Friends,
We gather today on the lands of the Gadigal people and pay our respects to the people, cultures and elders past and present.
We gather today as people of faith, and people of conscience.
On Palm Sunday, Christians everywhere remember the time when Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem—not on a warhorse, but on a donkey; not with bullets and bombs, but with open hands of mercy, and love, and solidarity with others who yearned for a better world. The crowd that day was not looking for violence. They spread palm branches. They cried, “Hosanna! Save us!” And so do we.
Save us from what? Save us from the politics of fear. Save us from the meaningless waste of war. Save us from turning our backs on those who suffer. Save us from the silence that allows injustice to triumph. Save us from lies and hate, from fear and greed.
Jesus embodied peace in the face of a powerful empire. He challenged systems that crush the poor and exile the stranger. Jesus broke bread with the ordinary, the disabled, the forgotten. The road to Jerusalem was a road to suffering and death. It was also a road to justice and lasting peace for humanity.
But today, too many of us still walk the road of suffering. In Gaza and Ukraine, children are dying beneath the rubble. Children are dying from bullet wounds, missile strikes, and hunger. Families weep amid the death and destruction caused by Israeli and Russian bombs.
Holy Scripture tells us that every person bears the image of God. War erodes the precious humanity we all share. How can we remain silent when sacred lives are shattered?
Here in Australia, we see our own moral failure to love one another. Refugees are routinely locked away, indefinitely detained, their rights denied—people like us, seeking the safety, dignity, and hope we all long for.
Today, there are more than 100 asylum seekers still locked up on Nauru, administered by a private U.S. prison company, paid for by our taxes. And there are ten thousand more refugees and asylum seekers here on this continent.
We who worship a refugee child born in Bethlehem must do better. Jesus said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” We must raise our voices louder and demand change.
This is not just a political issue. It is a moral crisis for our nation. So let us speak out today—not in fear, but in hope. Let us demand peace for Gaza, justice for refugees, compassion over cruelty, humanity over hatred, love over fear.
And as we walk this road of peace together—as Christians, Muslims, Jewish people, people of all faiths and none—may we all remember that the arc of the Good News of Jesus bends toward liberation; that the kingdom Jesus imagined for all of us was one of justice rolling down like waters, and peace like an ever-flowing stream.
Jesus did not enter the city with an army. He entered with truth, with courage, with love strong enough to confront power. Jesus calls us to follow him.
We march with palms today to remember the past, but also to proclaim that real change is possible, and to work for that change. Another world is possible. It starts today. It starts with us.
Thank you.
Rev Dr Rod Benson is General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council.
Image source: author photo.
iDigress 