, agonizing through a harsh winter lambing season, fighting off predators, searching for sheep that wandered away, and dealing with their constant needs of food, warmth, shelter, and protection—Jon Katz emerged a shepherd.

 

When I read scriptures like this week’s Psalm 23, I now have a real understanding of what it means for the Lord to be “my shepherd.” I now understand why “He makes me to lie down in green pastures,” and why “He leads me beside still waters.” I know what is intended when Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” 

 

Jon Katz has given me that understanding.

 

I know he never intended his book to be a primer on shepherding. But unintended consequences are a big part of the personal journey he describes, so I think he will forgive me for ending up where I did. 

 

Embracing shepherding responsibilities can be trying. At times, for the good of his sheep, Katz had to act in heartbreaking ways. There were times when joy suffused every action. I suspect it is exactly this way for those who shepherd us in this life, as well as for our “great shepherd.” 

 

Jon Katz learned how to lead his sheep. And why. God already knows both. And if we allow it, He will lead us to “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

 

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Goodreads page for “The Dogs of Bedlam Farm” 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65060.The_Dogs_of_Bedlam_Farm

Bedlam Farm website:

https://www.bedlamfarm.com/

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Join us March 20th when we resume DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet Friday morning at 8:00 on Zoom* and in person at Our Breakfast Place. 

Sheep must be checked at the door. 

Blessings,

Steve

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=l&d=28

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_FourthSundayinLent.pdf

 

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Psalm 23

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 15, 2026)

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