Palm Sunday

Rev. Lind B. Hirst

April 8, 2001

Scripture:  Luke 19:28-40

Phil 2:5-12

 The stage is set.  The drama is about to unfold.  Today it begins.  On that day when he road into Jerusalem,  Jesus began his final journey to the cross.

 Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy week.  It begins with a bang.  Palms and hosannas, an enthusiastic crowd.  Today the people are filled with hope, the Son of David is in their midst.  Peace in heaven they shout.  Glory in the highest heaven!
 Today is a good day for those who follow Christ.  Their king is riding into Jerusalem.  This is what the people were hoping for, praying for, cheering for -a king, a messiah, someone to set them free, free from Roman rule, freed from oppression,  someone to bring about peace in their cities and their villages.  Jesus, the Messiah would restore them - the Jews - to their rightful place as God’s chosen ones.  This is what they believed.  This is what the Messiah was supposed to do.  Restore them economically, politically, religiously.  Things would be different now.  Change was coming.  This is why the crowd is escorting Jesus into the holy city, laying down their cloaks and waving palm branches, shouting Hosanna in the highest.   Today is a good day.

 We, of course, having read the book, having seen the movie,  sung the hymns,  know that things get worse before they get better.  Jesus, being both fully human and fully divine, the Word made flesh, knows this, too.    I suppose that’s why it is said that Jesus at this moment, set his face toward Jerusalem - it paints a picture of both determination and  sadness.  This was something Jesus knew he had to do.  The people were hoping for change in their world - the kind of change that took place on the outside.  Jesus knew that the change the people needed had to take place on the inside.   Change from within -  was what the Jews - was what all the people - needed and Jesus knew that this kind of change would happen only upon a cross.

 And so he went, as the apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Phillipians, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.

 That cross - the old rugged cross as the familiar hymn goes.  During this week, Holy Week, our entire focus is on that cross.  This Thursday - Maundy Thursday we remember the Last Supper, the meal Jesus shared with his disciples where he breaks bread with them and tells them:  This is my body and my blood, given for you.  Remember this.  Remember me.  And then on Good Friday....we re-live the betrayal of Jesus, by Judas, his trial, his sentence, his suffering and humiliation and finally his crucifixion and his death.  And then we are silent for a while, pondering all these things until that joyous moment on Easter morning when we celebrate his resurrection!

 All this week, we eyes, our ears, our hearts are focused on the cross.  What happened there?   And what does it mean for us?

 This is my goal for today, my mission - to try to tell you, to try to explain what happened on the cross.  Never mind that countless theologians have published books and books attempting to explain what happened on the cross, never mind that I only got a B  - it might have even have been a C -in theology in seminary  (I really don’t remember) and therefore I shouldn’t even be attempting this, never mind that my husband laughed at me when I said I was going to explain the cross once and for all this Sunday - compressing hundreds of years of scholarly work on the theory of atonement into three pages and 10 minutes...or less.  This is my mission, my hope, for today.  And if I fail miserably I’ll buy you each a cup of coffee at Carla’s...after Easter.

 I should tell you that this mission of mine was born out of one of our bible studies.  We are reading Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Actually we are trudging through Paul’s letter to the Romans; there is so much in there, so many theological statements and treatises that we have to stop every few verses to come up for air and ask one another, "What did he say? Did you get that?"  Recently,  we’ve been reading about the cross and how Jesus died for our sins so God
 so we  began making little stabs here and there trying to understand what God was doing and thinking and finally someone in our group said, "You know.  I just don’t get it."  And at that moment I wondered to myself, "Do I get it?"  I thought I did, but maybe I didn’t understand as much as I should.  I should know more...thus my quest began.

 So, like anyone on a quest,  I began to read.  I read scripture, books, sermons, I listened to tapes,  I borrowed books from Rich because I’m betting he got a better grade in theology than I did.  He shared with me his thoughts and I read some more.  And after a thorough week or two of research, reading and a lot of prayer, this is what I came up with.

 It begins at the beginning.  In Genesis when, God created the heavens and earth...and God so
 that it was good.  But God wanted more than plants and trees and creeping, crawling things, God wanted to love something...and  be loved back.  God yearned for a people.  So God created humanity and for a brief while...that was good, too.  But the people fell away from God - kept turning to other gods, other things causing God great heart ache and sadness.  God tried again and again to bring the people back -  faithful servants were chosen:  Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Ruth, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.  God gave them a covenant,  gave them the Law - the ten commandments, the Torah.  God said, "I will be your God and you will be my people." This is the covenant that I make with you.

 And God loved the people and sometimes the people would be good and faithful and love God the way God wanted, hoped to be loved.  But after a while the people would forget about or wouldn’t listen  and they would turn away.   God forgave them time and time again for their transgressions, but it became clear, after a while, that humanity had this natural tendency towards sinning - they just couldn’t get away from it.  Left to their own devices the worse could be expected.  So God decided to try something new.

 God would come to the people in the flesh and show them how to live and love.  God would come to the people, to show them a new way of living,  a better way of life - a life filled with goodness and grace. God would come to the people who had estranged themselves from him - and would bring them back...back into a loving relationship with their Creator.

 So God came to them in Jesus Christ - "the Word was made flesh" says the gospel of John.  Jesus taught the people about God, what it meant to love God and love their neighbor.  And some people listened.   Jesus taught about this longing that God had to be one with his people.  He told stories like the prodigal son and the loving father, Stories of forgiveness and grace. It doesn’t matter how far away you are you can always come home, he told them.   But the words and stories weren’t enough.  Not everyone listened.   It soon became apparent that the people needed to experience God’s love and forgiveness in a new and profound way.

 They needed more than words - they needed a demonstration - something they would never forget, an experience that would change their lives completely and forever. So God sent Jesus to the cross.

Martin Copenhaver, a minister in Massachusetts writes of this event:

 When humankind had lavished the worst it could on Jesus, the incarnate God - when all of our betrayals and mockeries were spent, when we left him for dead and simply walked away to resume our lives in the distant lands of our own making - Jesus could have turned away from us or turned the situation around.  He could have avoided suffering and death, but instead he chose to endure it all so that we might finally know the height and depth of God’s love.  By submitting to the cross, Jesus demonstrated just how far God is willing to go to show us how much God cares."

 And while hanging on the cross, Jesus offers one last word of forgiveness on our behalf.  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  And then he died.

 What happened on that cross that day?   The people God had created and yearned for and loved more than life itself,  were forgiven - and reconciled with God in a way they hadn’t been before and would never have to be again.   They were made at one with God - brought back to God’s loving embrace for good.  In that moment they were saved.

 And in that moment we were saved, too.  Because what happened on that cross didn’t just happen to a few followers of Christ, a few people gathered at the foot of the cross, to the people in the city of Jerusalem.  What happened on that cross that day happened to all of us.
 

 Tony Campolla tells a story of an elderly man who was riding on a bus when a young man sat down next to him. They started talking and the conversation turned to religion.  "Are you a Christian?" the young man asked.  "Yes, I am." the older man answered.  "Me, too, the young man said with enthusiasm, "Are you saved?"  "Well, yes I am," the older man replied.  "Me, too!" said the young man. "I was saved two years ago.  When were you saved?"  The older man thought for a moment and said "Well, I don’t know, exactly, I think it was about  2000 years ago."

 When Jesus died on that cross 2000 years ago, he died once and he died for all, says the apostle Paul.   And in that moment - that timeless moment - everything changed.

  In that moment, on that cross,  Jesus laid down his life for his friends , says the gospel of John - he acted in our behalf - taking the punishment we deserve.

 In that moment, on that cross, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions - he died for our sins and somehow our debt was paid and we learned just how much God loves us.

 And in that moment, on that cross, God conquered sin and death and we were saved from our old ways and given a new chance and new life.

 In that moment on that cross, love and forgiveness and grace were poured out on all people and the world was redeemed and a new people was born.
 

We are that new people.

 Because of what happened on that cross, we are  forgiven, loved, reconciled with God, freed from the power of sin, washed clean in the blood of the lamb, made whole, transformed,  redeemed and changed.  Changed not from without but from within.

 Because of what happened on that cross we now have the wherewithal, the ability to love God the way God loves us and love each other as our neighbor and live as God intends for us to live. We have a new covenant - in Christ -  to sustain and nourish us.  And we have the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and strengthen us.  And we are assured of God’s constant and steadfast presence.

 Because of what happened on that cross we are a new people. This is the good news of the gospel, this is the good in Good Friday.
 

And that’s what happened on that cross; in three pages and less than 10 minutes. But don’t just take my word for it.  Keep your eyes, your ears, your hearts focused on the cross this week and find out for yourselves.

 The stage is set.  The drama is unfolding.  Today it begins.  On that day when he road into Jerusalem,  Jesus began his final journey to the cross.