“Palm Sunday”

March 28, 2010

Luke19:35-40, Philippians 2:5-11, and Luke 22:21-30

Texts (NIV)

Luke 19:35                They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

Luke 19:37                When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

Luke 19:38                “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

            “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Luke 19:39                Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

Luke 19:40                “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Phil. 2:5         Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Phil. 2:6         Who, being in very nature God,

                        did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7                      but made himself nothing,

                        taking the very nature of a servant,

                        being made in human likeness.

Phil. 2:8         And being found in appearance as a man,

                        he humbled himself

                        and became obedient to death—

                        even death on a cross!

Phil. 2:9         Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

                        and gave him the name that is above every name,

10                    that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

                        in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11                    and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

                        to the glory of God the Father.

[The telling on the first Communion Service the night before Jesus’ arrest, leading into …]

Luke 22:21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

Luke 22:24                Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The Lectionary readings for this Psalm Sunday are much more extensive than most Sundays – covering three chapters of Luke, two Psalms, and an OT and Epistle text (Luke 19:28-40, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 31:9-16, Phil 2:5-11, and Luke 22:14-23:56).  I could work all this into my sermon, but then there wouldn’t be a sermon for we’d spend much of the service just reading the text.  While I’ve chosen just part of the text for today’s study, feel free to read the rest!

We start with the glorious entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, spend time with Paul speaking to the Philippians (and us), and conclude with Christ revealing that his betrayer is with them at the Last Supper.  Why did the developers of the Lectionary bring these scriptures together?  There is some temporal connection, but I suspect that wasn’t the primary motivator.  We journey along a roller coaster of emotions in these passages, form joy and celebration, to God humbling himself by taking the human form, to the heartbreak of betrayal, denial, and abandonment by your closest friends.  The crowd which upholds Christ, laying down their cloaks to pave his way, soon becomes the crowd calling “crucify him” and for the release of Barabbas (Luke 23:18-25).  We know what Christ actions were among the praise and the scorn; what do we imagine Christ’s thoughts were?  What would our thoughts be?

Sunday’s Sermon: “Top or Bottom of the Heap”, Rev. Scott Wipperman

Matthew 26:6-13 (New International Version)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

 ⁶While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

 ⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

 ¹⁰Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has will also be told, in memory of her.”

            This Sunday is the presentation of the Bagby Concert.  The church, historically has among many roles, also been a keeper of the arts.  Although there are criticisms have been made regarding the expenses associated with some of the more lavish expressions of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection, there seems to be a bit of a re-birth in the enduring power of art and music to speak to the soul. This year’s presentation of the Faure’ Requiem, could also be said to be presented ‘in memory of her.’  That is, an outpouring of praise and gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ.  Dr. Ken Udy will lead the choir in Faure’s rich expressions helping to bring us along the road to Holy Week and Easter.  It would be a good time to select your time to visit to the Lenten Stations in the loft which are available each Wednesday at 5p.  Whenever an expression of magnanimous love is presented –or rejected—it will be ‘in memory of her,’ but always in honor of Jesus.

March 14, 2010   – Luke 15:1-3, 13-32

Luke 15:1      Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.  2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 15:3      Then Jesus told them this parable:

Luke 15:11                Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

 Luke 15:13                “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

 Luke 15:17                “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

            “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

 Luke 15:21                “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

 Luke 15:22                “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

 Luke 15:25                “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

 Luke 15:28                “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

 Luke 15:31                “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

This is a story we’ve likely heard a number of times.  A son demands what is his, severs the relationship with his father, and goes off in search of glory, only to discover that he is bankrupt.  In his desolation he realizes the “glory” was false, and that which he now truly treasures is the thing he so easily gave way, that he cut off.  Does he dare try to re-establish this which is now lost; could it be again?

 Sunday’s Sermon: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, Rev. Scott Wipperman

March 7, 2010   Luke 13:1-9

Repent or Perish

 ¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

 ⁶Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

 ⁸” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”

          The introduction of the parable of the Barren Fig Tree — an emblem of empty religion, comes near Passover when the streets of Jerusalem were teaming with visitors and there was a security threat.  Pilate, known to be a particularly brutal leader, despised the ritual practices of the Jews, and attempted to mock them by mixing human blood with animal sacrifice, which would have been an anathema to the Jewish people.  Pilate’s sadistic practice was a form of humiliation in the sacred time of Passover and led, not to less violence –but greater frustration and eventually revolt.  Christ’s lead-in to the parable suggests that what ultimately matters is not  what ‘seems’ to be going on at the time, but something greater in the long term.  This message is necessary for those who will become a part of the Jerusalem scene and Jesus’ journey toward the cross.

Sunday’s Sermon: “The Last Sacrifice” – Rev. Ginger Memmott

February 28, 2010     Philippians 3:17 – 4:1

Text (NIV)

Phil. 3:17  Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.  18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.  20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,  21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Phil. 4:1  Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Paul is writing the letter to the church he founded in Philippi from a prison in Rome.  The main purpose of the letter is to thank the Philippians for the gift they has sent to him in prison.  Of course Paul also wants to strengthen the believers, and he does so by explaining that true joy comes only from Christ. 

He also attempts to strengthen them by encouraging who they should follow or imitate.  In the beginning of Chapter 3 he warns against those “dogs … who mutilate the flesh”.  In this pericope Paul turns his attention towards another group, those whose “god is their stomach” and whose “mind is on earthly things”.

Sunday’s Sermon: “The Power to Change”, Rev. Scott Wipperman

First Sunday in Lent

February 21, 2010

Romans 10:8-13

Luke 4:1-13

Text (NIV)

Rom. 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:  9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Luke 4:1         Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,  2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

Luke 4:3         The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Luke 4:4         Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’’” 

Luke 4:5         The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.  7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Luke 4:8         Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’’”

Luke 4:9         The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.  10 For it is written:  “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;

11        they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’’”

 Luke 4:12      Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’’”

Luke 4:13      When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. 

 Jesus has been in the desert for 40 days and by now is dirty, tired, and hungry.  And he is tempted.  Tempted to satisfy his discomfort, and his uncertainties.  But these temptations might be far more attractive than they appear if we entertain the concept that they are not merely for Jesus’ personal benefit, but for humanity.  What about “stone bread” not just for one, but for all – no world hunger?  How easy is it to turn that down?

Sunday’s Sermon: “The Devil Asked Me To Do It”, Rev. Scott Wipperman