Ticker Tape Charade
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
This Sunday we face the delicate task of how much emphasis to place on the Palm Sunday texts, with their celebration of Jesus' triumphal entrance into Jerusalem astride a donkey, and how much we should focus on the story of Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Given declining attendance at separate Holy Week services, it's obviously important to highlight the passion narrative -- yet if we try to combine them, we run the risk of trying to emotionally balance a ticker tape parade with proceedings resulting in a death sentence. That might seem a bit disorienting for our people, many of whom will probably be already looking ahead to Easter. But in this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Mary Austin points out that one way to approach this dilemma may be to consider the transitory and superficial nature of much of our hero worship -- especially for those who are our suffering servants: the military. With repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have subjected our troops to unimaginable stress -- and yet, we expect them to react in the same manner as God, as described by the prophet Isaiah: "I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). We react with shock when we hear news of American soldiers being responsible for the horrific slaughter of civilians -- but given what they are asked to endure, it's amazing that incidents like the one reported in Afghanistan (or similar incidents in previous wars such as the My Lai massacre) aren't more routine. We wonder why more of our soldiers don't snap under the pressure -- but as Mary notes, no one had to face the stress that Jesus did as he approached his ultimate sacrifice... and the strength that he drew from his Father can help show us the way for dealing with the sacrifices and stresses of our lives.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer picks up the theme of the importance of experiencing the Passion and shares some thoughts on why it is vital for us not to avoid the unpleasant messiness of Holy Week as we move from the triumphal parade of Palm Sunday to the unparalleled joy of Easter. Dean points out that it is only when we allow ourselves to experience death that we can fully appreciate the meaning of resurrection -- and he suggests that it's not just an annual exercise, but a paradigm that extends to our everyday lives as well. It is only when we inhabit the shadows that we can come to truly know the light.
Ticker Tape Charade
by Mary Austin
Mark 11:1-11
The story of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales continues to unfold this week, as the soldier accused of killing sleeping Afghan civilians has been moved from Afghanistan to a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and formally charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. The investigation into the massacre has brought attention to the number of combat tours Bales served and the stress of repeated deployments on both Bales and his family.
While the stresses of military life offer no excuse for the killings, they reveal again the pain that soldiers and their families suffer in the course of their service. We understand sacrifice to be a spiritual -- and patriotic -- practice, but this story also points to the human pain involved. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem brings the same kind of painful sacrifice to mind.
THE WORLD
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians and gravely wounding several more one night as he was stationed in Afghanistan. As Carla Garrison writes in an opinion piece in the Washington Times: "Why Bales would do such tragic thing may never be known, but as the story unfolds, indications of a soldier needing the support of leadership [are] becoming apparent. Details about SSG Bale leading up to the alleged attack against Afghani civilians†point not to a killer who carried out a premeditated vendetta but to a soldier suffering from a mental breakdown. His heartbreaking actions, regardless of ultimate sentencing, have effectively ended not only the lives of the Afghans, but also the once promising life of a former football star, stockbroker, father, husband, and American patriot."
Bales' alleged actions follow four combat deployments, which the Times' writer counts at 1,192 days when the incident happened. He reportedly saw a fellow soldier lose a leg to a land mine and faced significant family stress with a wife and two young children and a reported recent "short sale" of the family home. The Times reports that Bales also "had been wounded twice, including a concussive head injury suffered when his Humvee overturned in†Iraq, yet was certified as combat ready by the Army."
The experience of Bales and his fellow soldiers points to the tremendous sacrifices made by service members during the long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The face of sacrifice is the face of military service members separated from family, far from home, with often confusing or conflicting orders, and defective or missing equipment. For those who are wounded, the health care system is maze-like, with different levels of care, depending on where you are sent for treatment. And if a service member dies, the family is forced to move off the base, losing a network of support.
THE WORD
As Palm Sunday comes, we turn again to Jesus and his own sacrifice. The Palm Sunday story shows up in all four gospels, and our mental picture is a composite of the various versions. Mark's version has not a palm branch in sight -- the branches are only in John's version. Mark has a much simpler entrance into the city than Matthew and Luke, but we add the crowds to our mental picture. At the end of the story, Mark has Jesus all alone at the temple, no crowds around.
Mark's account of this day reads like a detective novel. There are plenty of clues, but what do they mean? Should we see Jesus as a king, the descendant of King David, come to take up Israel's throne? Is he the king who enters the city in triumph? Jesus goes to a lot of trouble to ride in on a colt -- the sign of a ruler coming in peace. The first hearers of this gospel would have understood the reference to the prophet Zechariah, who promises, "Lo, your king comes to you, humble and riding on donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). The garments in the road are another gesture of welcome for a king.
Or are we meant to understand Jesus as the long-awaited messiah? The colt that has never had a rider is an animal used for a sacred purpose. Jesus comes during Passover, the holiday celebrating God's deliverance of the people from slavery, and the messiah is the one who brings God's deliverance. Jesus comes into Jerusalem from the east, from the Mount of Olives, where Jewish tradition held that the messiah would appear in the last days.
Or are we to look for another purpose? Noted preacher Fred Craddock calls it a "protest march" [Christian Century, April 5, 2003, p. 20]. This is the long culmination of Jesus' protests against the religious rulers of the day. All along Jesus has disagreed with the authorities about table fellowship, who's included in God's kingdom, work, and the Sabbath. As Craddock notes, "Jesus protested the subordination of human need and welfare to the rigid and unfeeling application of the law." Now, in the political and religious capital, he ratchets the protest up another notch. He's using the symbols people understand to make a point they won't understand until later. He's showing them who he is, using the symbols of king and messiah to show that he is something different altogether.
And there is one other purpose. Only Jesus knows that this is also a funeral procession. Acclaimed as a king at the start of the week, Jesus ends it under a mocking sign: the king of the Jews. The entrance into the city, the use of the symbols of the king and the conqueror, are a challenge to power that will end his life before the week is over. This kind of sacrifice leads to suffering, long before there's any vision of triumph.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday, raising the question of what to emphasize. Is it a celebration, or the start of a funeral procession?
To understand Jesus, we have to understand sacrifice, and the level of pain involved. If we skip from a triumphant Palm Sunday to a celebratory Easter, as many people do, we miss the depths, which allow for the joys. All through Mark's gospel, people don't see, don't get, and don't understand who Jesus is. If we don't understand suffering, then we are in danger of not seeing who Jesus is.
Is it a happy day? Or is it a sad day? That depends on us. If we can see who Jesus really is, see sacrifice as the path to power, and love as the only power that matters, then we have the key to the Palm Sunday mystery. If we can see the palms and the branches and the shouts as the revelation of God's love for us and the coming of God's new world, then we understand the clues. Jesus ends the story all alone, but if we understand, we can follow him into this week of mystery and beyond.
As Carla Garrison writes in the piece cited above: "The pain Robert Bales and his family must be experiencing for what has happened and the consequences they must now bear is unimaginable. However, perhaps this tragedy will open eyes to the strain... on the lives, the psyches of our most valued citizens -- American soldiers. Call out for this awakening among neighbors, organizations, and every level of government." May the same awakening come in our spiritual lives, as we ponder suffering and triumph again this Palm and Passion Sunday.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Crucified, Dead, and Buried
by Dean Feldmeyer
Psalm 22
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?"
-- Psalm 22:1
There's a famous Monty Python comedy sketch called "The Dead Parrot," in which a guy walks into a pet shop, plops a birdcage on the counter, and tells the proprietor that he has just discovered that the parrot he bought from this store is dead. In fact, it was dead when he bought it. But not only does the proprietor deny that the parrot was dead when he sold it, he also denies that the parrot is dead now. They argue back and forth and finally the customer screams in exasperation that the parrot is indeed dead: "This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace!... His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket! He's shuffled off this mortal coil, rung down the curtain, and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! HE IS AN EX-PARROT!"
The Apostle's Creed doesn't go that far when it speaks of Jesus -- but nearly so. It sums up Jesus' life in a few short lines: "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried."
Pretty blunt, isn't it?
He was dead. He didn't appear to be dead. He wasn't asleep or in a coma. He wasn't drugged or in some kind of trance. Make no mistake -- he was dead. His heart had stopped beating. Life had left him. He was the late Jesus of Nazareth.
I suppose that it is human nature that we want to rush from Palm Sunday to Easter. If it were possible, we would go directly from one to the other, from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem with palms waving and children singing to the Easter morning scene in that lovely spring garden where flowers bloom and birds sing and the tomb sits empty. From song to song, as it were.
But in fact, the trail we are called to walk this week is one from song to silence... and then to song. It is, if we are honest, not a fun or easy path to follow.
Given the choice, we would just as soon avert our eyes from the 24 hours that begins with the uncomfortable Seder in the Upper Room and ends on a cross near the city garbage dump. Go quickly by, we tell ourselves, and do not linger here! For here there is anxiety, pain, guilt, and sorrow.
We even tend to break Maundy Thursday and Good Friday into two events, probably because it makes them easier to take: The Last Supper and The Crucifixion. In fact, they are all part of a single narrative that is called The Passion.
In the ancient Jewish calendar, a day ran from sundown to sundown. So sundown Thursday to sundown on Friday was a single day. All of the events of the Passion, from the Last Supper to Jesus' death on the cross happen within a single day -- a single, horrible, miserable day. At the end of it, Jesus was dead. He was so dead that they buried him. That's how dead he was.
No wonder we'd just as soon skip this part. But it is exactly through this scene that we must walk if the Sunday that follows is to have any meaning. It is this scene that we must experience in all of its pain and despair if the empty tomb is to hold any real promise for us.
Because if he wasn't dead, you can stop right here; the rest of the story doesn't matter.
The suffering was real. The death was real. The tomb was real. It must be or what comes next on Easter morning is meaningless.
And that's not true only of Jesus; it's true of us as well.
We cannot claim the existential Easter that is offered to us every day of our lives if we are not willing to claim the existential Passion as well. We cannot be resurrected unless we are first willing to die.
This is so in that final, end-of-life way that we often mean when we speak of dying. But it is also true in the small ways that we are called to die each day: to die the death of ridicule and rejection, to die the death of failure, to die the death that each of us dies whenever we run up against our own limits and shortcomings, our own meaningless and empty lives, our own prejudice and sin. It is only when we have experienced these deaths that resurrection is a possibility for us.
We cannot experience the fullness of winning unless we are willing to also experience the fullness of losing. We cannot experience the full joy of success unless we have first experienced the despair of failure. We cannot experience the blessing of approval unless we have also experienced the humiliation of ridicule and rejection.
When Jesus tells his followers to "take up their cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34), it is into his Passion that he is calling them. It is into the 24 hours of misery and despair that we must be willing to follow our Lord if we want to also join him in glory on that third day.
ILLUSTRATIONS
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has received the stiffest penalty ever imposed on an NFL head coach for the crush-for-cash bounty system that his team employed. The penalties did not stop with Payton, but were also imposed upon other members of the coaching and administrative staff.
In the shadow of this, TV evangelist and recognized Christian leader Pat Robertson had his own crush-for-cash bounty mentality. He expressed his disappointment with the Denver Broncos when they traded quarterback Tim Tebow, known for his public display of the Christian faith, after acquiring quarterback Peyton Manning. Because Tebow, who went to the New York Jets, was treated "shabbily" by the Broncos, Robertson indicated if Manning -- who missed the entire 2011 season after neck surgery -- reinjured the neck and was rendered immobile, then for Denver "it would serve them right" for letting Tebow go. Robertson's full statement was: "I think the Denver Broncos treated [Tebow] shabbily. Okay, so Peyton Manning was a tremendous MVP quarterback, but he's been injured. If that injury comes back Denver will find itself without a quarterback, and in my opinion, it would serve them right."
That expression was widely interpreted to mean that if Manning is injured, then Denver would get what they deserve -- and I hope it happens. If it meant otherwise, then a Robertson spokesperson would not have had to clarify the remark by saying Rev. Robertson did not imply that he desired Manning to be injured on the field.
We often think that on Passion Sunday everyone waving palms was celebrating Jesus. I am sure there were a few who held the palms to their side thinking that Jesus was riding forth to the Sanhedrin, Jesus and his followers would get what was coming to them, and "it would serve them right."
* * *
For more than 50 years he preached "possibility thinking" and its cohort, "positive thinking." With faith in Jesus Christ anything is possible. And it was a very popular message as his church membership grew beyond 10,000. But what the founder of the Crystal Cathedral, Robert H. Schuller, failed to realize that it was not possible to keep your church, the magnificent Crystal Cathedral, when your income is unrecoverable short of your debts.
There are several reasons why the Crystal Cathedral went into bankruptcy and had to be sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles. One is they were encumbered by their multi-million dollar building. As the neighborhood changed over the decades the congregation was unable to relocate. Another reason is nepotism. The board of directors was composed of Robert Schuller's wife, mother, two children, son-in-law, and several best friends. Sibling rivalry played a role. For the past ten years Robert H. was suffering from dementia. His son and daughter, Robert A. and Sheila Schuller Coleman, were unable to agree on the future direction of the church. Charismatic leadership entered into the picture. Once Robert H. retired, the Eagle Club, responsible for a significant percentage of the revenue, faltered and other prominent donors left the congregation. Think as positive as you would like, but it was only the creditors who saw new possibilities.
As we read through the events of Holy Week, we can see from Mark's gospel that the message of Jesus was not focused on a populist movement, but instead was very pointed and often uncomfortable. His church was not an architectural wonder but was in the streets among the people. And those who carried forth his ministry were not chosen by nepotism, but on character, even if at times they doubted or denied.
* * *
Individuals who are viable contenders for the office of President of the United States are assigned Secret Service protection. Prior to when communications were encrypted, the candidate was assigned a code name. The candidate could select his own code name as long as it was comprehensible over the radio -- therefore the names usually had two to three very strong syllables. Though communications are now encrypted, the tradition has remained.
The candidates usually select a code name that reflects who they are as an individual. Rick Santorum, the ultra-conservative Roman Catholic, selected "Petrus" as his Secret Service code name. Petrus is the Latin translation of the Greek word meaning "rock." It is often used in reference to the first pope, St. Peter.
Elected or not, Santorum is going to remain a leader in national politics. As Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey, one would only wish that all politicians did not think of themselves as "Petrus," but had a more humble opinion of their role in politics. The man who credits himself for bringing the corrupt Salt Lake City Olympic Games to a profit, Mitt Romney, has chosen the code name "Javelin".
* * *
There's a term in the art world known as chiaroscuro. It's an Italian word: the Italians invented the technique. Before chiaroscuro, paintings were uniformly bright, often enclosed in gilt frames and matting.
But with the advent of this technique, things changed in the world of painting. Artists discovered the dramatic power of shadow -- of painting a person whose face was illuminated by a single candle, surrounded on every side by darkness. This technique somehow captured the ambiguity and uncertainty of life. Against the background of darkness, light seems all the more brilliant.
Easter is a glorious celebration, whether or not we have paid Lent or Maundy Thursday or Good Friday any mind. Yet the sunlight of Easter morn never seems so bright unless we come to the empty tomb by way of the upper room, and unless we have stood for a time at the foot of the cross.
* * *
J. Barrie Shepherd, the retired pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, tells about flying back to the U.S. after a visit to his native Scotland. It so happened that Shepherd was carrying back for his church a large Celtic cross from the Isle of Iona.
He had wrapped the cross carefully in layers of paper and padding. Not trusting the baggage handlers, he thought it best to carry it onto the plane himself. As he approached the airport X-ray machine, the guards eyed him up and down: his bundle looked suspiciously like an automatic weapon. When the image of a two-foot-tall Celtic cross appeared on the X-ray screen, the guards relaxed.
Early the next morning, Shepherd and his fellow passengers made their way into the customs area of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. "Do you have anything to declare?" asked the customs agent.
"Only this cross," Shepherd replied, still sleepy from his long flight. The agent looked down and scribbled something on a form in front of him. It was only later that Shepherd got to see what he had written: "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value."
The customs agent's words were significant. The words he wrote down were perhaps correct from the standpoint of bureaucratic regulations, but in a theological sense they were all wrong. Yet isn't that description -- "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value" -- exactly what the world thinks of the cross of Jesus?
Unfortunately, it is. This week the customs officer's question is put, disturbingly and directly, to every Christian: "Do you have anything to declare?"
What will we say in reply?
* * *
What is Jesus' Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem, as Mark describes it? Some commentators have claimed that the people of Jerusalem were hailing Jesus as a conquering political/military hero, but that's extremely unlikely. The people of Jerusalem knew what military parades were all about -- particularly Roman military parades. Typically the victorious general would ride in, driving a chariot or sitting astride a magnificent warhorse. Around him would march legions upon legions of his troops -- all looking forward to "a hot time in the old town tonight," in the tradition of soldiers from time immemorial. Also in the procession -- barefoot, in chains, whipped along by overseers -- would be the prisoners of war: miserable unfortunates who after they'd been displayed to the cheering multitude were not long for this world.
Jesus is no general, and his followers no professional army. The very way he rides into the city -- on a donkey (as it says in the gospel of John) or on a colt (as it says in Mark, and also in Luke), or on both a donkey and a colt (as it says in Matthew) -- was hardly the sort of conveyance favored by the rich and powerful.
So what is Jesus doing with his triumphal entry, if he doesn't intend to lead an armed insurrection? Very likely he is making fun of the powers-that-be. He is engaging in what some commentators today have called "street theater" -- a satirical demonstration that lampoons the mighty and self-important. Jesus is a religious reformer who wants to call the Jewish people back to the true worship of God. By revealing how insignificant and ridiculous the civil rulers appear in God's eyes, he is hoping to focus the people's devotion on what's truly important.
It's a very dangerous strategy. Jesus knows he could end up dead -- and in fact, as we all know, that's exactly what did happen in a matter of days. There was simply too much money and too much power riding on the status quo for an upstart rabbi from the provinces to be permitted to call the whole system into question.
* * *
Watching the television news several years ago, you would have seen palm branches waving. The year was 2003, and the scene was Baghdad. Rolling into that ancient near-Eastern city were the tanks and humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles of the United States Army. The monumental statue of Saddam Hussein had been pulled down just hours before. Smiling Iraqi children approached fierce-looking Marines, offering flowers. And there, in the background of many of the television news shots, you could actually see them -- jubilant crowds waving palm branches.
Truly it is an ancient gesture in the Middle East. A powerful army rolls into the streets of an ancient city, and the people do what they've always done to greet conquering heroes: they wave palms.
* * *
It's a well-loved institution in many communities: the small-town parade. Maybe it's Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or a high school homecoming. In the typical small-town parade there's a marching band or two, some homemade floats, a few classic cars, and a convertible with local dignitaries sitting in the back waving to the crowds. Following it up is a procession of fire engines, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles, driven by the proud volunteers who maintain them. At the very end, a police cruiser advances slowly, lights flashing, its driver nodding solemnly to friends in the crowd. It's all good fun.
Once that final police car passes, the people lining the sidewalks have a decision to make: they can turn and go home, or they can join some of their fellow spectators in stepping out into the street. The parade has already passed them by -- or at least the official parade has. Some of the spectators pour out into the street, turn in the direction the parade's heading, and begin marching. The parade's not over, after all -- they are continuing it.
Did something similar happen in Jerusalem as Jesus and his disciples passed by? Mark seems to suggest it did: "those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!' " (Mark 11:9).
* * *
Dr. Tom Barnard writes that in the spiritual life there are things that belong together, like perfectly matched oars. Two of the more important ones are surrender and service. They go together. Surrender without service is hollow piety. Service without surrender is sterile duty. Try activating one without the other, and the spiritual cruise will result in making circles. No significant gain will result from such foolish exercise.
Isaiah 50 is the prophetic foreshadowing of the trial of Jesus Christ and his response to his accusers. Jesus demonstrates the two oars of surrender and service through his personal surrender to God and yielding to the action of the mob. As someone said, "Wherever the Spirit of the Lord controls the heart, there is a passion to serve."
* * *
Isaiah's suffering servant underscores the paradox that Jesus must suffer humiliation and physical pain along with his exultation. Jesus willingly "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death." The exultation of Jesus is ultimately connected to the cross. Jesus moved into Jerusalem, knowing that this triumphal entry and royal welcome would be followed quickly by danger and rejection.
In a day when we are very much aware of abuse, this seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Yet the victim appears to submit willingly to torture. This suffering seems to be so unfair, crippling, and hopeless. None of us would choose to suffer voluntarily and yet discipleship is costly because of what it requires of us.
The servant is so confident of God and so trusting that he does not ask "Why me?" Instead he lays down his life that others may live, thereby fulfilling his calling through suffering in silence.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship (Liturgy of the Palms)
Leader: O give thanks to God, for God is good;
People: God's steadfast love endures forever!
Leader: Let the people say, "God's steadfast love endures forever."
People: Open to me the gates of righteousness that we may enter through them and give thanks to God.
Leader: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
People: This is God's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
OR
Leader: Come and join the parade!
People: What's it all about?
Leader: We are entering Jerusalem with Jesus.
People: We are ready to go with Jesus anywhere!
Leader: He is entering to confront the power of Rome.
People: It sounds dangerous! Where are his weapons?
Leader: His weapons are love and God's grace.
People: We are his disciples. We will follow Jesus!
Call to Worship (Liturgy of the Passion)
Leader: Be gracious to us, O God, for we are in distress;
People: our eyes waste away from grief, our soul and body also.
Leader: For our lives are spent with sorrow,
People: and our years with sighing;
Leader: our strength fails because of our misery,
People: and our bones waste away.
OR
Leader: Come and join the march.
People: What's it all about?
Leader: They are taking Jesus out to crucify him!
People: Why? What evil has he done?
Leader: He has stood against the power of Rome.
People: Has he started an armed revolution?
Leader: His revolution is with love and grace, not with swords.
People: Though we may die with him, we will follow him!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
found in:
UMH: 278
PH: 89
NCH: 213
"Mantos y Palmas" ("Filled with Excitement")
found in:
UMH: 79
NCH: 214
"All Glory, Laud, and Honor"
found in:
UMH: 80
H82: 154/155
PH: 88
AAHH: 226
NNBH: 102
NCH: 216/217
CH: 192
LBW: 108
ELW: 344
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"
found in:
UMH: 86
H82: 168/169
PH: 98
AAHH: 250
NNBH: 108
NCH: 226
CH: 202
LBW: 116/117
ELW: 351/352
Renew: 235
"What Wondrous Love Is This"
found in:
UMH: 92
H82: 439
PH: 85
NCH: 223
CH: 200
LBW: 385
ELW: 666
Renew: 277
"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"
found in:
UMH: 298/299
H82: 474
PH: 100/101
AAHH: 243
NNBH: 113
NCH: 224
CH: 195
LBW: 482
ELW: 803
Renew: 236
"Ah, Holy Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 89
H82: 158
PH: 93
NCH: 218
CH: 210
LBW: 123
ELW: 349
Renew: 183
"Were You There"
found in:
UMH: 88
H82: 172
PH: 102
AAHH: 254
NNBH: 109
NCH: 229
CH: 198
LBW: 92
ELW: 353
"All Hail King Jesus"
found in:
CCB: 29
Renew: 35
"Hosanna"
found in:
CCB: 24
Renew: 71
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes to offer us the way to life: Grant us the grace and wisdom to see that service and humility triumphs over power and force as your reign comes into being; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, and acknowledge you as the one who reigns over all creation. We come in awe and wonder that you choose to bring your reign to us through humility and service. Help us as we wave our palm leaves and hear the story of the passion to be called once again to follow Jesus on your path to life. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we look for glamor and glitz as signs of importance.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We confess that we would be more likely to watch Herod enter Jerusalem with legions of Roman soldiers and all the pomp and circumstance of power than that of an itinerant rabbi. We are more apt to judge someone's importance by their fame then by their message. Forgive us our shallow thoughts and call us back to the depth of your wisdom. Amen.
Leader: Jesus came that we might have life. Forgiveness is ours and the Spirit of God that fills us and empowers us to live as disciples of Jesus.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your Spirit upon us so that as the good news is read and proclaimed we might see the path our Savior is walking and once again follow him. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, and yet you come in humility among us.
(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 confess that we would be more likely to watch Herod enter Jerusalem with legions of Roman soldiers and all the pomp and circumstance of power than that of an itinerant rabbi. We are more apt to judge someone's importance by their fame then by their message. Forgive us our shallow thoughts and call us back to the depth of your wisdom.
We give you thanks for all the ways you have shown us how to find meaning and purpose in our lives. When we make bad decisions you are always there to show us the way back to your path.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need. We pray for those who have not yet experienced you as the life giver. We pray for those who do not yet know you as the joy giver. We pray for those we will come in contact with this week, praying that our presence may somehow be your presence in their lives.
(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.
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children if they have ever been to a parade. Ask them if they would rather go to a parade of fancy horses with lots of banners or a parade with one farm animal and a bunch of people just walking. Tell them that on the day we are celebrating today, Palm Sunday, there were two parades. King Herod with mighty Roman legions was coming into Jerusalem through one gate. It was quite a show with horses, soldiers, and banners. From the other end of town a small group of people were entering with a man on a donkey. They were poor and dusty from the trip to Jerusalem. But the man on the donkey was Jesus. Sometimes what seems exciting isn't always the best choice. Herod and Rome were all about power and taking from the people; Jesus was all about love and care and giving to the people.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Throne and the Cross
Mark 14:1--15:47
Objects: a cross and a chair decorated to look like a throne
Good morning, boys and girls! I want you to see something (point to the chair) -- what does this make you think of? This resembles a king's throne. He usually sits there dressed in beautiful clothes, with jewels in his crown and rings on his fingers. He has people standing beside him to do anything he commands. People listen carefully to every word he says. He lives in a palace. His life is one of beauty and comfort. Remember this throne. It is a place of power.
We are one week from Easter, the most important week in all of world history. This is the week that Jesus began with a parade from a little village outside of the great city of Jerusalem in which people showered him with songs and praise and pleaded with him to be their king. This is also the week that ended with Jesus being dead in a tomb. In seven days he went from being treated like a hero to being treated like a criminal.
During that week, Jesus cried for Jerusalem and the people that lived in it, chased greedy men and their animals from the temple, prayed to God for his life in a garden, ate his final meal with his disciples and friends, watched one of his disciples betray him for money, was arrested by Roman soldiers, and appeared before the local king and the local governor sent by the emperor of Rome.
Some people who cheered him on Sunday at the parade now screamed for him to be crucified. He was led up a hill carrying a very heavy cross. There he was nailed to the cross and died within three hours. He was taken down from the cross and put in the tomb of some secret friends. His disciples denied him and went into hiding and the one who betrayed him took his own life. Only one disciple and his mother Mary and a few other women were at his crucifixion. The rest of his followers were gone. When we think of Jesus, we think of the cross.
Some people wish that Jesus sat on a throne like this chair. People would like for Jesus to wear fine clothes, jewels, and a crown. They would like for him to eat fine food and drink expensive wine. They would like to see Jesus dance at great balls and ride in beautiful chariots. But you will not find Jesus sitting on this throne.
Instead you will find Jesus hanging on this cross, suffering and dying for our sins. We will find him forgiving and helping the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the lonely, and those in prison. We hope that you will remember which king you are worshiping -- not the one who sits on this beautiful throne, but instead the God who forgives us and hangs on the cross.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 1, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 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 or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer picks up the theme of the importance of experiencing the Passion and shares some thoughts on why it is vital for us not to avoid the unpleasant messiness of Holy Week as we move from the triumphal parade of Palm Sunday to the unparalleled joy of Easter. Dean points out that it is only when we allow ourselves to experience death that we can fully appreciate the meaning of resurrection -- and he suggests that it's not just an annual exercise, but a paradigm that extends to our everyday lives as well. It is only when we inhabit the shadows that we can come to truly know the light.
Ticker Tape Charade
by Mary Austin
Mark 11:1-11
The story of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales continues to unfold this week, as the soldier accused of killing sleeping Afghan civilians has been moved from Afghanistan to a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and formally charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. The investigation into the massacre has brought attention to the number of combat tours Bales served and the stress of repeated deployments on both Bales and his family.
While the stresses of military life offer no excuse for the killings, they reveal again the pain that soldiers and their families suffer in the course of their service. We understand sacrifice to be a spiritual -- and patriotic -- practice, but this story also points to the human pain involved. Jesus' entry into Jerusalem brings the same kind of painful sacrifice to mind.
THE WORLD
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians and gravely wounding several more one night as he was stationed in Afghanistan. As Carla Garrison writes in an opinion piece in the Washington Times: "Why Bales would do such tragic thing may never be known, but as the story unfolds, indications of a soldier needing the support of leadership [are] becoming apparent. Details about SSG Bale leading up to the alleged attack against Afghani civilians†point not to a killer who carried out a premeditated vendetta but to a soldier suffering from a mental breakdown. His heartbreaking actions, regardless of ultimate sentencing, have effectively ended not only the lives of the Afghans, but also the once promising life of a former football star, stockbroker, father, husband, and American patriot."
Bales' alleged actions follow four combat deployments, which the Times' writer counts at 1,192 days when the incident happened. He reportedly saw a fellow soldier lose a leg to a land mine and faced significant family stress with a wife and two young children and a reported recent "short sale" of the family home. The Times reports that Bales also "had been wounded twice, including a concussive head injury suffered when his Humvee overturned in†Iraq, yet was certified as combat ready by the Army."
The experience of Bales and his fellow soldiers points to the tremendous sacrifices made by service members during the long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The face of sacrifice is the face of military service members separated from family, far from home, with often confusing or conflicting orders, and defective or missing equipment. For those who are wounded, the health care system is maze-like, with different levels of care, depending on where you are sent for treatment. And if a service member dies, the family is forced to move off the base, losing a network of support.
THE WORD
As Palm Sunday comes, we turn again to Jesus and his own sacrifice. The Palm Sunday story shows up in all four gospels, and our mental picture is a composite of the various versions. Mark's version has not a palm branch in sight -- the branches are only in John's version. Mark has a much simpler entrance into the city than Matthew and Luke, but we add the crowds to our mental picture. At the end of the story, Mark has Jesus all alone at the temple, no crowds around.
Mark's account of this day reads like a detective novel. There are plenty of clues, but what do they mean? Should we see Jesus as a king, the descendant of King David, come to take up Israel's throne? Is he the king who enters the city in triumph? Jesus goes to a lot of trouble to ride in on a colt -- the sign of a ruler coming in peace. The first hearers of this gospel would have understood the reference to the prophet Zechariah, who promises, "Lo, your king comes to you, humble and riding on donkey" (Zechariah 9:9). The garments in the road are another gesture of welcome for a king.
Or are we meant to understand Jesus as the long-awaited messiah? The colt that has never had a rider is an animal used for a sacred purpose. Jesus comes during Passover, the holiday celebrating God's deliverance of the people from slavery, and the messiah is the one who brings God's deliverance. Jesus comes into Jerusalem from the east, from the Mount of Olives, where Jewish tradition held that the messiah would appear in the last days.
Or are we to look for another purpose? Noted preacher Fred Craddock calls it a "protest march" [Christian Century, April 5, 2003, p. 20]. This is the long culmination of Jesus' protests against the religious rulers of the day. All along Jesus has disagreed with the authorities about table fellowship, who's included in God's kingdom, work, and the Sabbath. As Craddock notes, "Jesus protested the subordination of human need and welfare to the rigid and unfeeling application of the law." Now, in the political and religious capital, he ratchets the protest up another notch. He's using the symbols people understand to make a point they won't understand until later. He's showing them who he is, using the symbols of king and messiah to show that he is something different altogether.
And there is one other purpose. Only Jesus knows that this is also a funeral procession. Acclaimed as a king at the start of the week, Jesus ends it under a mocking sign: the king of the Jews. The entrance into the city, the use of the symbols of the king and the conqueror, are a challenge to power that will end his life before the week is over. This kind of sacrifice leads to suffering, long before there's any vision of triumph.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday, raising the question of what to emphasize. Is it a celebration, or the start of a funeral procession?
To understand Jesus, we have to understand sacrifice, and the level of pain involved. If we skip from a triumphant Palm Sunday to a celebratory Easter, as many people do, we miss the depths, which allow for the joys. All through Mark's gospel, people don't see, don't get, and don't understand who Jesus is. If we don't understand suffering, then we are in danger of not seeing who Jesus is.
Is it a happy day? Or is it a sad day? That depends on us. If we can see who Jesus really is, see sacrifice as the path to power, and love as the only power that matters, then we have the key to the Palm Sunday mystery. If we can see the palms and the branches and the shouts as the revelation of God's love for us and the coming of God's new world, then we understand the clues. Jesus ends the story all alone, but if we understand, we can follow him into this week of mystery and beyond.
As Carla Garrison writes in the piece cited above: "The pain Robert Bales and his family must be experiencing for what has happened and the consequences they must now bear is unimaginable. However, perhaps this tragedy will open eyes to the strain... on the lives, the psyches of our most valued citizens -- American soldiers. Call out for this awakening among neighbors, organizations, and every level of government." May the same awakening come in our spiritual lives, as we ponder suffering and triumph again this Palm and Passion Sunday.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Crucified, Dead, and Buried
by Dean Feldmeyer
Psalm 22
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?"
-- Psalm 22:1
There's a famous Monty Python comedy sketch called "The Dead Parrot," in which a guy walks into a pet shop, plops a birdcage on the counter, and tells the proprietor that he has just discovered that the parrot he bought from this store is dead. In fact, it was dead when he bought it. But not only does the proprietor deny that the parrot was dead when he sold it, he also denies that the parrot is dead now. They argue back and forth and finally the customer screams in exasperation that the parrot is indeed dead: "This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace!... His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket! He's shuffled off this mortal coil, rung down the curtain, and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! HE IS AN EX-PARROT!"
The Apostle's Creed doesn't go that far when it speaks of Jesus -- but nearly so. It sums up Jesus' life in a few short lines: "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried."
Pretty blunt, isn't it?
He was dead. He didn't appear to be dead. He wasn't asleep or in a coma. He wasn't drugged or in some kind of trance. Make no mistake -- he was dead. His heart had stopped beating. Life had left him. He was the late Jesus of Nazareth.
I suppose that it is human nature that we want to rush from Palm Sunday to Easter. If it were possible, we would go directly from one to the other, from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem with palms waving and children singing to the Easter morning scene in that lovely spring garden where flowers bloom and birds sing and the tomb sits empty. From song to song, as it were.
But in fact, the trail we are called to walk this week is one from song to silence... and then to song. It is, if we are honest, not a fun or easy path to follow.
Given the choice, we would just as soon avert our eyes from the 24 hours that begins with the uncomfortable Seder in the Upper Room and ends on a cross near the city garbage dump. Go quickly by, we tell ourselves, and do not linger here! For here there is anxiety, pain, guilt, and sorrow.
We even tend to break Maundy Thursday and Good Friday into two events, probably because it makes them easier to take: The Last Supper and The Crucifixion. In fact, they are all part of a single narrative that is called The Passion.
In the ancient Jewish calendar, a day ran from sundown to sundown. So sundown Thursday to sundown on Friday was a single day. All of the events of the Passion, from the Last Supper to Jesus' death on the cross happen within a single day -- a single, horrible, miserable day. At the end of it, Jesus was dead. He was so dead that they buried him. That's how dead he was.
No wonder we'd just as soon skip this part. But it is exactly through this scene that we must walk if the Sunday that follows is to have any meaning. It is this scene that we must experience in all of its pain and despair if the empty tomb is to hold any real promise for us.
Because if he wasn't dead, you can stop right here; the rest of the story doesn't matter.
The suffering was real. The death was real. The tomb was real. It must be or what comes next on Easter morning is meaningless.
And that's not true only of Jesus; it's true of us as well.
We cannot claim the existential Easter that is offered to us every day of our lives if we are not willing to claim the existential Passion as well. We cannot be resurrected unless we are first willing to die.
This is so in that final, end-of-life way that we often mean when we speak of dying. But it is also true in the small ways that we are called to die each day: to die the death of ridicule and rejection, to die the death of failure, to die the death that each of us dies whenever we run up against our own limits and shortcomings, our own meaningless and empty lives, our own prejudice and sin. It is only when we have experienced these deaths that resurrection is a possibility for us.
We cannot experience the fullness of winning unless we are willing to also experience the fullness of losing. We cannot experience the full joy of success unless we have first experienced the despair of failure. We cannot experience the blessing of approval unless we have also experienced the humiliation of ridicule and rejection.
When Jesus tells his followers to "take up their cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34), it is into his Passion that he is calling them. It is into the 24 hours of misery and despair that we must be willing to follow our Lord if we want to also join him in glory on that third day.
ILLUSTRATIONS
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has received the stiffest penalty ever imposed on an NFL head coach for the crush-for-cash bounty system that his team employed. The penalties did not stop with Payton, but were also imposed upon other members of the coaching and administrative staff.
In the shadow of this, TV evangelist and recognized Christian leader Pat Robertson had his own crush-for-cash bounty mentality. He expressed his disappointment with the Denver Broncos when they traded quarterback Tim Tebow, known for his public display of the Christian faith, after acquiring quarterback Peyton Manning. Because Tebow, who went to the New York Jets, was treated "shabbily" by the Broncos, Robertson indicated if Manning -- who missed the entire 2011 season after neck surgery -- reinjured the neck and was rendered immobile, then for Denver "it would serve them right" for letting Tebow go. Robertson's full statement was: "I think the Denver Broncos treated [Tebow] shabbily. Okay, so Peyton Manning was a tremendous MVP quarterback, but he's been injured. If that injury comes back Denver will find itself without a quarterback, and in my opinion, it would serve them right."
That expression was widely interpreted to mean that if Manning is injured, then Denver would get what they deserve -- and I hope it happens. If it meant otherwise, then a Robertson spokesperson would not have had to clarify the remark by saying Rev. Robertson did not imply that he desired Manning to be injured on the field.
We often think that on Passion Sunday everyone waving palms was celebrating Jesus. I am sure there were a few who held the palms to their side thinking that Jesus was riding forth to the Sanhedrin, Jesus and his followers would get what was coming to them, and "it would serve them right."
* * *
For more than 50 years he preached "possibility thinking" and its cohort, "positive thinking." With faith in Jesus Christ anything is possible. And it was a very popular message as his church membership grew beyond 10,000. But what the founder of the Crystal Cathedral, Robert H. Schuller, failed to realize that it was not possible to keep your church, the magnificent Crystal Cathedral, when your income is unrecoverable short of your debts.
There are several reasons why the Crystal Cathedral went into bankruptcy and had to be sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles. One is they were encumbered by their multi-million dollar building. As the neighborhood changed over the decades the congregation was unable to relocate. Another reason is nepotism. The board of directors was composed of Robert Schuller's wife, mother, two children, son-in-law, and several best friends. Sibling rivalry played a role. For the past ten years Robert H. was suffering from dementia. His son and daughter, Robert A. and Sheila Schuller Coleman, were unable to agree on the future direction of the church. Charismatic leadership entered into the picture. Once Robert H. retired, the Eagle Club, responsible for a significant percentage of the revenue, faltered and other prominent donors left the congregation. Think as positive as you would like, but it was only the creditors who saw new possibilities.
As we read through the events of Holy Week, we can see from Mark's gospel that the message of Jesus was not focused on a populist movement, but instead was very pointed and often uncomfortable. His church was not an architectural wonder but was in the streets among the people. And those who carried forth his ministry were not chosen by nepotism, but on character, even if at times they doubted or denied.
* * *
Individuals who are viable contenders for the office of President of the United States are assigned Secret Service protection. Prior to when communications were encrypted, the candidate was assigned a code name. The candidate could select his own code name as long as it was comprehensible over the radio -- therefore the names usually had two to three very strong syllables. Though communications are now encrypted, the tradition has remained.
The candidates usually select a code name that reflects who they are as an individual. Rick Santorum, the ultra-conservative Roman Catholic, selected "Petrus" as his Secret Service code name. Petrus is the Latin translation of the Greek word meaning "rock." It is often used in reference to the first pope, St. Peter.
Elected or not, Santorum is going to remain a leader in national politics. As Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey, one would only wish that all politicians did not think of themselves as "Petrus," but had a more humble opinion of their role in politics. The man who credits himself for bringing the corrupt Salt Lake City Olympic Games to a profit, Mitt Romney, has chosen the code name "Javelin".
* * *
There's a term in the art world known as chiaroscuro. It's an Italian word: the Italians invented the technique. Before chiaroscuro, paintings were uniformly bright, often enclosed in gilt frames and matting.
But with the advent of this technique, things changed in the world of painting. Artists discovered the dramatic power of shadow -- of painting a person whose face was illuminated by a single candle, surrounded on every side by darkness. This technique somehow captured the ambiguity and uncertainty of life. Against the background of darkness, light seems all the more brilliant.
Easter is a glorious celebration, whether or not we have paid Lent or Maundy Thursday or Good Friday any mind. Yet the sunlight of Easter morn never seems so bright unless we come to the empty tomb by way of the upper room, and unless we have stood for a time at the foot of the cross.
* * *
J. Barrie Shepherd, the retired pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City, tells about flying back to the U.S. after a visit to his native Scotland. It so happened that Shepherd was carrying back for his church a large Celtic cross from the Isle of Iona.
He had wrapped the cross carefully in layers of paper and padding. Not trusting the baggage handlers, he thought it best to carry it onto the plane himself. As he approached the airport X-ray machine, the guards eyed him up and down: his bundle looked suspiciously like an automatic weapon. When the image of a two-foot-tall Celtic cross appeared on the X-ray screen, the guards relaxed.
Early the next morning, Shepherd and his fellow passengers made their way into the customs area of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. "Do you have anything to declare?" asked the customs agent.
"Only this cross," Shepherd replied, still sleepy from his long flight. The agent looked down and scribbled something on a form in front of him. It was only later that Shepherd got to see what he had written: "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value."
The customs agent's words were significant. The words he wrote down were perhaps correct from the standpoint of bureaucratic regulations, but in a theological sense they were all wrong. Yet isn't that description -- "Item of a sentimental nature, of little or no value" -- exactly what the world thinks of the cross of Jesus?
Unfortunately, it is. This week the customs officer's question is put, disturbingly and directly, to every Christian: "Do you have anything to declare?"
What will we say in reply?
* * *
What is Jesus' Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem, as Mark describes it? Some commentators have claimed that the people of Jerusalem were hailing Jesus as a conquering political/military hero, but that's extremely unlikely. The people of Jerusalem knew what military parades were all about -- particularly Roman military parades. Typically the victorious general would ride in, driving a chariot or sitting astride a magnificent warhorse. Around him would march legions upon legions of his troops -- all looking forward to "a hot time in the old town tonight," in the tradition of soldiers from time immemorial. Also in the procession -- barefoot, in chains, whipped along by overseers -- would be the prisoners of war: miserable unfortunates who after they'd been displayed to the cheering multitude were not long for this world.
Jesus is no general, and his followers no professional army. The very way he rides into the city -- on a donkey (as it says in the gospel of John) or on a colt (as it says in Mark, and also in Luke), or on both a donkey and a colt (as it says in Matthew) -- was hardly the sort of conveyance favored by the rich and powerful.
So what is Jesus doing with his triumphal entry, if he doesn't intend to lead an armed insurrection? Very likely he is making fun of the powers-that-be. He is engaging in what some commentators today have called "street theater" -- a satirical demonstration that lampoons the mighty and self-important. Jesus is a religious reformer who wants to call the Jewish people back to the true worship of God. By revealing how insignificant and ridiculous the civil rulers appear in God's eyes, he is hoping to focus the people's devotion on what's truly important.
It's a very dangerous strategy. Jesus knows he could end up dead -- and in fact, as we all know, that's exactly what did happen in a matter of days. There was simply too much money and too much power riding on the status quo for an upstart rabbi from the provinces to be permitted to call the whole system into question.
* * *
Watching the television news several years ago, you would have seen palm branches waving. The year was 2003, and the scene was Baghdad. Rolling into that ancient near-Eastern city were the tanks and humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles of the United States Army. The monumental statue of Saddam Hussein had been pulled down just hours before. Smiling Iraqi children approached fierce-looking Marines, offering flowers. And there, in the background of many of the television news shots, you could actually see them -- jubilant crowds waving palm branches.
Truly it is an ancient gesture in the Middle East. A powerful army rolls into the streets of an ancient city, and the people do what they've always done to greet conquering heroes: they wave palms.
* * *
It's a well-loved institution in many communities: the small-town parade. Maybe it's Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or a high school homecoming. In the typical small-town parade there's a marching band or two, some homemade floats, a few classic cars, and a convertible with local dignitaries sitting in the back waving to the crowds. Following it up is a procession of fire engines, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles, driven by the proud volunteers who maintain them. At the very end, a police cruiser advances slowly, lights flashing, its driver nodding solemnly to friends in the crowd. It's all good fun.
Once that final police car passes, the people lining the sidewalks have a decision to make: they can turn and go home, or they can join some of their fellow spectators in stepping out into the street. The parade has already passed them by -- or at least the official parade has. Some of the spectators pour out into the street, turn in the direction the parade's heading, and begin marching. The parade's not over, after all -- they are continuing it.
Did something similar happen in Jerusalem as Jesus and his disciples passed by? Mark seems to suggest it did: "those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!' " (Mark 11:9).
* * *
Dr. Tom Barnard writes that in the spiritual life there are things that belong together, like perfectly matched oars. Two of the more important ones are surrender and service. They go together. Surrender without service is hollow piety. Service without surrender is sterile duty. Try activating one without the other, and the spiritual cruise will result in making circles. No significant gain will result from such foolish exercise.
Isaiah 50 is the prophetic foreshadowing of the trial of Jesus Christ and his response to his accusers. Jesus demonstrates the two oars of surrender and service through his personal surrender to God and yielding to the action of the mob. As someone said, "Wherever the Spirit of the Lord controls the heart, there is a passion to serve."
* * *
Isaiah's suffering servant underscores the paradox that Jesus must suffer humiliation and physical pain along with his exultation. Jesus willingly "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death." The exultation of Jesus is ultimately connected to the cross. Jesus moved into Jerusalem, knowing that this triumphal entry and royal welcome would be followed quickly by danger and rejection.
In a day when we are very much aware of abuse, this seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Yet the victim appears to submit willingly to torture. This suffering seems to be so unfair, crippling, and hopeless. None of us would choose to suffer voluntarily and yet discipleship is costly because of what it requires of us.
The servant is so confident of God and so trusting that he does not ask "Why me?" Instead he lays down his life that others may live, thereby fulfilling his calling through suffering in silence.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship (Liturgy of the Palms)
Leader: O give thanks to God, for God is good;
People: God's steadfast love endures forever!
Leader: Let the people say, "God's steadfast love endures forever."
People: Open to me the gates of righteousness that we may enter through them and give thanks to God.
Leader: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
People: This is God's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
OR
Leader: Come and join the parade!
People: What's it all about?
Leader: We are entering Jerusalem with Jesus.
People: We are ready to go with Jesus anywhere!
Leader: He is entering to confront the power of Rome.
People: It sounds dangerous! Where are his weapons?
Leader: His weapons are love and God's grace.
People: We are his disciples. We will follow Jesus!
Call to Worship (Liturgy of the Passion)
Leader: Be gracious to us, O God, for we are in distress;
People: our eyes waste away from grief, our soul and body also.
Leader: For our lives are spent with sorrow,
People: and our years with sighing;
Leader: our strength fails because of our misery,
People: and our bones waste away.
OR
Leader: Come and join the march.
People: What's it all about?
Leader: They are taking Jesus out to crucify him!
People: Why? What evil has he done?
Leader: He has stood against the power of Rome.
People: Has he started an armed revolution?
Leader: His revolution is with love and grace, not with swords.
People: Though we may die with him, we will follow him!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
"Hosanna, Loud Hosanna"
found in:
UMH: 278
PH: 89
NCH: 213
"Mantos y Palmas" ("Filled with Excitement")
found in:
UMH: 79
NCH: 214
"All Glory, Laud, and Honor"
found in:
UMH: 80
H82: 154/155
PH: 88
AAHH: 226
NNBH: 102
NCH: 216/217
CH: 192
LBW: 108
ELW: 344
"O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"
found in:
UMH: 86
H82: 168/169
PH: 98
AAHH: 250
NNBH: 108
NCH: 226
CH: 202
LBW: 116/117
ELW: 351/352
Renew: 235
"What Wondrous Love Is This"
found in:
UMH: 92
H82: 439
PH: 85
NCH: 223
CH: 200
LBW: 385
ELW: 666
Renew: 277
"When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"
found in:
UMH: 298/299
H82: 474
PH: 100/101
AAHH: 243
NNBH: 113
NCH: 224
CH: 195
LBW: 482
ELW: 803
Renew: 236
"Ah, Holy Jesus"
found in:
UMH: 89
H82: 158
PH: 93
NCH: 218
CH: 210
LBW: 123
ELW: 349
Renew: 183
"Were You There"
found in:
UMH: 88
H82: 172
PH: 102
AAHH: 254
NNBH: 109
NCH: 229
CH: 198
LBW: 92
ELW: 353
"All Hail King Jesus"
found in:
CCB: 29
Renew: 35
"Hosanna"
found in:
CCB: 24
Renew: 71
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
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who comes to offer us the way to life: Grant us the grace and wisdom to see that service and humility triumphs over power and force as your reign comes into being; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come into your presence, O God, and acknowledge you as the one who reigns over all creation. We come in awe and wonder that you choose to bring your reign to us through humility and service. Help us as we wave our palm leaves and hear the story of the passion to be called once again to follow Jesus on your path to life. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially the ways in which we look for glamor and glitz as signs of importance.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We confess that we would be more likely to watch Herod enter Jerusalem with legions of Roman soldiers and all the pomp and circumstance of power than that of an itinerant rabbi. We are more apt to judge someone's importance by their fame then by their message. Forgive us our shallow thoughts and call us back to the depth of your wisdom. Amen.
Leader: Jesus came that we might have life. Forgiveness is ours and the Spirit of God that fills us and empowers us to live as disciples of Jesus.
Prayer for Illumination
Send, O God, the light of your Spirit upon us so that as the good news is read and proclaimed we might see the path our Savior is walking and once again follow him. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
Praise and glory are yours, O God, and yet you come in humility among us.
(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 confess that we would be more likely to watch Herod enter Jerusalem with legions of Roman soldiers and all the pomp and circumstance of power than that of an itinerant rabbi. We are more apt to judge someone's importance by their fame then by their message. Forgive us our shallow thoughts and call us back to the depth of your wisdom.
We give you thanks for all the ways you have shown us how to find meaning and purpose in our lives. When we make bad decisions you are always there to show us the way back to your path.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray to you for one another in our need. We pray for those who have not yet experienced you as the life giver. We pray for those who do not yet know you as the joy giver. We pray for those we will come in contact with this week, praying that our presence may somehow be your presence in their lives.
(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.
Children's Sermon Starter
Ask the children if they have ever been to a parade. Ask them if they would rather go to a parade of fancy horses with lots of banners or a parade with one farm animal and a bunch of people just walking. Tell them that on the day we are celebrating today, Palm Sunday, there were two parades. King Herod with mighty Roman legions was coming into Jerusalem through one gate. It was quite a show with horses, soldiers, and banners. From the other end of town a small group of people were entering with a man on a donkey. They were poor and dusty from the trip to Jerusalem. But the man on the donkey was Jesus. Sometimes what seems exciting isn't always the best choice. Herod and Rome were all about power and taking from the people; Jesus was all about love and care and giving to the people.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
The Throne and the Cross
Mark 14:1--15:47
Objects: a cross and a chair decorated to look like a throne
Good morning, boys and girls! I want you to see something (point to the chair) -- what does this make you think of? This resembles a king's throne. He usually sits there dressed in beautiful clothes, with jewels in his crown and rings on his fingers. He has people standing beside him to do anything he commands. People listen carefully to every word he says. He lives in a palace. His life is one of beauty and comfort. Remember this throne. It is a place of power.
We are one week from Easter, the most important week in all of world history. This is the week that Jesus began with a parade from a little village outside of the great city of Jerusalem in which people showered him with songs and praise and pleaded with him to be their king. This is also the week that ended with Jesus being dead in a tomb. In seven days he went from being treated like a hero to being treated like a criminal.
During that week, Jesus cried for Jerusalem and the people that lived in it, chased greedy men and their animals from the temple, prayed to God for his life in a garden, ate his final meal with his disciples and friends, watched one of his disciples betray him for money, was arrested by Roman soldiers, and appeared before the local king and the local governor sent by the emperor of Rome.
Some people who cheered him on Sunday at the parade now screamed for him to be crucified. He was led up a hill carrying a very heavy cross. There he was nailed to the cross and died within three hours. He was taken down from the cross and put in the tomb of some secret friends. His disciples denied him and went into hiding and the one who betrayed him took his own life. Only one disciple and his mother Mary and a few other women were at his crucifixion. The rest of his followers were gone. When we think of Jesus, we think of the cross.
Some people wish that Jesus sat on a throne like this chair. People would like for Jesus to wear fine clothes, jewels, and a crown. They would like for him to eat fine food and drink expensive wine. They would like to see Jesus dance at great balls and ride in beautiful chariots. But you will not find Jesus sitting on this throne.
Instead you will find Jesus hanging on this cross, suffering and dying for our sins. We will find him forgiving and helping the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the lonely, and those in prison. We hope that you will remember which king you are worshiping -- not the one who sits on this beautiful throne, but instead the God who forgives us and hangs on the cross.
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The Immediate Word, April 1, 2012, issue.
Copyright 2012 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 or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
