Humanness Vs. Godliness
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
The events of Holy Week, from the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the Last Supper and on to Jesus' capture, trial, and crucifixion, offer a rich panoply of characters with a myriad of motivations. It offers an endless array of choices for preaching -- and in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Ron Love notes that what almost all of these people have in common is good intentions, but human frailties and shortcomings. The struggle between aspiring to godliness while acknowledging our innate humanness is something we all share -- but as Ron notes, it is also something we see writ large in our culture. While media outlets from Entertainment Tonight to supermarket tabloids survive on our fascination with the peccadilloes of the rich and famous, this extends well beyond just sexual misconduct (as with Tiger Woods) or addiction to drugs and alcohol. As Ron points out, we see many of our political and cultural leaders exhibit a willful inability to see the truth before them -- not unlike many of the disciples, who failed to grasp what Jesus was trying to tell them until they saw it unfold before them. Just as the adoring reception Jesus received as he entered Jerusalem proved to be very fleeting, so our ability to see the truth as God sees it can be just a mirage. Team member Dean Feldmeyer contributes some additional thoughts on the Palm Sunday scene -- noting that lying underneath the street theater aspects of the crowds shouting "Hosanna" was a very dangerous form of protest against Roman rule. Are our protests following the spirit that Jesus demonstrated, or are they driven instead (like Judas) by the toxic fuel of anger and a sense of entitlement?
Humanness vs. Godliness
by Ronald H. Love
Luke 19:28-40; Luke 22:14--23:56
THE WORLD
A perennial issue that confronts Christians is the struggle to be imitators of the divine while we exhibit all the frailties of what it means to be human. We are possessed by multiple temptations, and it is most difficult to subordinate these to biblical mandates. Simply put, we are in a battle that can be described as "humanness vs. godliness." We should be cautious to summarize ourselves as willful sinners. This is because it is not so much that we are unrepentant as we so easily succumb to our base desires. In so doing we mourn our moral failing, which is followed by repentance and a sincere desire to do better; which, for most of us, is a repetitive cycle.
Though this cycle includes everyone, it is most visible for those who live on the front page of the news. Daily we read in tabloids and hear on entertainment telecasts about celebrities whose humanness topples them from the pedestal of adulation. Some, through therapy and a change of lifestyle, are able to regain the esteem once bestowed upon them. Sadly, this is contrasted with others who never seem to recover from their human frailties. As these are front-page individuals we are captivated by their rollercoaster lives, though we realize in our own humanness we dwell in their shadow. The only thing that separates us from them is fame and fortune -- which makes their story more interesting to the general public than ours, but the internal combat between angels and demons is the same for all of us.
Below is a list of some stories in the headlines recently that provide examples of people who, like many of the characters in the Passion narrative, had good intentions but due to their human shortcomings just didn't "get it." As we have followed these stories, we have been left with many unanswered, and possibly unanswerable, questions. What was their motivation? Why was this such an insurmountable human flaw for them? Why could they not overcome this temptation? Why has rehabilitation failed them? Are they sincere in their apology? Do they understand the consequences of their actions? How knowledgeable and understanding of the situation were they? Why did they fail to listen to others? Why is reality confined to their own self-made world?
* Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a speech delivered at the University of Hong Kong that the Bush administration misunderstood how to restore Iraq after the invasion. She said, "We tried to rebuild Iraq from Baghdad out, and we really should have rebuilt Iraq from outside Baghdad in. We should have worked with the tribes, worked in the provinces." This raises the continuing question of the Bush administration's understanding of a Middle Eastern country. Did they fail to understand the information presented to them, or did they just elect not to hear it?
* Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is a skeptic of big government. Yet in a report he is issuing he admitted that the government failed to regulate "megabanks," which caused our current economic recession. One must ask if ideology took precedence over sound financial practices.
* Kate Zernike, reporting for the New York Times, wrote that the Tea Party activists are consciously avoiding making statements on any divisive social issues in order to attract independent voters. One must inquire, are they selective truth-tellers? One must wonder, are they so focused on a single-issue agenda that they are unresponsive to other raging issues of human suffering and injustice?
* A Federal Communications Commission study has concluded that local news stations fail to report on governmental issues, opting instead for stories of human interest. For every 30 minutes on the air, the stations devote only 22 seconds to local government news coverage. Writing about this in the Los Angeles Times, James Rainey stated that "the average half-hour of local news is neither very local nor very newsy." It must be asked, do these stations see their mission as one to inform or entertain?
* Lindsay Lohan may be prevented from returning to India. She falsely reported that she personally rescued 40 children, when in fact she arrived in the country after the rescue took place. Further, she filmed her documentary for BBC as a tourist, which is a visa violation. It must be asked if she is self-promoting in lieu of actually standing firm for human rights violations. Also, does she consider her stardom as a license to be a law unto herself?
* It is reported that actress Kate Winslet has split from her husband, director Sam Mendes, with reasoning being, "Your career is not more important than mine." It must be asked, whose place is it to judge personal satisfaction and to measure another's self-importance?
* Rielle Hunter, the mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards, told GQ magazine, "Everyone talks about how Johnny has fallen from grace. In reality, he's fallen to grace." Does the theological concept of grace look inward only, ignoring the pain and trauma of those who were inadvertently drawn into the affair?
* Sian Williams, a presenter on the television program BBC Breakfast, deducted her wardrobe expenses from her tax statement, since she is required to wear clothes on the air and rotate her outfits. She made the plea that since it is warm in the studio she does not need clothes, and therefore, if allowed, would do the show naked. She lost her appeal. It must be questioned, just how far are we willing to circumvent the law for personal gain?
* As a result of promoting its new 10-part miniseries The Pacific, HBO has acquired 3.1 million new subscribers. It must be asked if these new viewers are interested in being a part of history or participating in a television extravaganza. Further, is HBO's motivation to present history or secure new subscribers as increased ratings are already being posted?
These are just a few of the headline stories that you can use to demonstrate how individuals fail to comprehend, or just simply ignore, the truth that stands naked before them.
THE WORD
Review the individuals involved in the events that occur from Palm Sunday to Easter morning and ask how each one reacted. As you contemplate these individuals, pose these questions: Did they understand the truth of Jesus? When did the truth become apparent to them? Did they discover the truth for themselves or was it pointed out to them? Did they try to explain the truth away? Did they allow ideology to continually obscure them from the truth? Why were they unwilling to surrender their own agenda for a new one?
A sampling of those involved would be:
* Judas -- As a zealot, was he misguided by the man of peace? Did he want to prematurely force the hand of Jesus because he felt Jesus was acting too slowly? Did he really view the High Priest as righteous? The question we must ask ourselves is: What part of the Bible will we discard as being inconvenient?
* Peter -- What caused him to deny Jesus? What transformed him to be the leader of the church? The question we must ask ourselves is: When and where and how have we denied Jesus?
* Thomas -- Why did he doubt? What was it about the appearance of Jesus that made him a believer? The question we must ask ourselves is: What will it take for us to believe?
* Mary, the mother of Jesus -- When Jesus was a child she pondered all the mysteries that surrounded him in her heart. Now, holding his dead, lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the cross, what were her thoughts? How did her understanding change over the following hours and days? The question we must ask ourselves is: How have our perceptions of the mystery of Jesus changed?
* Pilate -- Why was he willing to sacrifice justice for political expediency? Why could he not understand the meaning of truth when it stood literally before him? The question we must ask ourselves is: Do we see the truth?
* Caiaphas -- Why could he not be patient and let Jesus' story play itself out? The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we willing to allow God's plan to prevail?
* The Roman soldiers -- The question we must ask ourselves is: Is their indifference indicative of all of us?
* Simon of Cyrene -- Was he just an innocent bystander who was unexpectedly drawn into the drama of the day? Should he have just gone about his business in the city rather than be drawn by curiosity to the forming crowd? What does this say about our motivations and actions? What does this say when we are also unexpectedly a part of an event we would rather have avoided? The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we being bystanders or engaged disciples?
Continue making your own list of those individuals that, for you, are most prominent in the story. Be attentive to selecting those whose behavior is prominently displayed in your congregation and community.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I) Introduction
You may begin the sermon by discussing the question previously posed -- that is, what does it mean to understand truth? This discussion can be furthered with a dialogue on whether we fail to comprehend the truth or refuse to listen. Do we ignore the truth that is before us if it does not coincide with our previously set agendas? What does it take for us to understand and accept the truth presented in the Easter story?
II) Body
* As mentioned earlier, you may want to discuss the various individuals involved in the Passion story and their understanding of truth. You may want to illustrate their lives with events from the news. Your own pastoral duties will have exposed you to the unique understandings people have of biblical truth that would also make useful illustrations. This would be especially the case in sharing the answers you have heard when witnessing to individuals to accept Jesus as their Savior.
* You may want to discuss how we can discern truth from falsehood. In addition, you may want to lift up reasons why we ignore biblical truth. Another aspect would be to share what it takes for us to accept the truth of the Bible.
* You may want to share how coming to an understanding of the Passion story changed the lives of the individuals directly involved. This can be followed by examining how the story can change our lives. You may want to offer how the story of the coming week transformed people whom you know.
* In this week's "Charting the Course" commentary in Emphasis, the opening discussion offers excellent insight on the meaning of "wisdom" and "knowledge." You may also want to review the illustrations offered in Emphasis.
III) Conclusion
In this week's In The Original commentary, there is an excellent presentation of the Greek interpretation for being a follower of Jesus. This can be related to understanding the truth of Jesus. Once we have accepted that truth, we must become his follower.
* You may want to talk about the importance of being open-minded and receptive toward new ideas. Share that we should be cautions about being so locked into an ideology that it prevents us from expanding our horizons. You may want to emphasize how the truth contained in the lesson of the coming week can be transforming if we can comprehend its full depth and implications for our lives. All of this must be balanced with a sense of discernment between our own perceptions and the truth as it was exposed by Jesus. This is why the events of Holy Week place us in a battle that can be described as "humanness vs. godliness."
ANOTHER VIEW
by Dean Feldmeyer
Consider the Palm Sunday tableau from the point of view of the average Roman citizen: Some guy, a Nazarene by the cut of his hair and the way he dresses, enters town riding on a little donkey and his followers laud him as a king, waving palm branches, laying their coats on the road before him, shouting out epithets like "Son of David" and "King of Kings."
Hardly threatening, is it? Just a little peace of street theater, a silly little demonstration absurdum. Certainly nothing dramatic or even tragic. A comedy, really. Amusing. It's Passover, after all. The whole city is nuts. Just ignore them and they'll disperse and go on about their business.
But look a little closer and what you see is not absurdist theater at all. It's really more like guerilla theater. This guy on the donkey isn't being silly; he's being deadly serious. He's suggesting with this little demonstration, this little protest garbed in the trappings of the stage, that there might be an alternative way of living. There might just be a way of governing people, some way of being emperor, that is more empathetic, more loving, more authentically human, yes, even more powerful than the present regime is offering.
And that kind of statement is not harmless at all. It's dangerous… even if it is disguised as theater.
In his book God and Empire, John Dominic Crossan reminds us that the Pax Romana, that great 500-year period of peace under the Roman Empire, was not really "peaceful," as we would use the adjective. It was more of a massive suppression.
The Roman Empire had a process that was effective at keeping the peace -- but it was brutal in its violence, ruthless in its application. It went like this:
1. Religion -- the cult of emperor worship. The emperor's will is divine law. What is good for the Emperor is good for Rome, and by extension, good for the world.
2. War -- attack those who don't subscribe to your way of thinking and acting. Kill anyone who resists.
3. Victory -- crush those whom you oppose and who oppose you. Impose your will upon those whom you have conquered. Assimilate everyone by persuasion if possible, by force if necessary.
4. Peace -- demand and enforce passive submission to your authority. Brutally and ruthlessly punish those who do not submit.
It was fairly effective, but it was hardly the kind of peace we cherish in 21st-century America. It was peace without justice, which is, as we know, no peace at all. Not really.
If you wanted to offer an alternative opinion about, well, anything, you had to be very careful. If your alternative opinion was about religion or politics you had to be doubly careful. Not to worship the emperor, not to agree with the emperor was considered treason, punishable by crucifixion.
So Jesus and his followers drape their little demonstration in the trappings of street theater, theater of the absurd, guerilla theater. They make it look harmless, at least on the surface. But you only have to scratch the surface a little to see the real, alternative, subversive, dangerous message at the heart of Palm Sunday.
The scribes and the Pharisees and the high priests saw it. Do we? Do the people in our churches? Our town? Our country?
ILLUSTRATIONS
NOTE: The following three illustrations are about protests where their values and why they were protesting were congruent. Examples of those that are incongruent are as numerous, and the preacher can select many of these.
In the spring of 1931 Gandhi led a march to the sea, where thousands of Indians participated in harvesting salt from the sea. This was a major protest to the high taxes levied on salt by the British. Although there were other groups which espoused violence, Gandhi pursued a series of protests which kept within the parameters of nonviolence.
* * *
March 7, 1965 became known as "Bloody Sunday" when Martin Luther King Jr. and 600 marchers attempted to go from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery to protest the shooting of a civil rights protester. Though they were attacked with tear gas and clubs, and 50 of them were hospitalized, the marchers kept to their ideal of nonviolence while others used violence against them. Two weeks later, on their third attempt, the marchers made the journey under federal protection. That fall the federal Voting Rights Act was passed.
* * *
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white rider she was arrested, and when convicted she was fined $14 and court costs. The city bus line was boycotted, even though many blacks used the bus to get to and from work. Rosa and her husband Raymond were among those who lost their jobs because of the boycott. She refused to pay the fine, and the case eventually made its way to the US Supreme Court, where the laws allowing segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, were ruled unconstitutional.
* * *
It's a struggle to keep it. Ministers tussle mightily to retain it. As with a suit or dress ten sizes too large, we can't bear to be seen in it. Yet not having it reduces our chances of heaven. We'd have better luck doing a limbo under a gnat's knee. I refer to humility. You find few role models of it in professional sports. Even seminaries suffer a scarcity of models.
We hate smart-aleck know-it-alls, but love it when we identify Jeopardy clues and Bible class answers. We want to be considered as great.
Jesus warned that many of us who pride ourselves on knowing the way to heaven will be amazed by our failure to get there. Those who attain it will be the ones who never thought themselves good enough to deserve it. Though we struggle to act humble, it's refreshing to find humility in others. It not only delights us to be around humble people, God wants us to act humbly so that others can be refreshed. How can we do it?
For a while I tried to appear humble. "Why are you slouching? Straighten your shoulders," my wife said. Trying to look humble is as ludicrous as attempting to look brilliant. With reservations, I offer two secrets of humility: First, we remember that compared to God, we're less than mites; and second, Jesus sent us to serve, as he was among us "as one who serves."
* * *
Fred Craddock tells of how, when he was in graduate school at Vanderbilt, he used to take late-night study breaks at an all-night diner. One night, while worrying about his New Testament oral exams, he happened to overhear an exchange between the counter man and a ragged, down-on-his luck customer:
Then I noticed a man who was there when I went in, but had not yet been waited on. I had been waited on, had a refill, and so had the others. Then finally the man behind the counter went to the man at the end of the counter and said, "What do you want?" He was an old, gray-haired, black man. Whatever the man said, the fellow went to the grill, scooped up a little dark patty off the back of the grill, and put it on a piece of bread without condiment, without napkin. The cook handed it to the man, who gave him some money, and then went out the side door by the garbage can and out on the street. He sat on the curb with the 18-wheelers of the night with the salt and pepper from the street to season his sandwich.
I didn't say anything. I did not reprimand, protest, or witness to the cook. I did not go out and sit beside the man on the curb, on the edge. I didn't do anything. I was thinking about the questions coming up on the New Testament. And I left the little place, went up the hill back to my room to resume my studies, and off in the distance I heard a cock crow.
-- Fred Craddock, Craddock Stories (Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 48-49
* * *
D-Day is burned in the memory of most people, reinforced by movies such as Saving Private Ryan. In order to put a stop to the Nazi advance, the Allies needed to land on the Normandy beaches and drive the Nazis back. The leaders knew the cost in lives would be great, but they also knew that it was their only hope for victory.
When the Allies landed the Germans were waiting, and thousands of soldiers died on the boats, in the sea, on the shore. But eventually the Germans were pushed back and the final march to victory began.
God also had a desperate plan to save humankind. It required that his Son enter the human race to show God's great love, to win us back to God. God knew the cost would be great. The Passion narrative reveals just how great: lies, denial, betrayal, desertion, spit, whips, thorns, and finally nails.
Yet Jesus pushed on. And because he did, the victory was sealed.
* * *
In the spring of 1998, President Bill Clinton went on a tour of Africa. In South Africa he met with Nelson Mandela, father of the revolution that toppled the dreadful racist apartheid system in that land. One of the places the Clintons made sure they visited was Mandela's prison cell on the isolated Robben Island, offshore from Cape Town.
Mandela, of course, is a towering moral figure -- not that he doesn't have his personal faults, but the sheer fact of his long imprisonment has given him a kind of personal stature that is rare among heads of state. A photo circulated widely in the news media at that time portrayed a tanned and healthy President Clinton -- commander-in-chief of the mightiest army on earth, and leader of the free world -- standing beside the stoop-shouldered, graying Mandela. The two of them were mugging for the camera, holding onto the bars of the cell while looking outside.
Did President Clinton have the foggiest idea what it must have been like for Mandela to live in that bare cell for nearly 20 years, sleeping on a hard concrete floor -- Bill Clinton, the Rhodes Scholar, the child of American privilege?
President Clinton is much like any of us in that respect. How can he -- how can we -- have the slightest conception what it must have been like for this man to have endured such a long imprisonment for a cause he believed in? Nelson Mandela is one who has paid the king's ransom. He paid it with decades of his own life. He knows, more than most, what it means to bear a cross.
* * *
Anyone who's ever shoveled an icy sidewalk in winter knows there are several ways to get rid of a chunk of ice. One could seek to smash it with the shovel, scattering its broken remains all around. Or one could melt it -- a gentler approach, converting its nature from solid to liquid.
God could have smashed and scattered us, the human race, on account of our sinful rebellion. Yet Jesus chooses the gentler way, the way of the cross. He chooses to melt the cold, hard heart of humanity. In this way, by grace, he seeks to convert our basic nature in the eyes of God from those who have sinned to those who are saved.
* * *
In order that we should realize the distance between ourselves and God, it was necessary that God should be a crucified slave. For we do not realize distance except in the downward direction. It is much easier to imagine ourselves in the place of God the Creator than in the place of Christ crucified.
The dimensions of Christ's charity are the same as the distance between God and the creature.
The function of mediation in itself implies a tearing asunder. That is why we cannot conceive of the descent of God toward men or the ascent of man toward God without a tearing asunder.
The abandonment at the supreme moment of the crucifixion, what an abyss of love on both sides!
God wears himself out through the infinite thickness of time and space in order to reach the soul and to captivate it. If it allows a pure and utter consent (though brief as a lightning flash) to be torn from it, then God conquers that soul. And when it has become entirely his, he abandons it. He leaves it completely alone, and it has in its turn, but gropingly, to cross the infinite thickness of time and space in search of him whom it loves. It is thus that the soul, starting from the opposite end, makes the same journey that God made toward it. And that is the cross.
-- Simone Weil, "The Distance," from Waiting for God, translated by Emma Craufurd (Putnam's, 1951)
* * *
I grew up on those pious Hollywood biblical epics of the 1950s, which looked like holy cards brought to life. I remember my grin when Time magazine noted that Jeffrey Hunter, starring as Christ in King of Kings (1961), had shaved his armpits. (Not Hunter's fault; the film's Crucifixion scene had to be re-shot because preview audiences objected to Jesus' hairy chest.)
If it does nothing else, Gibson's film will break the tradition of turning Jesus and his disciples into neat, clean, well-barbered, middle-class businessmen. They were poor men in a poor land. I debated Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ with commentator Michael Medved before an audience from a Christian college, and was told by an audience member that the characters were filthy and needed haircuts.
-- Roger Ebert, in his review of Mel Gibson's gritty film The Passion of the Christ
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Give thanks to God, for God is good;
People: God's love endures forever.
Leader: Open the gates of righteousness,
People: that we may enter and give thanks.
Leader: This is the day that God has made;
People: we will rejoice and be glad in it.
OR
Leader: Be gracious to us, O God, for we are in distress;
People: our souls and bodies waste away from grief.
Leader: Our lives are spent with sorrows,
People: and our years spent with sighing.
Leader: But we trust in you, O God.
People: We say, "You are our God."
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Weary of All Trumpeting"
found in:
UMH: 442
H82: 572
"O Young and Fearless Prophet"
found in:
UMH: 444
CH: 669
"Dear Jesus, in Whose Life I See"
found in:
UMH: 468
"Close to Thee"
found in:
UMH: 407
AAHH: 552, 553
NNBH: 317
"Seek Ye First"
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
"Take Up Thy Cross"
found in:
UMH: 415
H82: 675
PH: 393
LBW: 398
"Make Me a Captive, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
"Take My Life, and Let It Be"
found in:
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
Renew: 150
"Walk With Me"
found in:
CCB: 88
"We Are His Hands"
found in:
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who makes a path of righteousness and peace in the midst of evil and war: Grant us the courage to follow our Savior Jesus as he brings your reign into the midst of the powers that oppose you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to join with Jesus as he makes his entrance into Jerusalem and makes his stand against evil power and injustice. Help us to not be those who wave their palms but refuse to enter into the sufferings of our Savior. Fill us with courage, that we may be true disciples of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the way in which we speak of our faith so assuredly yet walk the path of Jesus with so much hesitation.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to claim our place with Jesus when it enhances our standing with others, but we are loathe to follow him when it costs us friends and popularity. We take the name of Jesus when it makes us look holy and upstanding, but when his values go against the mainstream of society we hesitate to take a stand. Forgive us and empower us with your Spirit, O God, that we may claim Jesus with our actions as well as with our words. Amen.
Leader: God loves us and is always ready to assist us when we wish to follow the ways of justice, mercy, and humility. May the Spirit of our God fill you with courage and resolve to follow Jesus.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
All glory, honor, and power are yours, O God, by right, because you are the creator and the redeemer of all creation. When the powers of evil rise up, you send your Son and your people to stand against them. You are the one who demands justice and mercy for all creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to claim our place with Jesus when it enhances our standing with others, but we are loathe to follow him when it costs us friends and popularity. We take the name of Jesus when it makes us look holy and upstanding, but when his values go against the mainstream of society we hesitate to take a stand. Forgive us and empower us with your Spirit, O God, that we may claim Jesus with our actions as well as with our words.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you bring your steadfast love and kindness to us and to all creation. We thank you for the opportunities you give us to stand with Jesus on the side of those who are oppressed and misused.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for your reign to come in its fullness and for us to be faithful servants of you by being faithful caretakers of one another and of all creation.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Visuals
While palms may be all the visuals that are needed, a collage of protest march pictures (hopefully those who protested in the spirit of Jesus) and various signs demanding justice or mercy might be interesting.
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children, "What if a librarian shouted as loudly as possible, 'QUIET!'?" Would that make sense? "What if an adult at the park said, 'Play nice and be polite or I'll kick you in the knee'?" That wouldn't make sense. Whatever Jesus said or did, they always went together. When he wanted to show that God desired love, peace, mercy and justice, he didn't come into Jerusalem with a mob armed to fight. No, he came in riding on a humble donkey.
Jesus wants us to know what he taught, but he also wants us to act like him. It doesn't do us much good to say "Jesus loves you" and then act nasty to someone.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Call to Follow
Luke 22:39
Object: apostles' bookmarks or cards
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you know the names of the twelve men who were Jesus' closest friends? Do you know what they were called? (response) , we call them the Twelve Apostles! Do you know what the work "apostle" means? (responses -- some guesses may be close; allow some expression)
An apostle is a learner. It may also mean "a messenger." So the twelve apostles were persons who learned and were sent out with a message. What was the message that they were to tell? (responses -- about God, about Jesus, and so forth) apostles went out to tell people the truths that they were learning from their teacher. And who was their teacher? (response -- Jesus)Yes, Jesus spent a lot of his time alone with these twelve friends, teaching them about his father, God, and of all the things that God wanted people to know about him. He taught them what the scriptures of the Old Testament meant. Most of all, He showed his love to them and to others with whom He came into contact. He taught them a great deal about what love means.
After Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose again, and went back to God, his learner/messengers went all over the country and even into many foreign countries to tell people what they had learned.
I'm going to give you each a card with the apostles' names on it and ask you to say them out loud with me. (After giving the cards, have the children stand and face the congregation as they read the names together.)
Thank you for helping us remember the names of those twelve friends of Jesus.
Does what they did give you any ideas about what we ought to be doing? (response -- learning about God and Jesus from the Bible and then going out to tell others about him)
(You could finish with a prayer that we might be disciples who learn the truth and share it with others.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 28, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Humanness vs. Godliness
by Ronald H. Love
Luke 19:28-40; Luke 22:14--23:56
THE WORLD
A perennial issue that confronts Christians is the struggle to be imitators of the divine while we exhibit all the frailties of what it means to be human. We are possessed by multiple temptations, and it is most difficult to subordinate these to biblical mandates. Simply put, we are in a battle that can be described as "humanness vs. godliness." We should be cautious to summarize ourselves as willful sinners. This is because it is not so much that we are unrepentant as we so easily succumb to our base desires. In so doing we mourn our moral failing, which is followed by repentance and a sincere desire to do better; which, for most of us, is a repetitive cycle.
Though this cycle includes everyone, it is most visible for those who live on the front page of the news. Daily we read in tabloids and hear on entertainment telecasts about celebrities whose humanness topples them from the pedestal of adulation. Some, through therapy and a change of lifestyle, are able to regain the esteem once bestowed upon them. Sadly, this is contrasted with others who never seem to recover from their human frailties. As these are front-page individuals we are captivated by their rollercoaster lives, though we realize in our own humanness we dwell in their shadow. The only thing that separates us from them is fame and fortune -- which makes their story more interesting to the general public than ours, but the internal combat between angels and demons is the same for all of us.
Below is a list of some stories in the headlines recently that provide examples of people who, like many of the characters in the Passion narrative, had good intentions but due to their human shortcomings just didn't "get it." As we have followed these stories, we have been left with many unanswered, and possibly unanswerable, questions. What was their motivation? Why was this such an insurmountable human flaw for them? Why could they not overcome this temptation? Why has rehabilitation failed them? Are they sincere in their apology? Do they understand the consequences of their actions? How knowledgeable and understanding of the situation were they? Why did they fail to listen to others? Why is reality confined to their own self-made world?
* Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a speech delivered at the University of Hong Kong that the Bush administration misunderstood how to restore Iraq after the invasion. She said, "We tried to rebuild Iraq from Baghdad out, and we really should have rebuilt Iraq from outside Baghdad in. We should have worked with the tribes, worked in the provinces." This raises the continuing question of the Bush administration's understanding of a Middle Eastern country. Did they fail to understand the information presented to them, or did they just elect not to hear it?
* Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is a skeptic of big government. Yet in a report he is issuing he admitted that the government failed to regulate "megabanks," which caused our current economic recession. One must ask if ideology took precedence over sound financial practices.
* Kate Zernike, reporting for the New York Times, wrote that the Tea Party activists are consciously avoiding making statements on any divisive social issues in order to attract independent voters. One must inquire, are they selective truth-tellers? One must wonder, are they so focused on a single-issue agenda that they are unresponsive to other raging issues of human suffering and injustice?
* A Federal Communications Commission study has concluded that local news stations fail to report on governmental issues, opting instead for stories of human interest. For every 30 minutes on the air, the stations devote only 22 seconds to local government news coverage. Writing about this in the Los Angeles Times, James Rainey stated that "the average half-hour of local news is neither very local nor very newsy." It must be asked, do these stations see their mission as one to inform or entertain?
* Lindsay Lohan may be prevented from returning to India. She falsely reported that she personally rescued 40 children, when in fact she arrived in the country after the rescue took place. Further, she filmed her documentary for BBC as a tourist, which is a visa violation. It must be asked if she is self-promoting in lieu of actually standing firm for human rights violations. Also, does she consider her stardom as a license to be a law unto herself?
* It is reported that actress Kate Winslet has split from her husband, director Sam Mendes, with reasoning being, "Your career is not more important than mine." It must be asked, whose place is it to judge personal satisfaction and to measure another's self-importance?
* Rielle Hunter, the mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards, told GQ magazine, "Everyone talks about how Johnny has fallen from grace. In reality, he's fallen to grace." Does the theological concept of grace look inward only, ignoring the pain and trauma of those who were inadvertently drawn into the affair?
* Sian Williams, a presenter on the television program BBC Breakfast, deducted her wardrobe expenses from her tax statement, since she is required to wear clothes on the air and rotate her outfits. She made the plea that since it is warm in the studio she does not need clothes, and therefore, if allowed, would do the show naked. She lost her appeal. It must be questioned, just how far are we willing to circumvent the law for personal gain?
* As a result of promoting its new 10-part miniseries The Pacific, HBO has acquired 3.1 million new subscribers. It must be asked if these new viewers are interested in being a part of history or participating in a television extravaganza. Further, is HBO's motivation to present history or secure new subscribers as increased ratings are already being posted?
These are just a few of the headline stories that you can use to demonstrate how individuals fail to comprehend, or just simply ignore, the truth that stands naked before them.
THE WORD
Review the individuals involved in the events that occur from Palm Sunday to Easter morning and ask how each one reacted. As you contemplate these individuals, pose these questions: Did they understand the truth of Jesus? When did the truth become apparent to them? Did they discover the truth for themselves or was it pointed out to them? Did they try to explain the truth away? Did they allow ideology to continually obscure them from the truth? Why were they unwilling to surrender their own agenda for a new one?
A sampling of those involved would be:
* Judas -- As a zealot, was he misguided by the man of peace? Did he want to prematurely force the hand of Jesus because he felt Jesus was acting too slowly? Did he really view the High Priest as righteous? The question we must ask ourselves is: What part of the Bible will we discard as being inconvenient?
* Peter -- What caused him to deny Jesus? What transformed him to be the leader of the church? The question we must ask ourselves is: When and where and how have we denied Jesus?
* Thomas -- Why did he doubt? What was it about the appearance of Jesus that made him a believer? The question we must ask ourselves is: What will it take for us to believe?
* Mary, the mother of Jesus -- When Jesus was a child she pondered all the mysteries that surrounded him in her heart. Now, holding his dead, lifeless body in her arms at the foot of the cross, what were her thoughts? How did her understanding change over the following hours and days? The question we must ask ourselves is: How have our perceptions of the mystery of Jesus changed?
* Pilate -- Why was he willing to sacrifice justice for political expediency? Why could he not understand the meaning of truth when it stood literally before him? The question we must ask ourselves is: Do we see the truth?
* Caiaphas -- Why could he not be patient and let Jesus' story play itself out? The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we willing to allow God's plan to prevail?
* The Roman soldiers -- The question we must ask ourselves is: Is their indifference indicative of all of us?
* Simon of Cyrene -- Was he just an innocent bystander who was unexpectedly drawn into the drama of the day? Should he have just gone about his business in the city rather than be drawn by curiosity to the forming crowd? What does this say about our motivations and actions? What does this say when we are also unexpectedly a part of an event we would rather have avoided? The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we being bystanders or engaged disciples?
Continue making your own list of those individuals that, for you, are most prominent in the story. Be attentive to selecting those whose behavior is prominently displayed in your congregation and community.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I) Introduction
You may begin the sermon by discussing the question previously posed -- that is, what does it mean to understand truth? This discussion can be furthered with a dialogue on whether we fail to comprehend the truth or refuse to listen. Do we ignore the truth that is before us if it does not coincide with our previously set agendas? What does it take for us to understand and accept the truth presented in the Easter story?
II) Body
* As mentioned earlier, you may want to discuss the various individuals involved in the Passion story and their understanding of truth. You may want to illustrate their lives with events from the news. Your own pastoral duties will have exposed you to the unique understandings people have of biblical truth that would also make useful illustrations. This would be especially the case in sharing the answers you have heard when witnessing to individuals to accept Jesus as their Savior.
* You may want to discuss how we can discern truth from falsehood. In addition, you may want to lift up reasons why we ignore biblical truth. Another aspect would be to share what it takes for us to accept the truth of the Bible.
* You may want to share how coming to an understanding of the Passion story changed the lives of the individuals directly involved. This can be followed by examining how the story can change our lives. You may want to offer how the story of the coming week transformed people whom you know.
* In this week's "Charting the Course" commentary in Emphasis, the opening discussion offers excellent insight on the meaning of "wisdom" and "knowledge." You may also want to review the illustrations offered in Emphasis.
III) Conclusion
In this week's In The Original commentary, there is an excellent presentation of the Greek interpretation for being a follower of Jesus. This can be related to understanding the truth of Jesus. Once we have accepted that truth, we must become his follower.
* You may want to talk about the importance of being open-minded and receptive toward new ideas. Share that we should be cautions about being so locked into an ideology that it prevents us from expanding our horizons. You may want to emphasize how the truth contained in the lesson of the coming week can be transforming if we can comprehend its full depth and implications for our lives. All of this must be balanced with a sense of discernment between our own perceptions and the truth as it was exposed by Jesus. This is why the events of Holy Week place us in a battle that can be described as "humanness vs. godliness."
ANOTHER VIEW
by Dean Feldmeyer
Consider the Palm Sunday tableau from the point of view of the average Roman citizen: Some guy, a Nazarene by the cut of his hair and the way he dresses, enters town riding on a little donkey and his followers laud him as a king, waving palm branches, laying their coats on the road before him, shouting out epithets like "Son of David" and "King of Kings."
Hardly threatening, is it? Just a little peace of street theater, a silly little demonstration absurdum. Certainly nothing dramatic or even tragic. A comedy, really. Amusing. It's Passover, after all. The whole city is nuts. Just ignore them and they'll disperse and go on about their business.
But look a little closer and what you see is not absurdist theater at all. It's really more like guerilla theater. This guy on the donkey isn't being silly; he's being deadly serious. He's suggesting with this little demonstration, this little protest garbed in the trappings of the stage, that there might be an alternative way of living. There might just be a way of governing people, some way of being emperor, that is more empathetic, more loving, more authentically human, yes, even more powerful than the present regime is offering.
And that kind of statement is not harmless at all. It's dangerous… even if it is disguised as theater.
In his book God and Empire, John Dominic Crossan reminds us that the Pax Romana, that great 500-year period of peace under the Roman Empire, was not really "peaceful," as we would use the adjective. It was more of a massive suppression.
The Roman Empire had a process that was effective at keeping the peace -- but it was brutal in its violence, ruthless in its application. It went like this:
1. Religion -- the cult of emperor worship. The emperor's will is divine law. What is good for the Emperor is good for Rome, and by extension, good for the world.
2. War -- attack those who don't subscribe to your way of thinking and acting. Kill anyone who resists.
3. Victory -- crush those whom you oppose and who oppose you. Impose your will upon those whom you have conquered. Assimilate everyone by persuasion if possible, by force if necessary.
4. Peace -- demand and enforce passive submission to your authority. Brutally and ruthlessly punish those who do not submit.
It was fairly effective, but it was hardly the kind of peace we cherish in 21st-century America. It was peace without justice, which is, as we know, no peace at all. Not really.
If you wanted to offer an alternative opinion about, well, anything, you had to be very careful. If your alternative opinion was about religion or politics you had to be doubly careful. Not to worship the emperor, not to agree with the emperor was considered treason, punishable by crucifixion.
So Jesus and his followers drape their little demonstration in the trappings of street theater, theater of the absurd, guerilla theater. They make it look harmless, at least on the surface. But you only have to scratch the surface a little to see the real, alternative, subversive, dangerous message at the heart of Palm Sunday.
The scribes and the Pharisees and the high priests saw it. Do we? Do the people in our churches? Our town? Our country?
ILLUSTRATIONS
NOTE: The following three illustrations are about protests where their values and why they were protesting were congruent. Examples of those that are incongruent are as numerous, and the preacher can select many of these.
In the spring of 1931 Gandhi led a march to the sea, where thousands of Indians participated in harvesting salt from the sea. This was a major protest to the high taxes levied on salt by the British. Although there were other groups which espoused violence, Gandhi pursued a series of protests which kept within the parameters of nonviolence.
* * *
March 7, 1965 became known as "Bloody Sunday" when Martin Luther King Jr. and 600 marchers attempted to go from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery to protest the shooting of a civil rights protester. Though they were attacked with tear gas and clubs, and 50 of them were hospitalized, the marchers kept to their ideal of nonviolence while others used violence against them. Two weeks later, on their third attempt, the marchers made the journey under federal protection. That fall the federal Voting Rights Act was passed.
* * *
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white rider she was arrested, and when convicted she was fined $14 and court costs. The city bus line was boycotted, even though many blacks used the bus to get to and from work. Rosa and her husband Raymond were among those who lost their jobs because of the boycott. She refused to pay the fine, and the case eventually made its way to the US Supreme Court, where the laws allowing segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama, were ruled unconstitutional.
* * *
It's a struggle to keep it. Ministers tussle mightily to retain it. As with a suit or dress ten sizes too large, we can't bear to be seen in it. Yet not having it reduces our chances of heaven. We'd have better luck doing a limbo under a gnat's knee. I refer to humility. You find few role models of it in professional sports. Even seminaries suffer a scarcity of models.
We hate smart-aleck know-it-alls, but love it when we identify Jeopardy clues and Bible class answers. We want to be considered as great.
Jesus warned that many of us who pride ourselves on knowing the way to heaven will be amazed by our failure to get there. Those who attain it will be the ones who never thought themselves good enough to deserve it. Though we struggle to act humble, it's refreshing to find humility in others. It not only delights us to be around humble people, God wants us to act humbly so that others can be refreshed. How can we do it?
For a while I tried to appear humble. "Why are you slouching? Straighten your shoulders," my wife said. Trying to look humble is as ludicrous as attempting to look brilliant. With reservations, I offer two secrets of humility: First, we remember that compared to God, we're less than mites; and second, Jesus sent us to serve, as he was among us "as one who serves."
* * *
Fred Craddock tells of how, when he was in graduate school at Vanderbilt, he used to take late-night study breaks at an all-night diner. One night, while worrying about his New Testament oral exams, he happened to overhear an exchange between the counter man and a ragged, down-on-his luck customer:
Then I noticed a man who was there when I went in, but had not yet been waited on. I had been waited on, had a refill, and so had the others. Then finally the man behind the counter went to the man at the end of the counter and said, "What do you want?" He was an old, gray-haired, black man. Whatever the man said, the fellow went to the grill, scooped up a little dark patty off the back of the grill, and put it on a piece of bread without condiment, without napkin. The cook handed it to the man, who gave him some money, and then went out the side door by the garbage can and out on the street. He sat on the curb with the 18-wheelers of the night with the salt and pepper from the street to season his sandwich.
I didn't say anything. I did not reprimand, protest, or witness to the cook. I did not go out and sit beside the man on the curb, on the edge. I didn't do anything. I was thinking about the questions coming up on the New Testament. And I left the little place, went up the hill back to my room to resume my studies, and off in the distance I heard a cock crow.
-- Fred Craddock, Craddock Stories (Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 48-49
* * *
D-Day is burned in the memory of most people, reinforced by movies such as Saving Private Ryan. In order to put a stop to the Nazi advance, the Allies needed to land on the Normandy beaches and drive the Nazis back. The leaders knew the cost in lives would be great, but they also knew that it was their only hope for victory.
When the Allies landed the Germans were waiting, and thousands of soldiers died on the boats, in the sea, on the shore. But eventually the Germans were pushed back and the final march to victory began.
God also had a desperate plan to save humankind. It required that his Son enter the human race to show God's great love, to win us back to God. God knew the cost would be great. The Passion narrative reveals just how great: lies, denial, betrayal, desertion, spit, whips, thorns, and finally nails.
Yet Jesus pushed on. And because he did, the victory was sealed.
* * *
In the spring of 1998, President Bill Clinton went on a tour of Africa. In South Africa he met with Nelson Mandela, father of the revolution that toppled the dreadful racist apartheid system in that land. One of the places the Clintons made sure they visited was Mandela's prison cell on the isolated Robben Island, offshore from Cape Town.
Mandela, of course, is a towering moral figure -- not that he doesn't have his personal faults, but the sheer fact of his long imprisonment has given him a kind of personal stature that is rare among heads of state. A photo circulated widely in the news media at that time portrayed a tanned and healthy President Clinton -- commander-in-chief of the mightiest army on earth, and leader of the free world -- standing beside the stoop-shouldered, graying Mandela. The two of them were mugging for the camera, holding onto the bars of the cell while looking outside.
Did President Clinton have the foggiest idea what it must have been like for Mandela to live in that bare cell for nearly 20 years, sleeping on a hard concrete floor -- Bill Clinton, the Rhodes Scholar, the child of American privilege?
President Clinton is much like any of us in that respect. How can he -- how can we -- have the slightest conception what it must have been like for this man to have endured such a long imprisonment for a cause he believed in? Nelson Mandela is one who has paid the king's ransom. He paid it with decades of his own life. He knows, more than most, what it means to bear a cross.
* * *
Anyone who's ever shoveled an icy sidewalk in winter knows there are several ways to get rid of a chunk of ice. One could seek to smash it with the shovel, scattering its broken remains all around. Or one could melt it -- a gentler approach, converting its nature from solid to liquid.
God could have smashed and scattered us, the human race, on account of our sinful rebellion. Yet Jesus chooses the gentler way, the way of the cross. He chooses to melt the cold, hard heart of humanity. In this way, by grace, he seeks to convert our basic nature in the eyes of God from those who have sinned to those who are saved.
* * *
In order that we should realize the distance between ourselves and God, it was necessary that God should be a crucified slave. For we do not realize distance except in the downward direction. It is much easier to imagine ourselves in the place of God the Creator than in the place of Christ crucified.
The dimensions of Christ's charity are the same as the distance between God and the creature.
The function of mediation in itself implies a tearing asunder. That is why we cannot conceive of the descent of God toward men or the ascent of man toward God without a tearing asunder.
The abandonment at the supreme moment of the crucifixion, what an abyss of love on both sides!
God wears himself out through the infinite thickness of time and space in order to reach the soul and to captivate it. If it allows a pure and utter consent (though brief as a lightning flash) to be torn from it, then God conquers that soul. And when it has become entirely his, he abandons it. He leaves it completely alone, and it has in its turn, but gropingly, to cross the infinite thickness of time and space in search of him whom it loves. It is thus that the soul, starting from the opposite end, makes the same journey that God made toward it. And that is the cross.
-- Simone Weil, "The Distance," from Waiting for God, translated by Emma Craufurd (Putnam's, 1951)
* * *
I grew up on those pious Hollywood biblical epics of the 1950s, which looked like holy cards brought to life. I remember my grin when Time magazine noted that Jeffrey Hunter, starring as Christ in King of Kings (1961), had shaved his armpits. (Not Hunter's fault; the film's Crucifixion scene had to be re-shot because preview audiences objected to Jesus' hairy chest.)
If it does nothing else, Gibson's film will break the tradition of turning Jesus and his disciples into neat, clean, well-barbered, middle-class businessmen. They were poor men in a poor land. I debated Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ with commentator Michael Medved before an audience from a Christian college, and was told by an audience member that the characters were filthy and needed haircuts.
-- Roger Ebert, in his review of Mel Gibson's gritty film The Passion of the Christ
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Give thanks to God, for God is good;
People: God's love endures forever.
Leader: Open the gates of righteousness,
People: that we may enter and give thanks.
Leader: This is the day that God has made;
People: we will rejoice and be glad in it.
OR
Leader: Be gracious to us, O God, for we are in distress;
People: our souls and bodies waste away from grief.
Leader: Our lives are spent with sorrows,
People: and our years spent with sighing.
Leader: But we trust in you, O God.
People: We say, "You are our God."
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Weary of All Trumpeting"
found in:
UMH: 442
H82: 572
"O Young and Fearless Prophet"
found in:
UMH: 444
CH: 669
"Dear Jesus, in Whose Life I See"
found in:
UMH: 468
"Close to Thee"
found in:
UMH: 407
AAHH: 552, 553
NNBH: 317
"Seek Ye First"
found in:
UMH: 405
H82: 711
PH: 333
CH: 354
"Take Up Thy Cross"
found in:
UMH: 415
H82: 675
PH: 393
LBW: 398
"Make Me a Captive, Lord"
found in:
UMH: 421
PH: 378
"Take My Life, and Let It Be"
found in:
UMH: 399
H82: 707
PH: 391
NNBH: 213
NCH: 448
CH: 609
LBW: 406
Renew: 150
"Walk With Me"
found in:
CCB: 88
"We Are His Hands"
found in:
CCB: 85
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who makes a path of righteousness and peace in the midst of evil and war: Grant us the courage to follow our Savior Jesus as he brings your reign into the midst of the powers that oppose you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come to join with Jesus as he makes his entrance into Jerusalem and makes his stand against evil power and injustice. Help us to not be those who wave their palms but refuse to enter into the sufferings of our Savior. Fill us with courage, that we may be true disciples of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the way in which we speak of our faith so assuredly yet walk the path of Jesus with so much hesitation.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to claim our place with Jesus when it enhances our standing with others, but we are loathe to follow him when it costs us friends and popularity. We take the name of Jesus when it makes us look holy and upstanding, but when his values go against the mainstream of society we hesitate to take a stand. Forgive us and empower us with your Spirit, O God, that we may claim Jesus with our actions as well as with our words. Amen.
Leader: God loves us and is always ready to assist us when we wish to follow the ways of justice, mercy, and humility. May the Spirit of our God fill you with courage and resolve to follow Jesus.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
All glory, honor, and power are yours, O God, by right, because you are the creator and the redeemer of all creation. When the powers of evil rise up, you send your Son and your people to stand against them. You are the one who demands justice and mercy for all creation.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We are quick to claim our place with Jesus when it enhances our standing with others, but we are loathe to follow him when it costs us friends and popularity. We take the name of Jesus when it makes us look holy and upstanding, but when his values go against the mainstream of society we hesitate to take a stand. Forgive us and empower us with your Spirit, O God, that we may claim Jesus with our actions as well as with our words.
We give you thanks for all the ways in which you bring your steadfast love and kindness to us and to all creation. We thank you for the opportunities you give us to stand with Jesus on the side of those who are oppressed and misused.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for your reign to come in its fullness and for us to be faithful servants of you by being faithful caretakers of one another and of all creation.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Visuals
While palms may be all the visuals that are needed, a collage of protest march pictures (hopefully those who protested in the spirit of Jesus) and various signs demanding justice or mercy might be interesting.
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children, "What if a librarian shouted as loudly as possible, 'QUIET!'?" Would that make sense? "What if an adult at the park said, 'Play nice and be polite or I'll kick you in the knee'?" That wouldn't make sense. Whatever Jesus said or did, they always went together. When he wanted to show that God desired love, peace, mercy and justice, he didn't come into Jerusalem with a mob armed to fight. No, he came in riding on a humble donkey.
Jesus wants us to know what he taught, but he also wants us to act like him. It doesn't do us much good to say "Jesus loves you" and then act nasty to someone.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Call to Follow
Luke 22:39
Object: apostles' bookmarks or cards
Good morning, boys and girls! Do you know the names of the twelve men who were Jesus' closest friends? Do you know what they were called? (response) , we call them the Twelve Apostles! Do you know what the work "apostle" means? (responses -- some guesses may be close; allow some expression)
An apostle is a learner. It may also mean "a messenger." So the twelve apostles were persons who learned and were sent out with a message. What was the message that they were to tell? (responses -- about God, about Jesus, and so forth) apostles went out to tell people the truths that they were learning from their teacher. And who was their teacher? (response -- Jesus)Yes, Jesus spent a lot of his time alone with these twelve friends, teaching them about his father, God, and of all the things that God wanted people to know about him. He taught them what the scriptures of the Old Testament meant. Most of all, He showed his love to them and to others with whom He came into contact. He taught them a great deal about what love means.
After Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose again, and went back to God, his learner/messengers went all over the country and even into many foreign countries to tell people what they had learned.
I'm going to give you each a card with the apostles' names on it and ask you to say them out loud with me. (After giving the cards, have the children stand and face the congregation as they read the names together.)
Thank you for helping us remember the names of those twelve friends of Jesus.
Does what they did give you any ideas about what we ought to be doing? (response -- learning about God and Jesus from the Bible and then going out to tell others about him)
(You could finish with a prayer that we might be disciples who learn the truth and share it with others.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 28, 2010, issue.
Copyright 2010 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
