| Note: No sermon is quite the same when you read it. You miss the inflections, the expression that you gain in the hearing. The words below are only a close approximation of the sermon, taken from handwritten notes. Nevertheless, the words (as best as can be deciphered!) are shared with you here. The Webmeister |
First Sunday in Lent Last week when we were in Phoenix visiting my father, we went to All Saint's Episcopal Church, the church where I was baptized and attended as a child. It was one of those rare moments when I went to church not wearing a collar, but tie, where I sat not up here, but in a pew beside my wife. I am greatly indebted to that the preacher who preached the sermon that day. He had just finished reading a book called "The Last Week," written by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. This book looks at each day in Holy Week, of which today, Palm or Passion Sunday, marks the beginning of. I picked this book up only a few days ago, and so I have not finished it, but what I have read so far, particularly the parts about Palm Sunday, have been excellent. And so this morning's sermon is in a large part, based upon what I have read in this book. Today, Palm Sunday, as we know marks the beginning of Holy Week. Today is also, in the Jewish tradition, the first day of Passover, and the most sacred week of the Jewish year. Passover is when the story of Israel's deliverance from Egypt is retold, something we will do tonight at the Seder dinner. And it was on this day, sometime around the year 30 AD, that two different processions entered Jerusalem. One was a peasant procession, the second was an imperial procession. This first procession, this peasant procession entered the city of Jerusalem from the east. It was the procession of Jesus, riding on a donkey down from the Mount of Olives, cheered on by his followers who spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road and who shout "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" Today's palm procession from the columbarium into the church is meant to remind us of this procession. The second procession, the Roman, imperial procession enters Jerusalem not from the eastern side, but from the west. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria entered Jerusalem in a large military parade of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Pilate did not live in Jerusalem, but instead lived about sixty miles west in a city called Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast. As Pilate entered Jerusalem from the west, his military procession was a demonstration of Roman imperial power. It was the standard practice of the Roman governors of Judea to be in Jerusalem during major Jewish festivals like Passover. They did this not because they were reverent, but because they wanted to be in Jerusalem in case there might be hints of rebellion against the empire, particularly at a festival like Passover, which celebrated the Jewish people's liberation from an earlier empire. And so Pilate entered Jerusalem with all of the military pageantry befitting that of a Roman ruler. His military procession symbolized the power, the glory, and the violence of an empire that ruled the world. And on the opposite side of the city, Jesus enters, not upon a regal horse or mare, not accompanied by hundreds of soldiers equipped with shields and swords, but upon a lowly donkey. As you can already tell, Jesus' procession was not about power or glory. It was about humility, obedience. It was about the kingdom of God Two processions: Pilate's and Jesus'. Two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Caesar. Both meet in the city of Jerusalem on this day, Palm Sunday. The confrontation between these two kingdoms will unravel the drama of this week. Two processions. The only question is, which procession are we going to ride in? Amen. The Reverend James M. L. Grace April 1, 2007 *Past sermons may be found here. |
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