Don’t Stop!

Scripture Luke 19:28-40

28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

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Lent is nearly over.  There is only this one last week.  If you have given up something for Jesus, you are in the home stretch - and don’t think I didn’t notice a few faces looking enviously at the people eating chocolate and other goodies last night.  Or maybe you’re thinking you can live perfectly well without whatever it was.  Or maybe you have decided you like the new spiritual discipline you have adopted and you will keep doing it.  Yay!   But this final week is also the hardest week because today is the starting point of an Emotional Rollercoaster that will take us from the highest joys and excitement through the depths of despair.    It begins here, with a grand entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus as conquering hero!  Hosannah!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Thursday the family of Disciples gathers for supper, and not just any supper, but the Passover meal. A  meal of looking back to the exodus, a journey of liberation from a life of slavery into the promised land, and looking ahead to another promised liberation from oppression and another promised land.  A bitter sweet meal, for Jesus at least, because he knows what is coming and the disciples (except maybe Judas) are totally clueless.

Then, the arrest, the trial by the Temple leadership, appearing in front of Pontius Pilate, the beating and humiliation by the soldiers and denial by the mob.   Another procession - this one leading out of Jerusalem and instead of riding in triumph, Jesus walks in pain and sorrow.  His death on the cross, and the grief - not to mention paralyzing fear - that his followers felt.  All of these emotions, in just 6 days.

Here at First Christian we commemorate all of those events  We will go through all of those emotions with Jesus and his disciples in our services today and Thursday and Friday.  But many Christian churches do not.  They go straight from the excitement of Palm Sunday to the glorious celebration of the resurrection that is Easter.    They go from Hosannah! to He is Risen!  almost as if overlooking all of the pain in between.

It is difficult to stand in this place where we are today.  We are celebrating, but we know what is coming.  We know it will all end well, but still, we know what is coming.  We are in that in between place where we aren’t quite sure whether we should celebrate quite so exuberantly or tone it down a bit in recognition of the terrible times ahead.  We might even wonder why it is so important to celebrate this day, when we know how short-lived this celebration is going to be.

And the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Carol was in the last days of a long battle with cancer.  She had a huge circle of friends and colleagues she treasured.  And so she told a few of the closest that what she really wanted to do was have a celebration of her life - before she died!   She wanted to gather one last time with all of the people she loved for a huge meal and music and sharing.  And that’s what we did.  We had a pot luck and the food tables ran from one end of a large banquet hall to the other, enough and more than enough for the couple of hundred folks who showed up.  A DJ was there, playing all the music she loved best.  There was a slide show, like the ones people put together for memorial services, with photos of her life and her loved ones.  There was sharing - so many stories.  Funny ones and sad ones and bittersweet ones.  And then she spoke, at the very end, from her wheelchair, to thank us all for being part of her life.  She told us to keep celebrating.  Two weeks later she died, but the celebration of her life continued.

It’s hard, to be in that in-between place.  And we have to be careful not to get stuck elevating one part of the journey over another.  That’s what Carol wanted to make sure of - that everyone who loved her remembered all the parts of her life, not just the pain and suffering at the end but the joys and even the daily slogging along.  It would have been so easy to only remember her as she was at the end, in pain, skinny, bald. . . It would have been easy to get stuck in that part of her life.  Or to only remember the good times. She wanted us to remember all of the times - addiction and recovery,  counselor and educator, mother, grandmother, friend, sponsor and a person who battled cancer, conceding her loss with grace.  She knew that no matter what, she was going to be ok.

The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

We stand here, in this in between place, knowing we are supposed to celebrate, but also knowing what’s ahead, and that makes celebration harder.    We look at the palm branches before us and we remember the fickleness of the crowds - crying out Hosannah! today and Crucify Him! on Friday.    We know, too, that on the other side of the city the Romans are also entering, with Pilate at their head, showing the force of Rome to the crowds who have come from all over the world to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem.  We know that on Friday Jesus and Pilate’s lives will collide in what looks like a showdown between Rome and God, and even maybe looks like Rome will win.  But it’s not Friday yet.  And today the crowds are celebrating Jesus.  So today, we celebrate with them.

The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

It is hard to stand in this in-between place.  All of the in-between places we inhabit during our lives are hard. We are really good at looking back and at looking ahead, but we often have a hard time looking at right now.  Living in today. Cherishing today for the blessings it contains.  We tend to temper our celebration with our memory of what was and our knowledge of what is to come.  We forget what it is to be like children, carrying palm branches and shouting Hosannah!  They may not even know what they are celebrating or why, but tell a child it’s time to celebrate and they will celebrate!  We will wander around worrying whether there’s enough food for everyone, or some other mundane concern while the children run around excited, waving their palm branches.  It’s a celebration!  What are we worrying about?

The crowd in Jerusalem that day had no idea what was coming and so they celebrated with all their energy.  They welcomed Jesus, the prophet, preacher, healer and worker of wonders with the 1st century equivalent of a red carpet.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, worried.  They knew the possible political ramifications of all this disturbance in Jerusalem with the Roman governor in residence.  Some of the disciples worried as well.  They had tried to talk Jesus out of coming to Jerusalem, but he insisted.  And so the stage is set for the week that is to come.  But, it’s not Friday yet.  Today is a day to celebrate!

The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

It’s hard to stand in this in-between place.  And because it is so hard, some of us choose to live at one end of the emotional spectrum or the other.  Some of us are Easter people, always celebrating the Risen Christ, skipping straight from Palm Sunday to Easter, and perhaps forgetting about the suffering and death.  Some of us are Good Friday people, focusing the bulk of our attention on the suffering Jesus, speaking more of his death than of his resurrection.  But, we really cannot be - or should not be - either the one or the other, because Jesus was more than suffering and death, and more than resurrection. He is those things, but he is also son, brother, friend, teacher, healer, prophet.  Today he is the the King, the one who comes in the name of the Lord!   - the one who is celebrated with palms and Hosannahs. The one whose name echoed from the stones of the city.   

If we are silent, even the very stones will cry out!  So let us not be silent. Let us celebrate.  Let us wave our palms and cry Hosannah!  Let us sing the songs of praise - today.  Because today is a day of celebration, no matter what lies ahead.   And when we go from this place, let us continue our celebration, sharing the Good News that Jesus is King!  The one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Let us pass on the spark of our faith and ignite the desire to celebrate our Lord throughout the city, and throughout the land.