Today is Palm Sunday. It’s the day when we remember and celebrate our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and liturgically, we’ve joined with the crowds who welcomed Jesus into the city that day by praising God and acclaiming Jesus as our King. But on this day, the first day of Holy Week, the time of the Church’s year when we remember the events of the last few days of our Lord’s earthly life, the time when we remember all he endured for us and for our salvation, I want us to think about how very like those crowds in Jerusalem we can be; welcoming Christ and acclaiming him as our King, and then turning on him, betraying him, abandoning him, denying him and choosing the way of the world over his way, the way of the Cross. I’ve spoken about putting ourselves in the picture as we read the Gospel stories, so let’s do that today as we look ahead to all that we’ll read over the next week so that we can make Holy Week the climax of the Lenten discipline we started so that we might conform ourselves more closely to Christ and his example.
Speaking of Christ’s example during Holy Week should immediately turn our thoughts to the example he set us on Maundy Thursday because when he washed his disciple’s feet after supper Jesus actually said,
“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
And yet, as I’ve often said, whilst I’ve never come across a shortage of people in a congregation who are willing to have their feet washed by a priest on Maundy Thursday, I’ve very rarely, only once in fact, in my almost 20 years as a priest come across people in a congregation who were actually willing to follow this example of the Lord and wash one another’s feet. Quite a few have told me that they’d wash hands or faces but not feet because they don’t like feet. I’m sure Jesus didn’t like the scourge, the crown of thorns or the nails, but he endured those for us. Seems very little in comparison to be asked to wash someone’s feet, doesn’t it? So why won’t people do as Christ asked and follow his example?
Later on Maundy Thursday, our thoughts turn to Gethsemane, to Jesus’ Agony in the Garden and to his betrayal and arrest. Here, Jesus asked his disciples to keep watch with him, but they couldn’t even do that for one hour, before they fell asleep. I must admit that the Vigil of the Watch on Maundy Thursday night, that hour we spend in prayer at the Altar of Repose, usually is fairly well attended. But in general, how often do we sleep, both as individuals and as a Church, while the darkness conspires against the Lord? What do I mean by that?
Many people do believe that today, we’re living in a very anti-Christian time and society. I actually think we live in a time and place that’s anti-religion in more general terms, but Christianity and the Church are easy targets. The secular atheists who despise all religion know that they’d never get away with treating any other faith so badly as they think they can with Christianity. We can easily see this in terms of the forces of darkness conspiring to take the Lord away, because I’m sure that those who do hate religion and target Christianity, rejoice every time a church closes. And churches are closing as we know. In part this is because the constant attacks on the Church and Christianity make it harder to attract new people to the Church and our faith, but it’s also because people don’t support their parish church as they could, and to be brutally honest, as they should as far as I’m concerned. In the last week, for example, we’ve had two services in this benefice, services I must add that people in these congregations have asked for, and apart from myself the congregations were 2, and 1. I’m sure there’d be a lot of tears and hand wringing if these churches were to close, but that would be a bit like sleeping until it was too late wouldn’t it, and only waking up after the forces of darkness had arrived to take the Lord away.
But whose fault is it that these forces of darkness are hurting the Church and the Christian faith so much? To be brutally honest again, in part at least, it’s the Church’s fault and our it’s fault. How often do we hear the Church standing up for itself against this sort of thing? How often do we hear anyone in the Church standing up for the Christian faith against the repeated attacks made on it? How often do we stand up for our faith and the Church when they’re attacked and ridiculed? So we acclaim Christ as our King but then stand by and do nothing as his kingdom is attacked. Why? Some people say it’s because secular atheists have the Church running scared, which I’m sure they’re very pleased about. Just as I’m sure those who went to Gethsemane to take Jesus away were pleased when his disciples ran away in fear.
That brings us to Judas, the betrayer. We don’t really know why Judas betrayed Jesus. The Gospel tells us that at supper earlier on Maundy Thursday,
‘…the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him (Jesus)…’
But the Greek word that we translate as ‘devil’ is διαβολου (diabolou) which means ‘accuser or slanderer’. In other words, Judas was led to betray Jesus by Satan, who is ‘the accuser’, the one who tried and failed to tempt Jesus into betraying God his Father in the wilderness. And I think this leads us to conclude that Judas was tempted in some way to betray Jesus. Maybe it was for thirty pieces of silver, but certainly Judas saw something for himself in betraying Jesus; something he couldn’t resist.
And we’re all like Judas in that way. If we call ourselves ‘Christian’ then each and every time we do something that’s contrary to Christ’s teaching and example, because we see something in doing that for us, we betray Jesus. When we do that, in effect, our actions say that what we want is more important than Jesus. We might not get thirty pieces of silver for what we do, but we do sell him nonetheless, we sell him down the river, we harm Jesus because we think we’ll benefit in some way from doing it. And we do harm Jesus in this way because we harm each other through doing these things and as he said, what we do to others, we do to him. And we harm his body, the Church, through doing these things too.
And that makes us just like those crowds who shouted for Barabbas on Good Friday morning as well. The choice the people had to make that day was between Jesus, a man who spoke about love, peace and life, and Barabbas, a murderer and insurrectionist, a man who spoke about and dealt in hatred, violence and death. It was a choice between Jesus’ way, God’s way, and Barabbas’ way, the world’s way. And that’s a choice we’re faced with each and every day, and probably many times each and every day. And, if we’re brutally honest with ourselves, don’t we far too often choose the world’s way rather than God’s way? We must know we do that otherwise we’d be sinless wouldn’t we? And does anybody here really think that? So we’re faced with the same choice the crowd were faced with on that first Good Friday morning, Jesus or Barabbas, God’s way or the world’s way, life or death. And far too often, just like that crowd, we shout for Barabbas.
In his book, The Christian Priest Today, the late archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, wrote,
‘You put yourself with God, empty perhaps, but hungry and thirsty for him; and if in sincerity you cannot say that you want God you can perhaps tell him that you want to want him; and if you cannot say even that perhaps you can say that you want to want to want him!
Ramsey was talking about coming to God in prayer, but this is something we should do in every situation we’re faced with, perhaps especially in difficult situations. Whether it’s when we’re asked to do something we’d rather not do, like washing feet. Whether it’s when we’re tired and want to take a break from what we’re being asked to do in church or frightened by society’s hostility towards the Church and the Christian faith and want to walk away. And whenever we’re tempted to betray Christ to suit our own ends or turn our back on him because the world’s way is easier or more expedient. If we can at least want God and want to do things God’s way in those times, or even want to want, or want to want to want to do things God’s way in those times, then perhaps we will, at least be heading in the right direction. Because what is wanting to do things God’s way in difficult situations but another way of saying, as Christ himself did in Gethsemane on Maundy Thursday night,
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
If we can make that prayer our own in every situation, especially in difficult situations, we will indeed be making progress. And if making progress in spirituality and discipleship has been the point of our Lenten discipline, that discipline will have been well worth the effort because if we have made that kind of progress, we’ll be able to celebrate Easter all the more joyfully because we can be a little more certain that it’s promise will be ours.
Amen.
Propers for Palm Sunday, 13th April 2025
Entrance Antiphon
Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.
Hosanna in the highest.
The Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility for the human race to follow
caused our Saviour to take flesh and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Liturgy of the Palms
Luke 19:28-40
Liturgy of the Word
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:39-23:56
Prayer after Communion
Nourished with these sacred gifts,
we humbly beseech you, O Lord,
that, just as through the death of your Son
you have brought us to hope for what we believe,
so by his Resurrection
you may lead us to where you call.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 