Sermon 206 April 13, 2025: Ze 9:9-12; Ph 3:10, 4:1; Jn

As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

12:12-19 “Palm Sunday"

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Back when I was a youngster growing up in LA, heading off  to the beach to ride the waves was a common summertime activity. I was never one to ride surf boards, unlike my two brothers who were quite accomplished surfers. I stuck to the slightly less hazardous body surfing. But no wave was too high!  The higher the better and what a view heading into the shore.  Riding high on the crest of the wave and the water churning below and the beach ahead seemingly tiny and distant. But the end of the ride was the reminder of reality below as you crashed into the sandy shore.

And isn't that a bit like the Palm Sunday celebration? The great high of the crowd gathering around Jesus and accompanying him on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Here is the promised king who will liberate Israel from the Roman occupiers and establish the Kingdom of God that will last forever.  The crowd is jubilant at the prospect. But Jesus's Kingdom, while already present, is not the kingdom the crowd expected. His entire ministry was misunderstood and ultimately a disappointment.

Our 40 day Lenten journey arrives at this weekend respite before we plunge into the transformative experience of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe this Lent you felt a sense of accomplishment, you made at least some progress in your personal spiritual growth. Palm Sunday becomes that welcome bridge that takes you from the arena of personal struggle to a welcome oasis of celebration, first with Martha and Mary at the raising of their brother Lazarus from the dead, and then with the joy of Jesus's welcome by the crowds from Bethany and beyond as he enters Jerusalem with the acclaim: Hosannah in the Highest! Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

But at this moment of celebration we take our joy in what we may have accomplished and connect it to the salvific journey that Christ will now make for us. So the bridge, Palm Sunday, is where the focus changes. The raising of Lazarus is the spark that brought out the crowds. The celebration at Jerusalem was about the anticipation surrounding the prospect of achieving the crowds' goals.  

But Holy Week is different. It is no longer about the crowds' political goals or my efforts to re-orient my life, or at least make some modest improvement in my attitudes and actions towards others or even myself. Now the spotlight is on Jesus and his sacrifice for our salvation, the ultimate source of our transformation. We engage in his paschal journey by accompanying him through the pain and anguish of his arrest, trial, sentencing and execution on the cross. We also notice that, throughout it all, Jesus is the one dispensing grace to those around him: washing the feet of his disciples to teach them, and us, a lesson in humble service, inaugurating the Lord's supper to give us access to him even after he ascends to heaven, offering forgiveness to his executioners and blessing to the repentant thief also dying on a cross next to him, to show us how God's love embraces all people and all circumstances.

This journey of Jesus is also our journey, if we choose to truly immerse ourselves in its unfolding and take to heart the message it is conveying to us. No matter what life presents to us, we have the freedom to choose to engage with it and transform it into blessings. And when we do that, our paschal celebration at the end of Holy Week will be just the first wave of many new resurrection celebrations to flow our way in our life's journey.

Christ is in our midst.