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Palm Sunday - 2003
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Gospel lesson for Palm Sunday from St. Matthew chapter twenty one as follows: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"
This Gospel reading is the only reading in the whole church year that is so important that it actually gets two Sundays each year. We start each church year in the first Sunday of Advent with this Palm Sunday reading, and we begin Passion Week each year with Palm Sunday. What is it about this event which makes it so significant for us as Christians that we should have it repeated to us so often? As we examine God’s Word today, I hope that the answer will become clear.
We live in a culture that is sometimes called a consumer culture. Everything we buy, what kind of work we do, sometimes even what church we attend are all based on my personal needs. I eat at that restaurant because they have a low-fat menu that fits my diet. I work at this company because I like their benefits program. I bought that computer because they let me pick the options I want. Sports. Recreation. Schools. Vacations. Television. Everything is specialized and customized. With enough money, you can have just about anything that you ever want exactly the way that you want it. No questions asked.
It should not surprise us that this sort of attitude has dripped over into the church. The consumer driven church. We have the “God” just for you. If you want a traditional, we have it. Fire and brimstone sermons. But if you want an easy listening god, we have that, too. Go to the other service and you will find a nice, casual atmosphere where coffee is served in the pews and you can have a Danish while listening to someone talk about how a spiritual experience changed their life. Hard Rock. Sure. A Polka Mass! Bring it on. Whatever it takes to bring in the masses. The customizable, sure-fire micro-ordered God. Just the way you want it.
But what happens if the church isn’t everything you want? What happens if they sing hymns you don’t know or it seemed sort of unfriendly or it wasn’t inviting enough for families, or it was too inviting for families so that people without children seemed left out? What then? What if the church talks too much about sin, and gets too close to your pet desires and foibles. What if, gasp, you are actually uncomfortable about God because there is all of this talk about sin and repentance and that just seems too negative? What then?
What indeed? These are not just weird stories pastor makes up for the sermon. Every one of these scenarios happens all over the country, and many of them right here in Kenosha. There is a tremendous temptation and urge on the part of God’s Church to give in to this consumer mentality and try to bend and contort to each person’s needs and desires. But there is a better way.
Hosanna. Save us now, Lord! That’s what it means. Hosanna. It’s really the word of Advent as we remember the coming of the Lord, and it is the word of Passion Week as our Lord goes about hearing our cries of Hosanna by dying on the cross. Hosanna. It’s a faith word, not a consumer word. By praying Hosanna, you are confessing that you need Him a lot more than He needs you. You are confessing that He is God and Lord, and that He is the only one who can help you out of the pit of your life of sin. It is a rich word for Lutherans, and indeed for all who follow Christ.
But it is not a consumer word. If you look at this story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, it really is just the opposite of what the people thought they needed, as we will see later in the week. Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, the animal of peace. Warriors don’t ride donkeys. They put down their clothes on the way and strew palm branches across His path. He is the Lord, the King entering into His Holy City, Jerusalem, the City of Peace.
Jesus comes to give them something. He doesn’t come to make their lives easier or to solve their problems. No, He comes to save them. He comes to die. He has humbled Himself and made Himself out to be the servant of the whole world. But His service is different than the service of our consumer world. He doesn’t say to you, what do you want and I’ll get it for you. No, He knows your needs better than you know them yourself. He doesn’t want to make your shackles more comfortable. He wants to rip them off of you and fling them away forever. But in order for Him to do this, it has to happen by the way of death. For that is the only key that can unlock the shackles around you.
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, for that brief moment the people knew and understood that this was something significant. That is why we confess this same faith in the liturgy every single week, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
What that great song of the church, called the Sanctus, is confessing is that this Sunday and every Sunday is Jesus’ triumphal entry. He has come into the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem right here in His house. Oh, there’s no donkey, there’s no hordes of crowds to greet Him, at least not like that first Palm Sunday. But He is here nonetheless. And when you cry out Lord Save Us by praying Hosanna, you are actually praying that Jesus would come and give you His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. For Jesus’ presence isn’t just a general presence. It doesn’t mean that you can feel Him in your heart or that He is spiritually present, whatever that means. No, it means that He is really and truly present here in His Word and in His holy supper. It means that when He promises to come and save you, that He actually does it by giving you His body and blood. It’s real. It’s concrete. It is certain.
But it’s not consumer driven. Christ and His Church will not be drawn by the consumerism of the day. We go to Him in faith. He doesn’t come to us to take our order, like a divine McDonalds or something. But believe me, this is far, far better for you. He comes to you this day to draw you out of yourself and into Him. He comes to you today to give you life, real, eternal life, not the cheap filmsy imitations that we find all around us. There are no quick fixes here; only eternal ones. He paid the price with His own blood, as we heard in the Gospel of the Passion. That is how He can say to you, take eat, take drink, for the forgiveness of sins. Those are no throwaway words spoken to make you feel better. Those words have life behind them.
This week we journey with Christ to His death and rise with Him in the resurrection. Come to Him in faith. Trust in Him for your life. The King who comes to save you will never disappoint you. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.This page was created on 04/01/2007 and last edited on: 04/01/2007