PALM SUNDAY April 05, 2009

the Rev. Ken Kroohs

(Mark 11:1-11, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47)

THE MIDDLE GROUP

St. Christopher’s, High Point, NC

MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN

Church holidays can be interesting to think about especially since they vary in their focus. Christmas and Easter are about God. Ultimately they are about how God relates to us, but they are about God. The same thing for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Pentecost is about how God continues to sustain us. Pentecost demonstrates, if you will, God’s continuing concern for us.

Palm Sunday is very different. Palm Sunday is about us ... about human beings. Ever notice in the Gospel how little Jesus says? This is probably the only Gospel reading in the three year cycle where the focus is more on human beings than on Jesus. There are some, the transfiguration for example, where we might argue that the focus is shared. But today the focus is on the actions and reactions of human beings.

I submit to you that those human begins can be divided into three groups. Furthermore that each of us can take from these readings the questions: Which of the three groups am I in? Today? Usually? And which of the three groups do I want to be in?

The first group is the one we read about outside. These are the people who cheered Jesus. They were so excited, so willing to follow Jesus that they took their cloaks off and spread them on the dirty, manure filled road so Jesus’s colt would not get dirty! Wow — that’s devotion. .... Are you in that group?

The third group is the one we read about just now. The ones who stood around challenging Jesus – deriding Jesus and finally condemning Jesus. This is the group who rejected Jesus, His teachings, and all He stood for. This is the group who said: “My life is not too bad right now and I don’t want this guy Jesus changing it!” ..... Are you in that group?

The second group is the one in the middle. These are the people who didn’t care. When the crowds were shouting “Hosanna - blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” these people were complaining about the traffic congestion being created.

When the crowd was condemning Jesus these people were complaining about the traffic congestion being created. They didn’t care enough to pay attention.

I suspect that most of time most of us are in this second group. I suspect that most of time most of us don’t invest the energy, or interest to either cheer Jesus or condemn Him. I suspect most of the time most of us ignore Jesus.

........ That hurts. Like a lot of truth it hurts for me to hear and I suspect it hurts for you to hear but I also suspect it is the truth for most of us. Rather than either cheering or condemning Jesus we ignore Jesus.

And in many ways that is worse. Obviously cheering would be best, at least if it leads to actively following Jesus. But the people who condemn Jesus at least pay attention to Him! Many atheists can talk about Jesus more accurately than most Christians! I believe – firmly believe they do not understand but at least they try. And if someone is working that hard to understand, even if to condemn, they have the opportunity to connect with Jesus.

When we ignore Jesus there is no opportunity to connect with Him. When we ignore Jesus ---- Do we ignore Jesus? After all, if someone asks us we say we are Christian. If someone asks us we tell them we go to church. We might even tell them WHERE we go to church so we are not REALLY ignoring Jesus. .... Are we?

To answer that question let me ask two questions: How often does Jesus join the conversation about our calendar of activities? If the answer is not over 50% of the time then I suggest we are ignoring Jesus.

Second, how often does Jesus join the conversation about our budget? And not just once a year or lately, where can we cut spending but actively involve Jesus in making decisions about how we spend our money from shopping to vacations. How often? .... If the answer is, maybe once a year during stewardship time .... then I suggest we are ignoring Jesus.

Lent is the season of the year when the church encourages us to ask ourselves the difficult questions. These certainly qualify.

So: “Which group do we want to be in?” OK, few of us want to be in the group standing at the side of a road shouting to passing cars! That is not our style. So we expand the Jerusalem crowd a bit, update its actions and talk about people who are excited about Jesus. They may not shout at other people, but they are excited. They don’t destroy their best cloak but they do give generously of their time and money. They don’t shout on the roadside but they do talk to people and invite them to join in. And like that Jerusalem crowd they follow Jesus wherever He leads.

Which group do we want to be in? ..... Are we willing to do what it takes to join that group?

We have previous sermons on our website. To read an earlier recent sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermon.html.

CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)