Sermon Luke 19:28-40

A king rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. What kind of king is this? Like most of Jesus stories, something is odd. Something twists or just isn't what we expected. Rotten sons are welcomed back with banquets. An enemy Samaritan is the one who helps rather than the priest. The smallest mustard seed becomes a big tree. When this kind of king arrives, our expectations are challenged.

We live in an age of challenged perspectives and expectations. Much has changed in the life of just one person. I remember talking with my grandfather who lived to be 97. Having been born in 1894, he had seen the rise of the automobile, the airplane, Modern warfare, electricity, atomic power, and more. Technologies that have given rise to all sorts of changes in culture, human expectations, and our perception of the future. My grandfather found the space shuttle to be the most glorious of human achievements. I don't know why but he watched each Shuttle flight. He knew I went into computer programming, and although he didn't know what computers really were useful for, he seemed unshaken by a grandson choosing a unknown and new career. Even though he was a simple farmer, in this age of change, ironically change seems so normal.

In today's story, the people unleash in praise and thanksgiving for change; in this case, a change of kingship. Luke's gospel is very clear in making the point; Jesus is coming as a king who will lay claim on Jerusalem. He enters from the main gate with a procession welcoming him as the new king. Clothes and palm branches are waved. And he rides into the city like a conquering king, his disciples crying out;

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

After years of roman occupation, the people long for change. And while for much of Jesus ministry he has exercised his power on the margins of society; amongst the poor, the outcast, the leper, the sinner; now he enters the political centre with an entry that will not go unnoticed. Indeed, his entry is provocative.

You heard the Pharisees, didn't you. "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." They'd heard that with Jesus would come trouble, but now there hear it with their own ears. Jesus disciples are proclaiming him king, and not just any king, but the Messiah. The one who would re-establish the Davidic kingdom and thereby restore the nations glorious past. This was not just political trouble but also religious trouble. To this Jesus responds, "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Whether they understand what he says, Jesus "ups the ante"; he amplifies his claim to power, not just over Jerusalem, but over creation itself. Indeed, what he is doing has cosmic importance for not just the people but all of creation.

I wonder if this is true about changes in periods of history or epochs. Do people realize at the time what is really happening around them? When Christianity started spreading around Roman world in the years after the church began, did people look and say; Oh my, this new religion that is popular amongst slaves and women, it is changing everything? Or when the Roman Catholic priests, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and the others began to question the corruption and teachings of the church regarding how God saves, did they realize at the time what was happening.

And in our age of the church, at what point did we realize that big changes were in the works? Certainly, in the 1950's when 6th Ave added their Christian Education building, Shiloh built our worship space, and Queen's built their grand artistic cathedral space, it seems that most could not see the changes coming. And certainly, after the decisions brought forward for consideration by all three congregations, there are many who will be feeling disappointment, and perhaps even despair, regarding the future of the Church in North America.

[name the one or two options that were decided yesterday based on the vision]

I know there are many who began their service to the church, and who have put sweat and time and money into a particular vision of the church up to the 1950's, that must have some disappointment, or are people feeling a certain amount of resignation; I don't know. How strange a shift from calls for a 1000 new churches in 10 years, to embracing another future.

It seems an empty question, but did the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem know that his end would be hanging on a cross outside the very walls of the Jerusalem? No they didn't; look at chapter 24 of Luke.

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
19"What things?" he asked.
20"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."

Two disciples, one named Cleopas and his wife, walking on the road to Emmaus; encounter the risen Christ, who they do not recognize until later when they invite him into their home and break bread with them; a mystery. They obviously, even after the resurrection rumours, do not understand the kind of glory that comes when you welcome the king of kings.

25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ[2] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"

What was Jesus glory? What kingship awaited Jesus when he entered Jerusalem; nothing short of Cosmic glory and cosmic kingship; upon the cross. What was written above Jesus on the cross "The king of the Jews." I sometimes ponder the sign on the cross. Who wrote it. Who decided to write the crime in a couple languages, so none could mistake that here was one who called himself a king, who died for such claims, be they religious or political; but we know they were both. What double irony in that sign. Of course they were trying to be ironic this they did not write "He claimed to be king of the Jews.", but in mockery of the Jews these Roman conquers wrote, "King of the Jews."

It is ironic since just 388 years later, the Roman Emperor Constantine would make Christianity the religion of the Romans. Indeed, the Emperor himself would kneel before this "king of the Jews." Irony of Ironies; deep irony when Jesus steps onto the world's stage that day in Jerusalem where his ironic kingship is foreshadowed by his arriving on a young donkey. With God, what appears small by the world's standards can signal cosmic changes.

Perhaps this is something we are relearning these 1600 years after Christianity became the official religion of the western empires. We who sit on the other side of this great epoch in history where Christianity in the west is at best ignored by most, and at worst is vilified. And while I do believe that God has a place for us in New Westminster, the collapse of the western church appears likely to continue its decline over the coming decades. Gone are the glories of what some call the Constantine Epoch of the church. Gone is this weighty period which carried Christianity throughout the world. It brought the faith to my peoples and freed us from barbaric fertility religions, and it also brought the faith to many in the east, teaching that heaven is not something that we seek, but instead God leaves heaven in order to seek us.

But we also know that when Emperors made Christianity "official" they also over time domesticated it. Emperors like to be in control; it comes with the territory. And especially they do not like irony. And I suspect that official churches don't like irony either. It makes me wonder how the church understood today's text during that period in the churches history. I wonder.

And yet, forgive thetwisty nature of my sermon, but I find the irony of today's text; of the triumphal entry of the Cosmic King of the Universe; the one who will take upon the sins of the world, and redeem not only Israel, and not only all of humanity, and not only humanity, but the whole of creation; I find the irony that he arrives on a young donkey very comforting for my time of the church.

Since if the ruler of the universe can fulfill mission riding on a borrowed young donkey, and if the ruler of the universe in giving up all on the cross, giving up himself in place of all of us; this one who rules from a cross, and rises from an empty tomb, leaving behind even his burial shroud. If this is how the glory of God expresses itself in its fullness, perhaps we need not fear all the loss of buildings and privilege and power that came with being the official religion of a human empire.

Indeed, perhaps we might even cry out "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Perhaps we might even thank God that we can glimpse a new thing happening; and perhaps thank God that even amid the struggles that we are not part of a dying church, but rather we are part of Christ doing a new thing with his church.

Listen, with your heart of hearts; amid the rubble of the great past temples of glory to Christ, perhaps a song even more pleasing to the ears of our crucified king is being heard. Amid cracked rocks and worn stones, small piles of stone are heard to cry out "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Indeed, perhaps these very stones themselves shall welcome the grand procession led by angels, welcome the final coming of this Risen Christ who walks on wounded feet, who with wounded hand shall proclaim an peace without end; world without end.

A PALM SUNDAY SERVICE

Service of the Palms

{Don't include all the words in the bulleting. Juse have a note: to the words "Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God! Respond: Hosanna in the highest!

We join with the crowd
that eagerly awaited the coming of Jesus.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

Fulfilling prophecy, Jesus entered the city
riding humbly on a donkey.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

Jesus' followers were excited, filled with anticipation.
Yet, within a few short days,
they were scattered, disillusioned, and frightened,
unwilling to follow as far as Christ would have them go.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

We, too, long to join the triumphal procession,
only to find ourselves burdened by the past, fearful of the future,
reluctant to accept the way of the cross.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

Yet this Palm Sunday, we receive palm branches,
a reminder of the welcome offered to Jesus
as he travelled toward the cross.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

Like the crowd in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago,
we take our palm branches and greet Jesus, shouting:
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God!
Hosanna in the highest!

Hymn All Glory Laud and Honour, VU 122 {Translation}

{Note: Type out the words here in Taiwanese and also in English since people will be processing in as they sing. The books will be too heavy.}

Opening Prayer

Merciful God,
as we enter Holy Week
and gather in your house of prayer,
turn our hearts again to Jerusalem,
to the life, death. and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Bring us at the last with him and all the faithful
to your new Jerusalem,
your kingdom of peace and justice for all.
We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture: Luke 19:28-40

Hymn: He Came Riding on a Donkey, VU 124

Sermon

A New Creed

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Concern

Hymn Take up Your Cross, VU 561 {Translation}

Offering

Offering Prayer

Holy God, you come to us in Jesus,
a poor man, riding a donkey;
we thank you for this witness of the power of love,
despite the powers of this world.
We thank you for all who have withstood evil,
who have suffered the jeers and worse of the crowds,
who have been tormented, even put to death,
and still refused to use the weapons of hatred.
We thank you for the times we have been able
to let go our defenses, give up control,
and live with open hands and hearts.
We thank you with "hosannas!", with joy in our hearts,
in the name of Jesus, our leader. Amen.

Hymn Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, VU 127 {Translation}

Closing Prayer

O God, in Jesus Christ
you triumphantly entered Jerusalem,
thus beginning a week of pain and sorrow.
In these days of defeat and victory,
you have brought together
humiliation and exaltation,
death and resurrection.
Be with us now, as we follow in joy and in sorrow
the way of the cross,
in the footsteps of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.

Sending Forth & Blessing