In Turmoil

A sermon by Currie Burris

Palm Sunday

March 20, 2005

I have always loved Palm Sunday in church. It has always been a joyous celebration of the coming of Christ into our lives. There is always a grand procession—children, choirs, leaders, all waving palm branches and singing praise to God. “All Glory, Laud and Honor, the little children sing.” “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna.” “Alleluia, Alleluia.” We retell the story of the selection of the animal Jesus would ride. Is it just one donkey, or is it a mare and foal? Does Jesus ride one or both of them? We see the cloak thrown over its back and Jesus mounting it.

He appears at the top of the hill above the Valley of Kidron, just outside Jerusalem. The crowd sees him, rushes forward and presses in from all sides. The shouting and adulation begin. Throngs of people, palm branches waving, and cloaks are thrown down on the dusty road.

Today, we are re-enacting that day of celebration long ago when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem. He is the holy one of God, the long hoped for savior. He is the humble messiah arriving without armies or angels, the one who comes to bring peace, healing and hope.

But as much as we shape our worship service as a day of celebration, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem was not a celebration. Matthew’s gospel tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, shaken, upset, deeply stirred. The word Matthew uses here is the same one used to describe the effect of an earthquake, a storm or a hurricane. Jesus’ entry was not a parade. He created a disturbance. One could almost say it verged on a riot.

There were many of the people there who claimed he was the messiah, the Son of God. They greeted his arrival with great hope and desperation. “Hosanna” they cried out. Hosanna is an Aramaic word, drawn from Hebrew, which means “Save us, save us now!” They called on Jesus to save them from the oppression of the Romans, from the corruption of their own leaders, from the suffering and torment of their lives.

Still there were others who thought just the opposite of Jesus. They thought he was a pretender, a blasphemer, a false messiah, a false prophet, not come from God, but from evil. They had been resisting and confronting Jesus for some time now. They challenged his teaching, they dismissed his healings and cleansings, and they slandered his name. They tried to stone him just a few weeks before this. Anyone who admitted to being a follower of Jesus was cast out of the synagogue.

Now they were looking for a way to have him arrested and removed. Those who opposed Jesus were also in the crowd that gathered on the day he entered Jerusalem. They tried to get the others to stop their shouting, to stop calling him a prophet, the messiah. They ordered Jesus to tell his followers to stop. Jesus said that if they were made to stop, the very stones of the earth would shout out their praise.

Everyone asked, “Who is this?” Some said he had come to save them. Some thought his presence would destroy them. So they worked to destroy him.

Jesus’ entry provoked turmoil in a city that was already struggling. The presence of Roman power in Holy Jerusalem was bitterly resented and oppressive. They ruled with an iron hand. Heavy taxation, Brutal punishments. Already, crucifixion was a regular sight, with the crosses of executed resisters and criminals lining the roads into the city. Their own King Herod and rulers collaborate with their occupiers. Their religious leaders argue and fight over power and place, and put onerous burdens on them.

And yet in the midst of this turmoil, Jesus enters the city. He goes to the Temple. And there he continues the same ministry he has been following all along. He throws the moneychangers and corrupt merchants out of the Temple courtyard. He teaches. He heals those who cannot see and those who cannot walk. He leads and comforts his disciples. He is the messiah who brings peace, and healing, and hope, even as the world brings him arrest, betrayal, torture and death.

The turmoil of Jerusalem lives on in our lives. Even as we reenact that triumphal entry from so long ago, Jesus enters our lives in turmoil. Our lives are surrounded with fear and uncertainty. We live in a world of violence and controversy. Listen to the news: shootings and hostage taking, car bombs, terror alerts. Was there more anthrax this week? Are their nuclear weapons in the hands of those who would use them on us? Who will be the next target of terror? The war in Iraq—what’s next? When will we come home? How many more of our sons and daughters lost?

In the streets of our cities, in the shops of our communities, how many feel safe?

Where is anger, hurt and fear? Among us here today, is there anger, is there bitterness, is there resentment, is there conflict?

Who among us is hurting? Who is fallen with illness? Who is grieving a death? Who has lost a world? Emptiness, meaninglessness, longing.

There is turmoil in our lives today. And here comes Jesus, riding a humble donkey, riding into the struggle, into the fight, into the brokenness and fear. Here comes Jesus, the palms are waving and the voices are shouting. Here comes Jesus, the earth is shaking. Here comes Jesus, the heart shouts, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Save us!” Here comes Jesus, and so begins the whispering, the plotting, the planning to get rid of him.

Here comes Jesus, are we the ones who welcome him in?

Here comes Jesus, or are we the ones who turn our backs?

Here comes Jesus, are we the ones who say “Yes I believe,” or are we the ones who say “Not yet”?

Here comes Jesus, do we open our hearts and let him come in, or do we turn him over to the authorities to do with him as they will?

Here comes Jesus, down the aisle of Silver Spring Church, is he welcome here, or are we too busy, too correct, too afraid, too angry, too hurt to let him in?

Here comes Jesus, into your life, into your home, into your private place. What do you say?

We have a decision to make. What do we do with a messiah who brings peace and not war? What do we say to the teacher who teaches reconciliation not winning? What do we say to the healer who brings love and not hatred?

What do we do with a savior who claims our faith, our devotion and our lives? Who is this one riding into our lives? What are we going to do?