Today we started Holy Week by celebrating Palm Sunday, and next Sunday is Easter! Welcome to join us for a “sunrise” service on the church front steps at 9:30 am, followed by a special Easter Breakfast starting at 10 am, and worship service at 11 am.
Message: Angels Fly, Rocks Cry: Our King Returns!
When I began to think of titles and what I was being led to talk about today, obviously the narrative of our Lord returning to His City (Jerusalem), in His land (Israel), to his own house (the Temple), came to mind. My first thought was a title:Clean This Place Up, The Owner is Coming Home!But today is so much more than the Lord owning this place or our willingness to clean it up. Plus, all those words won’t fit on the sign out front.
Then I thought of: “My King is Coming and Owns all of This”, but the fact that our Lord is more than the owner, He is Sovereign of the whole Universe and beyond, making Him more than just my King, He is our Master, who owns every part of who I am, and what we are. Both for all people, angelic beings, and inanimate objects. Hence, the title for today; Angels Fly, Rocks Cry: Our King Returns!I, would have added; “thank you, thank you Lord!” but again, there isn’t enough room on the sign out front, so there you have it.
Today marks one of the Holiest of times in the Christian Year with Palm Sunday, the entry of Christ into Jerusalem, kicking off the week of our Lord’s Passion for all of His creation, especially you, me, and the rest of humanity. This passion and love for us is reflected in our Lord’s teachings, miracles, and actions leading to His Crucifixion, and our Lord’s Resurrection.
Unlike Christmas and the Advent Season, we know exactly when this takes place in the Christian Calendar year, because our Passover (Easter), is the same time as our Jewish brothers and sisters (or traditional Passover), based on the Lunar calendar annually. This date can be traced all the way back over three millennia to the Children of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.
Today our Palm Sunday Procession with the palm branches was kind of like a Psalm of Assent. In ancient Israel when there was a Temple of God in Jerusalem, our ancestors in God the Children of Israel would speak and sing Psalms as they proceeded up to the House of the Lord, that very Temple. Once there, they would praise, glorify, and magnify their being to the Lord. We did much the same thing when we sang Hosannah in the Highest to Praise, Glorify, and Magnify, His Holy and majestic Name, for our own Service to the Lord all these years later.
Well, today we are not singing, nor are we reading Psalms of Assent. For today the significance is not our going up to the House of the Lord, but the coming of the Lord to His people. Yes, today is a thanksgiving to our Lord for the arrival of our King (Jesus Christ) to His city of Jerusalem, and His continued arrival into our life all the days leading up to now.
Our Psalm therefore, and today’s Responsive Call to Worship was and is a Psalm of individual, community, national, and universal thanksgiving to our Lord. Reading again from Psalm 118:1-4, and 19-29
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”
Side Note; As we relook at the Responsive Call to Worship that you and I recited this morning, I can’t help but think that the people who were watching the entry of our Lord into “His City” must have been thinking about how our God’s love endures through a person’s entire being. The Lord has been the central figure in the unfolding of humanity’s history, and all that has happened in each of our lives confirms this conviction.
Psalm 118 would have been on the lips of almost everyone, for it was one of those psalms that were recited at the Passover Observances each year in thanks for all that God had and is doing for Israel through time immemorial. Continuing with verses 19-21;
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
Side Note Again; I take away from these three verses that the gates of righteousness are opened by our Lord’s Holiness and not our own, and they stand ready for you, and all people, upon request. When we sincerely come to Him, our Lord will become our Salvation. Resuming with verse 22;
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success!
Side Note Again; The stone the builders rejected is of course our Lord, and a relationship in and with Him. But in a larger sense, humanity has been rejecting God over and over again throughout our existence. From Adam and Eve in the Garden on, people have denied, belied, defied, and tried the patience of the God of all creation.
This has been done, not because of our intellect, but the very opposite in the extreme. Our gullibility, and our susceptibility to listen to any lame longshot of a shortcut in living, praising, glorifying, and magnifying God’s name is epic indeed! And yet, out of the mouths of babes, and the perpetually inept, once in a while, we humans get it right, or at least are moved to say the right things as reflected now with verses 26-29;
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Finishing this Psalm as we began; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” And indeed, He does and will, and His name will be magnified throughout the heavens by people like you through eternity. Yes, people like you who believe and trust in Him. People who struggle today in their Faithwalk, who at times rise to the occasion, and many other times slip, fall, and miss the marks of fellowship and grace, only to get up brush off and try again sincerely.
Yes, today being Palm Sunday, is more of a day of thanksgiving to God and His genuine love for His Creation. Quoting John 3:16-17;
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
And that statement of fact merits our sincerely deeply felt and committed thanksgiving from now until infinity and beyond. Every time I return to this passage, I think of another gift that the Lord placed into my life and that was getting to know Margarette Christiansen as I was developing as a committed Christian. She passed several years ago but taught us John 3:16-17, which was one of her favorite verse, and she also taught me that luck is for rabbits and blessing are for people. Making me think that God so loves us that He places the perfect people we need in our lives at just the right time if we will only listen to His Spirit in our Hearts.
It is the Lord’s Spirit that enables us to know His voice. To recognize when our Lord is among us and to respond accordingly. Case in point, today’s Message Reading from the Gospel of Luke depicting the entrance of our Lord and King into His city, and being welcomed by people who recognize their Lord.
Reading again from Luke, we begin after the parable of “the10 Minas” where Jesus has been teaching about How God gives more to those who will actually use what He provides in life to help others and further His Kingdom. Picking up now at verse 28;
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
*Side Bare; Ok, so you are reading this now and you say to yourself; of course I would go after the Colt for the Lord, I’d do that if the Lord said to do it. Really… I’m mean really? Cuz, this is the same Lord that said to love God with all that you have and are, and to love your neighbor as yourself, and we immediately began to classify our neighbors as people who were like us or people we like or were related to instead of the people God places into our lives for our own edification and His… So, really?…
My thought and it is just my thought (you have the heavy task of praying, studying scripture, and thinking for your self with the Lord). My thought is, that it is hard for many of us to go with our Lord’s instruction in good faith, because we lack that kind of faith. Mainly due to lack of practice. Well, here’s the place for practicing what we believe, and there is a whole room here with people to help us and for us to help others in due order, in our walk together in and with Him. Continuing now at verse 32;
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
**Side Bar Again; It’s like wax on wax off, multiple miracles checked off.
- The disciple learns to follow God’s instruction
- The owner of the Colt learns to listen to God
- We get to learn from them both!
And the miracle continues each time another generation study’s our Lord’s scripture, new and fresh each time.
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
Cutting in Again; My favorite part is coming now, because when we, members of God’s family, are feeling His Spirit, we are moved to speak the truth and love its words, regardless of where and what is going on. Here is verse 38;
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
***Side Bar Once More; Now as so often happens when the family of God get together, is that things take on a life of their own. Joy begins to drive the Disciples of Christ to go deeper and deeper into their commitment and love for their Lord, and it happens every day in Churches across the land to this day. What Christians of a later era will call a revival, the people in Jesus’ company, are feeling the unabashed joy of the Spirit of the Lord, Halleluiah! Our passage finishes with;
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Rocks will cry out just as the Stars shouted for joy upon the creation. You can read Job 38 for yourself to get a sense of our God’s majesty. I’ll read just verses 4-7 to give you a sense of what the Pharisees need to learn;
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angelsshouted for joy?
Not everyone will feel the Spirit of the Lord, or feel it at the same time. Our Pharisees are no exception, but I think its important to remember that the Pharisees kind of represent you and me when we are tuning out and disregarding our Lord’s Holy Spirit, and His outright magnificence!
The Pharisees are not a Jewish problem, they are not a hyper religious problem, they are a people problem that reflect what we all need to work on. Not losing our focus on God. We all run this risk, when its about us and not our Lord, and it’s a caution for all of us to keep our eyes on the Lord and not on our own reputations, looks, profit-margins, wants, petty complaints, fears, and selfishness.
My hope and prayer for all of you as we enter into this most Holy of times, this week of our Lord’s demonstrated Passion for you, me, all of humanity and His creation, is that we take time this week to reflect. May you all get a chance to be alone with your Lord to give thanks for giving you your very being, and then the intellect to appreciate what I just said. And remember just how much each of you is loved, my dear family in God, forever.
Amen!