Tailgating Before Easter (Pastor Charley)
Thank you for being in worship today. We always have a pretty big crowd on Palm Sunday. Of course, next week will be a big Sunday for us as we celebrate Easter. It is always wonderful to see a filled church on Sunday and we will certainly see it next week.
Churches are always looking for ways to draw a big crowd. A few years ago a church in Maryland came up with a free car giveaway on a Sunday morning. That’s right. The church bought five cars to hand out at worship services.
Pastor Stephen Chandler of Destiny Church in Columbia, Maryland, said his congregation averages about 1,100 on Sundays. When they announced the car giveaway, their attendance more than doubled. The church had so many people attending they added an extra worship service, and another car to give away.
I must admit that doing such stunts to draw a crowd is enticing. I believe if First Church did something like that our worship attendance would increase dramatically. But the problem is that in order to keep crowds coming back you have to keep doing better and better stunts each week. This turns church into a circus and the gospel into a spectacle.
More than that, once the gimmicks are gone and the novelty fades, so do the crowds. When you stop giving people what they want, they will find someone else who will. The sad truth is many people who will be here on Easter won’t return until Christmas. It’s just the way it is. Crowds are fickle.
Jesus understands this truth better than anyone. If anyone could draw a crowd it was Jesus. When he emerged on the public scene he was an overnight sensation. He could not even find a place to be alone. When he came into town, the masses lined the streets. He had a gift for preaching. He mesmerized crowds. He also had the gift of healing. Word spread everywhere that this man from Nazareth healed the sick and raised the dead.
But the big crowds did not adore Jesus for long. The tide began to turn against Jesus. The crowds got smaller and his critics got louder. Earlier Jesus’ critics had been afraid to speak out for fear of the masses, but they began to figure out that the fickle public was turning on him. Soon the opposition began to snowball.
The beginning of the end began on the day we reflect on this morning. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey with a big crowd shouting “Hosanna!” But soon the cheering stopped and the crowds faded. And many who were waving palm branches for Jesus were nowhere to be found when he got the tar beat out of him. The shouts of “Hosanna” would give way to “Crucify Him!” Before it was all over Jesus would be brought to his knees under the weight of a cross.
The brutal nature of this week always flies in the face of how most churches approach Palm Sunday. For many, Palm Sunday is simply a tailgate party before Easter. It’s a chance to overlook the ugliness of Holy Week by waving palm branches and having Easter Egg hunts. It’s more or less a dress rehearsal for Easter. By the looks of it, you’d think the parade Jesus led on that donkey ended in glory, but we know it didn’t. It ended in blood.
So why did the masses so radically turn against Jesus? Why did the cheering stop and the crowds fade? What did he do or say that caused so many to turn their back on him?
One reason why the cheering stopped and the crowds faded is that Jesus began to talk about commitment.
Close to the time Jesus entered Jerusalem, a rich young ruler ran up to him, excited about asking Jesus a question. He said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied:
“Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. -Matthew 19:21-22
The man was stunned by Jesus’ response. And so was the crowd who heard it. I know in my heart when that rich young ruler walked away sorrowfully that day, he was not the only one. I believe many uncommitted people also walked away. Jesus was no longer talking only about grace. He was also talking about the only proper response to God’s grace: commitment.
Before Palm Sunday Jesus’ message had largely been one of grace. When the 5,000 were hungry he fed them. When they brought their sick to him, he healed them. When a woman is caught in adultery and is about to be stoned, it is Jesus who comes to her rescue and saves her. The message of his ministry is one of grace upon grace.
But after Palm Sunday Jesus was saying, “It’s time to stop being entertained by me and start following me. The time for the show is over and the time to grow is now. It’s time to set your priorities and make a commitment to be my disciples.”
And guess what? The masses didn’t like it. The masses of today still don’t like the idea of commitment.
This is the problem with palms. Palms are beautiful, and we love to see them waved at Jesus. But when palms are cut from trees, they do not live very long. Soon they begin to wither and fade. It is the same with admirers of Jesus. Their enthusiasm may last for a time, but soon it begins to fade.
There are many admirers of Jesus today – those who see the gospel as a beautiful story and wave as Jesus goes by. They may come to church every once in a while or take off their hat during a moment of silence. They may even say something nice about Jesus in a prayer before a holiday meal. But follow Jesus? Obey Jesus? Do what Jesus calls us to do? That is a little fanatical, isn’t it?
When Bishop Will Willimon was the minister at Duke Chapel he received a phone call from a very upset parent. The father was upset because his graduate school bound daughter had just told him she was going to ‘throw it all away’, as he put it, and go and do mission work in Haiti.
The father said, “This is up surd. She has a degree in mechanical engineering from Duke and she’s going to dig ditches Haiti. I hold you personally responsible for this.”
Willimon replied, “Me? What have I done?”
Father said, “Well, you filled her head with all that religious stuff. She thinks a lot of you. That’s why she’s doing this foolishness.”
Willimon replied, “Now look, mister. Hold on. Didn’t you have her baptized as a kid? Didn’t you read her Bible stories and take her to Sunday school? Didn’t you let her go on all those youth retreats and ski trips?”
The father said, “Well, yes…”
Willimon said, “Then it’s your fault she believed all that stuff. Not mine. You’re the one that introduced her to Jesus, not me.”
The father replied, “But we never expected it to come to this. We never dreamed she would go to Haiti. We just wanted her to grow up to be a good Methodist.”
One of the biggest issues confronting the church today is not immorality, sin, worship wars, ethical issues, polity, or corruption. The biggest issue confronting the church today is the growing lack of commitment among the followers of Jesus Christ! We have plenty of admirers of Jesus, but Jesus does not want admirers; Jesus wants disciples.
So how are you doing? What is your level of commitment? Those of you who joined the church took a vow. You said you would support your church with your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. How are you doing with that? Christ died for us and set us free! Do we really have to ponder whether or not we should be faithful? Do we really have to give a second thought to whether or not we should abide in him and grow in our faith?
In order for grace to mean anything there must be a commitment in response to it. Otherwise it is just cheap grace.
Speaking of God’s grace, there is another reason why the cheering stopped and the crowds faded away from Jesus. Jesus proclaimed that all people are worthy of God’s love.
According to Matthew, right after Jesus’ big parade on Palm Sunday, he went to the temple to do a little spring cleaning on the money changers. Take a look:
Jesus went into the temple courtyard and threw out everyone who was buying and selling there. He overturned the moneychangers’ tables and the chairs of those who sold pigeons. He told them, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you’re turning it into a gathering place for thieves!”
Blind and lame people came to him in the temple courtyard, and he healed them. -Matthew 21:12-14
Notice that after Jesus cleansed the Temple he then invites in the lame, the poor, the sick, the outcasts of society and heals them. He brings into God’s house what some would call “Riff Raff.”
Jesus was not trying to win friends and influence people. By bringing in these people he was saying all people are loved by God and have access to God. He was showing us what the Kingdom of God is going to be like.
Well, the crowds who followed Jesus did not like that then, and they still don’t like it today.
A while back I had a conversation with a friend of mine who shared about the time he was so disgusted with a church that he left it. What happened? It’s an old sad story. His pastor felt called to lead the church to participate in a homeless ministry. Guess what? The key leaders were so upset about it that they got rid of the pastor. Can you believe that?
John 3:16 does not say, “For God so loved the beautiful people” or “the Christians” or “the Republicans” or “Democrats” or “the United Methodists.” It says “For God so loved the WORLD.”
Christians forget that Jesus said the world will know we are his by disciples not by how we worship, not by how we read the bible, not by how we pray, not by the denomination we belong to, but by our love for one another.
Dr. James B. Lemler is an Episcopal priest and he loves to talk about what a 2nd grade girl said about his preaching after church one day. During a Sunday lunch, Father Lemler overheard her talking about his sermon. She said, “Oh, Father Lemler’s sermons, they’re always the same,” she said, “You know . . . blah, blah, blah, . . . love . . . blah, blah, blah . . . love.”
Dr. Lemler said he was amused and thought to himself, “Hey, this little girl really got it . . .Over and over again . . . blah, blah, blah, love . . blah, blah, blah, love . . .Blah, blah, blah love . . .”
I hope when I am eulogized that is exactly what people say about my preaching, “blah, blah, blah, love….”
You see, the closer you get to Christ…if your religion leads you to be more exclusive than inclusive, more judgmental than merciful, more self-righteous than humble than it has nothing to do with Christianity…
That’s why the cheering stopped and crowds faded on Palm Sunday. Jesus opened the doors of the church to everyone. It angered some people then and it still angers some people today. But that love would soon be demonstrated in a way that would transform the world. And that leads me to the last reason the cheering for Jesus stopped and the crowds faded.
The cheering stopped and the crowds faded because Jesus began to talk about a cross. Take a look:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things…and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” -Matthew 16:21-23
You see, Jesus refused to give in to the expectations around him – to be a revolutionary, a political or military leader that would bring people their pound of flesh. No, Jesus knew his sole purpose was to prove to the world once and for all that the only thing that will overcome hate, evil, death and sin is his radical, life giving, life changing, unconditional, vulnerable, forgiving and redemptive love.
A few years ago Mark Trotter told a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000. The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail.
But, don’t you know the man’s conversation with his wife was very interesting when he found out his wife got him back for a discount? Calvin Trillin wrote about this incident. He imagined out loud what the negotiations must have been like: “$100,000 for that old guy? You have got to be crazy. Just look at him! Look at that gut! You want $100,000 for that? You’ve got to be kidding. Give me a break here. $30,000 is my top offer.”
Mark Trotter concluded his rendition of the story with this thoughtful comment: “I am not sure who you relate to in that story, but I relate to the husband. I’d like to think if I were in a similar situation, there would be people who would spare no expense to get me back. They wouldn’t haggle over the price. They wouldn’t say, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ I like to think that they would say, ‘We’ll do anything for you.’”
Guess what? Christ did. He did everything for you.
“You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him — be free now from all these earthly prides and fears.” -1 Corinthians 7:23 TLB
You have been bought and paid for by Christ. You belong to Jesus. How much does that make you worth? You are a priceless child of God. The cross proves your value. Jesus didn’t die for junk. Nobody has ever paid a greater price than Jesus paid for you. Don’t you ever forget it.
I am grateful to my friend and colleague Brett Blair for his insights as I prepared this sermon.