“Overture” (Luke 19:28-40)

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

 

For generations there have been those who have attempted to squash the story of Jesus and his way . . . and they have yet to succeed.  We are here this morning as testament of their failure to silence the faithful.  Jesus knew what he was talking about in our scripture reading this morning.

 

Welcome to Palm Sunday!

 

Often Palm Sunday is heralded as the “prelude” of Holy Week . . . the grand kick-off and it begins with a parade.  In fact, it begins with two parades.  While Jesus is making his grand entrance on one side of the city, on the other side of the city the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, is having his own parade.  It is the start of the Passover in which the return of Jews and others from all over the known world make Jerusalem a hustling, bustling place . . . sort of like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  As Jesus’ parade announces his presence and ministry, Pilate’s parade is meant to intimidate with its message of military power.  One represents the “beginning”, the other the “end”.

 

A “prelude” kicks things off . . . gets things started out on the right note . . . announces the beginning.  We have a prelude at every worship service and its purpose is to call us together and prepare us . . . in particular for worshipping. In a sense what we heard in our scripture reading could be a “prelude”.  It is preparing us.  That is a legitimate understanding of our reading, but I contend that what we are hearing is not so much a “prelude” but an “overture”.

 

As many of you know, I love musicals.  Musicals begin with an “overture” and not a “prelude”.  Whereas a “prelude” kicks off something and invites others in, an “overture” is something deeper and more meaningful.  An “overture” is a synopsis or summary of what is to come . . . it is the story in a flash.  In musicals what one hears in an overture is bits and pieces of all the songs that are going to be sung in the play . . . from start to finish.  It is everything in a glimpse.

 

As much as I would like to acknowledge Palm Sunday as a “prelude” with a quick leap to Easter Sunday to do that would be a disservice to the story.  There is much that takes place between the Palm Sunday parade and the empty tomb of Easter.  To skip over it is to cheapen grace . . . to ignore the parts that are unpleasant and uncomfortable . . . to take the easy way out.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.  Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipling, Communion without confession . . . Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”  When we see Palm Sunday as the “prelude” to the resurrection of Easter Sunday, we cheapen grace.

 

Our story of faith is not meant to only be heard . . . it is meant to be embraced and lived.  The whole story.  That is what makes our reading so powerful this morning, but maybe you missed it.  Up until this point the disciples have been silent witnesses to the words and actions of Jesus.  They have stood off to the side as Jesus taught and demonstrated the love and grace of God that he was asking them to live.  To this point the disciples have been passive and now they become active . . . involved.  Until this point, where else do you see the disciples publicly proclaim who Jesus is?

 

As Jesus’ parade progresses the disciples become more and more vocal.  They praised God . . . they share the miracles Jesus has done . . . they thank God for their king has come.  With them leading the crowd joins in the shouting: “Blessed be the king who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  No longer are they silent and inactive.  At this point they cast their lots to the wind, embraced what they have learned and been taught, and join in with Jesus to share all the love and grace.  No longer were they on the sidelines, they were in the thick of it all.

 

We all know that the story is not smooth sailing.  The story has its twists and turns.  It has it moments of tension and violence.  It has its life and its death . . . and everything between.  Palm Sunday is the first movement of that “overture” that takes us to the resurrection of Easter Sunday.  There is much more to that “overture” . . . there is the cleansing of the temple, the washing of the feet, the last meal, the struggling prayer of Jesus in the garden, the arrest, the persecution, ridicule, and beating of Jesus.  There is the crucifixion . . . Jesus nailed to a cross.  Then there is the death.  Each is a part of the story; each is a movement in the “overture”.  And each must be acknowledged and embraced.

 

Lent is a long season to journey through with its call to us to discern our faith.  It is a tough season in which we examine our faith, ask questions—hard questions, and seek God’s guidance to remove those barriers that separate us from Jesus and one another.  It is hard and easy to get fatigued while on the journey.  With Palm Sunday we can see the “end” from here!  The temptation is to fast-forward to the “end” and be done with it all.  Which many will do . . . they will jump from the joyful celebration of Palm Sunday straight to the exhilaration of the resurrection skipping everything that happens between.  They won’t even give it a thought.  As far as they are concerned Palm Sunday is prelude and they don’t have time or patience for an “overture”.

 

We cannot allow ourselves to fall into that trap.  We need to hear and embrace the whole story.

 

The challenge then this week is to remember.  For example, we need to remember that last meal that Jesus had with his disciples where he took the bread and blessed it . . . where he blessed the wine and told his disciples to receive it in remembrance of him.  On Thursday when you pause to eat your evening meal . . . remember.  Remember what took place in the upper room.  Remember the charge Jesus gave to his disciples and to us . . . “do this in remembrance of me.”  Take a moment to remember and give thanks.

 

On Friday evening, as the sun is setting, pause to appreciate the sunset . . . pause to remember the story of that fateful Friday where Jesus hung on a cross and died.  As the darkness of night begins to creep in remember it all and asks for God’s presence through the darkness that follows.  Give thanks to God.

 

Over the Saturday remember the anxiousness of waiting and not knowing.  Remember the sadness that swept over the disciples and all those who loved Jesus.  Remember all the uncertainty.  Continue to pray for God’s presence.

 

Remember it all for it is all a part of the story.  Without it there really is no story . . . so remember it.  Embrace the “overture” and make it a part of your story of faith.  It was in this moment that the disciples acknowledged their faith publicly and it was the moment from which they could not turn back . . . for better or for worse the story had to run its course and they could not avoid it.  It was a part of their story.

 

Let us not cheapen God’s grace and love for us.  Let us embrace the “overture”.  But remember, whatever any of chooses to do, the story will be told in its entirety.  Jesus told those gathered when he was asked to silence his followers during the parade: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”  Amen.

 

“The Long and Winding Road” (Philippians 3:4b-14)

 

I think that the record needs to be set straight.  It is not the destination but the journey that matters.  We are taught from a young age that the goal is to get some place and then we are done . . . that we have “made” it.  That we are to get from “Point A” to “Point B”.  What they don’t tell you is that this is a myth . . . a lie.  When you get to what you think is your final destination you discover that there is more yet to come.  Beyond “Point B” is ”Point C to Z”. 

Think about it.  We spend twelve to thirteen years working our way through the public school system towards graduating . . . we get to our senior graduation, and they tell us that this is only the beginning . . . that from graduation we move on to either more education like college or we jump into the workforce.  Suddenly we realize that graduating high school is only a rest stop and that there is still more to come.  Same deal with college graduates . . . it is either more school or off to the workforce.  There always seems to be more to learn.

 

What about relationships?  We move from dating to engagement to marriage.  With marriage we think we have reached the mountaintop only to learn that we are just beginning.  When we finally get comfortable in our relationship with our spouse . . . BOOM!  A baby comes along, and we are starting all over again.  We become parents.  Which is a myth and lie all in itself too.  Parenthood changes everything.  We think we master it and get the kids out of the house only to learn that it ain’t over yet.  Parenting doesn’t end it takes on a new form with our adult children.  We become grandparents!  It seems that we never reach the end.

 

The truth of the matter is that it is not the destination but the journey that matters . . . and, as we are discovering, it is a long and winding road that we journey down in life.  That is probably why some of us call life an adventure.

 

The Apostle Paul eventually came to that conclusion.  Take the apostle’s resume: one of the “chosen people, from the correct tribe, raised in the proper tradition of faith, educating by the best, in the right clubs as a Pharisee, persecutor of the “church”, prim and proper as it come to following the laws, blameless and faultless among the people—he was as he said, “. . . a Hebrew of Hebrews.”  His pedigree was impeccable.  In life he had reached the pinnacle . . . he had it all . . .

 

. . . or so he thought.

 

Sitting in a prison cell one has a lot of time to think and Paul thought

about where he had come from and wondering where he was going.  He recognized that in what he thought was the destination . . . that of being a “Hebrew of Hebrews” . . . was only a part of the journey.  He understood that there was still much down the road . . . the long and winding road of life.  Such is life when one gives his or her life to Jesus . . . declares to follow Jesus.  The apostle writes: “Forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

 

So here is the truth: life is a journey . . . a journey down a long and winding road . . . towards fulfillment in Jesus’ call upon our lives.  It is not something that is achieved through the completion of a class or Bible study.  It is not something accomplished with baptism or catechism.  It is not getting a degree from a bible college or seminary.  It is not being chosen a member of the elders or diaconate.  None of those matters . . . it is the journey . . . the journey of living as Jesus lived . . . as doing as Jesus did . . . of establishing the Kingdom of God in the moment.

 

That was Paul’s big revelation . . . it’s the journey not the destination.  And as we all know it is quite a journey down a long and winding road.

 

Think of your life.  Think of everything that has happened in your life up to this very moment.  These are the people, places, things, and experiences that have shaped you into the person you are today.  Each is a brick in the wall of your life.  It is this wall that you stand upon.

 

Considering Paul’s background, credentials, and his experiences prior to giving his life over to and following Jesus, one might think that the apostle was more than a little embarrassed . . . after all, he did attempt to wipe out the Jesus movement!  But he wasn’t embarrassed because he came to understand that it was all a part of the journey. Paul does not turn his back on who he was, instead he embraces a new perspective of that makes him who he is.  It was all a part of the journey.  Because of this he tells his readers to “press on”.

 

None of us got to where we are by ourselves.  There have always been people in our lives.  Some who have journeyed with us, some we have encountered along the way, and others we have sought out to assist us.  Through these people we have learned something that has helped us to grow . . . helped us to move further down the road.  These people have supported and encouraged us.  They have challenged us.  They have made a difference in our lives in order for us to discover who it is that God created us to be.

 

None of us has lived life in a vacuum.  We have experienced life in God’s creation . . . in the good and the bad . . . in the happy and sad.  We have experienced the exhilaration of the highest mountaintops and the darkness of the deepest valleys.  We have seen it all and it has impacted our lives making us who we are.  Our experiences in the world and life have challenged us to grow and move beyond where we are.

 

Jesus invites us to travel down the road with him.  It is not a nice straight road.  No, it is a long and winding road.  There are sharp turns, blind curves, potholes, detours, and even dead ends.  It is a real adventure that we are being called upon to make with Jesus.  Yet we cannot allow ourselves to fall for the myth that we have already “made it” . . . that we have come to the final destination . . . that we are there and nothing else matters.  Like Paul we must recognize that faith is a journey and not a destination.  It is the journey that matters most because it is in the journey that we grow in our faith . . . grow in our love for God and one another.

 

And we must remember that it is always a choice . . . our choice.  One of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes goes like this: “When you come to a fork in the road, pick it up!”

 

When Jesus issues the invitation to follow him, he is challenging us to bend over and pick up that fork.  The Apostle Paul came to understand this and so must we.  During the season of Lent we take the time to consider the journey we have been on as followers of Jesus.  We consider the past and the people in that past . . . how they have impacted our lives . . . how they have helped us to change and grow.  After all, these are the bricks that make our houses of faith.  These are the bricks that make us who we are.  Like Paul we need to realize that the story is not over . . . the journey has not ended . . . there is still much to travel.  Traveling mercies to us all during this journey of the Lenten season, but more importantly on this journey of life.  Amen.