A brief sermon/reflection for Palm Sunday5 – Year A – 2020
The readings for today are the following:
- Matthew 21. 1-11;
- Psalm 31. 9-16;
- Philippians 2. 5-11;
- Matthew 27. 11-54
You might like to visit https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/ and enter any of the above readings and selecting the NRSV anglicized version or any other version.
Prayer
God of grace, we thank you for your investment in us and in the future of your world, given a human face in your son Jesus.
We thank you that he came to the centre of power and met the forces fighting for control with your truth and justice.
Help us to speak out for those who have no chance of pleading their cause: the unknown and unseen victims of the economic crisis, in small nations with fragile and vulnerable trade patterns.
As we struggle for a better and fairer world, may we know your presence with us and receive your blessing to share with others, Amen.
(by Kirsty Thorpe, minister of United Reformed Church in Cheshire)
Introduction
His vehicle costs $300,000 and is called ‘The Beast’. It’s armour plated, has a night-vision camera, is equipped with tear-gas cannon and oxygen tanks, can withstand a chemical attack and has everything you’d expect of the vehicle carrying the most powerful man in the world. He hasn’t entered the city alone – he’s got 500 people travelling with him and 200 of them are secret service staff. If he has any medical needs he’s got everything on hand, with six doctors in the party and a supply of transfusions from his blood group should he be injured. And he often comes with a long list of other very important people …
This is how the ‘Guardian’ reported the visit of President Obama in March 2009 to attend a G20 meeting in London.
Palm Sunday
In very sharp contrast, today we are celebrating Palm Sunday when we remember the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem sitting on a donkey! God the Creator become Man in Jesus Christ comes to Jerusalem seated on the humblest of animals – a donkey! That says a lot of the difference between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus says: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11.28-30) The humble and dignified Jesus entering Jerusalem seated on a donkey challenges the celebrity-crazy society we live in and its fleeting values.
This happened shortly before he entered into his passion and death on the cross and subsequent rising from the dead.
The Holy Week
This is the most important week in our christian calendar. In fact, it is called the ‘Holy Week’. All over the world, Christians celebrate these mysteries of our faith in different ways but always focussed entirely on Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the World who has saved us from our sins and brought us hope in a broken world. The commemorations this year is also tinged with the apprehension and anxiety these days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Much can be said of the celebrations of this week tinged a lot with a smack of holy paradoxes – on Palm Sunday Jesus is applauded as if he is a real king; on Good Friday Jesus is killed brutally on the cross as if he is the worst criminal; on Easter Sunday Jesus rises from the dead in glory and victory.
What is the meaning of it all?
What we celebrate in this week reflects quite a lot what happens in life – on the one hand, there is the sense of success and satisfaction; on the other hand, there is failure and pain and even death; but again life is like an ebb and flow of the paradox of life. The present coronavirus pandemic shows us in a dramatic way the paradox and the fragility of life on earth!
What is significant, however, for us Christians is the absolute hope of resurrection and new life that Jesus promises. Death is not the end. Failure is not the end. Out of the cross comes redemption and then resurrection to new life. So there is hope despite despair and light that penetrates the darkness of life!
Conclusion … and a Prayer …
There is no way human beings can make a sense of life unless we hold on to something deeply spiritual and deeply intimate. For us Christians, that deep, spiritual and intimate certainty is our faith in Jesus Christ.
I invite you once again to use this week to focus your minds on Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen, and what he has done for us. I invite you to place your life into his hands in obedience and submission to Christ. I invite you to pray with me silently :
“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for coming to us at Christmas. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you for rising from the dead to give me hope. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you into my life and heart to be my Lord and Saviour. I want to serve you always. Amen.”
Some Prayers/ Intercessions for this Sunday and the week ahead
“Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian. If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die.”