The Universe Proclaims ...
A sermon by Pastor Darrell Reeck, Ph.D.
Palm Sunday, April 4, 2004
"If these [people] were quiet, the stones would cry out." --Jesus, Luke 19:40.
Prayer
The procession of palms descended from Mount of Olives and headed up toward the gates of Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of David, the city of the temple.
Everyone focused on one man.
A grown man riding on a colt, a donkey colt possibly, one that had never been ridden and therefore one that had never been broken. And yet it peacefully submitted to its burden.
The parade moved along the road slowly. The crowds kept swirling around the man, before and after, and spread their garments on the path. This was a ticker tape parade, twenty centuries before Broadway, without paper. They did what they could do to signal honor and respect. They laid out their clothes to beautify the path.
And also, they cried out! Their chant echoed what angels sang when Jesus was born: "Peace on earth and goodwill toward men." According to Luke, the processional chant was: "Bless is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven."
So at the beginning of Jesus' life and now, at the end, all heaven and earth cries out, Peace and Glory. Not just the disciples, not just the crowds, but the Universe Proclaims Jesus as Lord.
A modern parade
I can recall vividly the ticker tape parade I saw in NYC on March 1 in 1962. The Soviets had just launched a man into space earlier in April, 1961. Then Alan Shephard had gone up, then John Glenn. Competition between the superpowers had been intense. By 1962 the U.S. had caught up with the Soviets, and NYC feted our astronauts. The crowds were enormous, shoulder to shoulder from one side of Broadway to the other. And I was there…up on the rooftop of a 5-story building, peering over the edge, watching the crowds swirling around the open top limousines, hearing the cheers, and seeing the air thick with bits of paper. I remember it: dizzying, overwhelming, exciting.
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was their version of the ticker tape parade.
Plenty of colorful garments: blue, red, white, gray stripes.
Much noise of people cheering and chanting.
Many palm branches and bundles of palm leaves spread on the way, waved in the air.
This was a day of rejoicing.
It was also a day of complaint.
Along the sidelines were the Pharisees, the most rigid defenders of legalistic Jewish religion.
The Pharisees are a real study. They defended Judaism by insisting on obedience of all of the Jewish law books. An example is the Biblical book, Leviticus. Not just parts of the Law, but the whole thing.
They were aggressive missionaries of tribes, teachers of children, and the constant enemies of Jesus.
In today's story we find them intervening and yelling out, "Teacher, you tell your disciples to shut up."
The issue was not a matter of breaking the noise ordinance, or making party noises and keeping the city awake.
The Pharisees saw that the crowd was ready to crown Jesus as a Lord of all life, sent from God for rescue sinful humanity.
And the Pharisees couldn't see that Jesus was Lord.
Jesus immediately articulates the most interesting statement in today's Scripture lesson:
"If these [my followers] were quiet, the very stones would cry out."
What? I've listened to stones, off and on, all my life, and never heard one cry out.
Well, take that back. I heard the Rolling Stones cry out, but they weren't talking Hosanna.
Stones cry out? What could it mean?
There's a spiritual and psychological principle here,
something I want each of you to know and practice.
Someone tells you, "Have a good day! You have the power to make this a good day!"
Then your Pharisees show up and they make it a bad day for you.
I don't know what your Pharisees might be. Maybe a craving that you can't seem to conquer. Maybe a fear of inadequacy. Maybe someone who shuns you, puts you outside of the circle. Maybe a hatred that you can't turn to love. Whatever it is for you, it can ruin your day, your life.
What do you do? How do you react?
Shyly? Defeatedly? You agree with them that yes it's really a bad day?
I want for you to feed your soul on Jesus' words: "The very stones will cry out."
The principle is: if you're in tune with God and the universe, there's nothing in the words or actions of your Pharisees that can stop you from having a great day, every day of your life.
You can react with confidence and respond with grace and wit, and for you, the rocks will cry out too, if you're in tune with God and the universe.
When the stone cried out for Jesus. A week after the entry into Jerusalem, all the crowds had faded, the disciples had deserted, and authorities had put Jesus to death.
Jesus' tomb is a cave, enclosed by a stone door. On the third day, the women visit the tomb and lo! The stone was rolled away!
That stone had cried out for him! His Pharisees fell back forever.
" If you're in tune with God and the universe, there's nothing, not even death, that can keep the stones from crying out on your behalf.
That's the story of Palm Sunday for Jesus, and the lesson of Palm Sunday for your mind and soul.
Amen.
Copyright by Darrell Reeck, 2004. All rights reserved.
Feedback invited at dreeck@msn.com
Previous Sermons
Sermon from March 28, 2004: "Extravagant Love",