Palm Sunday, Sunday Morning Worship, April 13, 2025
Sermon: Standing at the Crossroads
Accompanying Scripture: Luke 19: 28-40
Standing at the Crossroads
Luke 19:28-40
March 2020. The world shut down.
We thought it would last
for a few weeks,
then a few months,
and then we gave up counting the time.
Churches closed their doors for months;
others found creative ways to continue worship.
The sense of community was lost
as we navigated this strange new world.
And the battles:
vaccine vs. no vaccine.
Masks were safe vs. dangerous.
Worship was essential.
It was wrong to shut down vs.
it was the right thing to do.
The world opened slowly.
Restaurants served food
behind plastic partitions.
We stood in lines,
keeping six feet apart.
There was no touching at all,
something we humans require.
Hugs and handshakes
became fist bumps.
Just as the world was
returning to some semblance of normal,
The Delta virus arrived,
and we had a partial shutdown again.
Would this pandemic never end?
Those of us left are survivors.
In our scripture reading this morning,
we find Jesus arriving near Jerusalem.
His face had been set on Jerusalem
for several chapters.
He knew what lay ahead for him.
The disciples feared what lay ahead for him,
But there’s also a sense of denial.
Jesus has planned the week
down to the smallest details.
He sends two disciples ahead to pick up the donkey.
go, find, untie, bring
This colt had never been ridden.
It wasn’t used to a rider,
but the Son of God will ride it with no problem.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Jerusalem,
Pilate arrives on his war steed,
soldiers marching in perfect order.
The Empire has arrived and
will keep law and order
During Passover Week,
no matter what it costs.
The crowds welcome Jesus,
bringer of the Kingdom of God,
on a colt, a symbol of humility.
They throw cloaks on the road and
call out, “Hosanna! Save us!”
As we sit here this morning, though,
We hear another crowd calling out,
faintly at first, but growing louder:
“Crucify him!”
And here we stand on the crossroads,
with sounds of Hosanna and crucify him
surrounding us and keeping us
from celebrating or remembering
in the depths of our hearts.
How do we feel about Holy Week?
Are we raising our palm branches in joy?
Or are we holding out for the bad news?
Do we have the courage to step up in delight,
welcoming our Savior this morning
with pure, unbridled joy?
And can we then
turn around and watch the crowds
cry out for his crucifixion?
Can we stand at the foot of the cross and
truly see him suffering;
listen to the crowds jeer and humiliate him;
watch the women cry out their grief;
see the soldiers playing poker for his clothes?
Maybe a different view is to wonder,
“What does Jesus need?”
Our congregation has clear insight into that.
Jesus needs open hearts and minds.
He needs us to love all of our neighbors.
He needs our hands and feet in the world.
Sometimes, we get caught up in life.
It’s the human condition.
It lures us away, putting up idols
that prevent us from seeing Jesus fully.
At the triumphal entry, we cry,
“Here’s our hands and feet.”
But life gets in the way. “Not today, Lord. I’m busy.”
Crucify him.
We call out to the rider on the colt
that we’ll love all of our neighbors.
“But not those people.”
Crucify him.
We promise to have open hearts and minds.
Except on a few chosen topics.
Crucify him.
Jesus still calls to us today:
go, find, untie, bring.
The good news is
God is present in the
triumphal entry and on the cross.
God is even present
as we stand at the crossroads.
We resist because
We can’t see ourselves holding a palm frond
in joyous welcome and certainly
not standing at the cross!
We feel the pull
between palms and crosses;
between shouts of Hosanna and crucify him.
God hopes to see us
enter the celebration of the triumphal entry.
God yearns to tell us at the cross,
“forgiven.”
The shutdown is behind us.
COVID is the new flu.
We no longer stand at that
crossroad of decisions about
masks, vaccines, and worship.
It’s a new world, strange in some ways.
But, we find ourselves here in this place,
knowing that God was always there with us.
Say yes to immersion
in the palms and cloaks and triumphal entries.
Admit that sometimes
we crucify Jesus.
Stand at the cross.
Say yes to leaving the crossroad behind you.
It’s easier when you
take Jesus’s hand and
allow him to accompany you.
Hosanna! Save us!