Palm Sunday 2025
This is an introduction, a brief homily, a sermonette if you will, of what we are about to hear and read together so that you may hear and read the profundity of the story of Jesus—this year told by the gospel writer Luke.
There are such notable lines in the telling as, “if these (people who you say are too loud) were quiet the stones would shout out!”
Sometimes I’ve had people enact the tradition of Jewish friends placing stones in memory of the departed.
There’s also the line. “No more of this.”
Jesus words are in reference to the disciples who are armed to the teeth with weapons and ready to go to battle for Jesus.
And of course, there is: “Hosanna…” Just a little while later the same people shout, “crucify him.”
That’s the fickleness of faith; it’s especially the capricious nature of people. One moment we are excited about the amazing things that we’ve seen and the next moment we wonder, gee what’s next? We forget all about what’s just happened and are on to the next thing. That is why, I’m convinced, we need Jesus. It’s not enough to just have him as a friend; even with all our sins and griefs to bear…We need Jesus as Saviour, or else, faith is up to us; and our feelings; and that combination leads straight to, “crucify him.”
Friends, if you are daydreaming and don’t hear any of these words today, the words Jesus says, or yours in bold (in the bulletin), don’t worry. Throughout the week we’ve got a lot of religious services.
We will hear different parts of this same story. In order to tell the story in its entirety I’ve been praying and reading and researching. I’m reading, and praying, and researching in order to help you hear this story with fresh ears and an open heart.
At some point during our many services, I’ll be quoting Vanity Fair magazine and a report from Oklahoma about teaching the Bible in the classroom. I’ll be quoting Thomas Merton and what’s printed on those stickers that I gave you in October. I’ll remind you to be human and to guard the image of one another—you are the image of God.
I’ll tell you a Star Trek origin story; as well as this Jersey City church’s Mister Rogers story and I'll even talk about Harry Potter and how he has captured the imagination my young son…
all of this is to talk about Jesus.
…But my wife is here today so I want to hold her attention before she starts to Day Dream. I also want to give her credit, publicly, that this year’s sermonette and the whole Palm Parade were inspired by her—mostly.
In December she and maybe some of you, if you’re in the behive, watched Beyoncé perform a 13 minute halftime show. I was the one not paying attention then—Day Dreaming. I was the one Day Dreaming; but when I looked up. Wow. That’s when I saw Beyonce ride into the stadium on a white horse. All along the road there were people, they were not shouting Hosanna, like they do in Luke’s Gospel; but they were singing like we are.
This parade of voices made me immediately think of the Biblical stories of Palm Sunday. The road Beyonce traveled also made me think of the miracle in the gospel of Mark. Jesus asks a blind man what he sees, the man says, “it’s as if they (people) are trees, walking…”
Perhaps that’s exactly what we are today, walking trees. We are waving Palms.
When you hear stones. when you see trees; if you happen to channel Beyonce, you may you think of Jesus this Holy Week; and of you don’t, maybe that’s even better, because despite your capricious nature, Jesus is thinking about you.