YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE PARADE
Psalm 118: 1,2 & 19-29
MATTHEW 21: 1-11
April 2, 2023 PALM SUNDAY
Don’t you just wish … you could have been there on the Mount of Olives on that one special day of celebration? Don’t you just wish you could have joined the parade of palms … waving a palm branch as you leaned in closely to listen for some words from Jesus. Perhaps even to look him in the eye, to shake His hand or give Him a ‘high five’ or to touch His robe … to sense the Son of God perhaps even to get His autograph for your collection; to again verify that He is the One, your personal Savior … sent out of love by God to teach us what God expects.
I know that I would not have wanted to be there for the rest of that challenging week but Palm Sunday … the joy. YEA, I would have liked that. Our joy today when we can freely admit, here in this great nation of ours, that Jesus Christ is our Savior … where we can worship the God of creation without looking over our shoulders … where we can go out into the world of our neighborhoods and share the story of not only our eternal destinations with God but HOW WE HAVE CHANGED because of Him. We can tell our friends that they just like us have to join the parade of Jesus. You have to … it’s the difference maker in the lives we live … and when you join the parade it means you are listening and paying attention to the teaching words and life of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever really considered the words of Jesus? You remember Him… right; the Christmas ornament for all too many people whom they keep somewhere in close proximity to their wrapped presents under their MUST SAY Merry Christmas tree but leave Him and His teaching behind when they have to interact with the world.
Have you ever spent more than a passing moment reading the Gospel teachings of Jesus and allowing God’s Holy Spirit to let you truly experience the words of Jesus the Son of God when you are at home? At work? On vacation? Actually, you don’t have to answer but how many of you … since we are in the season of Lent, which is a time meant for us to get closer to God and Jesus Christ, … I am curious … as to how many of you have read a Gospel passage or two on your Bible app or while holding a Bible in your hand since February 22nd, which was this year’s Ash Wednesday? Time sure flew since then didn’t it? No spare moments for God’s Word … too busy clicking online or binge watching Netflix. Baseball season’s started too … Oscars did you see the winning films?
Did you hear the psalmist today … THIS IS THE DAY … WE WILL REJOICE and CELEBRATE … HOSANNA HOSANNA …. Oh my dear friends and visitors … WAVE THOSE PALMS with me and celebrate because just like those who rushed to the hillside that day we have been given a choice to either watch the parade from the sidelines or we can actually join the parade with the palms waving in the air meaning something … if you want the Lord to save you … if you want God to be the essential guide for your life then friends YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE PARADE of the faithful waving your palms …. Making joyful noises of faith beyond the walls of church … living as if Jesus Christ was your hero; your Savior; and God’s loving gift to all of humanity! That your faith is your truth not just a fable.
HOSANNA HOSANNA …. GOD loves each of you and me!!! “The Lord is God!!! God has shined a light on us!!! Jesus Christ … the difference maker … won’t you join the parade with me and live to make a difference for God rather than for human powers who love to hear themselves speak? Or do you raise your palms on other days … for the names in the headlines and on the scorecards excluding God and Christ? Do you applaud them?
This past Wednesday morning I had the privilege of sitting in a beautiful small chapel in a church whose founders started to worship in 1819 in close proximity to the house I grew up in. I wonder if those folks considered the words of Jesus as they developed and built their church over these last 200 years? I am sure that those founders never imagined that in the year 2023 a pastor from New Jersey would be seated in the chapel being blessed by an early morning message and the sharing of Holy Communion but their efforts touched me, blessed me, and gave me a moment of renewed faith.
HOSANNA … HOSANNA … Jesus Christ is MY SAVIOR!!! MY LORD!!!! And, even this pastor needs to have his faith renewed from time to time. Through Holy Communion and this Wednesday through a challenging message of faith focusing in on the third chapter of Daniel … my heart and soul were touched this week. You can read the third chapter of Daniel later and consider the strength of your faith walk on this Palm Sunday.
Actually, today it is with great joy and thankfulness that I celebrate the nameless individuals who under the leadership of Reverend Aaron Ballard held a revival on the land on which today’s St. Paul’s is located. HOSANNA HOSANNA …. HALLELUJAH!!
Hundreds of individuals attended those meetings … hundreds and you can just imagine how they considered that the words and teaching of Jesus Christ were vitally important to them in those days because 5 years before the Civil War began that would divide our nation it is reported more than 500 individuals came to believe … right here on this Holy ground. They stepped up, they changed their lives, and woke up to the truth of God that there is more to life than those who shout at us from our TV screens.
Can you imagine the joy in heaven on those days … they would be raising a few palm branches up there HOSANNA HOSANNA and I am sure at that early St. Paul’s church as well the palms were raised and shouts of HALLELUJAH lifted loudly … my goodness, can you even imagine 500 people willing to be in a church service in West Deptford on Easter morning? Well, if each of you ask some friends … we can do it here.
I wonder if there was a parade? I wonder if those 5oo plus human beings treasured the sharing of Holy Communion and felt closer to God while experiencing the peace that goes beyond human understanding. No one in those days was focused on their cell phones in worship … perhaps, unfortunately, no selfies were taken to celebrate the moment but we know God celebrated … we can imagine that those new people of faith who joined the parade of believers would have been agreeing with today’s psalmist … YOU ARE MY GOD … I WILL GIVE THANKS TO YOU … YOU ARE MY GOD … I WILL LIFT YOU UP HIGH!!! HOSANNA HOSANNA …
Friends, are you giving thanks to the Lord God this morning because God is good and God’s faithful love lasts forever? Are you connected with Jesus in the same way as you connect with your sports teams, your career plans, and your politics? You have to join the HOSANNA PARADE and not merely acknowledge it occasionally on days like Palm Sunday, Christmas Eve and Easter to know how it feels to have the light of Christ on you … you will be changed by joining the parade of the faithful!!!
WOW … I wonder who invited them to the revival? Were they embarrassed or smiling when they asked their friends to come to this piece of land before the street was Church Street? I bet they were hearing and experiencing Jesus … did I shout HOSANNA in the last 5 minutes? Can I hear some Hosanna’s and see some palms waving?
WELL HOSANNA … HALLELUJAH!!! JESUS came for us … God loves all of humanity and wants more to come back … to find the joy … discover the peace and be part of the end game of salvation!!! JOY TO THE WORLD … THE LORD HAS COME!!!
Are you ready to receive YOUR KING … not leaders focused on enriching themselves and their friends with power and money … JESUS CHRIST as your leader; your personal Savior? PALM SUNDAY … total joy!!! By the way, have you ever considered what the words of Jesus Christ actually say and mean and how they apply to you?
Well, this past Wednesday when I didn’t have to lead the 7am Wednesday Communion service here at St. Paul’s I sat in a chapel pew with total strangers and worshiped but the pastor for some reason shared Jesus words; oh that’s right it was church. The pastor shared God’s message to God’s people … as he did, I could hear Jesus and immediately I thought about this moment in time here today at St. Paul’s on Palm Sunday when I would be shouting HOSANNA!!! HALLELUJAH!!! JOY TO THE WORLD!!!
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said to those who had already come to believe in Him … by the way friends, how’s your belief in Jesus doing? Your focus on God versus the world? Your adjusting your life to show your friends, family members, strangers and every neighbor that you are a Jesus follower? How’s that going? Will you be bold enough to wave your palms outside of this church today? Outside your home today? … Shout HOSANNA … JESUS LOVES ALL OF YOU … today? Take a selfie or have someone take a photo of you waving your palm with absolute joy on your face and then lovingly post your photo of YOU waving your palm on YOUR personal social media as if YOU believe in God and Jesus Christ and are so thankful for God’s love and for God sending Jesus not only for the cross but to clarify how we are to live? Showing your friends, your family members, and your neighbors that Jesus matters … that worship and church matters to you … and that you actually find joy in worshiping God and Christ not shame nor boredom but joy! HOSANNA!!
After our pancake breakfast today … are you willing to join me in delivering palms to Ruth Schultz? To Lillian Quillin? To Rosie Platt? To Janet Brown? And to Joyce Nuneviller? I didn’t plan a parade of cars but will you join me to share the joy, honking our horns and waving your palms along the highways of our community? HOSANNA!!
Does it feel good to shout HOSANNA and WAVE A PALM and CONNECT with joy to God? I know that Terry Davis loved Palm Sunday and today she is waving the palms with Wayne in heaven. I will be waving a palm on Saturday when I celebrate her faith.
Do you get all warm and fuzzy and feeling good when you hear me declare that Jesus Christ, HE IS RISEN? <<He is Risen Indeed>> knowing that you will be shouting the response like you just did? Love of God … Love of Christ …
Ah yes, brings me back to Jesus. It always does come back to Him whether we accept Him and His teaching or reject the parts we don’t like. Jesus said to those who believed in Him. And, that means His words are directed towards you and me if we believe in Him … “IF YOU CONTINUE IN MY WORD.” Notice Jesus did not say ‘if you continue to follow the words of political leaders or the internet’ … He said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and … drum roll please …. THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!”
Hosanna … can I hear some amens on this Palm Sunday … IF and Jesus knew some folks who initially had signed on as believers would slip back to try to fit into the world but “if you continue in Jesus Word … the truth will set you free.”
Therein lies the challenge of Palm Sunday … Jesus rejected by the world but to God and the faithful, the world’s main foundation stone. Jesus who came to save all of humanity from our realities. Jesus who helps us succeed in God’s eyes as part of God’s plan for us. Jesus, the light God has shone for us and our hope. You have to join the parade friends … give thanks to God and recognize that God is God and then lift God up high!
And, if you are asked just like those who were part of the parade were asked on that first Palm Sunday “who is this person Jesus” … if you truly believe … then you and I have to be ready to declare to the world that Jesus Christ, He is my Savior, the Messiah who came to save the world!! God’s loving gift to all of us … God’s faithful love lasts forever and I am part of that parade of the faithful! AMEN