Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is an interesting day. It is a day where we attempt to enter into the crowds and we make our answer to the invitation of this day. Jesus is hailed by the crowds, who wave their palms and proclaim allegiance to the king.
Everyone is excited —those who followed him into Jerusalem singing his praises were surely involved in the excitement of the moment. They were aware of his ministry and no doubt liked him. They showed up on this day to prove their interest and involvement. According to the Gospel of Luke which we heard this morning during the Liturgy of the Palms — one of them lent him a colt to ride on as he entered Jerusalem. Echoing the words of the heavenly host at Jesus’ birth, they all proclaimed, “Glory in the highest heaven,” and spread their cloaks before him. They were involved and seemingly had some understanding that Jesus was different.
But like all of us here today they likely also had their responsibilities and preoccupations. What might have been a fun outing one day —welcoming the latest prophet into town— led quickly enough to the duties and errands of the next day and beyond. By the time Good Friday had rolled around, no one was left to lay down branches or cloaks for Jesus, much less chant Hosanna before him. All, including his disciples, had abandoned him.
They, like us today, had a choice to make and they made it.
This is holy week — many of us will go home today and not darken the door of a spiritual encounter until Easter day.
Verse 12 of Psalm 31, our Psalm for today says, “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.”
I wonder if Jesus recalled this Psalm in his mind as he went through this week.
“I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.” (Psalm 31: 12) That is exactly what the chief priests and scribes wanted. The Gospel of Mark tells us, “The chief priest and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’”
They could read the crowd. They wanted Jesus to be forgotten — to get rid of him in secret so that this new way of being — this gospel of love and forgiveness and acceptance of those who were different — this new radical way of being — the way that doesn’t fight back — but instead reaches out and restores a slaves ear that had been sliced off — the way that says, “No more of this!” No more of this jockeying for position, no more violence, no more one upping each other. No more. No more. No more.
They wanted this new way of being to go away. Let us go back to the way we were — the way we are comfortable with.
Everyone would be better off, safer, if Jesus just simply went away —forgotten.
And that is sort of the question we are being asked today. When you walk out the doors today, will you forget Jesus? Will the empire with its noise and news crowd your thoughts and your minds for the next seven days until you return for Easter with its eggs and family, and special clothes, or will you spend this week walking with Jesus to Calvary?
Jesus knew the psalms. He spoke and prayed the psalms in his teaching. It was the words of a psalm that he cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That question comes from Psalm 22.
I wonder if he shared in the words of the psalmist this week, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorry, and also my throat and my belly.” “My life is wasted with grief.” Psalm 31: 9-10
You have a choice this week. You can go home today and forget about the passion until next Sunday. Or you can walk and spend time reflecting about the road to Calvary— you can be with Jesus on Good Friday and reflect on what Jesus did to bring salvation to you. You can move into and truly attempt to experience and understand that ‘surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases… that he was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our inquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” (Isaiah 52:13ff-53:12)
We are all familiar and have friends who are “spiritual but not religious” — whatever that is supposed to mean. We all have friends who are enlightened and have no belief in God — because of past hurts or disappointments or because they find much fault with organized religion — or they just don’t believe. But for us sitting here — this is our week.
We profess to believe in a God who came to earth in the form of man, lived as one of us, was crucified and was buried and rose again on the third day, in order that you and I may have eternal life. This is the week, the event that matters. Our lives should reflect the it matters.
Don’t rush through this week. Move through it and experience it day by day as Jesus did. The resurrection is coming, but before we get there — we have the cross. Don’t just jump to next Sunday.
There was much that happened in between.
“I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.” Our task this week is to prove that bit of scripture false, to make it wrong. Let’s not forget and rush to resurrection joy.
Philippians this week tells us Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. At the beginning of passage Paul exhorts the Philippians to “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” Five times in this letter Paul tells them to have the same mind, to be of the same mind, to be of one mind. The four other passages and today’s reading use the verb phroneo, “mind”, which generally means thinking related to action—setting ones’ mind to something. The verb occurs ten times in Philippians. It is a skill that can be developed. Thinking related to action.
Paul doesn’t want the Philippians or think the Philippians should all have identical thoughts when he tells them to have the same mind. He wants them to embody and be guided by the same kind of decision-making that leads one into the ways of Jesus, that their thinking and how they make decisions are based on a similar mindset. A mindset that opens one up to God’s life-giving power that permeates all of creation. He wants them to have the same motivations, to draw from the same life- force.
Have the same mindset, connect it to the right skillset, so that God can move you forward for the good of others. Having the same mind of Christ does not mean having the same thoughts as Christ, but the same intentions, the same acceptance of God’s call. It means following Jesus’ mindset in Gethesmane: “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22: 41-42).
Today we begin Holy week. How is your phroneo - (your mind - your thinking related to action doing?)
Think about your mindset this week. Think about how your mindset influences who you are and what you do, and how related do you think your mindset is to the mindset of Christ?
Don’t let Christ be, in the word of the psalmist, forgotten.
Be as verse 14 -“But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. I have said, “You are my God.” (Psalm 31:14)
The Resurrection is coming. But it is not here yet. Let’s wave our palms, shout our glories, reflect on our mindsets. Let us not forget.
Amen.
Everyone is excited —those who followed him into Jerusalem singing his praises were surely involved in the excitement of the moment. They were aware of his ministry and no doubt liked him. They showed up on this day to prove their interest and involvement. According to the Gospel of Luke which we heard this morning during the Liturgy of the Palms — one of them lent him a colt to ride on as he entered Jerusalem. Echoing the words of the heavenly host at Jesus’ birth, they all proclaimed, “Glory in the highest heaven,” and spread their cloaks before him. They were involved and seemingly had some understanding that Jesus was different.
But like all of us here today they likely also had their responsibilities and preoccupations. What might have been a fun outing one day —welcoming the latest prophet into town— led quickly enough to the duties and errands of the next day and beyond. By the time Good Friday had rolled around, no one was left to lay down branches or cloaks for Jesus, much less chant Hosanna before him. All, including his disciples, had abandoned him.
They, like us today, had a choice to make and they made it.
This is holy week — many of us will go home today and not darken the door of a spiritual encounter until Easter day.
Verse 12 of Psalm 31, our Psalm for today says, “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.”
I wonder if Jesus recalled this Psalm in his mind as he went through this week.
“I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.” (Psalm 31: 12) That is exactly what the chief priests and scribes wanted. The Gospel of Mark tells us, “The chief priest and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’”
They could read the crowd. They wanted Jesus to be forgotten — to get rid of him in secret so that this new way of being — this gospel of love and forgiveness and acceptance of those who were different — this new radical way of being — the way that doesn’t fight back — but instead reaches out and restores a slaves ear that had been sliced off — the way that says, “No more of this!” No more of this jockeying for position, no more violence, no more one upping each other. No more. No more. No more.
They wanted this new way of being to go away. Let us go back to the way we were — the way we are comfortable with.
Everyone would be better off, safer, if Jesus just simply went away —forgotten.
And that is sort of the question we are being asked today. When you walk out the doors today, will you forget Jesus? Will the empire with its noise and news crowd your thoughts and your minds for the next seven days until you return for Easter with its eggs and family, and special clothes, or will you spend this week walking with Jesus to Calvary?
Jesus knew the psalms. He spoke and prayed the psalms in his teaching. It was the words of a psalm that he cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That question comes from Psalm 22.
I wonder if he shared in the words of the psalmist this week, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with sorry, and also my throat and my belly.” “My life is wasted with grief.” Psalm 31: 9-10
You have a choice this week. You can go home today and forget about the passion until next Sunday. Or you can walk and spend time reflecting about the road to Calvary— you can be with Jesus on Good Friday and reflect on what Jesus did to bring salvation to you. You can move into and truly attempt to experience and understand that ‘surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases… that he was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our inquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” (Isaiah 52:13ff-53:12)
We are all familiar and have friends who are “spiritual but not religious” — whatever that is supposed to mean. We all have friends who are enlightened and have no belief in God — because of past hurts or disappointments or because they find much fault with organized religion — or they just don’t believe. But for us sitting here — this is our week.
We profess to believe in a God who came to earth in the form of man, lived as one of us, was crucified and was buried and rose again on the third day, in order that you and I may have eternal life. This is the week, the event that matters. Our lives should reflect the it matters.
Don’t rush through this week. Move through it and experience it day by day as Jesus did. The resurrection is coming, but before we get there — we have the cross. Don’t just jump to next Sunday.
There was much that happened in between.
“I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind.” Our task this week is to prove that bit of scripture false, to make it wrong. Let’s not forget and rush to resurrection joy.
Philippians this week tells us Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. At the beginning of passage Paul exhorts the Philippians to “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” Five times in this letter Paul tells them to have the same mind, to be of the same mind, to be of one mind. The four other passages and today’s reading use the verb phroneo, “mind”, which generally means thinking related to action—setting ones’ mind to something. The verb occurs ten times in Philippians. It is a skill that can be developed. Thinking related to action.
Paul doesn’t want the Philippians or think the Philippians should all have identical thoughts when he tells them to have the same mind. He wants them to embody and be guided by the same kind of decision-making that leads one into the ways of Jesus, that their thinking and how they make decisions are based on a similar mindset. A mindset that opens one up to God’s life-giving power that permeates all of creation. He wants them to have the same motivations, to draw from the same life- force.
Have the same mindset, connect it to the right skillset, so that God can move you forward for the good of others. Having the same mind of Christ does not mean having the same thoughts as Christ, but the same intentions, the same acceptance of God’s call. It means following Jesus’ mindset in Gethesmane: “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22: 41-42).
Today we begin Holy week. How is your phroneo - (your mind - your thinking related to action doing?)
Think about your mindset this week. Think about how your mindset influences who you are and what you do, and how related do you think your mindset is to the mindset of Christ?
Don’t let Christ be, in the word of the psalmist, forgotten.
Be as verse 14 -“But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord. I have said, “You are my God.” (Psalm 31:14)
The Resurrection is coming. But it is not here yet. Let’s wave our palms, shout our glories, reflect on our mindsets. Let us not forget.
Amen.