Palm Sunday, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Palm Sunday, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Isaiah 50:4-9a St. Andrew’s on-the-Hill
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 27:11-54
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
“All glory, laud and honor to thee, Redeemer, King!
To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.”
We begin this day – Palm Sunday – in great glory and triumph.
Today we remember the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a King.
A very large crowd gathered and spread their coats on the road.
Others cut branches from nearby trees to spread before him.
Onlookers pushed in to see what the great commotion was all about.
“Who is this?”
“This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
“Jesus has performed many miracles:
the lame walk,
the blind see,
demons are cast aside,
and even the dead are raised!
“Our hope for freedom has arrived!
It is a new day.
Come and join the party!”
But….
this day which begins with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes a turn.
The tide begins to change.
The crowds which so enthusiastically enter Jerusalem with Jesus
have disappeared
by the end of our Gospel reading.
Joy gives way to silence,
enthusiasm gives way to ambivalence,
courage gives way to fear,
trust gives way to betrayal.
Palm Sunday gives way to Passion Sunday.
My how quickly things change in the face of adversity!
Jesus has just shared supper with the twelve:
his most intimate friends and companions along the way.
As they break bread together, he tells them that one of them will betray him.
“Surely, not I, Lord?”
After supper they take a walk to the Mount of Olives…
and again Jesus says to them,
“You will all become deserters because of me this night.”
But, Jesus, that can’t be true.
We have followed you this far;
we won’t abandon you now.
But Jesus knows that he has hit the point in his ministry where the rubber hits the road…
he is on the way towards betrayal,
condemnation,
and death.
And there is no turning back now.
Even as Jesus throws himself on the ground in the garden and prays,
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.”
He follows with, “if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
Even Jesus would love to bypass the suffering,
but he knows he cannot.
I imagine that each of us would love to bypass the suffering,
but in our wisdom,
knowing that we cannot…
we ask God to walk with us.
In the letter to the Philippians we are encouraged to follow Jesus:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross. “ (Phil 2:5-8)
“Let the same mind be in you…
“Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus….”
As I think about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
it strikes me that it can be very easy to get caught up in the “cause” –
whatever “cause” that may be.
When I was in seminary, I attended some nonviolent protests in downtown Atlanta.
The “cause” was protesting the ordinance that no one could sleep on a park bench.
Obviously, the target was people who were homeless.
If a man in a 3-piece suit decided to take a nap on a park bench,
he would likely remain undisturbed.
But, if a homeless person decided to take a nap on a park bench,
he would likely be arrested and thrown in jail.
It was an unjust law.
So, I attended the protest.
BUT, I did not volunteer to be one of the ones who was arrested and thrown in jail should the police department decide to go that far.
I volunteered to be on the outside “support team.”
While the outside support team was important and necessary,
I felt like one of the deserters!
I would watch Jesus hang,
but only from afar.
As I think of the procession we remember today as Jesus entered Jerusalem,
I am reminded of the movie, Gandhi,
where many bystanders fell in line behind him in his march to the sea.
A contrast to those who deserted Jesus as he was crucified
is the image of those who joined Gandhi in his protests for justice.
Many who gathered to watch Gandhi and who joined in procession behind him
also stood with him and received many blows - even death –
to stand up for issues of justice.
So, today we hear this challenge:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who….humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death.”
It is not easy.
It is, in fact, very hard.
From the earliest time I can remember in my life, it was my tradition to take a palm cross to my grandmother after church every Palm Sunday.
Long before I was born, she was in a car accident, which injured her neck.
She was not able to sit for very long without needing to get up and move around,
so she did not attend church
even though she lived only two blocks from the church she grew up in.
When she died at age 87, my mother and I were cleaning out her house.
We found palm crosses everywhere!
They had been used as bookmarks.
They were hanging on walls.
They were inside drawers.
They were wedged into the frames of mirrors.
Everywhere we looked, there were palm crosses.
I don’t know what they meant for her,
but somehow they were significant.
Some folks here at St. Andrew’s have made palm crosses out of palm fronds.
I invite you to take one home with you this week
and carry it around with you wherever you go.
As we walk our journey this Holy Week,
we are invited to remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
and how we gather in procession behind him.
As we reflect on Jesus’ journey toward the cross,
let us reflect on what or who we are willing to suffer for.
What makes us ache with pain and compassion?
How can we be instruments of reconciliation in our lives and in the world?
For what are we willing to go to bat and suffer the consequences?
Are we willing to stand beside the cross with Jesus?
AMEN.
