Opening Prayer

We enter worship today O God with waving palms and songs of joy. We enter as ones seeking to usher in your reign. Prepare us O God for the suffering which comes. As we celebrate our hope with joy, grant us a serious face as well.  As we come to worship you, guide our hearts and minds in spirit and in truth. Help us to feel the joy of your promise and the weight of your sacrifice. For this is our prayer in the name of Christ Jesus who taught us to pray saying…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Welcome to Holy Week. Welcome to the triumph and the tragedy of the six days preceding Easter.

That’s the kind of world we live in: One moment we are on top of the world, believing that nothing can go wrong. And then suddenly, literally, all hell breaks loose. That, as they say, is life.

Go with me now to the year 1942. The first American troops are marching into London. They are entering the conflict known as World War II. The people of London are cheering the American soldiers. The friendly reception exhilarates the young soldiers. They sing as they march.

Suddenly the troops turn into a main street and a strange hush falls over the scene. The happy songs die on their lips. They are looking for the first time upon an area in London that has been blown to bits.

They suddenly realize the city has suffered terribly. In these young soldiers’ hearts, one moment celebration; the next, great sadness.

Life is like that: celebration and sadness, triumph and tragedy. It can happen so quickly.

The amazing thing is that it happened to the Son of God. Proclaimed Israel’s King on Sunday, crucified as an Enemy of the State on Friday. Didn’t they realize who he was?

Sure, he gave up his divinity when he entered the world as a tiny baby, but couldn’t they see his miracles? Didn’t he raise Lazarus from the dead? Couldn’t they sense he was no ordinary human?

He was Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, sent into the world by the God to save the world from the powers of sin and death. How could they miss it? How could they not know?

Maybe it was because he came riding into town on a donkey How’s that for lowering expectations?

Kings ride on magnificent horses, not lowly donkeys. They ride in limos, not in Yugos. In our world, image is everything.

The Greek historian Plutarch describes how kings are supposed to enter a city. He tells about one Roman general, Aemilius Paulus, who won a decisive victory over the Macedonians. When Aemilius returned to Rome, his triumphant procession lasted three days.

The first day was dedicated to displaying all the artwork that Aemilius and his army had plundered.

The second day was devoted to all the weapons of the Macedonians they had captured.

The third day began with the rest of the plunder hauled by 250 oxen, whose horns were covered in gold.

This included more than 17,000 pounds of gold coins. Then came the captured and humiliated king of Macedonia and his extended family.

Finally, Aemilius himself entered Rome, mounted on a magnificent chariot. Aemilius wore a purple robe, interwoven with gold.

He carried his laurels in his right hand. He was accompanied by a large choir singing, praising the military accomplishments of the great Aemilius. That, my friends, is how a king enters a city.

But the King of Kings? He entered riding on a lowly donkey.

If he had consulted his political advisors, they would have been aghast. What was he up to? Leaders are supposed to project strength and power.

Jesus wasn’t listening to his political advisors when he made his entrance into Jerusalem that day.

Instead, he was listening to the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah envisioned the King of Kings, the Messiah, coming not on a great stallion, but riding on a humble donkey.

Zechariah also foretold what this Messiah on a donkey would do: he would “cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem.”

Zechariah also foretold what this Messiah would say: “peace to the nations.” Zechariah foresaw it. Jesus fulfilled it.

No wonder holy week moves from triumph to tragedy. The expectations of the people had been dashed.

They had voted for change, but change was nowhere in view. Besides, who can live with “peace to the nations” when they wanted justice and power over the nations!

Even Jesus’ disciples expected him to exercise his kingship by vanquishing their enemies. They wanted Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom and to make them his Generals.

Man, were they disappointed. They wanted Churchill, and they got Gandhi.

It should not be surprising that some of those who sang their sweet Hosannas on Palm Sunday were shouting “Crucify him!” on Good Friday. Triumph and tragedy.

The obvious question is: would it be any different today?

Would we welcome Christ into our community, into our family, even into our church? It is an unsettling question, but it needs to be asked.

Can we confront our own darkness? Can we confront our need for repentance? Would we welcome Christ into our world?

For you see Christ, the real Christ, comes as a disturber, an unsettler. Think of the things we value. Status. Power. Money. Image. How does it all square with this humble figure riding on a donkey? Not very well, does it?

Look at our popular heroes. How do the action heroes of these movies spend their time? Blowing things up. Avenging past wrongs. Asserting their dominance over their foes.

Again, reconcile these images with that humble figure riding on a donkey.

Do you understand what it means to say Jesus is Lord? It means that we need to examine our lives, examine our goals, examine what it is that we are living for and ask ourselves is it enough?

Holy week should be the time for increased reflection and subsequent repentance as we measure our lives by our Lord’s life and death.

While the cross of Christ reveals the evil humanity is capable of, it also reveals the love of which God is capable. This is why the cross is so precious to believers.They cheered Jesus on Sundayand on Friday they nailed him to a cross.

But God had the last word. God took that cross and made it a symbol of our salvation from the forces of sin and death.

Triumph and tragedy, then triumph once again. Thank God for that final triumph, the triumph over sin and death.

Closing Prayer

God of transformation, we are reminded this day that Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem was more than a show, more than a simple provocation, more than the beginning of a cute celebration.

It was a signal that things are changing, an unmistakably potent message to the powers that be that the world as we know it is becoming the world as it should be.

It was a radical act of defiance directed against those in Jesus’ day who wielded power through violence, oppression, and tyranny. It is no less radical and no less tame for those who do the same today.

This simple ride reminds us—and tells the whole world—that you are indeed coming to make all things new. You are coming to turn weapons of war into instruments of peace. You are coming to release those who find themselves in all manners of bondage: chains of injustice; chains of addiction; chains of conformity and apathy. You are coming to provide for the poor: food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless. You are coming to assure the dignity and equality of all who are marginalized or oppressed. You are coming to end violence and divisions, to provide safe communities and opportunities for education. You are coming to offer healing and wholeness, comfort, consolation, and hope. You are coming to transform all that we know. You are coming to save us.

But like humble Jesus riding into town on a lowly colt, you aren’t coming in grandeur; you aren’t coming with thunder and lightning; you aren’t making an epic entrance.

You’re coming through the mystery of love incarnate, through your church empowered by your Spirit, through lives transformed and inspired, through ordinary people like us, blessed by you to do extraordinary things.

Come, gracious God, into a world that longs for change, a world that needs your love, a world full of your own children, a world ripe with hope and potential. Blessed are those who come in your name, O God. We have come. We will go.