SERMON SHORT FOR MARCH 28th, 2021
PALM/PASSION SUNDAY
A DAY ONLY THE LORD COULD MAKE
Genesis 1:1-5, John 12:12-16.
I have always felt Palm Sunday is a bit of a wonky liturgical day. We can use it to celebrate a big parade of Jesus entering Jerusalem. Or we can go the maudlin route of sadness over Jesus going to the city of his death. This is a good day for celebration in memory of Christ’s exultant entry into Jerusalem. But we know of what happened once he was there. Are we a bit fickle to have a great party today only to make a real downer day on Good Friday? What are we about as we take our emotions up and down through these things ?
We are about reconciling what it really means to be Christian. It is not all a rose garden to be a follower of Christ. There is a great message of hope and love and peace in the Gospel. There is also an important message of suffering, loss and sacrifice and unless we acknowledge both sides of this coin we do not have an honest grasp of our faith.
We need Good Friday to make sense of Easter. We need Easter to make sense of Good Friday