Reflections on “Palms and Passion” Matthew 21: 1-10 and Matthew 27: 11-14; 24-31

This was another collaborative sermon between the Associate Pastor and me.  We have done at least four of these in the 2.5 years I have been here.  They have been well-received by the congregation.  We have developed a pattern where we figure out the talking points, go to our separate corners and write our parts, then come back together and talk through the sermon, which leads to lots of edits and a coming together of certain themes or phrases to ties the sections together.  For me, the work on the sermon does not change much.  In fact, it makes me get it together earlier in the week.  For the Associate Pastor, however, it adds extra work to her week (plus, she has to deal with me more than usual!).

We chose to do a collaborative sermon because the sermon series during Lent has been on rituals, and during the worship, we lifted up two rituals - the waving of palm branches and the stripping of the church.  It seemed to fit well with a collaborative sermon.  

The music was outstanding today, which always makes the sermon and worship better.

I learned that the stripping of the church ritual was also connected to the pattern of "tearing down" the sanctuary after Maundy Thursday to prepare for the Good Friday service.  Somewhere along the way, the act of changing over the sanctuary became ritualized into a formal part of the worship.  I did not use that tidbit of information in this sermon, but will use it at a future date.  

“Palms and Passion”  Sunday, April 14, 2019; Matthew 21: 1-10 and Matthew 27: 11-14; 24-31  Richard Culp and Lisa Patterson; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church

Richard:  Our Scripture readings today are two familiar stories.

Lisa:  First, the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem from the Gospel of Matthew.

Richard:  Then a portion of the passion story also from the Gospel of Matthew.

Lisa:  Listen for God’s Word:  21When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ ⁴This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 
⁵ ‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
   humble, and mounted on a donkey,
     and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ 

Richard: Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” ¹² But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. ¹³ Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” ¹⁴ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

 ⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ 

Richard: So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood;^[k] see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’¹¹The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’

Richard: Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,^[l]and they gathered the whole cohort around him. ²⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

 Move 1:

Lisa:   Did you see the parade? I hope you didn’t miss it. The children in the choir lined up in the narthex and led it into the church. You were up here reading about it, but I got to be in the parade!

Palm/Passion Sunday includes one of our favorite rituals. We hold our palms high and wave them to honor Jesus, our king.  Today we get to use our outside voices, inside, and hold a parade right down the middle of the church on the red carpet. The kids are better at all of this than the adults, but we have the opportunity to enjoy the parade just as much as the children do.

AS we read the story about the shouting and the joy, we try to feel that same excitement today when we wave the palms and have the parade. Today, we want to be a part of this parade.

Richard:  Having Palm Sunday’s liturgy split with passion Sunday has been a suggestion for quite a few years.  I always thought it was kind of silly, to tell you the truth.  It seemed redundant to me to have the stripping of the church and a passion theme on Palm Sunday when Good Friday was just a few days away.

But, I have shifted in my thinking for two reasons.  One, not everyone gets back to church for the Good Friday Tenebrae service with its darkness, betrayal, and story of the brutal crucifixion.  If we move from the joyous waving of palm branches and shouts of hosanna directly to the joyous celebration of resurrection, we have lost some sense of how awful, how sorrowful, how hopeless Christ’s death on the cross was, which also means we miss some of the power of God’s life-transforming, world-altering act of resurrection.

Also, the swift transition from waving palms to stripping the church reflects in some ways how quickly the disciples shifted in their allegiance.  One minute they are sharing the Passover supper with Jesus; just a few minutes later they are literally (and figuratively) in the dark at the Garden of Gethsemane; and in just a few hours, Peter is denying Christ three times. 

In our worship today, a litany and hymn abruptly shift our focus from the ritual of waving palm branches and shouting hosanna to darkness and shouts of “Crucify him.”  A reminder of how fleeting our faith can be and how easily we turn from Christ.

Move 2:

Lisa (move to piano side at tip of carpet):  The children started asking Jannette Hindman about waving the palms weeks ago. They were full of anticipation and excitement because they knew all about the ritual of waving palms and having a parade. They knew they would be leaders today in worship waving the palms, leading the parade, and singing.

I love this day because we don’t hold back showing our joy for fear of being too loud or exuberant. (hard pause)

That is hard for me.

Although as good Presbyterians, you weren’t as exuberant as you could have been!

We learned to use our inside voices a long, long time ago.

I want to be just as excited. I know Holy Week is coming, but I don’t want to lose the joy and energy of this moment, because Jesus is a part of this parade – today’s parade in Denton, Texas. I want us to wave our palms and show Jesus that we are all in – that his people are ready to praise, shout, and join the parade every year. Today, this moment, is the time to memorize and shout the words, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

Richard – In a little while, we will engage in the ritual of stripping the church.  As we sing the final hymn, some of the youth will come forward, tip over the candlestick holders, tilt the baptismal font, and cover the communion Table and font with black.  It symbolizes the darkness of betrayal and death that will soon arrive

The ritual of stripping the church claims its name from the moment when the soldiers humiliated Jesus by stripping him of his clothes and putting a robe on him and a crown of thorns on his head. Later, they strip him of his robe and put his clothes back on him.  In their actions, the point is made – the soldiers can do what they want with Jesus.  He chooses to give up his power in the moment.  The helplessness of Jesus on full display as the soldiers strip him of his clothes and his dignity and lord their earthly power over him. 

When you hear this story, perhaps your recognize in yourself the soldiers who help strip Jesus; or maybe you see yourself more like Peter, who denies he even knows Christ;  or perhaps you imagine yourself more like the other disciples who disappear from sight at this point in the story.  Wherever you find yourself in the story, the darkness prevails and reminds each of us that the whole world turned against Christ that night.

On Good Friday we lay claim to the darkness of the crucifixion, but in stripping the church today we provide a visual symbol of the dark moment when Jesus gave up his power and submitted to the sin and power of the world; the dark moment that moves us toward the cross.

Move 3:

Lisa (move to chancel pulpit side):   

When the people celebrated Christ’s entry into Jerusalem thousands of years ago, they get it right. Jesus sent the disciples on a mission to get when he needed, and they didn’t hesitate. They handed over their fear, their need to control, their hesitancy to act. They went and got the donkey and colt and brought them to Jesus.

The people get it right when, in joy and excitement, they hand over their coats, throwing them on the donkey and then on the ground for Jesus, their king.

The people get it right when they waved branches, spread them on the road and shouted, “Hosanna” “Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

They get it right when they answered who is he by saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

I think we can get it right, too, when we won’t be silent. We get it right when we stand with Jesus who is standing for those on the margins, with no power, no privilege, and no voice. We get it right when we use our voices to praise Jesus and to speak for the people who can’t shout because of their fear and unwillingness to draw attention to themselves.

The people get it right so many years ago when they let their voices of joy be heard throughout the city witnessing to the one who rode in on a donkey. The parade was loud, the people unrestrained in their joy. The parade was for everyone! Still a reason to shout with exuberance.

Richard:  Jesus gets it right when he submits to the humiliation of the world.  By getting it right, I mean he lives out his calling as God’s way of transforming the world by offering a new way of understanding power – the way of love that responds with vulnerability and peace, instead of reacting with violence and bloodshed.

Jesus gets it right when his actions set the stage for both crucifixion and resurrection.  He knows that to discover the power of resurrection, there first has to be a death. And he accepts that he is the one who must die.

We get it right when we hear the crowds shouting “crucify him, crucify” and recognize our complicity in the sins of the world instead of pointing out all those others who turned away from Jesus.  If we only blame others, we never recognize our need to turn back to God and change our ways. 

We get it right when we look to the darkness of the world and see Christ there with us, calling us to join him in turning darkness into light.  Our world knows the darkness; we know the power of Christ; our calling is to be part of God’s light shining in the darkness.

We get it right when we find ourselves in the midst of the darkness and still hope for what is to come next. 

Conclusion:

Lisa:  Jesus asks us to hand over our hesitancy to follow because we need to follow.

Richard:  When we see the darkness, we seek God’s forgiveness and look for the God who will transform the darkness.