Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday “EVERY KNEE” 3/20/05

Ramon Lull, a Christian missionary in North Africa in the 13^th century, was asked how he became a Christian. He replied: “Christ came to me once carrying his cross and tried to place it in my hands saying ‘Carry this for me.’ I pushed him and his cross away. He came a second time, saying again, ‘Carry this for me.’ I refused again. The third time Jesus took his cross and put his cross in my hands without saying a word. What could I do but take it up and carry it off?”

I thought of this story as I contemplated once again the meaning of Palm Sunday. This story reminds me of the perennial problem confronting us once a year as we seek to understand the meaning of this Palm Sunday. It is so easy for us to miss the real power of this parade and head-for-home with the same misunderstandings which motivated the crowds on that day in first century Jerusalem. We can trample the palms of this day into fertilizer for the lilies of Easter morning without taking into consideration the painful and necessary growing process of Holy Week. We can talk and talk about the Cross without ever taking it firmly into our own hands and permitting its meaning to permeate our way of living.

On March 4, 1966, The Evening Standard published a long interview with John Lennon, a member of the rock and roll band, The Beatles. (I feel old, acknowledging the need to identify who John Lennon is!) When the interviewer reached the subject of religion, Lennon said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink…The Beatles are more popular than Jesus now.” Many believers across the world were greatly offended by this statement, with some embarking on a massive campaign to destroy Beatles albums and other related paraphernalia. Was John Lennon correct? Many of us have seen pictures of the crowds when the Beatles got off the airplane in the United States and the film footage of the audience when they appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” People whipped into a frenzy, screaming at the tops of their lungs, crying in hysteria and fainting. This scene is replayed over and over again with each generation. Pick your music or movie star or victorious sports team and watch the crowds go berserk in their presence, crowding along congested sidewalks, encircling motorcades, congregating at airports, and huddled in concert front rows. When was the last time you responded this way in the presence of Jesus?

Such is the scene along the streets of Jerusalem some 20 centuries ago. People shouted hosannas and waved palm branches as Jesus---the hoped for warrior king, the over-thrower of Rome, the savior of the world---rode in on a donkey. If the people had kept silent, then the stones themselves would have shouted. But, did the people kneel? Did they kneel? In Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi, chapter 2: 9-11, we read: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” It’s easy to cheer. It’s much harder to kneel. It is harder to imitate the humility of Christ and to actually follow Jesus. It’s harder to humble ourselves and confess him as our Lord---not only our friend…not only our role model---our Lord. In the immediate moments following this sermon, we will so easily mouth the words: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” These words are so familiar many can actually pronounce them without even a thought!

In our day, Jesus is not the name at which every kneel bends. We do not so much confess Jesus as Lord, but ask him to let us be Lord of all. We do not want to give up our false sense of control. We want to be our own lords, as we ask---or tell---Jesus to support us all the way and bless us everyday. Just look at what occurs when we seek to be in charge! Look around you at the violence and apathy, the greed and deception, the anxiety, inequity, and despair. I was with our daughter in Philadelphia, PA worshiping at Christ Episcopal Church, last Sunday. The Pastor mentioned in his sermon that there have been 17 homicides in their city in just the 7 days! Whether we like it or not…and we do not like it…we cannot do it alone. We cannot do it at all. Jesus is not another celebrity to be cheered. Jesus is Lord or a liar, to be praised or pitied, alone to be worshiped or utterly worthless!

I once read that “one who imitates what is bad always goes beyond his model; while one who imitates what is good always comes up short of it.” Paul calls us to imitate that which is highest and purest, that which is the ultimate example of the god-pleasing life. We are called to imitate Jesus, lift up Jesus, follow Jesus, be like Jesus, so that bending knee and confessing tongue might give glory to God! GLORY! Does your life glorify God? Are your days a living pattern of the life of Jesus? Do others actually meet Jesus through you? If we don’t give Jesus praise, let’s put down the palms! Jesus not only glorified God in the way he died, but also in the way he lived! May we pray that our lives bring glory to God! Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus! AMEN.

Publish by permission only. Contact Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church 937.399.6257