Video of service
Worship Booklet
Sermon by Rev. Renee LiaBraaten
Are you ready for a few questions?
How many of you have ever participated in a protest?
Oh, good, because you will be able to answer the next question: What does it feel like to be a part of a protest?
Why do people protest? What sorts of things motivate a person to take part in a protest?
Many, many moons ago, back when I was a student in seminary, our preaching professor would tell us, over and over again, that we were all trying to say way too much in our sermons. We were going off in too many different directions. He said, “Just pick one thing to focus on. Make three points about that one thing. And then, Amen. That’s it. You’re done.”
Worship Booklet
Sermon by Rev. Renee LiaBraaten
Are you ready for a few questions?
How many of you have ever participated in a protest?
Oh, good, because you will be able to answer the next question: What does it feel like to be a part of a protest?
Why do people protest? What sorts of things motivate a person to take part in a protest?
Many, many moons ago, back when I was a student in seminary, our preaching professor would tell us, over and over again, that we were all trying to say way too much in our sermons. We were going off in too many different directions. He said, “Just pick one thing to focus on. Make three points about that one thing. And then, Amen. That’s it. You’re done.”
In the name of the God of all creation,
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And in the power of God, made known in the Spirit. Amen.
The God alive in each of us as God was alive in Jesus,
And in the power of God, made known in the Spirit. Amen.
FULL SERMON
Are you ready for a few questions?
How many of you have ever participated in a protest?
Oh, good, because you will be able to answer the next question: What does it feel like to be a part of a protest?
Why do people protest? What sorts of things motivate a person to take part in a protest?
Many, many moons ago, back when I was a student in seminary, our preaching professor would tell us, over and over again, that we were all trying to say way too much in our sermons. We were going off in too many different directions. He said, “Just pick one thing to focus on. Make three points about that one thing. And then, Amen. That’s it. You’re done.”
Well, I have had the hardest time trying to focus this sermon on one thing. I mean, it’s Palm Sunday AND Passion Sunday. That’s two things right off the bat! And there were all those readings…SO much food for thought…
One thing? Seriously? Well…let’s give it a try…
Today, Christians all around the world are re-enacting the Procession of Palms, just like we did. And many Christians will leave church today carrying a palm branch. This ritual has been going on for centuries. And, over the centuries, we have come to imagine this procession as a sort of happy parade with children laughing and people shouting praise to King Jesus.
But this procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
It was a peaceful protest, led by the Prince of Peace, who had been planning and preparing for this confrontation with the “powers that be” since the very beginning of his public ministry. Remember the words he chose for his first sermon at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of ancient prophesies about God’s promise to save the world through a Messiah. This procession, this march into Jerusalem, is part of the ongoing fulfilment of those prophecies.
Jesus orchestrated the details of this protest. He instructed his disciples to go into the village and bring him a colt that had never been ridden. Jesus made sure that the Jewish people, who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Celebration of the Passover, would recognize his entrance into the holy city as the fulfilment of the very well-known prophecy written in Zechariah:
“Rejoice, people of Jerusalem. Shout for joy! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and just, and he saves. He is humble and riding on the colt of a donkey.”
This procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
And the protestors, the followers of Jesus, who were waving palm branches and lining the road with their coats were not shouting, “Hallelujah!” No. They were shouting, “Hosanna!” which is a Hebrew word that means “Save us! Please save us!”
What were they begging Jesus to save them from? We need to remember that Jesus, and all the Jews who had traveled to Jerusalem for this festival, were living under the oppression and injustices of the Roman Empire. They wanted to be saved from this brutal regime.
They had seen or heard about the miracles that Jesus had performed—culminating in raising Lazarus from the dead. They were convinced that this Jesus was the long-anticipated, long-awaited Messiah, who was entering Jerusalem that day to liberate them from their bondage under the Romans.
They were cheering Jesus on and crying out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” But, here’s the problem: Jesus was not the King. Ceasar was the King. And that is why the Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to order his followers to stop calling him the King. They knew that words like that could stir things up and turn the festival into a riot. And that would not be good.
You see, there was another procession entering Jerusalem that day through a gate on the other side of town. Listen to this description written by the church historians, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crosson:
"Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. . . One a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial calvary and soldiers, sent to make sure the Jews caused no trouble for the Roman rulers…Jesus' procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate's procession proclaimed the power of the empire."
Violence versus Vulnerability. Empire versus Empathy. Domination versus Liberation. The Power of Fear versus The Power of Faith.
When it comes to the human desire to dominate and oppress and lord it over others, isn’t it shocking how little humanity have evolved in 2,000 years?
This procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
And Jesus was leading it. Jesus had set his face to Jerusalem. He entered the city with deliberation, intention, courage and resolve. And this noisy procession set in motion the events that would lead to Jesus’ death.
However, Jesus makes one thing very clear: his life was not taken from him. From the beginning to the end of this passion story, Jesus was a willing participant, refusing to be rescued or to resort to violence. Jesus was following the call of God in his life. Even at the moment of his death, Jesus was living out his identity as God’s beloved son…his last words were a prayer of trust and obedience: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
I love the way Pastor Jan Richardson, an artist, writer and Methodist pastor sums it up: “While Jesus’ death is in many ways tragic, it is no accident. Rather, Jesus follows this road to express God’s complete solidarity with us in all things, including the fear and experience of death. He follows this road to demonstrate that God’s love is stronger than hate and that God’s life is stronger than death. Jesus does not die to make it possible for God to forgive us, but rather to show us that God already has forgiven us because God loves us.”
Jesus was willing to go through all of this for us—for all humanity—to demonstrate God’s unconditional love…to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that we belong to God and that nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Now, it may seem like the protest was a colossal flop. That it didn’t make any difference. Jesus did not save the Jewish people from the oppressive Roman regime, as his followers had expected and hoped. But that was never the point. That is not what Jesus was sent to do. The salvation God was bringing about was not for one group of people in one period of history. It was for all people and for all time. I was not based on the power of politics, but on the power of love.
Jesus came to confront the violence of all unjust social, political and religious systems. He did this by willingly becoming the victim of these systems.
He exposed the evil of violence with his nonviolence.
He exposed the human tendency to capitulate and cooperate with these unjust systems and he offered God’s forgiveness.
He exposed the suffering that results from this complicity and offered God’s compassion and healing.
He exposed the fickleness and hate in the human heart and offered God’s steadfast love.
So…what does all this mean for us today? I think it can be summed up in a small phrase that is sandwiched in between two verses from the dramatic reading of the passion that we heard earlier. Listen to these verses one more time:
“But the crowd kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that Jesus should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted.”
The voices of the crowd prevailed. The voices of the crowd are still prevailing here in our country and all around the world today, aren’t they? The voices of the crowd make a difference.
And that brings us to the “one thing” we need to focus on today. (I know it took a while for us to get here, but “better late than never,” right?) On this particular Palm / Passion Sunday, the one thing to remember is this: God needs our voices. God needs your voice. And God needs my voice. God needs us to join with Christians and people of faith around the world to form a great “CROWD of witnesses.”
We need to gather a crowd whose voices speak up for the things that matter to God—things like protecting the vulnerable, celebrating diversity, sharing what we have, treating all people with respect, being fair, working for peace, telling the truth, and including everyone in God’s loving embrace.
Today, God is calling us to raise our voices-- to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever form it takes. We cannot choose the path of silence and inaction. We cannot yield to despair, throwing up our hands in frustration, and believing the lie that there is nothing we can do.
We are the beloved children of God in this time and place, and there is a lot we can do as a parish and as individuals. The Spirit of God lives in us and empowers each of us to embody God’s love in our daily interactions with people, in our community service and in our public advocacy. We aren’t all called to do the same thing, but we are each called to do something…to do this “one thing.”
We can become the crowd of witnesses.
We can make our voices heard.
We can speak up for those who don’t have a voice.
We can stand up for the things that lead to the well-being of all people and the healing of this fragile planet. Together, with God’s help, our voices can become the voices that prevail.
Amen.
Are you ready for a few questions?
How many of you have ever participated in a protest?
Oh, good, because you will be able to answer the next question: What does it feel like to be a part of a protest?
Why do people protest? What sorts of things motivate a person to take part in a protest?
Many, many moons ago, back when I was a student in seminary, our preaching professor would tell us, over and over again, that we were all trying to say way too much in our sermons. We were going off in too many different directions. He said, “Just pick one thing to focus on. Make three points about that one thing. And then, Amen. That’s it. You’re done.”
Well, I have had the hardest time trying to focus this sermon on one thing. I mean, it’s Palm Sunday AND Passion Sunday. That’s two things right off the bat! And there were all those readings…SO much food for thought…
One thing? Seriously? Well…let’s give it a try…
Today, Christians all around the world are re-enacting the Procession of Palms, just like we did. And many Christians will leave church today carrying a palm branch. This ritual has been going on for centuries. And, over the centuries, we have come to imagine this procession as a sort of happy parade with children laughing and people shouting praise to King Jesus.
But this procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
It was a peaceful protest, led by the Prince of Peace, who had been planning and preparing for this confrontation with the “powers that be” since the very beginning of his public ministry. Remember the words he chose for his first sermon at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of ancient prophesies about God’s promise to save the world through a Messiah. This procession, this march into Jerusalem, is part of the ongoing fulfilment of those prophecies.
Jesus orchestrated the details of this protest. He instructed his disciples to go into the village and bring him a colt that had never been ridden. Jesus made sure that the Jewish people, who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Celebration of the Passover, would recognize his entrance into the holy city as the fulfilment of the very well-known prophecy written in Zechariah:
“Rejoice, people of Jerusalem. Shout for joy! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and just, and he saves. He is humble and riding on the colt of a donkey.”
This procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
And the protestors, the followers of Jesus, who were waving palm branches and lining the road with their coats were not shouting, “Hallelujah!” No. They were shouting, “Hosanna!” which is a Hebrew word that means “Save us! Please save us!”
What were they begging Jesus to save them from? We need to remember that Jesus, and all the Jews who had traveled to Jerusalem for this festival, were living under the oppression and injustices of the Roman Empire. They wanted to be saved from this brutal regime.
They had seen or heard about the miracles that Jesus had performed—culminating in raising Lazarus from the dead. They were convinced that this Jesus was the long-anticipated, long-awaited Messiah, who was entering Jerusalem that day to liberate them from their bondage under the Romans.
They were cheering Jesus on and crying out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” But, here’s the problem: Jesus was not the King. Ceasar was the King. And that is why the Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to order his followers to stop calling him the King. They knew that words like that could stir things up and turn the festival into a riot. And that would not be good.
You see, there was another procession entering Jerusalem that day through a gate on the other side of town. Listen to this description written by the church historians, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crosson:
"Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30. . . One a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial calvary and soldiers, sent to make sure the Jews caused no trouble for the Roman rulers…Jesus' procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate's procession proclaimed the power of the empire."
Violence versus Vulnerability. Empire versus Empathy. Domination versus Liberation. The Power of Fear versus The Power of Faith.
When it comes to the human desire to dominate and oppress and lord it over others, isn’t it shocking how little humanity have evolved in 2,000 years?
This procession was not a parade. It was a protest.
And Jesus was leading it. Jesus had set his face to Jerusalem. He entered the city with deliberation, intention, courage and resolve. And this noisy procession set in motion the events that would lead to Jesus’ death.
However, Jesus makes one thing very clear: his life was not taken from him. From the beginning to the end of this passion story, Jesus was a willing participant, refusing to be rescued or to resort to violence. Jesus was following the call of God in his life. Even at the moment of his death, Jesus was living out his identity as God’s beloved son…his last words were a prayer of trust and obedience: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
I love the way Pastor Jan Richardson, an artist, writer and Methodist pastor sums it up: “While Jesus’ death is in many ways tragic, it is no accident. Rather, Jesus follows this road to express God’s complete solidarity with us in all things, including the fear and experience of death. He follows this road to demonstrate that God’s love is stronger than hate and that God’s life is stronger than death. Jesus does not die to make it possible for God to forgive us, but rather to show us that God already has forgiven us because God loves us.”
Jesus was willing to go through all of this for us—for all humanity—to demonstrate God’s unconditional love…to prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that we belong to God and that nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Now, it may seem like the protest was a colossal flop. That it didn’t make any difference. Jesus did not save the Jewish people from the oppressive Roman regime, as his followers had expected and hoped. But that was never the point. That is not what Jesus was sent to do. The salvation God was bringing about was not for one group of people in one period of history. It was for all people and for all time. I was not based on the power of politics, but on the power of love.
Jesus came to confront the violence of all unjust social, political and religious systems. He did this by willingly becoming the victim of these systems.
He exposed the evil of violence with his nonviolence.
He exposed the human tendency to capitulate and cooperate with these unjust systems and he offered God’s forgiveness.
He exposed the suffering that results from this complicity and offered God’s compassion and healing.
He exposed the fickleness and hate in the human heart and offered God’s steadfast love.
So…what does all this mean for us today? I think it can be summed up in a small phrase that is sandwiched in between two verses from the dramatic reading of the passion that we heard earlier. Listen to these verses one more time:
“But the crowd kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that Jesus should be crucified; and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that their demand should be granted.”
The voices of the crowd prevailed. The voices of the crowd are still prevailing here in our country and all around the world today, aren’t they? The voices of the crowd make a difference.
And that brings us to the “one thing” we need to focus on today. (I know it took a while for us to get here, but “better late than never,” right?) On this particular Palm / Passion Sunday, the one thing to remember is this: God needs our voices. God needs your voice. And God needs my voice. God needs us to join with Christians and people of faith around the world to form a great “CROWD of witnesses.”
We need to gather a crowd whose voices speak up for the things that matter to God—things like protecting the vulnerable, celebrating diversity, sharing what we have, treating all people with respect, being fair, working for peace, telling the truth, and including everyone in God’s loving embrace.
Today, God is calling us to raise our voices-- to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever form it takes. We cannot choose the path of silence and inaction. We cannot yield to despair, throwing up our hands in frustration, and believing the lie that there is nothing we can do.
We are the beloved children of God in this time and place, and there is a lot we can do as a parish and as individuals. The Spirit of God lives in us and empowers each of us to embody God’s love in our daily interactions with people, in our community service and in our public advocacy. We aren’t all called to do the same thing, but we are each called to do something…to do this “one thing.”
We can become the crowd of witnesses.
We can make our voices heard.
We can speak up for those who don’t have a voice.
We can stand up for the things that lead to the well-being of all people and the healing of this fragile planet. Together, with God’s help, our voices can become the voices that prevail.
Amen.
