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The folks came from the surrounding towns and villages, filling the city for the celebration of the holy day. Young and old, Long time visitors and first time pilgrims, They came and lined the streets. They waited and watched – For government officials to pass by, For religious leaders to go before them. And as the one they waited for came slowly past, You could hear the claps, the shouts. Hip, hip, Hooray! Hooray! Do you recognize this scence? Yes, yes. . . it’s the St. Patrick’s Day parade! I can see the look of surprise on some of your faces - Surprised I didn’t say that it was Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Okay, okay, so I set you up, And I will tell you why. First, however, let’s acknowledge that there are some similar details between the scene in Hartford yesterday and the scene in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago. In both places there were large crowds, to be sure. There were government officials – In Hartford they were marching – Even the governor was there! In Jerusalem they were watching – To make sure nothing would go awry with the throngs gathered for the feast of Passover. There were shouts of acclaim coming from the crowds. Yesterday we did clap and shout for the bands, the veterans, The teamsters. Hip, Hip, hooray! Here’s a difference, though – There’s more than a parade going on in Jerusalem, More than a hip, hip, hooray going on between the crowds and Jesus. Our gospel writer Matthew takes great pains to present Jesus as the fulfillment of the one talked about in the Hebrew Scriptures by the prophet Zechariah. He does it even to the slight awkwardness of showing Jesus riding two animals! Did you notice that in the text? But putting that aside, Matthew wants to make his point. Look, says Zechariah “your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, The foal of a donkey.” Clearly, Jesus is the king, The king who delivers the Israelites from their oppression at the hands of Rome, And restores Israel to glory and power. You know, sometimes it’s not only what you say, It’s what you don’t say. And that’s true for our Scripture lesson this morning. Matthew edits out two important adjectives from that verse in Zechariah: triumphant and victorious. To tell us that Jesus is the gentle king, One who comes not with might from the sword, But with the grace and power of God. And it is to this gentle king that the crowds shout. You know the word: Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! This one word from Matthew’s gospel has been heard and spoken and sung by Christians across the centuries on this day, Palm Sunday. I wonder if we’ve heard and said the word so often – Hosanna, hosanna! - that it’s lost it’s umph, its surprise, and we don’t recognize its friction in the story, For the text, as it often does, Is turning our ideas about God, about life, and about faithful living upside down. Let’s remember that Matthew’s gospel was written in Greek, an unsurprising fact considering that Greek was the language that was used for important documents. What is surprising is the inclusion of this Aramaic word, Hosanna! The most commonly agreed upon translation for “Hosanna!” is “God save.” And it was appropriate word for those who shouted it 2000 years ago, for the hopes and fears, the dreams and aspirations lodged in the hearts of the Jewish people intersected with Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. They longed to be saved, to be rescued from the oppression of the Roman Empire. Rescue us from our poverty; fill our mouths and stomachs, “Hosanna!” Restore us, Restore us as a nation, Full of glory and power and in the line of King David. Shouting hosanna was a subversive word and act as well. Aramaic was not the language of the Roman Empire, And could easily passed off the word as mere “Jewish jabbering,” The Roman officials could recognize the emotion of the crowd, But they could not know its full meaning. Friends, Hosanna is an appropriate word for us as well, Now - Perhaps now more than ever - we need to call upon God to save us. I think we’ve tried to save ourselves – With rugged individualism, our the standard of perfection, Our commitment to autonomy, Believing we can or need to save ourselves. We tried – With our words and our wealth and even all our good works. But it hasn’t worked, And we need God’s power and grace to come to us. Jesus, Save us from our weary, warring, and worst selves. Hosanna! Hosanna! Lord, Save us from our busyness, our cynicism, our apathy, Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus, Save us from pride when it harms others and our need for control when it excludes others, Hosanna! Hosanna! God, Release us from our feelings of inadequacy – That we’re not good enough, or knowledgeable enough, or holy enough. Hosanna! Hosanna! God, Rescue us from our fear of speaking the truth in love, or for speaking out for justice and peace, Hosanna! Hosanna! Lord, rescue us from the war that rages inside each of us and around the world, Hosanna! Hosanna! Jesus, Rescue us from a poverty of spirit, and fill us with compassion and mercy. Hosanna! Hosanna! God, restore us as your beloved children, one in serving you and each other. Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! Friends, today is the first day of a long week, a holy week, a week that will bring great change – for Jesus, for his disciples and friends, for the Roman authorities, and hopefully, for each of us. In the gospels, the story of the transformation is recounted: The palm branches no longer wave, and are replaced by a crown of thorns. The thrown-down cloaks are picked up; And it is a purple cloak, a royal robe, that is thrown over Jesus’ shoulders to mock him as “king of the Jews.” And the cries of the crowd – Hosanna, God save us – fade like the sun, and the shouts of “crucify him, crucify him,” are heard throughout the city. Here, in our church, in our sanctuary, There will be changes, too. The palms will be picked up from the center aisle. (Don’t worry, before you leave today!) On Thursday, tables are set up in the front, and we will hear the story of Jesus’ last days, in a service of light and dark and celebrate the sacrament of communion. On Friday, the chapel becomes our gathering place for silence and song, readings and reflection, On the day our faith invites us to call “good.” We are invited during this Holy Week to gather together as God’s people – To watch and wait and participate as the transformation unfolds, around us and within us so that when Sunday comes next week, we will be ready to shout: not God saves, but God lives! Amen and Amen. |