Standing at the Wall--Palm Sunday

Sermon for SMHP, Year C, Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019

First Christian Scripture Reading                                                        Philippians 2:5-11

               ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 19:28-40                       

               ²⁸After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “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. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

          ³²So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.”

          ³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. ³⁶As he rode along, people kept spreading their

cloaks on the road. ³⁷As 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, ³⁸saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”  ³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” ⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

          We begin, as we should this day, with a confession of faith.  Find another person, look them in the eye, and say, “Jesus is Lord.” Do it.

          The earliest confession of the Christian Church is “Jesus is Lord.”  Three simple words.  In Greek just two words, “Kyrios Iejous.” 

          Jesus is Lord.  Such a simple phrase, with so much power.

          It probably seems much simpler to us, now, because we don’t live under “Lords.”  In the early days of Christianity, to say “Jesus is Lord” meant that you valued the Lordship of Jesus Christ above that of the Roman gods, and the representative of the gods on earth who was…? 

          The Emperor.  In 27 BCE, Emperor Octavian took the name Augustus, signifying that he had divine power bestowed upon him by the gods.  You might remember Augustus from about seventeen chapter’s back in Luke’s gospel:  “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus, that all the world should be registered.

          Augustus is the reason that Jesus was born in Nazareth.

          But Jesus is the reason for the season.

          When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, Augustus was no longer Emperor.  It was Emperor Tiberius who was insulted by those who cried out “blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.”

          “Jesus is Lord” is a radical statement.  To bless a “king” riding on a colt, at the time of the Passover, when Pontius Pilate, the governor over Jerusalem, would be riding into town on a huge white stallion, at the head of an imperial procession—that blessing is a confession of faith which rings loudly in the halls of power.

          To say “Jesus is Lord” is to declare that our allegiance is solely to the one who rode on a colt, not a big white horse…to say out loud that our hearts are his, our hands are his, our minds are his.  To declare that we endeavor to have “the same mind” that he has, to borrow Paul’s phrase, written as advice to the people of Phillipi, advice that is every bit as resonant today:  “⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”

          Today we join our minds with his, as we gather, poised for the journey of Holy Week.  There will be much to do and many opportunities to worship together.  But before all that begins, I want to take a couple of minutes to simply follow Paul’s advice.  Let’s join Jesus and the disciples on the Mount of Olives.

          [Slide 1]  Imagine, if you will, what it would have been like to stand atop the Mount, staring across the Kidron Valley to the walls of Jerusalem.  For Jesus, knowing what was to come?  For the disciples, still shouting their praises into a wind which would soon blow hostile?

          So that picture is telephoto.  Here’s the whole view. [Slide 2]  And here’s a picture I didn’t take, but one which still shows the olive trees on the Mount of Olives. [Slide 3] That space is all tombs and graves now.

          [Slide 4]  Let’s just sit here with Jesus for a moment, imagining what he was thinking, and feeling.  Pause for a minute.

          Beyond those walls is judgment. 

          Beyond those walls is the arrogance and treachery of the powerful.

          Beyond those walls is suffering.  And death.

          The crowd of disciples will travers the Kidron Valley with Jesus, shouting their confession of faith:  ““Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”  A confession uttered in the time of Tiberius, which reaches back to the time of Augustus and an angelic announcement on a hillside.  And forward to our time, and the courage still required to say “Jesus is Lord,” when so many others vie for the title.

          It will take courage this week to walk across the valleys and stand in the streets.  To join Jesus in the Garden as he is betrayed. [3 slides]

          It will take plenty of courage to come to Golgotha on Friday, [slide] and to sit at the foot of the cross with the few who remained, while the others slid away. [slide]

          It takes courage to say “Jesus is Lord” today.  It takes courage to make the journey to the garden, the cross, the tomb.  But we have been called to go to those places, to be, literally, marturia—witnesses of Jesus Christ.  So we go.  With the words of St. Paul ringing in our ears, we go. 

         

          ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen.  Hymn #808:  “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song”