Sermon Matthew 21:1-11
April 9, 2017 Palm Sunday
Wave the Palms
Our anthem begins with Wave the Palms and throw the branches
at his feet, Wave the Palms.
Palm Sunday is our chance to shout and sing and dance in
church.
It is our loudest Sunday of the year.
No other Sunday in our church calendar calls for as much festivity
as this one.
So, let us get together and begin our celebration, our joy,
and our party!
Let’s see what do we need for a parade and for a
celebration?
Oh, I know we need noise makers,
and we need decorations,
and we need lots of color,
and we need a reason to celebrate.
For two years now our churches have marched in the St
Patrick’s Day parade as the Makemie Marchers. It has been our purpose to march
for fun. We like being part of the parade and we like being together to
celebrate the day with the other parade goers.
We also march to let others know about us.We want people to know about our church and to join in the
fun we have together. Think about what those things are for you, should someone
ask you. 😊
There is something very special about a parade.
It has a special energy that seems to build among those in
the parade and with the parade watchers. It begins slowly and then as the event
gets closer the excitement grows and the enthusiasm is contagious! And everywhere you look you see a smile on people’s faces.
And isn’t that what we hope for, strive for, live for?
We seek a life of smiles and joy.
We seek a life where trouble does not exist.
We seek a life where peace is at every turn,
where the hungry are fed,
where disease is a myth,
where war and hatred are long gone,
and the world is in full bloom.
That’s why we have this Sunday of celebration.
So, we do not forget what we hope for.
When around the world children are dying a horrible death
and in our own neighborhood houses are being robbed,
and where disease is at our doorstep,
and discord is in our homes-
we need a moment like this to find our hope again.
Some might get angry at us for taking a day to rejoice.
Some might say to us, “but there are poor around us how can
we pause and shout, sing and dance?”
And our response is to say, “we have not forgotten the
suffering that surrounds us. The suffering is here and we are well aware.” “Yet, this day is for us to receive our strength for the journey of the week ahead. That is
why we wave palms today.”
You see, if we fully invest
ourselves in the events of Holy Week
we cannot go through it unless we
have gained the strength
that comes from the rejoicing
together today.
Today, we recall the story of Jesus entering into Jerusalem
on a donkey.
The crowds were crying out to him, “Save Us!” They were
recalling the words of the prophet Zechariah. Jesus was to be the new king!
The crowds were filled with hope
for a new beginning,
a new way of life,
one without oppression.
They were seeking freedom from the realities of the
harshness of their lives.
Jesus was the one to make that happen.
As we raise our voices in song today, we still believe that.
Jesus is the one who must
save,
who must bring peace to all.
Jesus is the one who has filled our hearts with promise and
with hope
and today we expect those
dreams to become real!
But, what about tomorrow,
when the streets
have been
swept clean from all the
confetti and the
banners?
Will we still be
chasing
after Jesus with
hope?
Or will the
reality of
his journey
through Jerusalem
dash our dreams
and
our expectations
of who he really is?
Why didn’t Jesus accept a
political crown and fix the problems and heal everyone?
Why did Jesus let things keep
happening?
Why didn’t Jesus fight?
Why didn’t Jesus do what I
expected him to do?
Isn’t he my Lord and shouldn’t he fulfill what I believe are his promises?
This is where the faith of the crowd suffered. When Jesus no
longer acted like the king they expected,
they lost hope and they not only turned away but turned against him.
Maybe, just maybe, we
do that to Jesus too?
When Jesus doesn’t get the job done that I expect: Jesus,
you were supposed to get my best friend the job of her dreams and you didn’t do
that. I prayed every day, three times a day, and I gave you plenty of advance
notice of when she would be interviewing, and you blew it Jesus!
I’m done!
I’m walking away from
this believing in Jesus stuff!
I’m walking away from
this church stuff!
It’s all fake!
None of it is real!
How can anybody believe
that junk anyway?
We cannot remake Jesus into the God
we want him to be.
We can only share the news of the God he is.
He is not a super star. He is not an earthly
king.
He is not a money tree. He is not a magic man.
He is not a genie in a
bottle or a fairy godmother fulfilling all our wishes.
And if this is the
Jesus to whom we wave our palms today,
then we will be like the crowd and we
will turn away from him and also against him tomorrow.
Today, we wave the palms and lay the branches at his feet
and we see his face.
Today we recognize the
Jesus who has saved us and has given
us new life. Today we feel his touch as he reaches out to us and calls our
name. We hear him say we belong. We hear him say we are his children. We are
claimed as children of God and he does not let us go-ever! Today we recognize
his voice and at the sound of his
voice we believe.
We believe because somewhere along the path of our life the miracle of
faith has been born.
We believe because even though the one we call Lord and
Savior
goes down to the grave, we witness his rising in the end.
We believe because we know that even if we
go down to the grave, we too will rise.
We believe this because this is our hope and this is
our promise.
The one whom God sent to walk this world walks with us
today. Friends, his words are true-“My peace I leave you, my peace I give you…do
not let your hearts be troubled, do not let them be afraid.” “I am with you always
even unto the end of the age.”
We wave the palms and we celebrate for today we rejoice in
our king
and tomorrow we will continue to sing.
Hosanna, Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord! Amen.
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