Savior Until The Palms Run Out
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
Dear Fellow Preacher,
Throughout the conflict with Iraq, administration officials have stated confidently: "The outcome is not in doubt." With American forces moving at will through Iraq's capital city, victory certainly seems imminent. When issues of victory and loss are under consideration, however, it is important to remember that God's greatest victory was counted as loss by worldly standards. Jesus' ride into Jerusalem initiated the final steps to be taken in which all was lost, yet all was to gain.
We at The Immediate Word have asked team member Carter Shelley to explore these themes of victory and loss using the lectionary Gospel readings for Palm Sunday. In addition, as always, there are comments from team members, illustrations, worship materials, and a children's sermon.
Savior Until the Palms Run Out1
By Carter Shelley
Mark 11:1-11; John 12:12-16
With the current possibility of American and British troops entering Baghdad in victory any day now, the idea of triumphal entries both biblical and historical come to the fore this Palm Sunday. Long before there was a carpenter from Nazareth entering Jerusalem on a donkey, David, warrior, king, and God's own darling, danced his way into the city he would make his capital. With his successes in battle and ability to consolidate both land and tribes into a united people, David was a great king. But it was his recognition of his own sinfulness and his lifelong devotion to God that made David the first, and most successful, ruler ancient Israel would ever know.
By Jesus' day the children of Israel had witnessed many a foreign power marching through their lands and city: Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Macedonia, Greece, and Rome had all taken a turn conquering the land and humiliating its citizens. With so many greater powers passing its people and land from subjugation to subjugation, it's no wonder the apocalyptic concept of a Son of Man who would come down from God to rescue and redeem God's people began to offer hope alongside the more traditional and familiar notion of a messianic ruler who would serve both God and humanity as a royal king in a liberated land (Daniel 7:13-4 and Matthew 24:29-31).
No, in Jesus' day, few Jews had any experience with military victories or triumphs other than those they might witness as Roman soldiers, slaves, and booty might march through their streets on the way back to Rome. Our own familiarity with triumphant entries after military victories most likely has been shaped by black and white newsreels we've seen in movie theaters or on our television sets. Moreover, those clips most likely record the joyful greetings of Parisians welcoming the Allied forces of World War II in which both greeters and the welcomed soldiers knew they shared a common enemy, a common vision, and a common goal to reestablish a democratic government in those European countries unwillingly conquered by the Axis powers.
Jesus' heralded entrance into Jerusalem appears in all four Gospels. Shrouded in the scriptural trappings of a Savior, as anticipated by Zechariah 9: 9-10, Jesus rides the donkey through the streets while people wave branches and cheer the man they hope will be their long- awaited king. Preferring to emphasize this promised king's military successes enumerated in Zechariah 9:10, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem gets misconstrued as the triumphant entry of the long-awaited military and political leader. His fans are the losers hoping at last to become winners. After all, triumphant entries belong to the winners, not the losers. This event marks the climax of his ministry and popularity.
Once the glorious but short trip has been completed, Jesus dismounts the donkey, and on his own two feet proceeds to take the steps that lead him closer and closer to the cross. Jesus alienates everyone by refusing to be a king like David. Instead, Jesus puts God's rule before human rule, something as foreign to his own people as it was to their Roman oppressors. Thus, Jesus is only their Savior until the palms run out.
There's irony in Jesus' welcome to Jerusalem. It's ironic because those who adore him will soon castigate and deny him. The cheering crowd following Jesus into Jerusalem will be replaced by a jeering crowd hooting and calling as they follow him to Golgotha to watch him die.
That's the biblical context for today's text. The contemporary context is similar in its irony. As the American and British forces enter Iraq, and more specifically and victoriously, Baghdad, the capital, the kind of salvation those first century Jews so longed to receive -- military victory against their enemies, the overthrow of the current political leaders, removal of years of suffering and persecution at the hands of a wicked dictator and his soldiers, freedom and a voice and in their own government -- that kind of salvation may be offered to the people of Iraq. That's the vision and agenda currently proclaimed by the governments and Coalition forces of the United States and Great Britain. If constant bombing and civilian casualties already weren't enough to temper the Iraqi people's feelings about us, we may alienate them further by assuming that what we have to offer is what they wish to receive: temporary occupation by a greater nation with a stronger military force, planning to establish a democratic government based upon the design of the United States and England along with the eventual infusion of western culture and western comforts.
We all know what a delicate position the Iraqi people are in so long as Saddam Hussein remains alive. His horrors are more real to the citizenry and more immediate than any threat the Coalition armies pose. Moreover, we know from Iraqi exiles and other survivors of Saddam Hussein's cruel regime that atrocities have and do happen in Iraq. So, we'd like to think our victory will be Iraq's victory too, but those who initially thank US, may soon come to resent US for not liberating them and leaving them to run their land on their own.
At this point I propose three ways one might build upon the biblical text and our contemporary situation. Readers of The Immediate Word may want to use all or a portion of these moves in your own sermon for Palm Sunday.
Misconceptions about Jesus' Messiahship and about the Wants and Desires of the Iraqi People
Take a look at a couple of the misconceptions the biblical crowd held about Jesus:
(1) Zechariah had announced that God's anointed one would appear riding a donkey. Since the word Messiah meant "The Lord's Anointed" and was emblematic of the anointing with oil that every king received at his coronation, Jesus' kingdom and kingship must resemble that of David, Solomon, or Josiah.
(2) There was no prior model for a king of the kind Jesus came to be -- a king who dies in order to save? That's not the kind of saving most of the Jews recognized or believed they needed. "Hosanna!" God saves! God saves from poverty, from hunger, from oppression, humiliation, and constant fear and uncertainty. If the average Jew had been asked if there was any part of his or her life that actually was working, it's likely the reply would have been, "My religion. I still have my God. I still have the Torah. I still have hope." It wasn't their religion or their God that they thought needed changing.
Now, let's consider some of the misconceptions you and I may have about the Iraqis:
(1) All Iraqis hate Saddam Hussein as much as George Bush Senior and Junior and the average American hate Saddam Hussein. Yet many of the current children, youth, and young adults have never known any other ruler for Iraq. Saddam Hussein has been in power since 1979. His removal may represent freedom and a better future for some Iraqis, but for others it may represent the real possibility of chaos and anarchy, a scary and unknown future in which nothing is certain.
(2) Almost everyone in Iraq is Muslim. Saddam Hussein is not a practicing Muslim but a secular dictator. He only uses Islam when it fits his own agenda; he is not a devout Muslim. In addition there are many Christian Iraqis as well as other religious faiths.
(3) All Iraqis will welcome US as liberators. Actually, there's understandable fear that one powerful tyrant may be replaced by another who doesn't even share the race, religion, or nationality of the majority of the population. An American general or an exiled Iraqi put in power by the Coalition leadership hardly represents full liberation.
(4) Equality and democracy are desired by and desirable for all Iraqis. Some of the Iraqis living in exile are politically suspect. They were part of the current brutal regime until Saddam Hussein turned on them and they needed to escape. Those who are now jockeying for power, influence, and profit may be more interested in their own opportunities than they are in establishing a nation where all are equal and free, including the women.
(5) The American way of life is the best way for everyone. CNN, MTV, American Idol, the Bachelor, MacDonald's, and Taco Bell. Consumerism, work-a-holism, etc., may not be in our own best interests, much less for citizens of a country where children are adored, extended families valued and connected, the elderly respected, having time to show hospitality, to rest, to worship, and just to be, suggest we have much to learn from our Middle Eastern neighbors.
(6) Thus, it's ironic that the kind of salvation we might bring may not be the salvation the Iraqis want or need.
Jesus' adoring crowd turning into his berating accusers is one irony, and the Coalition's desire to save the Iraqis by means of modern warfare and a first world lifestyle that may not be wanted is the second irony.
Letting the People Speak for Themselves: Those Who Celebrated Jesus and Iraqi Soldiers and Citizens and Coalition Soldiers and Citizens
I am not providing specific examples of the perspective of different people present for both Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem and his death on the cross; however, I would include some of the obvious voices. The disciples James and John jockeying for appointment to Jesus' left hand and right once Jesus attained his glory, who had no desire to join Jesus and the thieves crucified on Jesus left and right on the day of execution. Peter the staunch supporter and bold advocate who betrays himself as well as his Lord by denying Jesus three times. One of the women followers of Jesus, such as Mary Magdalene, who doesn't expect Jesus to be a royal king but doesn't understand what it means for him to die, but knows only that it cuts her to the quick. An innocent bystander who gets caught up in the excitement of the palm waving one day and is a reluctant participant in the execution process later on as the one ordered to carry Jesus' cross when Jesus can lug it no further. A political Zealot eager for an excuse to start a revolution and bitterly angry and disappointed that Jesus' anointing comes to naught.
Iraqi flutist Naseer Shamma, musician and teacher living now in Cairo, was interviewed by Michael Sullivan on Morning Edition radio April 7th. Shamma composes music that imitates the sounds of bombs falling as recalled from the Gulf War. He plays such music in order to "show the terror" and allow those of us who have never had such an experience "to hear the panic and feel the fear." Shamma's brother-in-law was killed by a bomb that fell in a Baghdad market twelve days ago. Shamma wonders if his homeland is cursed. A country with a rich cultural heritage, Iraq has been at war for 20 years. Is it because of the country's geography? Can it all be blamed on the leaders? The Iraqi people have endured so much sorrow for so long, Shamma observed. His own flute will be silent so long as this war continues. He canceled all concerts for himself and his students. In the future, Shamma hopes that his students will teach many others and produce an army of musicians instead of soldiers.
Iranian literature professor and writer Azar Nafisi recently published a memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Similarly to the excellent Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Nafisi's book illustrates the power literature holds for those living in totalitarian societies in which the reading of anything but party propaganda is an offense against the state. In an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross broadcast on April 4, 2003, Nafisi recalls the Iranian-Iraqi war and what it was like to live in Teheran as Iraqi bombs fell upon friends, students,and family. She recalled the intense feelings of guilt she had whenever the bombs had ceased and her family took inventory as to who was still alive. It was always a relief to discover one's own loved ones had survived, yet one could not help but feel happy and selfish at the happiness. "Nobody likes for their country to be bombed or invaded," she observed. But when the bombs fall, wherever one finds oneself, people get so close and become like brother and sister because they might be dying together. Having left Iran permanently in 1995, Nafisi says she's formed many lasting friendships from the hardships of that time.
As for the current war taking place in Iraq, Nafisi expresses ambivalence. She knows Saddam Hussein to be "one of the worst dictators in the whole wide world" and she expresses the helplessness and hopelessness people feel when they live under a totalitarian form of government. She urges the first world powers such as the United States and Great Britain not to give up prematurely on democracy for Iraq, Afghanistan, or many other countries and not to assume that people who live in the Middle East are backward or undesirous of a more progressive form of government. "Both democracy and terror are universal," she says. "It's not a part of our culture any more than yours ... But don't abandon Iraq prematurely as was the case in Afghanistan where the Northern Alliance was not totally disbanded."
See Carlos Wilton's example of Mohammed who risked his and his family's lives in order to alert American troops to the location of Jessica Lynch because of the way she was being treated "cut his heart" below.
"There are worse things than having bombs dropped on you. I know." Dachau holocaust survivor.
"We are poor. The Americans will find nothing here." Quote from Iraqi man photographed in the midst of bombed rubble by People magazine for its Up Front piece, in this week's issue.
Recognizing what Christ has to offer Iraqis, Brits, and Americans that would make us Allies in the Days Ahead
There are many excellent Bible commentaries to help develop the idea that the Christ God sends far exceeds the needs and expectations of first century Jews and of twenty-first century people living in Iraq or the United States of America.
Isaiah 50:4-9a and Philippians 2:5-11 provide an excellent frame and context for understanding the kind of Savior God sends in Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah 50:4-9a describes the one to come as God's servant first and foremost. Thus, in spite of pain, persecution, rejection, and suffering, the Servant neither disobeys nor shrinks from what he must do. Suffering for the sake of the task is accepted. With this particular suffering servant song, the Servant for the first time acknowledges and assents to the suffering he must endure. The language of verses 8-9 attest to the Servant's certainty that his cause, while initially mocked and rejected along with himself, will be vindicated and he along with it. He is convinced that ultimately God will justify him as God's servant and vindicate him against his oppressors.2
In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul describes Jesus' kenosis or self-emptying as an act fully actualized in Jesus' death on the cross -- one of the most despicable and humiliating forms of execution practiced in Paul's and Jesus' day. The cross was reserved for non-human beings such as thieves and slaves. The irony for Paul's Philippians, who understood the stigma such a death applied, is that the most holy and righteous of all God's humans is the one who dies in this way. Where Adam and we might deserve such a death for overstepping our bounds as people in our attempts to be like God, the one who was with God and sent by God, the one who lived a fully obedient and righteous life, was the one who died this terrible death. The fact that Jesus' death found its meaning in Jesus' resurrection and exaltation rather than in a street parade on Palm Sunday holds great power for Paul and for us.
In his appeal for Gospel fidelity, Paul had emphasized the need for unity in a common effort (Philippians 1:27). The same values underlie the second part of his exhortation. The believers must be united in their convictions, love, purpose, and mind (Philippians 2:2). To introduce and buttress his statement, Paul calls upon the life in Christ, the love, the common Spirit, the tenderness, and the sympathy which he and the Philippians have been sharing with one another. The required unity precludes competition, conceit, and self-interest, and is expressed in a self-effacing attitude which values others as better than oneself and seeks their interest (Philippians 2: 3-4). Such is the humility which is demonstrated in the mystery of Christ.3
In her Philippians commentary for the New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, New
Testament scholar Morna D. Hooker observers:
To give someone a name is to give him or her status and power. The name bestowed on Jesus here is "the name that is above every name," which is clearly the name of God. By tradition the name of God could not be spoken or written. It is the one who came in the likeness of men who is now proclaimed as Lord. When the name of Jesus is mentioned then all creation should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. In the Roman city of Philippi, the proclamation of Jesus as Lord would be seen as a challenge to political loyalties. But the pattern of behavior that Paul had placed before the Philippians would have been just as much of a challenge to the whole Roman social ethos (510).
Such an ethos continues to dominate the world scene in 2003. May we pray that Christ's way will guide us as we play a key role in the lives and future of God's many children in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Israel, and the camps of Palestine in the days and years to come...?
Notes
1 As George Murphy pointed out in last's week installment of The Immediate Word, only the Gospel of John actually refers to the branches used by the crowd as "palms."
2Isaiah 40-66 by Claus Westermann. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975 pp: 228-232.
3 Invitation to the New Testament Epistles II by Eugene A. LaVerdiere. Garden City: Image Books Division of Doubleday, 1980, p. 230.
Team Comments
Carlos Wilton responds: One of your suggested directions for this week is based on the Jewish people's misunderstanding of what Jesus is intending as he makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This conventional explanation has Jesus, riding innocently into the city, being swept along by a crowd of Zealots: political revolutionaries who slyly manage to co-opt Jesus' purely spiritual agenda for their own purposes. It also places great emphasis on the Jewish people's missing the point: they see what they want to see -- a political revolutionary -- when Jesus' intention is very different.
In some book or article he wrote (I can't recall which one), biblical scholar Robert Farrar Capon presents an intriguingly different possibility. He suggests that Jesus' intention IS political -- although not the sort of direct political action that is intended to lead to revolution.
Rather, Jesus' intention is satirical, in the best sense of that word. His intention is to present a vibrant piece of what Capon calls "street theater," which will highlight for its audience (the Jerusalem crowds) the radical difference between the kingdoms of this world and the coming reign of God. The spectacle of this Galilean rabbi (not one of Israel's ruling elite) riding into town on a donkey (the antithesis of the warrior-king's battle steed), preceded by laughing children (rather than legionnaires), with the garments of peasants (rather than the cloaks of Senators) laid in his path, is a kind of parody of the sort of elaborate victory parade beloved by the Romans. It's closer to Theater of the Absurd than the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Is Jesus trying to overthrow the government? Probably not. Is he trying to ridicule publicly the ruling powers, so as to exalt God who is greater than all principalities and powers? Very likely. It's a very effective technique: but very, very dangerous for Jesus personally (as the events of the next view days will amply attest). Principalities and powers are not noted for accepting satirical criticism graciously.
Several of the Gospel parallels for this pericope suggest a certain amount of premeditation on Jesus' part, concerning the logistical arrangements for his entry into Jerusalem. The demonstration does not appear to be spontaneous. In at least one of the Gospel parallels, Jesus' instruction to his followers to go to a certain place and find a certain beast who is there tied sounds very much like a carefully planned public spectacle (the "advance men" have already been there, preparing the way for the circus parade). Jesus wants very much for this parade to happen: not because he sees himself as the conquering hero who will cast out the Roman overlords and their Judean puppet rulers, but because he is a prophet who by his actions speaks truth to power and reminds the people who is REALLY in charge (God).
This explanation makes more sense to me than the view of Jesus as an earnest but politically naive preacher who gets co-opted by activists with a purely secular agenda. In the Middle East, then as now, the line between the spiritual and the political is not sharply drawn; "separation of church and state," as we know it in this country, is pretty much a foreign concept.
Jesus knew full well that what he was doing had political implications. It may not have been the same sort of political implications the Zealots craved to see, but it was political nonetheless.
George Murphy responds: Events and news are changing rapidly in Iraq. We should keep an eye on how Iraqis are actually reacting to the situation there. As things look now, the statement contrary to our first world optimism, patriotism, and good (though naive) intentions, the Iraqis appear not to want the kind of salvation our governments and military want to deliver doesn't seem to be correct.
Carlos Wilton responds to George Murphy: What you say, George, about the jury still being out on how the Iraqi people will respond to our military liberation, is certainly true. The situation is very fluid, and we have to wait and see. Yet, based on the news reports I've read, I also don't see much grounds for optimism that ordinary Iraqis in large numbers are about to make a 180-degree turn and start cheering the Coalition forces.
I think our government has made a fundamental error in assuming that ordinary Iraqis are more or less like ordinary Americans. Our leaders are being too optimistic about the Iraqis' capacity to make a democratic state work. The fact is, they've probably been under the totalitarian boot-heel too long. Establishing democracy is going to take time, and a lot of it.
George Murphy responds to Carlos Wilton: I agree with your last paragraph. That's one reason I was, and to some extent remain, dubious about the wisdom of the war. Wars should be engaged in only if (inter alia!) there is a reasonable probability of success, and while short term success -- destruction of Saddam's regime -- is pretty certain, long term success in developing some approximation to an open society is a much longer shot.
James L. Evans responds: It seems Jesus deliberately chose to subvert the prevailing assumptions about what form the Messiah would take. His choice of a donkey, obviously not a mode of transportation for a conquering hero, coupled with his instruction about non-violence, stood as a clear contrast to the Zealot option. Walter Wink in his Engaging the Powers has argued that Jesus' stance represented a new and important alternative way for Israel to respond to Roman oppression.
The current war in Iraq is but one challenge to Jesus' alternative. Behind the war, fueling this and all wars is a deeply held commitment to violence. We believe in violence. We believe violence may serve the cause of good. Violence, when applied with proper motive and restraint, can bring about a good end.
According to Wink, it is this myth of redemptive violence that Jesus seeks to refute. His humble ride into Jerusalem and passive embrace of the cross serve not just to critique triumphal nationalism, but also and especially sheds light on a dark and malignant anger that resides deep in the human heart. That anger was unleashed against Jesus on the cross. The cross, therefore, stands in eternal condemnation of the violence that put Jesus on it.
Illustrations
Perhaps the Palm Sunday sermon, as it talks about the crowd, could focus for a time on that man named Mohammed, who was instrumental in the rescue of Jessica Lynch. He apparently said that what he saw of Jessica's mistreatment by her captors "cut his heart," and led him to reveal her position -- at great risk of his own life, and that of his family -- to the American authorities.
Perhaps there were those in Jerusalem at Jesus' triumphal entry, who were also on the fence, as far as which side they would support. What sights did they see that "cut their hearts," that led them to come out as supporters of Jesus' reform movement?
Carlos Wilton
----------
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."
----------
Love is not a feeling; love is an action.
-- Madeleine L'Engle
----------
Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.
-- Martin Luther On Marriage (1530)
----------
The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
-- Robert Lynd
----------
If peace only had the music and pageantry of war, there'd be no war.
-- Sophie Kerr
----------
When the song of the angel is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The real work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoners
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among brothers
To make music in the heart.
-- Nineteenth Century Quaker Benediction
Traditionally Spoken at Christmas
----------
The '70s era popular television series M*A*S*H depicted doctors working in a forward combat area hospital during the Korean conflict. One of the doctors, known as Hawkeye, was a brash non-conformist, but a brilliant surgeon.
During a particularly difficult day of surgery, a high-ranking officer came to visit the camp on a routine inspection. Hawkeye was working on a seriously wounded soldier who suddenly went into cardiac arrest.
Hawkeye opened the soldier's chest and began massaging the heart, trying desperately to stimulate the heart into beating again. As he worked on the heart, Hawkeye said under his breath, "Come on, beat! Don't let the bastard win."
Later the visiting inspector was talking with the camp commander about what he had seen and heard. He said, "During surgery, that doctor of yours, Hawkeye, said, 'Don't let the bastard win.' Who was he talking about?"
The camp commander looked serious for a moment, then answered. "Hawkeye was talking about death. He hates to see death win."
"Death is a part of life, it's a part of war," the inspector replied. "You can't have an attitude like that towards death."
"Don't tell that to Hawkeye," the camp commander replied. "Hawkeye will never take death casually."
Worship Resources
By George S. Reed
There are many traditional worship resources for this Sunday that most of us are already familiar with. These are offered to help direct our worship with the current topic in focus.
OPENING
Hymn
Hosanna to the Living Lord!
Songs
All Hail King Jesus
He Is Exalted
Lord, I Lift Your Name On High
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! SUFFERING SERVANT OF GOD!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! LAMB OF THE WORLD!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! SAVIOR AND LORD!
COLLECT/OPENING PRAYER
O God who desires the liberation of all your children from sin and evil: Grant us the grace to realize that true liberty is rooted and grounded in your loving kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You invite us to worship you, Lord, and you invite us to come into your realm where true liberty is present. Send your Holy Spirit upon us now that we may taste anew your liberation from all that would destroy us. Renew our mission to share your liberty with all your children. Amen.
RESPONSE MUSIC
Hymns
Love Consecrates the Humblest Act
O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True
Lord, Save Your World
Songs
People Need the Lord
Shine, Jesus, Shine
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION/PARDON
Leader: Let us confess our sins to God and before each other.
ALL: WE SEEK FOR SECURITY BY AMASSING WEALTH AND THIS WORLD'S GOODS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK TO LOOK GOOD IN OUR OWN EYES BY LOOKING DOWN ON OTHERS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK HOLINESS BY NUMBERING THE SINS OF OTHERS INSTEAD OF CONFESSING OUR OWN. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK LIBERTY THROUGH POLITICAL STRUCTURES WHILE REMAINING BOUND TO OUR OWN ADDICTIONS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE WANT A SAVIOR WHO WILL LEAD US TO GLORY WHILE AVOIDING THE CROSS OF SERVICE AND SELF GIVING. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
(Silent Confession)
Leader: Hear the good news. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save those who are lost. He has come to liberate you from your sin and set you free. You are forgiven.
ALL: WE HAVE HEARD THE GOOD NEWS. WE WILL FOLLOW CHRIST TO THE CROSS AND TO GLORY!
GENERAL PRAYERS AND LITANIES
O God, our God, how wonderful are your works in all the earth! You have created all things to work together for the good of creation and to give glory to you. You have put us in your world to take care of it in your name. You desire nothing for creation but wholeness and salvation.
(The following paragraph is most suitable if a prayer of confession will not be used elsewhere.)
We confess that we have sought liberation, security, and meaning in many places other than in your loving kindness. We have been short-sighted in looking for glory without a cross. Forgive us and by the power of your Holy Spirit renew our understanding of your realm so that we might see with holy eyes, hear with holy ears, speak with holy lips, and serve with holy hands.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from your bounty. You have given us a way that leads to life eternal. You have given us each other so that we might share your love. (Other specific thanksgivings may be offered.) You have given us a Savior who knows our weaknesses and what it means to be a true child of God.
As we celebrate Jesus' coming into our midst to be our Savior, we offer up to you love and care for the world for which he died as we pray for:
Those who are involved in conflict and war. Those who wait anxiously for their loved ones who are in danger. Those who look for salvation from elsewhere but from God. Those who are victims of violence of any kind. Those who have no voice in their communities. Those who are sick and dying. Ourselves, as we struggle to look for glory in the cross.
Hear our prayer and grant that we may participate in your gracious acts to those in need, for we pray in the Name of the One who comes in your Name, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father ...
CLOSING MUSIC
Hymn
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing
Song
Nobody Like You
A Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
Matthew 21:1-11
Text: "When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, 'Who is this?' The crowds were saying, 'This is he prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee'" (vv. 10-11).
Object: confetti, posters (Welcome Jesus-King of Kings-Liberator-Up With Jesus-Down With Caesar-Jesus Brings Freedom), kazoos, spoons and lids, etc
Good morning, boys and girls. I am sure most of you know there is a war going on. Do you know where the war is? (let them answer) That's right, Iraq and it is far away from our country. Many Americans are serving as soldiers in Iraq and it is very dangerous. America is making a lot of promises to the people who live in Iraq. Do you know what promises we are making? (let them answer)
We are promising them freedom from a dictator. We are promising them that they will elect their own government. We are promising them food and medicine. We are promising them jobs. We are promising them safety. We are promising them educations. We are promising them freedom of religion. We are making a lot of promises, promises of good. The people of Iraq should be very happy, but they are still fighting the people who are making these promises.
Today is Palm Sunday. How many of you know what happened on Palm Sunday? (let them answer) That's right, this is the day there was a big parade into Jerusalem. Let's pretend that we were the people that lined the roads into Jerusalem. I brought along some things that we can use in our parade. These are the things we use in parades today. I brought some signs. Let me read them. (read the signs and pass them out to the children to hold) I also brought some noisemakers and some confetti. (pass out the packets of confetti and instruments)
Now, let's imagine this aisle was the road that led into Jerusalem. In a moment Jesus and his disciples are going to come down that road and we are going to show him how glad we are to see him. Let's do that right now. Let's have a parade down the aisle with our signs and our confetti and our noisemakers. (have a brief parade in the aisle)
Do you have any idea how Jesus will feel about the way we greeted him? (let them answer) Do you think Jesus wants to be King of Jerusalem? (let them answer) Do you think Jesus wants to get rid of Caesar? (let them answer) Will Jesus form an army? (let them answer)
The truth is that Jesus rode into the city and cried. He was sad because people thought he wanted to be their king. They did not understand that he was bringing them a different kind of peace. His peace does not come from the end of war, but instead it is a peace that comes to everyone's heart. It is a peace that shows us how to love our enemies. It is a peace that forgives. It is a peace that shares joy and wealth.
There are a lot of Christians and other people in Iraq who believe in God. As American Christians we do not want to show people how powerful we are and how many guns we have, but instead we want to bring the people of the world the love of Jesus. Our love is forgiving, sharing, and bringing hope to people.
These are not the signs for Jesus. Jesus did not want to be the King of Jerusalem but instead he wanted to bring people the good news of God to all people in all nations.
Soon the war will be over in Iraq. Many of our soldiers will come home. But there will be a lot of hard feelings and unhappiness. We do not want to make Jesus cry again. We must forgive, show great love, and share with these people to keep our promises.
Remember how much Jesus did not want to be King of Jerusalem, but he does want to be king of our hearts. Amen
The Immediate Word, April 13, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
Throughout the conflict with Iraq, administration officials have stated confidently: "The outcome is not in doubt." With American forces moving at will through Iraq's capital city, victory certainly seems imminent. When issues of victory and loss are under consideration, however, it is important to remember that God's greatest victory was counted as loss by worldly standards. Jesus' ride into Jerusalem initiated the final steps to be taken in which all was lost, yet all was to gain.
We at The Immediate Word have asked team member Carter Shelley to explore these themes of victory and loss using the lectionary Gospel readings for Palm Sunday. In addition, as always, there are comments from team members, illustrations, worship materials, and a children's sermon.
Savior Until the Palms Run Out1
By Carter Shelley
Mark 11:1-11; John 12:12-16
With the current possibility of American and British troops entering Baghdad in victory any day now, the idea of triumphal entries both biblical and historical come to the fore this Palm Sunday. Long before there was a carpenter from Nazareth entering Jerusalem on a donkey, David, warrior, king, and God's own darling, danced his way into the city he would make his capital. With his successes in battle and ability to consolidate both land and tribes into a united people, David was a great king. But it was his recognition of his own sinfulness and his lifelong devotion to God that made David the first, and most successful, ruler ancient Israel would ever know.
By Jesus' day the children of Israel had witnessed many a foreign power marching through their lands and city: Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Macedonia, Greece, and Rome had all taken a turn conquering the land and humiliating its citizens. With so many greater powers passing its people and land from subjugation to subjugation, it's no wonder the apocalyptic concept of a Son of Man who would come down from God to rescue and redeem God's people began to offer hope alongside the more traditional and familiar notion of a messianic ruler who would serve both God and humanity as a royal king in a liberated land (Daniel 7:13-4 and Matthew 24:29-31).
No, in Jesus' day, few Jews had any experience with military victories or triumphs other than those they might witness as Roman soldiers, slaves, and booty might march through their streets on the way back to Rome. Our own familiarity with triumphant entries after military victories most likely has been shaped by black and white newsreels we've seen in movie theaters or on our television sets. Moreover, those clips most likely record the joyful greetings of Parisians welcoming the Allied forces of World War II in which both greeters and the welcomed soldiers knew they shared a common enemy, a common vision, and a common goal to reestablish a democratic government in those European countries unwillingly conquered by the Axis powers.
Jesus' heralded entrance into Jerusalem appears in all four Gospels. Shrouded in the scriptural trappings of a Savior, as anticipated by Zechariah 9: 9-10, Jesus rides the donkey through the streets while people wave branches and cheer the man they hope will be their long- awaited king. Preferring to emphasize this promised king's military successes enumerated in Zechariah 9:10, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem gets misconstrued as the triumphant entry of the long-awaited military and political leader. His fans are the losers hoping at last to become winners. After all, triumphant entries belong to the winners, not the losers. This event marks the climax of his ministry and popularity.
Once the glorious but short trip has been completed, Jesus dismounts the donkey, and on his own two feet proceeds to take the steps that lead him closer and closer to the cross. Jesus alienates everyone by refusing to be a king like David. Instead, Jesus puts God's rule before human rule, something as foreign to his own people as it was to their Roman oppressors. Thus, Jesus is only their Savior until the palms run out.
There's irony in Jesus' welcome to Jerusalem. It's ironic because those who adore him will soon castigate and deny him. The cheering crowd following Jesus into Jerusalem will be replaced by a jeering crowd hooting and calling as they follow him to Golgotha to watch him die.
That's the biblical context for today's text. The contemporary context is similar in its irony. As the American and British forces enter Iraq, and more specifically and victoriously, Baghdad, the capital, the kind of salvation those first century Jews so longed to receive -- military victory against their enemies, the overthrow of the current political leaders, removal of years of suffering and persecution at the hands of a wicked dictator and his soldiers, freedom and a voice and in their own government -- that kind of salvation may be offered to the people of Iraq. That's the vision and agenda currently proclaimed by the governments and Coalition forces of the United States and Great Britain. If constant bombing and civilian casualties already weren't enough to temper the Iraqi people's feelings about us, we may alienate them further by assuming that what we have to offer is what they wish to receive: temporary occupation by a greater nation with a stronger military force, planning to establish a democratic government based upon the design of the United States and England along with the eventual infusion of western culture and western comforts.
We all know what a delicate position the Iraqi people are in so long as Saddam Hussein remains alive. His horrors are more real to the citizenry and more immediate than any threat the Coalition armies pose. Moreover, we know from Iraqi exiles and other survivors of Saddam Hussein's cruel regime that atrocities have and do happen in Iraq. So, we'd like to think our victory will be Iraq's victory too, but those who initially thank US, may soon come to resent US for not liberating them and leaving them to run their land on their own.
At this point I propose three ways one might build upon the biblical text and our contemporary situation. Readers of The Immediate Word may want to use all or a portion of these moves in your own sermon for Palm Sunday.
Misconceptions about Jesus' Messiahship and about the Wants and Desires of the Iraqi People
Take a look at a couple of the misconceptions the biblical crowd held about Jesus:
(1) Zechariah had announced that God's anointed one would appear riding a donkey. Since the word Messiah meant "The Lord's Anointed" and was emblematic of the anointing with oil that every king received at his coronation, Jesus' kingdom and kingship must resemble that of David, Solomon, or Josiah.
(2) There was no prior model for a king of the kind Jesus came to be -- a king who dies in order to save? That's not the kind of saving most of the Jews recognized or believed they needed. "Hosanna!" God saves! God saves from poverty, from hunger, from oppression, humiliation, and constant fear and uncertainty. If the average Jew had been asked if there was any part of his or her life that actually was working, it's likely the reply would have been, "My religion. I still have my God. I still have the Torah. I still have hope." It wasn't their religion or their God that they thought needed changing.
Now, let's consider some of the misconceptions you and I may have about the Iraqis:
(1) All Iraqis hate Saddam Hussein as much as George Bush Senior and Junior and the average American hate Saddam Hussein. Yet many of the current children, youth, and young adults have never known any other ruler for Iraq. Saddam Hussein has been in power since 1979. His removal may represent freedom and a better future for some Iraqis, but for others it may represent the real possibility of chaos and anarchy, a scary and unknown future in which nothing is certain.
(2) Almost everyone in Iraq is Muslim. Saddam Hussein is not a practicing Muslim but a secular dictator. He only uses Islam when it fits his own agenda; he is not a devout Muslim. In addition there are many Christian Iraqis as well as other religious faiths.
(3) All Iraqis will welcome US as liberators. Actually, there's understandable fear that one powerful tyrant may be replaced by another who doesn't even share the race, religion, or nationality of the majority of the population. An American general or an exiled Iraqi put in power by the Coalition leadership hardly represents full liberation.
(4) Equality and democracy are desired by and desirable for all Iraqis. Some of the Iraqis living in exile are politically suspect. They were part of the current brutal regime until Saddam Hussein turned on them and they needed to escape. Those who are now jockeying for power, influence, and profit may be more interested in their own opportunities than they are in establishing a nation where all are equal and free, including the women.
(5) The American way of life is the best way for everyone. CNN, MTV, American Idol, the Bachelor, MacDonald's, and Taco Bell. Consumerism, work-a-holism, etc., may not be in our own best interests, much less for citizens of a country where children are adored, extended families valued and connected, the elderly respected, having time to show hospitality, to rest, to worship, and just to be, suggest we have much to learn from our Middle Eastern neighbors.
(6) Thus, it's ironic that the kind of salvation we might bring may not be the salvation the Iraqis want or need.
Jesus' adoring crowd turning into his berating accusers is one irony, and the Coalition's desire to save the Iraqis by means of modern warfare and a first world lifestyle that may not be wanted is the second irony.
Letting the People Speak for Themselves: Those Who Celebrated Jesus and Iraqi Soldiers and Citizens and Coalition Soldiers and Citizens
I am not providing specific examples of the perspective of different people present for both Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem and his death on the cross; however, I would include some of the obvious voices. The disciples James and John jockeying for appointment to Jesus' left hand and right once Jesus attained his glory, who had no desire to join Jesus and the thieves crucified on Jesus left and right on the day of execution. Peter the staunch supporter and bold advocate who betrays himself as well as his Lord by denying Jesus three times. One of the women followers of Jesus, such as Mary Magdalene, who doesn't expect Jesus to be a royal king but doesn't understand what it means for him to die, but knows only that it cuts her to the quick. An innocent bystander who gets caught up in the excitement of the palm waving one day and is a reluctant participant in the execution process later on as the one ordered to carry Jesus' cross when Jesus can lug it no further. A political Zealot eager for an excuse to start a revolution and bitterly angry and disappointed that Jesus' anointing comes to naught.
Iraqi flutist Naseer Shamma, musician and teacher living now in Cairo, was interviewed by Michael Sullivan on Morning Edition radio April 7th. Shamma composes music that imitates the sounds of bombs falling as recalled from the Gulf War. He plays such music in order to "show the terror" and allow those of us who have never had such an experience "to hear the panic and feel the fear." Shamma's brother-in-law was killed by a bomb that fell in a Baghdad market twelve days ago. Shamma wonders if his homeland is cursed. A country with a rich cultural heritage, Iraq has been at war for 20 years. Is it because of the country's geography? Can it all be blamed on the leaders? The Iraqi people have endured so much sorrow for so long, Shamma observed. His own flute will be silent so long as this war continues. He canceled all concerts for himself and his students. In the future, Shamma hopes that his students will teach many others and produce an army of musicians instead of soldiers.
Iranian literature professor and writer Azar Nafisi recently published a memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Similarly to the excellent Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Nafisi's book illustrates the power literature holds for those living in totalitarian societies in which the reading of anything but party propaganda is an offense against the state. In an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross broadcast on April 4, 2003, Nafisi recalls the Iranian-Iraqi war and what it was like to live in Teheran as Iraqi bombs fell upon friends, students,and family. She recalled the intense feelings of guilt she had whenever the bombs had ceased and her family took inventory as to who was still alive. It was always a relief to discover one's own loved ones had survived, yet one could not help but feel happy and selfish at the happiness. "Nobody likes for their country to be bombed or invaded," she observed. But when the bombs fall, wherever one finds oneself, people get so close and become like brother and sister because they might be dying together. Having left Iran permanently in 1995, Nafisi says she's formed many lasting friendships from the hardships of that time.
As for the current war taking place in Iraq, Nafisi expresses ambivalence. She knows Saddam Hussein to be "one of the worst dictators in the whole wide world" and she expresses the helplessness and hopelessness people feel when they live under a totalitarian form of government. She urges the first world powers such as the United States and Great Britain not to give up prematurely on democracy for Iraq, Afghanistan, or many other countries and not to assume that people who live in the Middle East are backward or undesirous of a more progressive form of government. "Both democracy and terror are universal," she says. "It's not a part of our culture any more than yours ... But don't abandon Iraq prematurely as was the case in Afghanistan where the Northern Alliance was not totally disbanded."
See Carlos Wilton's example of Mohammed who risked his and his family's lives in order to alert American troops to the location of Jessica Lynch because of the way she was being treated "cut his heart" below.
"There are worse things than having bombs dropped on you. I know." Dachau holocaust survivor.
"We are poor. The Americans will find nothing here." Quote from Iraqi man photographed in the midst of bombed rubble by People magazine for its Up Front piece, in this week's issue.
Recognizing what Christ has to offer Iraqis, Brits, and Americans that would make us Allies in the Days Ahead
There are many excellent Bible commentaries to help develop the idea that the Christ God sends far exceeds the needs and expectations of first century Jews and of twenty-first century people living in Iraq or the United States of America.
Isaiah 50:4-9a and Philippians 2:5-11 provide an excellent frame and context for understanding the kind of Savior God sends in Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah 50:4-9a describes the one to come as God's servant first and foremost. Thus, in spite of pain, persecution, rejection, and suffering, the Servant neither disobeys nor shrinks from what he must do. Suffering for the sake of the task is accepted. With this particular suffering servant song, the Servant for the first time acknowledges and assents to the suffering he must endure. The language of verses 8-9 attest to the Servant's certainty that his cause, while initially mocked and rejected along with himself, will be vindicated and he along with it. He is convinced that ultimately God will justify him as God's servant and vindicate him against his oppressors.2
In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul describes Jesus' kenosis or self-emptying as an act fully actualized in Jesus' death on the cross -- one of the most despicable and humiliating forms of execution practiced in Paul's and Jesus' day. The cross was reserved for non-human beings such as thieves and slaves. The irony for Paul's Philippians, who understood the stigma such a death applied, is that the most holy and righteous of all God's humans is the one who dies in this way. Where Adam and we might deserve such a death for overstepping our bounds as people in our attempts to be like God, the one who was with God and sent by God, the one who lived a fully obedient and righteous life, was the one who died this terrible death. The fact that Jesus' death found its meaning in Jesus' resurrection and exaltation rather than in a street parade on Palm Sunday holds great power for Paul and for us.
In his appeal for Gospel fidelity, Paul had emphasized the need for unity in a common effort (Philippians 1:27). The same values underlie the second part of his exhortation. The believers must be united in their convictions, love, purpose, and mind (Philippians 2:2). To introduce and buttress his statement, Paul calls upon the life in Christ, the love, the common Spirit, the tenderness, and the sympathy which he and the Philippians have been sharing with one another. The required unity precludes competition, conceit, and self-interest, and is expressed in a self-effacing attitude which values others as better than oneself and seeks their interest (Philippians 2: 3-4). Such is the humility which is demonstrated in the mystery of Christ.3
In her Philippians commentary for the New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, New
Testament scholar Morna D. Hooker observers:
To give someone a name is to give him or her status and power. The name bestowed on Jesus here is "the name that is above every name," which is clearly the name of God. By tradition the name of God could not be spoken or written. It is the one who came in the likeness of men who is now proclaimed as Lord. When the name of Jesus is mentioned then all creation should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. In the Roman city of Philippi, the proclamation of Jesus as Lord would be seen as a challenge to political loyalties. But the pattern of behavior that Paul had placed before the Philippians would have been just as much of a challenge to the whole Roman social ethos (510).
Such an ethos continues to dominate the world scene in 2003. May we pray that Christ's way will guide us as we play a key role in the lives and future of God's many children in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Israel, and the camps of Palestine in the days and years to come...?
Notes
1 As George Murphy pointed out in last's week installment of The Immediate Word, only the Gospel of John actually refers to the branches used by the crowd as "palms."
2Isaiah 40-66 by Claus Westermann. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975 pp: 228-232.
3 Invitation to the New Testament Epistles II by Eugene A. LaVerdiere. Garden City: Image Books Division of Doubleday, 1980, p. 230.
Team Comments
Carlos Wilton responds: One of your suggested directions for this week is based on the Jewish people's misunderstanding of what Jesus is intending as he makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This conventional explanation has Jesus, riding innocently into the city, being swept along by a crowd of Zealots: political revolutionaries who slyly manage to co-opt Jesus' purely spiritual agenda for their own purposes. It also places great emphasis on the Jewish people's missing the point: they see what they want to see -- a political revolutionary -- when Jesus' intention is very different.
In some book or article he wrote (I can't recall which one), biblical scholar Robert Farrar Capon presents an intriguingly different possibility. He suggests that Jesus' intention IS political -- although not the sort of direct political action that is intended to lead to revolution.
Rather, Jesus' intention is satirical, in the best sense of that word. His intention is to present a vibrant piece of what Capon calls "street theater," which will highlight for its audience (the Jerusalem crowds) the radical difference between the kingdoms of this world and the coming reign of God. The spectacle of this Galilean rabbi (not one of Israel's ruling elite) riding into town on a donkey (the antithesis of the warrior-king's battle steed), preceded by laughing children (rather than legionnaires), with the garments of peasants (rather than the cloaks of Senators) laid in his path, is a kind of parody of the sort of elaborate victory parade beloved by the Romans. It's closer to Theater of the Absurd than the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Is Jesus trying to overthrow the government? Probably not. Is he trying to ridicule publicly the ruling powers, so as to exalt God who is greater than all principalities and powers? Very likely. It's a very effective technique: but very, very dangerous for Jesus personally (as the events of the next view days will amply attest). Principalities and powers are not noted for accepting satirical criticism graciously.
Several of the Gospel parallels for this pericope suggest a certain amount of premeditation on Jesus' part, concerning the logistical arrangements for his entry into Jerusalem. The demonstration does not appear to be spontaneous. In at least one of the Gospel parallels, Jesus' instruction to his followers to go to a certain place and find a certain beast who is there tied sounds very much like a carefully planned public spectacle (the "advance men" have already been there, preparing the way for the circus parade). Jesus wants very much for this parade to happen: not because he sees himself as the conquering hero who will cast out the Roman overlords and their Judean puppet rulers, but because he is a prophet who by his actions speaks truth to power and reminds the people who is REALLY in charge (God).
This explanation makes more sense to me than the view of Jesus as an earnest but politically naive preacher who gets co-opted by activists with a purely secular agenda. In the Middle East, then as now, the line between the spiritual and the political is not sharply drawn; "separation of church and state," as we know it in this country, is pretty much a foreign concept.
Jesus knew full well that what he was doing had political implications. It may not have been the same sort of political implications the Zealots craved to see, but it was political nonetheless.
George Murphy responds: Events and news are changing rapidly in Iraq. We should keep an eye on how Iraqis are actually reacting to the situation there. As things look now, the statement contrary to our first world optimism, patriotism, and good (though naive) intentions, the Iraqis appear not to want the kind of salvation our governments and military want to deliver doesn't seem to be correct.
Carlos Wilton responds to George Murphy: What you say, George, about the jury still being out on how the Iraqi people will respond to our military liberation, is certainly true. The situation is very fluid, and we have to wait and see. Yet, based on the news reports I've read, I also don't see much grounds for optimism that ordinary Iraqis in large numbers are about to make a 180-degree turn and start cheering the Coalition forces.
I think our government has made a fundamental error in assuming that ordinary Iraqis are more or less like ordinary Americans. Our leaders are being too optimistic about the Iraqis' capacity to make a democratic state work. The fact is, they've probably been under the totalitarian boot-heel too long. Establishing democracy is going to take time, and a lot of it.
George Murphy responds to Carlos Wilton: I agree with your last paragraph. That's one reason I was, and to some extent remain, dubious about the wisdom of the war. Wars should be engaged in only if (inter alia!) there is a reasonable probability of success, and while short term success -- destruction of Saddam's regime -- is pretty certain, long term success in developing some approximation to an open society is a much longer shot.
James L. Evans responds: It seems Jesus deliberately chose to subvert the prevailing assumptions about what form the Messiah would take. His choice of a donkey, obviously not a mode of transportation for a conquering hero, coupled with his instruction about non-violence, stood as a clear contrast to the Zealot option. Walter Wink in his Engaging the Powers has argued that Jesus' stance represented a new and important alternative way for Israel to respond to Roman oppression.
The current war in Iraq is but one challenge to Jesus' alternative. Behind the war, fueling this and all wars is a deeply held commitment to violence. We believe in violence. We believe violence may serve the cause of good. Violence, when applied with proper motive and restraint, can bring about a good end.
According to Wink, it is this myth of redemptive violence that Jesus seeks to refute. His humble ride into Jerusalem and passive embrace of the cross serve not just to critique triumphal nationalism, but also and especially sheds light on a dark and malignant anger that resides deep in the human heart. That anger was unleashed against Jesus on the cross. The cross, therefore, stands in eternal condemnation of the violence that put Jesus on it.
Illustrations
Perhaps the Palm Sunday sermon, as it talks about the crowd, could focus for a time on that man named Mohammed, who was instrumental in the rescue of Jessica Lynch. He apparently said that what he saw of Jessica's mistreatment by her captors "cut his heart," and led him to reveal her position -- at great risk of his own life, and that of his family -- to the American authorities.
Perhaps there were those in Jerusalem at Jesus' triumphal entry, who were also on the fence, as far as which side they would support. What sights did they see that "cut their hearts," that led them to come out as supporters of Jesus' reform movement?
Carlos Wilton
----------
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."
----------
Love is not a feeling; love is an action.
-- Madeleine L'Engle
----------
Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.
-- Martin Luther On Marriage (1530)
----------
The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
-- Robert Lynd
----------
If peace only had the music and pageantry of war, there'd be no war.
-- Sophie Kerr
----------
When the song of the angel is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks
The real work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoners
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among brothers
To make music in the heart.
-- Nineteenth Century Quaker Benediction
Traditionally Spoken at Christmas
----------
The '70s era popular television series M*A*S*H depicted doctors working in a forward combat area hospital during the Korean conflict. One of the doctors, known as Hawkeye, was a brash non-conformist, but a brilliant surgeon.
During a particularly difficult day of surgery, a high-ranking officer came to visit the camp on a routine inspection. Hawkeye was working on a seriously wounded soldier who suddenly went into cardiac arrest.
Hawkeye opened the soldier's chest and began massaging the heart, trying desperately to stimulate the heart into beating again. As he worked on the heart, Hawkeye said under his breath, "Come on, beat! Don't let the bastard win."
Later the visiting inspector was talking with the camp commander about what he had seen and heard. He said, "During surgery, that doctor of yours, Hawkeye, said, 'Don't let the bastard win.' Who was he talking about?"
The camp commander looked serious for a moment, then answered. "Hawkeye was talking about death. He hates to see death win."
"Death is a part of life, it's a part of war," the inspector replied. "You can't have an attitude like that towards death."
"Don't tell that to Hawkeye," the camp commander replied. "Hawkeye will never take death casually."
Worship Resources
By George S. Reed
There are many traditional worship resources for this Sunday that most of us are already familiar with. These are offered to help direct our worship with the current topic in focus.
OPENING
Hymn
Hosanna to the Living Lord!
Songs
All Hail King Jesus
He Is Exalted
Lord, I Lift Your Name On High
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! SUFFERING SERVANT OF GOD!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! LAMB OF THE WORLD!
Leader: Jesus comes among us! Let us greet him.
PEOPLE: HOSANNA! SAVIOR AND LORD!
COLLECT/OPENING PRAYER
O God who desires the liberation of all your children from sin and evil: Grant us the grace to realize that true liberty is rooted and grounded in your loving kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You invite us to worship you, Lord, and you invite us to come into your realm where true liberty is present. Send your Holy Spirit upon us now that we may taste anew your liberation from all that would destroy us. Renew our mission to share your liberty with all your children. Amen.
RESPONSE MUSIC
Hymns
Love Consecrates the Humblest Act
O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True
Lord, Save Your World
Songs
People Need the Lord
Shine, Jesus, Shine
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION/PARDON
Leader: Let us confess our sins to God and before each other.
ALL: WE SEEK FOR SECURITY BY AMASSING WEALTH AND THIS WORLD'S GOODS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK TO LOOK GOOD IN OUR OWN EYES BY LOOKING DOWN ON OTHERS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK HOLINESS BY NUMBERING THE SINS OF OTHERS INSTEAD OF CONFESSING OUR OWN. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE SEEK LIBERTY THROUGH POLITICAL STRUCTURES WHILE REMAINING BOUND TO OUR OWN ADDICTIONS. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
WE WANT A SAVIOR WHO WILL LEAD US TO GLORY WHILE AVOIDING THE CROSS OF SERVICE AND SELF GIVING. HOSANNA! SAVE US, WE BESEECH YOU!
(Silent Confession)
Leader: Hear the good news. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save those who are lost. He has come to liberate you from your sin and set you free. You are forgiven.
ALL: WE HAVE HEARD THE GOOD NEWS. WE WILL FOLLOW CHRIST TO THE CROSS AND TO GLORY!
GENERAL PRAYERS AND LITANIES
O God, our God, how wonderful are your works in all the earth! You have created all things to work together for the good of creation and to give glory to you. You have put us in your world to take care of it in your name. You desire nothing for creation but wholeness and salvation.
(The following paragraph is most suitable if a prayer of confession will not be used elsewhere.)
We confess that we have sought liberation, security, and meaning in many places other than in your loving kindness. We have been short-sighted in looking for glory without a cross. Forgive us and by the power of your Holy Spirit renew our understanding of your realm so that we might see with holy eyes, hear with holy ears, speak with holy lips, and serve with holy hands.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from your bounty. You have given us a way that leads to life eternal. You have given us each other so that we might share your love. (Other specific thanksgivings may be offered.) You have given us a Savior who knows our weaknesses and what it means to be a true child of God.
As we celebrate Jesus' coming into our midst to be our Savior, we offer up to you love and care for the world for which he died as we pray for:
Those who are involved in conflict and war. Those who wait anxiously for their loved ones who are in danger. Those who look for salvation from elsewhere but from God. Those who are victims of violence of any kind. Those who have no voice in their communities. Those who are sick and dying. Ourselves, as we struggle to look for glory in the cross.
Hear our prayer and grant that we may participate in your gracious acts to those in need, for we pray in the Name of the One who comes in your Name, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father ...
CLOSING MUSIC
Hymn
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing
Song
Nobody Like You
A Children's Sermon
By Wesley Runk
Matthew 21:1-11
Text: "When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, 'Who is this?' The crowds were saying, 'This is he prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee'" (vv. 10-11).
Object: confetti, posters (Welcome Jesus-King of Kings-Liberator-Up With Jesus-Down With Caesar-Jesus Brings Freedom), kazoos, spoons and lids, etc
Good morning, boys and girls. I am sure most of you know there is a war going on. Do you know where the war is? (let them answer) That's right, Iraq and it is far away from our country. Many Americans are serving as soldiers in Iraq and it is very dangerous. America is making a lot of promises to the people who live in Iraq. Do you know what promises we are making? (let them answer)
We are promising them freedom from a dictator. We are promising them that they will elect their own government. We are promising them food and medicine. We are promising them jobs. We are promising them safety. We are promising them educations. We are promising them freedom of religion. We are making a lot of promises, promises of good. The people of Iraq should be very happy, but they are still fighting the people who are making these promises.
Today is Palm Sunday. How many of you know what happened on Palm Sunday? (let them answer) That's right, this is the day there was a big parade into Jerusalem. Let's pretend that we were the people that lined the roads into Jerusalem. I brought along some things that we can use in our parade. These are the things we use in parades today. I brought some signs. Let me read them. (read the signs and pass them out to the children to hold) I also brought some noisemakers and some confetti. (pass out the packets of confetti and instruments)
Now, let's imagine this aisle was the road that led into Jerusalem. In a moment Jesus and his disciples are going to come down that road and we are going to show him how glad we are to see him. Let's do that right now. Let's have a parade down the aisle with our signs and our confetti and our noisemakers. (have a brief parade in the aisle)
Do you have any idea how Jesus will feel about the way we greeted him? (let them answer) Do you think Jesus wants to be King of Jerusalem? (let them answer) Do you think Jesus wants to get rid of Caesar? (let them answer) Will Jesus form an army? (let them answer)
The truth is that Jesus rode into the city and cried. He was sad because people thought he wanted to be their king. They did not understand that he was bringing them a different kind of peace. His peace does not come from the end of war, but instead it is a peace that comes to everyone's heart. It is a peace that shows us how to love our enemies. It is a peace that forgives. It is a peace that shares joy and wealth.
There are a lot of Christians and other people in Iraq who believe in God. As American Christians we do not want to show people how powerful we are and how many guns we have, but instead we want to bring the people of the world the love of Jesus. Our love is forgiving, sharing, and bringing hope to people.
These are not the signs for Jesus. Jesus did not want to be the King of Jerusalem but instead he wanted to bring people the good news of God to all people in all nations.
Soon the war will be over in Iraq. Many of our soldiers will come home. But there will be a lot of hard feelings and unhappiness. We do not want to make Jesus cry again. We must forgive, show great love, and share with these people to keep our promises.
Remember how much Jesus did not want to be King of Jerusalem, but he does want to be king of our hearts. Amen
The Immediate Word, April 13, 2003, issue.
Copyright 2003 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service 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 permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
