Sermon Tone Analysis

*April 1, 2007 – Passion~/Palm Sunday*

*          *

*          Revised Common Lectionary Readings*

*          Liturgy of the Passion*

*          Isaiah 50:4-9a*

*          Psalm 31:9-16*

*          Philippians 2:5-11 *

*          Luke 22:14—23:56 or Luke 23:1-49*

* *

*          Liturgy of the Palms*

*          Luke 19:28-40*

*          Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29*

*Fools for Christ*

* *

*?Meditating** on the Text*

*Selected Reading*

*Luke 22:14**—23:56 (with special emphasis on Luke 23:28)*

* *

*Theme*

*The way of Jesus is not the world’s way.

The way of Jesus is a narrow way that the world considers to be foolish.

Yet this Sunday, as we follow Jesus toward the cross, we affirm that his way, his foolish way, is the true way to life.*

* *

*Introduction to the Readings*

*Isaiah 50:4-9**a: “The Lord has given me the tongue of a teacher,” says the prophet.

What is to be taught?

The truth of God, even though the people did not want to hear the sometimes hard truth of God.*

* *

*Philippians 2:5-11**: Paul praises the Christ who, though he was God, humbled himself, taking the way of the cross on our behalf.*

* *

*Luke 22:14**—23:56 or Luke 23:1-49: Our Gospel lesson is the story, the dramatic story of Jesus’ passion – the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.*

*Luke 19:28-40**: The liturgy of the Palms is the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.*

* *

*Prayer*

*Dear Jesus, on this day we welcome you into our worship, even as pilgrims welcomed you into Jerusalem; we follow behind you on your dangerous way, even as your disciples followed you to the cross.

Give us the grace, Lord Jesus, to despise the praise of this world and to dare to walk with you.

Make us willing to be foolish enough to follow you, confident that your cruciform foolishness is wiser than that of the world.

Amen.*

* *

*Encountering Luke*

*Today, Palms~/Passion Sunday, we suggest a thematic sermon on the theme of the foolishness, and the difficulty, of following Jesus.

As Jesus comes into Jerusalem, his followers welcome him into the city and walk behind him.

We do the same this Sunday.

As we welcome Jesus, or walk behind him, are we prepared for his countercultural, narrow way?*

*          Today’s Gospel is the longest of the year.

It is a magnificent, dramatic story.

This is the culmination of Jesus’ ministry, of all that he has taught and all that he has said.

In one sense, the story is enough just by itself, read well in your church.

Let today’s sermon be a time to reflect upon this dramatic, saving story from the angle of its foolishness, noting the irony, the deep irony that lies behind all that we do or say this fateful day, the irony of a crucified Saviour, of a God who reigns from a cross.*

* *

*?Proclaiming** the Text*

*What does Jesus look like to you on this day, this fateful day when he comes into Jerusalem with the disciples?

Jesus arrives in the capital city, not on a powerful war-horse, not in a royal entourage, but bouncing in on the back of a donkey.*

*          His followers break palm branches, wave them as signs of welcome, hail him as King, but you wonder if they did so in comical irony.

King?

Some king, bouncing in on the back of a donkey.

He looks, well, foolish.*

*          “He is just the perfect pastor,” the undergraduate said to me in effusive tones as she told me about her pastor.

“His car is always a total mess, with books and papers strewn all over it.

He is never anywhere on time.

Last month, he forgot to show up for a wedding!

Some nights, when he can’t sleep, he will call me and see how I am doing in college.

He says I am the only person he knows who stays up that late.

You never know what he is going to say next.

He’s just the perfect pastor.”*

*          And I marveled at the effect of this messy, unpunctual disorganized pastor upon the life of this very fastidious, upwardly mobile, ambitious, student.

Perhaps, in knowing this disordered pastor, she was catching a glimpse of other possibilities for the future, an alternative world.

Something else.*

*          There was a pulpit search committee that had spent months searching for a new pastor of a large, prestigious Presbyterian church.

Dozens of candidates had been considered and eliminated.

No one was to be found who was smart enough, good enough, good looking enough, competent enough, to be their new pastoral leader.

*

*          One night, when the committee had gathered for its usual meeting, one of the members said, “We have been sent an interesting letter of inquiry and resume, and I would like you to consider this person.”

Then he began to read from the letter.

The letter said:*

* *

*“I would like to be considered as your new pastor.

I’ve only been in the ministry for a few years, and I must admit that my years of ministry have been rather tumultuous.

I did not grow up in the church but was drawn into the church as an adult through a rather dramatic religious experience, so dramatic that I was incapacitated for a number of days after I met Christ.

Then I quit what I was doing and began to roam about preaching the Gospel.

Some people liked my sermons, but a lot didn’t.

I have been arrested on at least four occasions and had served time in three different jails.

On one occasion, after one of my sermons, the congregation was so incensed that they dragged me out of the pulpit, beat me, and escorted me out to the edge of the town before dumping me.

In the churches that I have served, I think that I have been a loving pastor, but also a strict one.

I’ve had to chase more than one member out of the church for immoral actions.

I certainly don’t mind calling an ace an ace and a spade a spade when it comes to disciplining church members.

I write this letter to you while I am in jail.

I hope to be released from jail sometime soon, but I have found that when it comes to jail time, one never knows.

However, I hope that you will consider me as your new pastor.

As soon as I get out of prison, I would certainly like to have gainful employment.”*

* *

*          Well, the committee was incensed.

“How dare someone write a church of our calibre, with a presumption that we would be desperate enough to hire somebody like that?” one of the members wanted to know.

*

*          “Is this some kind of joke?” another asked.

*

*          “A jailbird, as our new pastor!

I would love to see the Session get hold of that!”*

*          Who is this guy that wrote this?” one demanded.

*

*          The person holding the letter said simply, “It’s signed, St. Paul.”

The great missionary to the Gentiles, the one who founded so many churches, created Christian theology, and spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean world, was also the one who boasted that he was a fool for Christ’s sake (1 Cor 4:10).

He was the one who boasted that the wisdom of the world is pure foolishness, from a Christian point of view, whereas the foolishness of the cross is true wisdom.

*

* *

*          “I believe that a member of my church works for you and your company,” I said to the business executive.

*

*          “John Smith?

Yeah, he works with us.

John is one of my vice presidents.

I don’t know if you have found this is true, but I have certainly found that John is pretty much of a fool.

For every ten ideas that he brings to me related to the company, I’d say only about one idea ever pans out and means anything.

He really can be a fool,” the executive said.

*

*          “Well forgive me for asking,” I said, “But if John is such a fool, why would you make him a vice president in your company?”*

*          “Why?

Because John is the only person we’ve got who ever comes forward with any new ideas.”*

*          Perhaps it takes someone who is somewhat of a fool to be able to see alternative possibilities.

Paul says that, “The cross is foolishness, the supreme alternate possibility to the world’s wisdom.”

*

*          I was urging a Duke undergraduate to go with us on our spring mission trip to Honduras.