Deliver Us

Matthew 21:9 - And the crowds going before him and those following after shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest!"

Okay, so in verses 5-8 they got the donkey and the colt, covered them with their cloaks, and spread cloaks and tree branches (palm trees presumably) in preparation for the triumph. This verse then describes the procession and the crowds shouting, "Hosanna."

Hosanna. We say this phrase every Easter and sometimes during Communion. Yet it never occurred to me until this morning to look it up. Do you know what it means? It's a Hebrew expression meaning, "deliver us." Are you surprised? Me too. I had always thought it was a blessing of some sort. Yet, I couldn't find evidence that this is the case. So, they are shouting - according to me -
Deliver us, Son of David,
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord,
Deliver us, Most High (God)

Whether I am correct or not, they are not only proclaiming Jesus king, they are proclaiming his divinity as well. And in doing so, they're expressing their trust and faith in Jesus to deliver them. Deliver us. It's a phrase only addressed to those who have the power to do so.

Deliver us. There are still too many people in the world who are crying out for deliverance. During my third Clinical Pastoral Education unit, our supervisor, a nun in the order of Sisters of Providence, gave us a prayer that speaks to this. Although not in the way you might think. I am quoting in part:

Deliver us from the violence of superiority and disdain. Grant us the desire, and the humility, to listen ...
Deliver us from the violence of greed and privilege. Grant us the desire, and the will, to live simply so others may have their just share ...
Deliver us from the silence that gives consent to abuse, war and evil. Grant us the desire, and the courage, to risk speaking and acting for the common good.
Deliver us from the violence of irreverence, exploitation and control. Grant us  the desire, and the strength, to act responsibly ...

Superiority; disdain; greed; privilege; silence in the face of abuse, war and evil; irreverence; exploitation; control. The seeds of white supremacy. The attitudes that lead us to consider one country a "shithole" and others not. The attitudes that in fact created that "shithole." The actions of our government over the years has created the situations south of our borders. Don't take my word for this though, look it up. American and European wealth was built on the backs of slavery. When Haiti became independent, France demanded monetary recompense for the land. America loaned Haiti the money, which they paid back but it took a toll on their own economy. We have interfered in Mexico and Central and South American countries in order to take what we wanted, to depose their democratically elected ruler, or to run experiments on economic models. The "shithole" countries are the results of American white supremacy, perpetrated by rich, white, American men.

God, grant us the desire and the humility to hear their cry, "Deliver us."