 | Full Text Sermon | Alternate Sermon Ideas | Prayers & Readings | April 5, 1998 ~ Palm Sunday ~ Luke 19:28-40 In the Thick of Rejection If you've seen one, you've seen a hundred. Parades to honor the conquering heroes. In New York, it was the Yankees. In Chicago, it was the Bulls. In Green Bay it was the Packers. Victory parades aren't just for big city professional teams however. I can remember clearly the marching band, the cheerleader's twirling batons and the mayor's convertible when our small town basketball team won the Northern Vermont state championship. The President of the United States didn't call our coach and the congressman sent his congratulations by letter -- but it was great. Celebrations for our favorite heroes are wonderful, our spirits are lifted, there is a community-wide sense of joy and in the cheering we somehow share in the victory. There is another fact about these victory parades. We need to enjoy them when they happen; "enjoy the moment" as they say because the fame is fleeting and the glory is gone in a flash. The "heroes" of this year's victory parade are the "bums" of next years "cellar dwellers". I cannot recall his name, but there was a professional baseball player who was asked what it was like to be a hero to so many young people. He said, "Well, there was one particular game that made me take all the adulation with a grain of salt. I had four "at bats" with two home runs, a double and a strike out my last time up. The crowd cheered my first three hits and booed loudly when I struck out!" Sound familiar? Jesus knew the feeling only too well. Sunday the crowds are shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord." Yet he knows that Friday will see some of these same people shouting, "Crucify him!" Palm Sunday is a peculiar celebration. It is a victory celebration, but the victory is just a potential victory. The victory isn't going to happen today... it is postponed until a date off in an unknown future only God knows. The crowds are "for" Jesus today, but tomorrow? No... this parade is only the slightest glimpse of the honor and glory God's Messiah is to have, but for now the "hero" of this parade is headed for total rejection as Savior of Israel! True, "the rocks would cry out" if the people were silent. True, Messiah is here. True the opportunity for peace and reconciliation with God is here. But... unlike the Pax Romana, God is not going to impose peace on anyone. Jesus' offer runs right into one of the central truths of humanity. We have a will and we have a choice! Jesus did come to bring peace, but he also came to deal with sin... and self-righteousness... and selfishness... and prejudice... and hatred. He came to deal with things that begin to point to my life and your life. It can get a bit uncomfortable -- maybe even a lot uncomfortable or downright objectionable. Then how will I receive him? There is a sense in which all of us are standing in that crowd two thousand years ago. If we look deep within, we will find one or another of the attitudes that was present for the excitement. Some folk were simply bystanders. Others got caught up in the enthusiasm and joined the crowd, cheering and shouting. Some followed Jesus with all their hearts even though they didn't fully understand what he was all about. Still others were critical of Jesus and wanted the whole thing stopped. Somewhere in that throng I find myself searching, hoping, longing for someone to make me truly free -- truly whole. And yet... how can this be? This whole perspective turns Palm Sunday inside out and upside down. This is supposed to be the day children sang "Hosanna!" It is the victory parade when the disciples rejoiced, the people waved their palm branches and threw their coats on the ground before Jesus. Aren't we celebrating a huge win here? What's going on? One small peek past the lectionary reading for today gives the unmistakable answer. "As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it..." Do you see? Here's the secret of Palm Sunday... It is a victory celebration. The war is won! The victory is certain! It is true... "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord..." *** But not yet! And that hurts. You see, the acceptance Jesus experienced on that first Palm Sunday was a "surface" acceptance based on a false assumption. The celebrating throngs were cheering a projection of their own desires. This was the one they thought was going to smash Rome, take up the throne of David and install them in their rightful place. There would be a "chicken in every pot" and God's blessings would prosper "us chosen people!" They looked right through Jesus to something they wanted to see. Can you relate? Rejection hurts, but it hurts even more when it comes in the form of feigned acceptance. It is a risk to offer yourself in relationships, or in a career or in your social world. Most of us have gone through a time when it became clear we were not accepted or acceptable. Some of us have experienced outright rejection. Father John Powell wrote a book years ago that became an unexpected best seller. It was a small, relatively simple concept, but something that rang a bell with countless thousands of people. Powell's book, Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am?, can be summarized in a sentence. "I am afraid to tell you who I am because if you knew me for who I really am, you wouldn't like me!" When we experience rejection or non-acceptance, there is someone to turn to. True... Jesus did come to offer himself as Messiah, the Christ of God -- you and I won't experience that -- unless, perhaps it is on our psychiatrist's couch. But rejected he was. He's been there and he understands more fully than you realize what it is like to be rejected. Isaiah said it this way, "He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised..." [Isaiah 53:3] The first Palm Sunday was not the real victory celebration. It only pointed to the celebration that is stored up for the consummation of all things when "every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Christ is Lord..." Until then, it is Palm Sunday for you and for me every time we decide whether we will honor Christ as the one who rules in our lives. They key issue is not whether the whole rest of the world accepts or rejects him as Savior, but whether I accept or reject his offer of healing and wholeness -- of salvation. Day by day, somehow we are in that throng as Jesus passes by -- and we are shouting, "Hosanna! Glory in the highest!" -- or we are joining the Pharisees disdainful, "Tell them to be quiet!" *** [Apply It] There is something we can take with us from this Palm Sunday... not only does Jesus understand where we're coming from when we go through rejection, he is able to point us to healing. He can help us discover a strong sense of inner strength that will defeat the rejection of others. Here are two key elements from our scripture: 1. Keep yourself focused on who you really are -- in God's eyes! Jesus approached the Mount of Olives and the whole Palm Sunday experience knowing within who he was. His strength was built on who God said he was. So also with you and me, it is the view that God has of us that counts. Make this a continuing affirmation, "God knows me for who I really am. God loves me. My worth is in God's love for me and can not be diminished by the rejection of others." (It is also important to understand that my worth can not be improved by the cheers and acceptance of others. It is already at its highest possible value!) 2. Keep yourself focused on the purpose of your life -- in God's eyes! Now hang on. You may find this hard to believe, but it is a powerful concept for our living. The purpose of your life is exactly the same as the purpose of Jesus' life! Do you find that amazing? It is -- but it is nevertheless true. The purpose of your life is to cause others to say, "Isn't God wonderful!" (The theological way of saying that is that our lives are intended to bring "glory" to God.) May God give you the wonderful gift of Palm Sunday -- a deep inner sense of being loved by the Lord of the universe! "The Way Up With God Is Down" ~ Philippians 2:5-11 Theme: Jesus Christ takes the goals and values of this world and turns them inside out like a mother might turn a child's sock inside out. In a "King of the Castle" world where, "might makes right", "money talks," and "it's not what you know, but who you know", Jesus says, "The way up with God is down!" If you are doing this sermon as an alternative to the usual Palm Sunday texts, you might choose this text to weave together "Passion Sunday" and "Palm Sunday". Jesus comes first for the cross and only later for the crown. He empties himself and God lifts him up. The world values power, fame and wealth while Jesus chooses humility, obedience and death. It doesn't get any more opposite than this! When Palm Sunday does finally come around... the time for his exaltation, Jesus has to even arrange for his own transportation. The crowd that confesses him on Sunday will convict him on Sunday. With the world as our model, the formula is: wealth + power = recognition. With Jesus as our model, the formula is: humility + obedience = exaltation. A Call To Worship (Based on Psalm 118: 19-29) Leader: This is the day that the LORD has made; People: Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Leader: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. People: Let us rejoice and celebrate for Jesus Christ is Lord! Leader: O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, People: For his steadfast love endures forever. Amen! Halleluia! Amen! A Prayer of Dedication As we bring these gifts, O Lord, we so desire to bring all the praise and honor our hearts can contain. With the children of old, we bring our hosannas and with the saints of every age we bring our adoration. Yet, no gift we bring can compare with the amazing grace so freely given to us. Bless these gifts we pray, and give us wisdom to use them in the spreading of Jesus' love. Amen.
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