Todays Sermon: My 100th Post.
100 posts in a year I suppose isn't much, but hey, its a start! Enjoy my sermon from Palm Sunday, or don't, whatever you like!
The Rev. Aron Kramer Palm Sunday April 1st, 2007
Some day this past week I walked out my door at home to come to work, I walked out into the grey dreary world that I have been walking out into for the past several weeks. I locked the door as I left, and as I turned to go to my little grey car, little green specks caught my eye. The bushes in the front of our house had popped out, no longer was the landscape grey and dreary, it was grey and dreary with little green specks all over it, and whenever I see those little green spots, hope springs eternal in my heart. My first thought in looking at the bud on the bushes and on the trees all around me, was, The Kingdom of God is near! The Kingdom of God in the world often feels like that, grey, dreary with lots of little green specks bursting through. When those buds start to appear, and the bulbs start breaking through the ground I always give thanks, for the Kingdom of God is truly near.
Now, bring back to mind today’s Gospel reading, I want you to imagine two processions into Jerusalem at the same time. One had at its center a humble man riding on a colt, people strode joyfully before him laying their cloaks on the road and cheering as they entered the city. Not much pomp and circumstance, no trumpets, no loud proclamations, just a large, friendly crowd of people who had been walking with this man, Jesus, learning from him as he lived his life. The message from this procession was, The Kingdom of God has come near. On the other side of the city imagine another procession, one that shone and glinted in the sun from armor and weapons and brass and silver and gold plated things that were gloriously expensive. Imagine this cold and distant and uncaring procession with many people marching in it, armed guards, military leaders, cavalry and soldiers, trumpets and music declaring their arrival; war horses, and other majestic animals, carts and escorts carrying many different important people, and one particularly important person, the Roman Idumean governor, Pontius Pilate. This procession proclaimed the Kingdom of Rome was here.
I think I have stood up here a few times in the past year and half and talked about the end of Christendom and the future of Christianity, I have talked about how Church and Christianity as we know it has come to its twilight, it no longer will move forward as it has over the past 500 years. Some have said that the Church is in the midst of a second reformation, which I somewhat agree with. I also see a dual procession at this time in history, a procession full of tradition and charity, a history full of expensive things, big buildings and lots of money. A procession where the sun glints off beat up gold and silver and brass things that at one time were glorious and bright. A procession connected to culture in a way that covers up its humanity. The other procession I see is one that is humble, that is quiet, a procession that is spreading slowly across the ground, not like a tree growing up, but a weed growing out. This procession is about authenticity and relationship. It is a procession full of people seeking meaning, seeking community, unsure about what lies ahead. It is a procession rooted in history, yet it is a history that is not steeped in the culture, it is a procession that is trying to discover people’s humanity, a procession that is recovering the joy and delight God had in creating us all.
So the question is, what procession are we a part of? Are we in a tunnel where we can see the light at the end or a tunnel where there is only darkness? What procession are we a part of? Notice today, that there are no palm branches in Luke’s version of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The other Gospels all add the palm branches to their stories of Jesus’ triumphal entry. They all include palms and because of those Gospels we celebrate Palm Sunday today. But today, as we celebrate Palm Sunday, our Gospel has nothing in it about waving palm branches. What was Luke trying to say in excluding palms in the arrival of Jesus? Palms and branches waving during parades and processions during the time of Jesus were expressions of nationalistic loyalty and support. It would be as if, along with our crosses and other Christian symbolism, we processed through the streets of Minneapolis waving our American Flags or our various states flags, or even our favorite sports teams’ banner, claiming the Kingdom belonged to one single nationality. Luke wanted to be sure that the expression he put forth of God’s Kingdom in the world was not attached to any nationalistic expression, it was God’s kingdom he spoke of, not the Roman Empire, not the United States or any other national state as the sole presence and supporter of the Kingdom of God.
We have four distinct stories of Christ in our Bible, yet they are often treated as one single story. We confronted this issue on our book group throughout Lent, asking questions all the time about what Jesus did or say according to what we thought was in Mark’s gospel. Or, we asked, didn’t this thing happen in the Gospel at this particular point? We always had to ask the question, which Gospel said that Jesus did this or said that? It is important to remember to separate the stories of Jesus given to us, because they were all written in different contexts with different purposes, they are not one single story about Jesus. This multiplicity of stories helps us understand that Jesus does not belong to one particular clan or people, or one particular state. Rather it is the other way around, before any of this began, there was God. Before there was the earth, there was God, before King James English even, God was present. We belong to God, and only to God, our allegiance, our loyalty simply and solely are directed to God. It is all the other stuff that gets in the way of our relationship with God.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, for Jesus it was a journey, back to the heart of God, a hard journey that actually killed him. For us it is also a journey, but one that will not end so hard. The end of our journey has been changed forever; the end of our journey has been made new and made joyful because of all that Jesus did. This journey we embark on is one of the most important journeys we as Christians could ever accomplish. It is important, because it is about walking with Jesus and discovering anew how we can be disciples. In our discovering about how to be disciples, we uncover our passions, our loves those gifts that we have been given by God; those things that feed us and make us whole. In our discovering of how to be disciples and in our uncovering of the gifts we have, we also reveal the Kingdom of God in the world. We reveal the Kingdom of God not just to ourselves, but to those who benefit from our newly discovered gifts, passions and joys for being God’s children. Contrary to popular belief, we do not create a Kingdom, or a ministry or any sort of work and say to God, now bless this thing we have created. Instead, we discover that we must pray to God for understanding, for clarity and for guidance as we discover our own gifts and skills and talents and then find out how we can participate in God’s Kingdom in the world.
The Kingdom of God has drawn near, in a little while, this triumphal entry will turn into a dark foreboding vision of the future. In a little while, we will all descend into darkness, not seeing the little green specks that bring hope to us all. The world today is wet, dreary, hard, cold and grey, but look around you as you do your ministry in the world, look around you and see the signs of God’s Kingdom breaking into the world, the signs of God’s Kingdom being uncovered as we begin to see anew this spring, after a long hard winter. It won’t be long before the world is bursting with color and joy. It won’t be long before these little green specks transform this grey world into a rich, living Kingdom in which we all have a part to play.
The Rev. Aron Kramer Palm Sunday April 1st, 2007
Some day this past week I walked out my door at home to come to work, I walked out into the grey dreary world that I have been walking out into for the past several weeks. I locked the door as I left, and as I turned to go to my little grey car, little green specks caught my eye. The bushes in the front of our house had popped out, no longer was the landscape grey and dreary, it was grey and dreary with little green specks all over it, and whenever I see those little green spots, hope springs eternal in my heart. My first thought in looking at the bud on the bushes and on the trees all around me, was, The Kingdom of God is near! The Kingdom of God in the world often feels like that, grey, dreary with lots of little green specks bursting through. When those buds start to appear, and the bulbs start breaking through the ground I always give thanks, for the Kingdom of God is truly near.
Now, bring back to mind today’s Gospel reading, I want you to imagine two processions into Jerusalem at the same time. One had at its center a humble man riding on a colt, people strode joyfully before him laying their cloaks on the road and cheering as they entered the city. Not much pomp and circumstance, no trumpets, no loud proclamations, just a large, friendly crowd of people who had been walking with this man, Jesus, learning from him as he lived his life. The message from this procession was, The Kingdom of God has come near. On the other side of the city imagine another procession, one that shone and glinted in the sun from armor and weapons and brass and silver and gold plated things that were gloriously expensive. Imagine this cold and distant and uncaring procession with many people marching in it, armed guards, military leaders, cavalry and soldiers, trumpets and music declaring their arrival; war horses, and other majestic animals, carts and escorts carrying many different important people, and one particularly important person, the Roman Idumean governor, Pontius Pilate. This procession proclaimed the Kingdom of Rome was here.
I think I have stood up here a few times in the past year and half and talked about the end of Christendom and the future of Christianity, I have talked about how Church and Christianity as we know it has come to its twilight, it no longer will move forward as it has over the past 500 years. Some have said that the Church is in the midst of a second reformation, which I somewhat agree with. I also see a dual procession at this time in history, a procession full of tradition and charity, a history full of expensive things, big buildings and lots of money. A procession where the sun glints off beat up gold and silver and brass things that at one time were glorious and bright. A procession connected to culture in a way that covers up its humanity. The other procession I see is one that is humble, that is quiet, a procession that is spreading slowly across the ground, not like a tree growing up, but a weed growing out. This procession is about authenticity and relationship. It is a procession full of people seeking meaning, seeking community, unsure about what lies ahead. It is a procession rooted in history, yet it is a history that is not steeped in the culture, it is a procession that is trying to discover people’s humanity, a procession that is recovering the joy and delight God had in creating us all.
So the question is, what procession are we a part of? Are we in a tunnel where we can see the light at the end or a tunnel where there is only darkness? What procession are we a part of? Notice today, that there are no palm branches in Luke’s version of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The other Gospels all add the palm branches to their stories of Jesus’ triumphal entry. They all include palms and because of those Gospels we celebrate Palm Sunday today. But today, as we celebrate Palm Sunday, our Gospel has nothing in it about waving palm branches. What was Luke trying to say in excluding palms in the arrival of Jesus? Palms and branches waving during parades and processions during the time of Jesus were expressions of nationalistic loyalty and support. It would be as if, along with our crosses and other Christian symbolism, we processed through the streets of Minneapolis waving our American Flags or our various states flags, or even our favorite sports teams’ banner, claiming the Kingdom belonged to one single nationality. Luke wanted to be sure that the expression he put forth of God’s Kingdom in the world was not attached to any nationalistic expression, it was God’s kingdom he spoke of, not the Roman Empire, not the United States or any other national state as the sole presence and supporter of the Kingdom of God.
We have four distinct stories of Christ in our Bible, yet they are often treated as one single story. We confronted this issue on our book group throughout Lent, asking questions all the time about what Jesus did or say according to what we thought was in Mark’s gospel. Or, we asked, didn’t this thing happen in the Gospel at this particular point? We always had to ask the question, which Gospel said that Jesus did this or said that? It is important to remember to separate the stories of Jesus given to us, because they were all written in different contexts with different purposes, they are not one single story about Jesus. This multiplicity of stories helps us understand that Jesus does not belong to one particular clan or people, or one particular state. Rather it is the other way around, before any of this began, there was God. Before there was the earth, there was God, before King James English even, God was present. We belong to God, and only to God, our allegiance, our loyalty simply and solely are directed to God. It is all the other stuff that gets in the way of our relationship with God.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, for Jesus it was a journey, back to the heart of God, a hard journey that actually killed him. For us it is also a journey, but one that will not end so hard. The end of our journey has been changed forever; the end of our journey has been made new and made joyful because of all that Jesus did. This journey we embark on is one of the most important journeys we as Christians could ever accomplish. It is important, because it is about walking with Jesus and discovering anew how we can be disciples. In our discovering about how to be disciples, we uncover our passions, our loves those gifts that we have been given by God; those things that feed us and make us whole. In our discovering of how to be disciples and in our uncovering of the gifts we have, we also reveal the Kingdom of God in the world. We reveal the Kingdom of God not just to ourselves, but to those who benefit from our newly discovered gifts, passions and joys for being God’s children. Contrary to popular belief, we do not create a Kingdom, or a ministry or any sort of work and say to God, now bless this thing we have created. Instead, we discover that we must pray to God for understanding, for clarity and for guidance as we discover our own gifts and skills and talents and then find out how we can participate in God’s Kingdom in the world.
The Kingdom of God has drawn near, in a little while, this triumphal entry will turn into a dark foreboding vision of the future. In a little while, we will all descend into darkness, not seeing the little green specks that bring hope to us all. The world today is wet, dreary, hard, cold and grey, but look around you as you do your ministry in the world, look around you and see the signs of God’s Kingdom breaking into the world, the signs of God’s Kingdom being uncovered as we begin to see anew this spring, after a long hard winter. It won’t be long before the world is bursting with color and joy. It won’t be long before these little green specks transform this grey world into a rich, living Kingdom in which we all have a part to play.
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