Sermon for April 5th

April 5, 2020 Palm Sunday Worship: Two Parades Scripture Meditation    Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV) “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Opening Prayer for Palm Sunday Creator God, this is the day that you have made: you have filled it with signs of your presence; your Spirit breathes in us every moment; your grace fills each experience; and  your promises move within each event, always pulling us toward hope. Lord, receive our thanks.  Receive our praise, through Christ our Lord for in his love we know  your deep love, your faithfulness, and your amazing, unending grace.  Amen.

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord, O My Soul)    Matt Redman video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E


Call to Worship     Psalm 118:1-2, 24-29    (NIV) 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever. 2 Let all Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.” 24 This is the day the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, Lord, please save us.  Please, Lord, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.  Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!  You are my God, and I will exalt you! 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.
Scripture Reading    Matthew 21:1-11 & Matthew 27:11-54   

 Sermon         Two Parades     In the final days of Jesus’s life before his crucifixion, he would walk in two parades. The first parade was the story you read in Matthew 21:1-11, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem during the feast of the Passover.       At this point in Jesus’ ministry, he had gained great popularity.  He had healed the sick, fed the thousands, and socialized with the marginalized.  But the events of Matthew 21, and this parade, would be a turning point in his ministry, a door would swing, and things would change dramatically within the course of a few days, including the opinion of the crowd.     

If you read what follows in Matthew 22-26, you will see that Jesus goes on to clean out the temple because it had been turned into a place of corrupt business practices by a “den of thieves.”  He would teach in parables that frightened and angered the religious leaders. He would teach about obligations to the government and the national law, and to “render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar.”  He would warn against hypocrisy and misuse of God’s Law, teachings that were specifically aimed at the religious authority of the day. And He would prophesy about the destruction of the temple and end times.     

In other words, Jesus spoke hard and controversial truth that angered people, and he challenged the status quo of the religious and political systems of the day.  He became a threat and his popularity waned. As the tide quickly turns, Jesus is then betrayed by his disciple Judas, he is arrested, he is abandoned by the rest of his disciples who are running scared, and even Peter publicly denied Jesus three times.     

And soon, Jesus would find himself in the middle of another crowd, and another “parade.”        That’s the story we read about Matthew 27:11-54.  The crowds began to gather as Jesus stood before Pilate, on trial basically for treason because Jesus said he was the King of the Jews.  Then Pilate would hand him over to be crucified, he would be mocked by the Roman soldiers, and finally led away to carry his own heavy, wooden cross to the place he would be executed: Golgotha, the Place of the Skulls.  And there Jesus, perfect and sinless, would be left to suffer and die.     

As Lent comes to a close this week, it’s good to remember that Lent was not invented as a 40-day build-up to Good Friday, but rather it was created to be a season of preparation to follow Christ as a disciple.  While Palm Sunday certainly invites us to shout our Hosannas to Jesus the King, it also turns us toward Holy Week, and reminds us that as we move closer to the cross at Calvary on Good Friday, we have a decision to make ourselves.     The decision is this: Will we attend with gladness the first parade, and celebrate Jesus entry into our own life?  Or will we choose to also attend the second “parade,” by taking up the cross and following Jesus as a true disciple?  Will that be our greatest desire?     

After all, Jesus’ kingly entry into Jerusalem during Passover wasn’t a first-century version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Jesus meant it as a statement. And according to Matthew that certainly was the case.     Matthew is clear in his Gospel: Jesus rode into town as a returning king, and the crowds greeted him as such.   

And the hosannas the people cried that day had both religious and political overtones. They greeted him as the Lord’s Messiah AND they expected him to overthrow the Romans.     

And the Romans took note. This helps to explain why, in fact, he was crucified.  It wasn’t just an accident. It wasn’t because he simply offended the religious authorities of the day.  It was because Jesus proclaimed another kingdom – the kingdom of God – and he called people to give their allegiance to this kingdom first, not to Caesar and Rome.      

He was, without doubt, a threat to the establishment and he would suffer the consequences of being such a threat, and remember that he suffered them on our behalf, too.     One tragedy of that first Palm Sunday is that the people were half right.  He did come as God’s Messiah. But they misunderstood what that meant.     It was not to be a “regime change” by violence, but rather the love of God poured out upon the world in a way that dissolved all the things we use to differentiate ourselves from others, and the formation of a single humanity that knows itself – and all those around them! – as God’s beloved people.   The other tragedy of the day is that the religious and political authorities are also half right because Jesus was a threat, and for that matter, he still is.       

He threatens our penchant to define ourselves over and against others.  He threatens the way in which we seek to establish our future by hoarding wealth and power.  He threatens our habit of drawing lines and making rules about who is acceptable and who is not.  He threatens all of these things and more.  But the authorities were wrong in thinking that they could eliminate this threat named Jesus Christ by violence.      Because Jesus would overcome the violence.  Jesus’ resurrection – which in Matthew is accompanied by the shaking of the very foundations of the earth – affirms that God’s love is stronger than hate, and God’s life is stronger than death.   And eventually all will yield to the mercy and majesty of God.     I’ll wrap this up by asking this question:  Will you walk in one parade with Jesus, or two?  I’ll warn you that if you opt for both parades, Jesus will continue to be a threat.  Because he will threaten your reliance on anything – your wealth, position, political identity, good works, relationships or, for that matter, your limitations or life tragedies.  He will in fact challenge anything other than God’s grace, and mercy, and love.      


What’s hard about this message is that we all have come at times to seek our identity and secure our future in things other than God.  But the blessing of this message is that none of these other things are up to the task. Because no matter what we trust in, we will be disappointed, as only salvation through Jesus can declare us as not just acceptable, but as blessed and beloved children of God.      Jesus’ journey to the cross shows us just how far he was willing to go to demonstrate to us God’s unconditional love and acceptance.  And once you hear that message of grace, mercy, and love, there is no doubt we have good reason to shout our hosannas on Palm Sunday with all the joy and hope we can muster.  May God’s grace and mercy be with you this day as we look forward to Easter Sunday!

Pastoral Prayer for Palm Sunday Gracious God, as we stand at the gates of the city, give us grace to recognize the king we proclaim, give us courage to walk in both parades - and the courage to be a part of your kingdom - even when it goes against our ways and the ways of the world, and even when it leads us where we do not want to go. 

Empower us to free ourselves from the tempting alternatives of power and wealth and status, and embolden us to live lives of thanksgiving and praise.  Strengthen us so we may trust you for all things, and yet have a healthy concern for the struggles of the day.  Remind us that worry only draws us away from you. Lord, today we pray for all who are struggling with illness and health concerns.  We pray for all who are mourning the loss of loved ones. We also pray for the mental and physical health of each other, and of our friends and family.  Great God our King, give us wisdom for each day, that we may do your will.  We pray this in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen.  

Turn You Eyes Upon Jesus        Alan Jackson video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4uIyz_d90&feature=youtu.be       Closing Prayer & Blessing    King of glory, thank you for revealing your love to us today.  May your grace and peace be with us on this day that you have made.  Bless us, Lord, with your unfailing love, and may all things done in your name prosper. Keep us safe in the palm of your hand and guide us through each of our tomorrows.  And bless our homes, especially now, in this different time we now live in. In Jesus’ name, we believe and pray. Amen. 
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