Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 3/24/2024, Palm Sunday
Centering Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
May your will be done,
through me.
So, I guess it's over.
There he lies, dead in the tomb. His disciples told him not to go to Jerusalem!
They told him that his incendiary rhetoric, his criticism of the system and those that maintained and benefited from it, would cost him his life.
Jerusalem is where the beehive of envious, insecure, devious, deceitful, and corrupt power brokers made their home.
But Jesus didn't listen.
He went willfully into the snake pit.
Sure enough. Jesus got bitten.
And it cost him his life.##
Disciples also told Martin Luther King Jr. not to go to Memphis!
Your preaching upsets too many of the wrong people!
Those benefiting from a corrupt system will do despicable things!
Stay up north, don't go down south Martin!
But Martin didn't listen.
He walked into that snake pit.
Got bit.
And it cost him his life.
Disciples told Alexi Navalny not to go back to Russia!
Your preaching is upsetting too many people!
Those benefiting from a corrupt oligarchy will do despicable things!
Stay in Germany, don't go back to Russia!
But Alexi didn't listen.
He walked into that snake pit.
Got bit.
And it cost him his life.
And so, there they lie, in their tombs,
Their causes, proven to be weak, futile, and worthless.
Their work, in vain, worth nothing.
Their lives, wasted, spent chasing a dream, that would never come to pass.
And this is what would send Jesus' disciples, and those who love him, into hiding.
Not just the prospect, but the reality, that the death of a person, also killed the message, the movement that they stood for, and indeed staked their lives on.
But that won't last long!
They will soon realize that this is not how the story ends!
The cause of the righteous is not so easily thwarted!
Civil rights reform did not end with Martin!
The Russian democracy movement did not end with Alexi.
And the cause of liberation, truth, justice, equality, and freedom did not end with Jesus' death.
We've been around long enough to know better: We know OUR Kingdom work begins where our King's work ended.
We know that when we pray the Our Father - we pray:
Thy Kingdom com, thy will be done - ON EARTH.
Your job and my job is to make the world that is, into the world that ought to be.
This is why we're here.
And on this pinnacle day in the Church Year - that's what today's sermon is all about: the hope that this vision, and every one of God's visions that you have been given, has not been lost.
You may be in church today convinced that it's absolutely futile to be standing up for the right thing.
You may be sick and tired of being the only one who's following God's rules - living by any sort of moral compass. And you may be very tempted to give up, give in, and throw in the towel,
But Jesus, along with Martin, and Alexi stand before us today saying, "Not so fast!"
They walked into the snake pit,
Stood up for ideals that got them killed.
Because they knew better.
They knew that the truth can never be vanquished -
That even though they are gone - you and I are here -
Their shed blood is the seed of the church - living on in the work you and I do to make the world that is, into the world that ought to be.
They took with them the confidence that they were listening to their better angels, not their lesser ones.
Which angels are you listening to?
After spending yet another week in this beat up, broken down, divided, and scary world, where anxious voices abound and irresistible temptations to take shortcuts and believe nonsense are in no short supply: siding with that better angel of hope and possibility is no easy task.
The message of Palm Sunday, while certainly a message of defeat, of worldly powers winning out over higher ideals and possibilities; of the same old, same old, of the bully stomping on the nice guy who always finishes last - is also a big, neon sign, pointing to next Sunday - when we will gather in these same pews not lamenting a loss - but celebrating a victory.
Because while Palm Sunday invites us to consider, count, and mourn the loss -
It also points to next Sunday - and the admonition for you and me to never, ever, ever, lose hope.
I wonder how that speaks to you today-
As you are fighting your own battles -
Surrounded by your own razor-wire of doubt -
Might Jesus have called you here today to give you hope -
To spur you on-
To consider God may not be finished yet?
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When we began our service, we did so waving palms and praising the Messiah.
We heard the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a colt - or donkey - as St. John's gospel puts it, after Jesus mounted this beast in a neighboring hamlet called Bethphage, which is just East of Jerusalem. It's toward Jordan, the desert.
A few years ago, when I was with our St. David's pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, we went to Bethphage - there's a church there - so it's easy to find.
Please take a look at your bulletin covers - because I took a picture in that church of one of the world's most famous stepping stones -
This square platform is purported to be the step Jesus used to ascend that colt before he made that Palm Sunday ride, just a mile or so, into Jerusalem.
And we heard the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem as people cut branches and put down cloaks - as a sign of obeisance and adoration of him - the people Jesus freely gave to - he healed, taught, and fed - he sacrificed his time and heart for - were freely giving of themselves in worship and honor of this humble servant.
In gratitude, thankfulness, and joy, they shouted 'Hosanna!' and celebrated.
As we know, Jesus was entering that city at the time of the Passover.
By some estimates, he would have been one of a million or so Jews who came from all over the place - in order to celebrate this annual feast in the city.
This meant that the Romans - who were in charge - were edgy.
They were the prison guards of a prisoner population that vastly outnumbered them.
This meant that every year, Pontius Pilate, his officers, and Roman soldiers, would be coming to town to beef up security.
Pilate would have been spending his days, most of the time, at his seaside palace - that would have been west of Jerusalem - on the Mediterranean. So that he would have been entering the city at about the same time as Jesus - only through the opposite side of the city, the Western Gate, not the Eastern Gate.
Historians tell us that Pilate's entrance would have been grand.
He would have been decked out in shiny armor, surrounded by chariots, horses, weapons, and tons and tons of soldiers -
Each with a straight-faced, no-nonsense expression -
And the people would have been coerced into lining the streets as a sign of respect and obeisance to their authority.
One event, the Passover, where two leaders would meet.
Two leaders with two very different positions:
Pilate had power.
Jesus had authority.
Here's what I mean.
The Power that Pilate had, means people did what they were supposed to because they had to. Coercion, domination, and brute force is power
It's what had built Rome -
Coercion, domination, brute force is what Bull Durham used to firehose Dr. King and civil rights activists to keep them from protesting unjust laws.
Coercion, domination, and brute force has built modern-day Russia -
It's what Putin uses to keep the people in line - and to squelch any dissension.
Jesus, on the other hand, had authority.
And according to one sociologist, authority is derived not through coercion, domination, and brute force - but through sacrifice.
People glommed onto Jesus because he gave of himself to them.
People were drawn to Dr. King because he sacrificed for them.
People were drawn to Navalny because he gave of himself to them.
In fact, it's been argued that Putin did not hate Navalny as much as he envied him - because Navalny had authority.
Mark 15:10, that we just heard read, says Pilate observed the same thing, "For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over."
Jesus, Martin, and Alexi gained considerably more authority through paying the ultimate sacrifice: Not a tragedy - but a strategy.
The people who lined the streets for Pilate's entry into Jerusalem did so because they had to.
The people who lined the streets for Jesus' entry into Jerusalem did so because they wanted to.
Our job of bringing heaven to earth is done then, not by the force of power -
But by the sacrifice of authority.
I wonder what that looks like in your life?
I wonder how our faith would be more attractive to others if we lived more sacrificially?
I wonder how God is calling you and me and our church to a place of even more humble service to those around us?
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Sacrifice, surrender, mourning, hope, conversion?
A woman came home from a hard day of work.
She slouched over on the couch -
And contemplated how life had let her down bitterly.
She felt unloved - victimized - and full of pain.
And in that moment, something had gone wrong once too often -
And something snapped inside of her -
She looked up.
She looked at the crucifix on the wall - and decided to turn all her rage - her full fury on God.
She took that cross down, her shoe off, and started banging on the nails in his hands and feet -
And shouting the anger of years into his silent, grimacing face as he hung there.
“Now you know!"
"Now you know!" she exclaimed.
"Now you know what it's like to live in a world like this!"
And then came a silent moment - when she realized that Jesus was looking back at her.
And he said:
"Yes, now I know."
"Why else should I come?"
As she looked at Jesus' contorted face she suddenly and finally felt she recognized all her own wounds and struggles.
I wonder, as we look at that face this morning, hear that story, contemplate its meaning - how we might recognize our wounds and struggles in that suffering, agonized, yet still compassionate face?
It is finished.
But it is not over.
That work is now our work.
Amen.