Palm Sunday Peace
Palm Sunday
“One of the best newspaper cartoons of all time is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favorite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin’s head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat.
“What’s up today?” asks his mom.
“Nothing, so far,” answers Calvin.
“So far?” she questions.
“Well, you never know,” Calvin says, “Something could happen today.” Then Calvin marches off, “And if anything does, by golly, I’m going to be ready for it!”
Calvin’s mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, “I need a suit like that!”
That’s the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems quite violent, and people seem to be at each other’s throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say with Calvin, “Whatever may come my way, I’m going to be ready for it! Bring it on!”
Well, I don’t have a suit like Calvin’s to give you this morning, but I do have word for this morning: Peace” (Sermons.com, Brett Blair).
You might be saying, wait Anne, today is Palm Sunday- this is the day of a parade, waiving palms, shouting hosanna, and Jesus riding on donkeys or colts. Often, we call this the triumphal entry, Jesus entering Jerusalem as a king, yet on his way to the cross. Yes, today is our last Sunday before Easter. We are entering Holy Week as Jesus enters Jerusalem. But we will not turn to the Passion of Christ in this service, because I truly hope you will all come on Thursday as we mark Jesus’ last meal and his sacrifice for us. Jesus dying on the cross is not an addendum to our faith it is the core, the reason we are saved, the demonstration of God’s love. Join us on Maundy Thursday at 6:30 as we break bread together as the disciples did on the night of Jesus death and betrayal.
Did you notice when I read Luke’s account, there were no palms, no shouts of hosanna, no donkey? Sure, two disciples go and untie the colt, the reason given, the Lord needs it. Then comes the parade, a multitude of the disciples praising God joyfully, celebrating all that they had seen Jesus do! His miracles, signs, healings and welcoming. But instead of hosanna, they shout, “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Peace, not hosanna. You recall that hosanna is a prayer for God to save us, a pleading for help to the holy one. The other three gospels have the multitude crying, “Hosanna” to the Messiah, to save them. But Luke tells the story differently. Luke speaks of peace. Palm Sunday Peace. Why?
Let’s answer this question looking at several ideas of peace: Political Peace, Cosmic Peace, Heavenly Peace and Christ’s Peace. It is important to note, “Luke uses the word “peace” in his gospel more than all the other gospel writers combined” (Working Preacher, Jerusha Matsen Neal).
Political Peace. “Jesus goes to Jerusalem during the feast of Passover which is, arguably, the most volatile and political (feast). Passover is meant to invoke the divine act of liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian oppression…God’s triumph over the greatest superpower of its day must have resonated in the minds of the Jews…The political — nay, the revolutionary — runs through the entire feast. (During this time) Imperial Rome generated feelings of hatred and contempt from many of its subjects. The writer Tacitus said, “[The Romans] rob, they slaughter, they plunder — and they call it ‘empire.’ Where they make a waste-land, they call it ‘peace’” (Working Preacher, Michael Joseph Brown). These people need peace, seek peace, from the political chaos of their day. We are not alone. Palm Sunday Peace for you.
Cosmic Peace is seen in Jesus’ response to the religious leaders to make the crowd stop. If his followers were silent, Jesus proclaimed, “the stones would cry out” (verse 40). The choir reminded us of this in the anthem. All creation is included in this procession, human and non-human alike. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a shift in the cosmos, one that cannot go unnoticed. The stones crying out, foreshadow Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem. Jesus weeps (for Jerusalem), “because you did not know the time of your visitation from God” (verse 44). (Working Preacher, Jerusha Matsen Neal). Jesus is God’s visitation to us. Cosmic peace today might come in honoring God’s creation and doing whatever it takes to stop climate change. I am sure Jesus would cry over what humanity is doing, what we are doing, to God’s creation. Palm Sunday Peace to you.
We all long for Peace. “The Society of International Law, in London, states that during the last 4,000 years there have been only 268 years of peace. That incredible statistic said another way, since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than eight percent of the time! Moreover, more than 8000 peace treaties were made and broken” (Sermons.com, Brett Blair). We yearn for peace, but those numbers say we are failing. Maybe the lack of palm branches in Luke can be attributed to Luke’s avoidance of nationalistic overtones, in his desire for real peace.
Heavenly Peace: When the multitude of disciples proclaimed, “Peace in heaven and glory to the highest heaven!” the angels’ song at Jesus’ birth comes flooding back, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among people” (Lk 2:14). God’s angels at Christ’s birth declare peace on earth, but here “Jesus’ disciples speak of “peace in heaven,” (19:38) but not yet of peace on the earth—or for the earth. It is, perhaps, Luke’s acknowledgment that the next week in his account will hold very little earthly peace” (Working Preacher, Jerusha Matsen Neal). Yet in contrast to the other gospels, Luke presents a Jesus who represents peace” (Working Preacher, Michael Joseph Brown).
One final thought on this Palm Sunday of peace. We have all been asked by our children: if you could have any wish what would it be? I think the most common answer given is world peace. Our record shows we are not good at peace, yet we desire peace more than anything. Even before Jesus’ death when comforting his disciples about God’s house with many rooms, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:27). We need Christ’s peace. A peace beyond words, rather a peace that abides in your heart. Not by force but by choice. Jesus will abide in your heart bringing you peace. The world’s peace is peace through strength. The Lord’s peace is peace through surrender.
The very first thing our risen Lord said to his disciples, “Peace be with you…Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself (Lk 24:36,39). Jesus offers us Peace.
“A friend visited an elderly woman badly crippled by arthritis. When asked, “Do you suffer much?” she responded, “Yes, but there is no nail here,” and she pointed to her hand. “He had the nails, I have the peace.” She pointed to her head. “There are no thorns here. He had the thorns, I have the peace.” She touched her side. “There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace.” That is what the atonement of Jesus Christ means for us—He gave of himself so that we might have the peace” (Sermons.com, Ralph Turnbull). Amen.
