Today we celebrate what is commonly called Palm Sunday, which is interesting, because if you noticed, there was no mention of palms in the Mark reading. In fact, palms are only mentioned in the gospel of John. But early Christians quickly figured out that “Branches Cut from the Field” Sunday wouldn’t fit on their church sign, so Palm Sunday became the accepted name.
Palm Sunday is not the only thing we are celebrating today. We are also celebrating the confirmation of six of our youth. What confirmation means is that they are making the decision to confirm their faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and one of them, Andrew Wright, is solidifying the commitment through baptism this evening. The other five, like me and many of you, were baptized as infants. Luckily, this church doesn’t get hung up on whether you were sprinkled or dunked; what’s important is that you got wet.
It’s actually kind of odd that we’re celebrating these two events on the same day. Palm Sunday and confirmation. Consider what they mean. Palm Sunday foreshadows Jesus’ death, and Confirmation Sunday celebrates life, a life committed to God. I think it’s actually fortuitous that these two events are happening on the same day, because I believe this story in Mark has a lot to say to our young people. There are some important lessons to be learned from Jesus’ arrival to Jerusalem, so the rest of this sermon is only for the confirmands, but the rest of you all can listen in if you want.
The first thing Jesus teaches us is to plan ahead. Jesus knew this day was coming, and he knew how God wanted it to unfold. Jesus wouldn’t be galloping into Jerusalem on a white stallion surrounded by a Holy Army; instead, he would ride a lowly donkey, a sign of humility and peace. It’s the equivalent of our troops strolling into Baghdad on tractors instead of storming in on tanks.
Jesus already had made arrangements for his transportation. So the lesson we can take from Jesus is this: when you plan on traveling, make sure to call the airline first to see if your plane is on time. Make sure you pack your bags the night before, and you put the tickets somewhere you won’t forget. But more importantly, as you look ahead to what’s coming in your life, there’s going to be a lot of things you won’t be able to plan for, so the firmer a foundation you can establish in your own life and faith, the better able you’ll be to handle whatever life throws at you. Plan ahead by strengthening your relationship with God.
The next lesson we can take from Jesus is to be considerate. Jesus knew he would be needing this donkey, but he didn’t put his own needs about someone else’s. He said to the disciples, “Tell the owner of this donkey, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” Now, if I’m that donkey’s owner, and Jesus wants to borrow it, do you think I’d say, “Well, OK, but that donkey has a curfew, so you make sure you bring him back!” If Jesus asked to borrow your car, would you tell him to make sure he brought it back with a full tank of gas? Of course not! Jesus wants the donkey, you give him the donkey and don’t expect anything back. He’s Jesus!
But Jesus never thought so much of himself that he stopped thinking of others. Anyone here doubt that the donkey was brought back shortly and without any scratches in the paintjob? As I look over our group of confirmands, it’s easy to see they’re smart, they’re motivated, the young men are incredibly handsome and the young women are strikingly beautiful. You all going places in this world. And as you grow and mature, you’re also going to grow in status, in power, and in notoriety. You are the kind of people that other people will want to know. Now, sometimes it’s easy to let that kind of thing go to your head, to forget about the little people around you. If the son of God has the presence of mind to return a borrowed burro, I know you all can have the presence of mind to be polite, to say “thank you,” and to keep your word when you give it. Everyone is a child of God, and it’s up to you to treat them that way.
There’s another lesson we can learn from Jesus that’s related to the last one. There weren’t a lot of fence-sitters when it came to Jesus. People back then either loved him or hated him. If they loved him, they worshipped him with every ounce of their being. And if they hated him, they wanted to kill him.
There’s a Far Side cartoon that shows a bum sitting in a dirty alley, and there’s a giant bug next to him. And the bug is saying, “There I was, vice president, stock options, corner office, Mercedes, then one day someone comes in and says, “Wait a minute! He’s nothing but a giant cockroach!”
Very few of us in life are worthy of the corner office and stock options and the adoration that goes with it. And very few of us in life are worthy of being called giant cockroaches. In other words, never believe you’re as good as everyone thinks you are, because then you’ll become complacent and stop serving. And never believe you’re as bad as they say you are, because God knows better. A guy named Shakespeare put it this way, “To thine own self be true.” Never forget whose image is reflected through you. It’s only a reflection, but it’s a reflection of God.
Jesus has come a long way, from Bethlehem to Galiliee to Caesarea Philippi to the hill country of Judea and the regions beyond the Jordan, to Jericho, to the Mount of Olives, to Jerusalem.
And he still has a long way to go. He has yet before him the clearing of the moneychangers, his constant theological battles with the Pharisees, his last supper with his friends in the Upper Room, his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane, his trial before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, and before Herod, his beating, his crown of thorns, his cross-carrying walk, his hands and feet nailed to the cross, his crucifixion, his death. All by Friday.
Jesus knew this was the plan. He knew what God had in store for him. On Sunday, when he entered Jerusalem, he knew he would not leave the city alive. So what’s his first stop in the city? “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple.” His father’s house. He knew what was in store, and to survive it, he knew he needed time in the temple.
Matt, Sara, Andrew, Elizabeth, Tommy, Matt, I wish I could tell you what was in store for your lives. I wish I could tell you all that you would be facing, all the challenges you have before, all the joys you will encounter. But I can’t, because I don’t know. Neither do you. That’s for you to find out.
What I do know is that if you live your life as God intends you to, you will encounter all these things. You will have financial struggles and triumphs, like Jesus with the moneychangers. You will have naysayers and people who try to bring you down, like the Pharisees. You will share many meals and many meaningful relationships with many friends. You will go through your own dark times like Jesus in Gethsemane, when you want to ask God to take away all the bad things. You will face your own trials, maybe with your health or your relationships or your work. You will have people who believe in you, and who stand up for you. You will know the joy of loving someone and being loved, and the pain of losing someone you love. You will have many journeys in your life, some that are carefree and glorious and blissful, and others that feel like there’s a cross on your back. You have a long way to go, and your lives will be lived to the fullest.
So here’s the last lesson: don’t forget to stop in the temple. Don’t forget, in the midst of everything else going on in life, that your source of life and strength is not yourself, but the God who created you. May the church, this one or another one, be your temple, the place you go to on a regular basis in order to find rest, to find peace, to find inspiration, and to be nourished by the bread and the cup. What you are confirming today is your belief in Jesus Christ; now, don’t forget that Jesus Christ also believes in you, and wants you to be the best Christian you can be, and that he loves you. That’s why he came to Jerusalem to die – so that you may know his eternal love for you, and know it abundantly. That’s the lesson for all of us to remember this week.
