Palm Sunday 2016

This past Sunday was, of course, Palm Sunday.  The Scripture which I chose to preach over from the Lectionary was Luke 19:28-40; the "Triumphant Entry" into Jerusalem.  This was one of my longest sermons here at Woodlawn Christian and was honestly a bit rambling.  I've attached the video of the sermon for those that wish to take a listen.  Before I go any further, let's take a look at the Scripture itself...

Luke 19:28-40 New Revised Standard Version

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the king

    who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

    and glory in the highest heaven!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Jesus has entered Jerusalem from the East on this first Palm Sunday, as Borg and Crossan point out in their wonderful book "The Last Week", Pontius Pilate would have entered the city in or around the same time period from the West side of Jerusalem.  One is a peasant procession and the other a Roman military parade.  One is a symbol of peace and grace, the other a display of power and might... where might makes right and the end justifies the means, the means of which is violence and power. 

Luke chooses to mention the 'multitude of the disciples' in his version of the entry into Jerusalem.  Let's think just a moment about those 'disciples'.  Among this motley and varied group we have a tax collector, some fisherman, and at least, one Zealot (personally I believe that there are two Zealots, those being Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot).

We often think of Jesus' message as being favored by the disadvantaged and down-trodden.  But, this isn't always the case, if we look at Lazarus and his two sisters we find a family that must have had some means available to them.  The perfume that Mary anoints Christ with is estimated at a value in today's dollars of $12,000 or more, this would seem to indicate some degree of wealth that would be beyond what we normally think of for Jesus' closest followers.  Then let us remember Joseph of Arimathea who provided a brand new tomb to be used for Jesus' body, along with Nicodemus who brought along close to one hundred pounds of spices to anoint the body.  I know that spices aren't cheap in today's world and I can't imagine them being any more of a bargain in the first century....What I'm driving for is that Jesus' following was much, much more diverse than we are used to considering.

We live in a world with a great deal of diversity in who we are and how we interpret Christ's message.  But, if we look at the original disciples and followers of Christ we see just as diverse of a group.  They literally came from every walk of life, with various political beliefs, different economic situations, different sexes, and different stages in their lifetimes.  This Christ of ours had something for them all and just the same he has something for all of us today.

One of the things that I always liked about the American Baptist denomination and which I also find equally among the Disciples of Christ is this steadfast belief in the autonomy of individual congregations and individual believers.  I absolutely love it that we can have a fundamentalist sitting in the same pew as the most liberal christian worshiping together on a Sunday morning.  This diversity makes us stronger and wiser.

Stronger and wiser as long as we remain respectful of each others diversity and are willing to be in dialogue with each other.  One of my own quotes is that "I'll never learn anything if I only talk to people I agree with".

God's blessings to you all and have a wonderful Holy Week!

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Grace & Love,

Roy