April 5, 2020

Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 21:1-11

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you from the one who saves us. Amen
 
Welcome to Holy Week,
the high point of the Christian calendar
where we remember Jesus’ last days
 and his saving acts.
 
 Usually this is a time where we gather together more frequently
Sunday and Thursday, and Friday
and then a big celebration Easter morning.
 
 But not this year,
 this year we are practicing our own acts of sacrificial love,
 we are sacrificing gathering together
 out of love for our neighbor,
 
and as we walk this most familiar week
in an unfamiliar way
 we will get to see things through new eyes,
our experience apart
will deepen our experience of Holy week   
 
This year I have noticed with new eyes, two things,
 the cry of the crowd
and the state of the city as Jesus enters Jerusalem.
 
We are coming to the end of Jesus’ ministry,
much of which has taken place in and around Galilee
 with a few side trips to visit the gentiles and Jerusalem.
 
Jesus has been ministering to the crowds of people
 who have come to him,
longing for meaning, healing, food,
 
most of them are living day to day
 under the oppression of the Roman Empire
 and now they are all traveling to Jerusalem,
 the holy city with the temple where God lives,
 
  to celebrate the Passover,
the remembrance and celebration
 of when God freed the people of Israel
 from slavery in Egypt.
 
I’m sure they can’t help but notice
the juxtaposition, the celebration of freedom
 in a city that isn’t free.
 
The Romans have noticed it,
 that’s why Pilate and more soldiers than normal are in residence,
in case these Judeans take the idea of freedom to heart,
they are on the watch for any disturbance that might break the peace.
 
This is the city Jesus enters into with the crowds
and he doesn’t keep a low profile,
he enters in the ancient equivalent of the ticker tape parade,
 fulfilling the scripture by riding on a donkey
 that his disciples have “borrowed” for him,
 
 a humble steed in comparison to the war horses
 the Romans ride into the city on.
And the people praise Jesus,
 they cry out Hosanna!
 
Now Hosanna is a cry of praise,
but it literally means “Save us”
 
The crowds are crying ‘save us’,
 not to the power of Rome,
 but to an itinerant preacher riding a donkey.
 
 And what’s more they name him Son of David,
 the one who comes in the name of the Lord,
 the long awaited messiah,
the one who will once again free the people.
 
Save us,
 Hosanna in the highest heaven.
 
Sometimes our song of praise
 Is also a cry for help,
the two mingling interchangeably together.
 
We will do well to remember that this week,
especially as we look to Easter
and the celebration that it’s supposed to be
when all we want to do is cry ‘save us Lord’
 
these two impulses are not as contradictory
as they might initially appear.
 
So Jesus enters Jerusalem,
on a donkey, surrounded by crowds shouting Hosanna to the Son of David,
and Matthew tells us that
“when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil”
 
The whole city was in turmoil,
the Greek word used for turmoil
 is a cognate of earthquake,
 the city is shaken,
what once seemed solid has moved
and people are unsure of how to proceed.
 
We’re intimately familiar with turmoil,
the country is in turmoil,
 the world is in turmoil,
 what once seemed solid has moved beneath our feet
 and we are unsure of how to proceed,
 in fact, the one thing we know for sure
 is that we don’t really know what is coming.
 
Jesus enters the city,
 the city is in turmoil,
the people are asking, ‘who is this?’” 
 
Who is this
that is powerful enough to create such a disturbance?
and the answer they receive
 uncovers a truth that not all are comfortable with,
 This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.
 The people believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
 
 But what does it mean for the Messiah to come?
 There are as many different expectations
 as there are people,
for some the Messiah is supposed to be a military figure
who will drive out the Romans,
for others a King in the tradition of David.
 
For some it doesn’t matter who Jesus is,
 he’s causing a scene,
 the religious leaders who are also the political leaders,
the ones the Romans look to to control the masses
see Jesus as a threat, to their own power
and to the safety of the people
 because they know that the Romans impose peace at the tip of a sword,
 the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome
is less peace than a suppression of violence
by the threat of greater violence.
 
Jesus entering the city causes turmoil
 because it reveals truths,
 truths about who people are,
 what they expect,
their real priorities.
 
The leaders of Israel will defer to Rome,
the crowds will disappointedly move on to the next glimmer of hope,
the disciples will stick around longer than most
but eventually flee,
 Peter the most ardent of disciples
will in one moment promise to die for Jesus
and in the next breath deny him.
 
 These truths once known
can never be unknown
 the question then becomes now what?
What will be done with the truth?
Some are excited for the change these revelations can bring,
others will work to prevent it
 in their longing for things to return to normal.
 
The world, our country is in turmoil
and truths are being revealed.
Truths about how much we expect of our schools,
the truth of how crucial those who work in grocery stores are,
 truths about the priorities of leaders.
 
 These truths once known
can never be unknown
the question then becomes now what?
What will be done with the truth?
 
Some are excited for the change these revelations can bring,
 others will work to prevent it
in their longing for things to return to normal.
 These are questions that we will have to ask ourselves in the coming months and years.
 
The whole city was in turmoil.
 And what is Jesus doing?
 Jesus is being the messiah as God defines it,
 living as a humble servant,
bringing about the kingdom of God,
 a kingdom marked by compassion and self-giving acts of generosity,
 
 all that create peace,
 true peace
which rather than an absence of violence
 is marked by the healing of relationships,
 the healing of the world. 
 
And nothing that anyone did,
the crowds, the leaders, the disciples, the Romans,
none of their actions could stop Jesus from doing the work of God.
 
Arrested, tried, denied, abandoned, crucified,
none of these human actions prevented
Jesus from doing what he came to do.
 Save the world.
 
God’s saving action is just that.
 God’s.
 
Whether we cry hosanna, save us,
Or are silent
Whatever choices we make in the face of revealed truths,
whatever we do to face the uncertainty of the future,
whatever expectations we have,
whatever mistakes we make
 
 God will continue to work for good,
God will save us.
In the midst of the turmoil of the world,
God comes to us,
 
 we cry out Hosanna,
 and our cry of praise
 also a petition.
 Save us Lord. Amen