Then They Remembered

 

Sunday, April 5^th, 2009

Lent 6B

Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA

John 12:12-16

Theme: The value of re-living, re-visiting, re-experiencing the passion

 

“¹²The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” ¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ¹⁵“Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” ¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.”

 

I remember the day I got the call telling me my father was flying back to the states because my grandfather was dying.  I remember picking him up at the airport in Nashville and driving to Paducah with him.  I remember going to the hospital a day or two before he passed away, and seeing granddaddy for just a few minutes, and hearing the doctor explain that the morphine drip would ease the pain he was in, and I remember standing outside in the hallway and listening as my father and my aunts and uncles spent the last couple of hours of his life with Granddaddy.  I remember the prayers and the crying.  And when it was all over, I remember as they each came out of the room and were surrounded in turn by my cousins and the rest of the extended family that had gathered.  My father had 6 brothers and sisters, so there were lots of people in the hall.  I also remember the date:  February 5^th, 1983.  And I remember going back into the room and looking at his body and thinking to myself ‘He knows.  Now he is face to face.’ 

 

Our cemetery here beside us is a testament to how we remember those whom we love, who have gone on before us.  There are any number of markers that are regularly either decorated or where flowers of one kind or another are placed on the anniversary of that particular loved one’s death.     

 

As a community of faith, we do the same thing every year at this time.  Not with regards to former members of this particular family, but with Jesus.  Whether you are here on a regular basis or whether you only come two or three times a year, the events surrounding the end of Christ’s public ministry on earth, his arrest, beating crucifixion and subsequent resurrection are parts of the story that are at the very least familiar, if not ingrained in your memory.  Beginning today, we remember that last week of Jesus’ life.   Today is called Palm Sunday to remind us of the palms leaves that were waved by the children and the crowd’s at what we call Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 

 

As Christians, we believe that Jesus conquered death and came out of the grave, appeared to the disciples, and to ‘about 500’ other people, as scripture says.  We believe that because he was resurrected, it proves that Jesus was divine, was God incarnate, and that he DID, in fact, die in our place – once and for all, a little over two thousand years ago.  And we believe that living in the reality of that resurrection calls us to live lives that focus on the LIFE of Christ in and through us, that we become a part of his resurrection when we submit to Christ and accept him as our Lord and Savior.  

 

All that having been said, here’s the question of the day:  if living the life Christ showed us and called us to is about living today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next (in other words, into the future), why have we spent the last month-plus observing the season of Lent, focusing on something that happened nearly two thousand years ago?

 

As a nation, we have days set aside to help us remember specific events, or persons, or dates that are significant in our country’s history.  These dates or these people, whether leaders or otherwise, have become a part of the national fabric – the cloth that is made up of a vast number of colors and textures, coarse and fine threads, some smooth, some with lumps.  But for the most part, in spite of those differences, the majority of us choose to observe those holidays in some way.  In our present, consumer-oriented society, we can almost count on retailers of pretty much all kinds to take advantage of the date to build a sale of some kind around it.  For some days, such as Independence Day, or Veteran’s Day, or Memorial Day, there are specific ceremonies that are carried out both on a local and national level. The formation of our country and the ideals on which that forging was based are worth remembering, worth encouraging, worth promoting – it comes within the meaning of being a nation-state.  In order to perpetuate itself, there must be a sense of honor and value instilled in the idea of remaining a viable entity – a going concern.  And as a country, we’ve only been around since 1776.  A meager two hundred and thirty-three years.

 

Why do we set aside days for remembrance? 

 

We know that ancient man, through simple, patient, observation, grew to recognize patterns in nature – the summer and winter solstice, or the movement of the stars and the moon in the heavens, and marked them with rituals and celebrations.  So in part this marking of time by remembering recurring dates is part of our nature.  We need to do it as much for keeping track of the passage of time as we do to remind ourselves of what comes next. 

 

Some events are easy to understand as being of historic value.  The day the armistice was signed ending World War I was self-evidently historic.  For the first time in history, the world had witnessed the destructive power of modern technology, and the decision to end the carnage caused by the discrepancies between the advances in technology and the largely unchanged tactics of military engagement was in and of itself worth marking, worth remembering, and worth repeating.                     

 

Other days are not so obviously significant at first glance.  That was the case on that day when Jesus came over the crest of the hill and looked across at Jerusalem, with the crowds streaming towards it, and the sounds of singing and clapping and horses snorting and charioteers yelling to make way filling their ears, it seemed like the usual Passover anticipation building.  You see, when they arrived for the Passover feast, there was a general sense of excitement in the air.  There always was at this time of year.  It was the most significant celebration of the Jewish people.  It memorialized their deliverance from Egypt, and the beginning of their pilgrimage through the wilderness that ultimately led them back home.  Part of that celebration included the chanting of … slogans and sayings and the singing of songs that spoke of the hope of Israel, the long awaited Messiah.  

 

That the crowds were singing and chanting and waving palm branches was most likely no different from any other year’s Passover celebration.  What WAS different about this particular year was that Jesus was in the midst of them.

 

John signals the event by blending parts of two verses in two different books from the minor prophets – Zephania 3:16 for the first part, “do not be afraid, daughter of Zion”, and Zecharia 9:9 for the second part, “your King comes to you, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”     

Remember, the Gospel of John was the latest of the four Canonical Gospels written – probably in the years between 80 and 90 AD – over 50 years after the events being described, so there has been ample time for the significance of those events to begin to settle itself in the life of the early followers of Christ, and that is what is reflected here. 

 

In fact, that is why we DO what we do at this time of year.  

 

As a country, we are often characterized as having a short memory.  While we do study history, and to a degree incorporate lessons from it into our national psyche, there is a general sense that it is not that important if we are to move forward.  It presents us with a tension between two different worldviews.  On the one hand, we have those in our midst whose sole focus is forward. It’s all about what comes next, the past is the past, nothing is going to change it, let’s put it behind us and move on.  Then, there are those who believe that the past – with both successes and failures and the lessons that lie there, correctly understood and applied, are vital – critical even – to being able to move into the future and make the best decisions while doing it. 

 

What does all this have to do with Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

 

As a small part of the family of God in the United States, just by nature of being IN the United States, we are probably just as likely to fall into one of those two categories in terms of how we view our faith history as well as that of our nation. 

 

What we need to understand is that our remembrances of the events of the last week of Jesus’ life come from a different place than a simple look back at history, though that is a part of it.  What we are doing in reviewing the same texts, repeating the same hymns that have been part of the Easter Tradition among evangelical Christianity in America for decades if not centuries, is restating, refocusing our attention on the Salvation History of God’s work in the world.  In calling today Palm Sunday we are reminding ourselves that, even though it wasn’t evident at the time, when the first Christ followers thought back over the day that Jesus arrived at Jerusalem he was fulfilling a prophecy – one among many – that pointed to his being the Messiah, the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel and Savior of the world.           

  

Let’s pray.