MARK 16:1-9

[11:1] Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus [1] sent two of his disciples

[2] and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. [3] If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’”

[4] And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it.

[5] And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

[6] And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.

[7] And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.

[8] And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.

[9] And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

[10] Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

[11] And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Why bother? Who cares? What’s the point?  That what you say when apathy gets the best of you.  Do you ever feel that way yourself?   It’s a feeling that Charles Schultz captured many years ago in a Peanuts cartoon.  Lucy and Linus are standing at the bottom of a big hill.  Suddenly Lucy says, “Someday I’m going over that hill to find the answer to my dreams.  Someday I’m going over that hill to find hope and fulfillment.  I think, for me, all the answers to life lie beyond these clouds and over the grassy slopes of that hill!”  At that point Linus removes his thumb from his mouth and points to the hill.  “Perhaps,” he says, “there’s another little kid on the other side of that hill who is looking this way and thinking that all the answers to life lie on this side of the hill.”  Lucy looks at Linus, then turns toward the hill and hollers, “Forget it kid!”

Maybe it’s my imagination but apathy seems to be a problem people these days.   It must have also been a problem for people before Jesus rode into the Holy City on Palm Sunday.  That’s because it was a time of economic uncertainty.  People were struggling to make ends meet.  Not only that but there were wars and rumors of wars and the future looked pretty bleak.  Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Everything changed though on Palm Sunday.   Everything changed when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of that donkey.  Suddenly the city suddenly came alive.  There was an explosion of excitement as people began to chant, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

There was excitement in the air that day but it was a different kind of excitement.  It wasn’t the kind of excitement that you experience when your team wins the World Series or the Super Bowl of the Stanley cup.  It wasn’t the kind of excitement that you experience when you win a $640 million lottery.  By the way if you ever do win a $640 million lottery just remember to tithe 10% of that to the Union Congregational Church of North Reading.

What you see in the Palm Sunday story is the antidote to apathy.  In order for that antidote to work though I need to ask you a question. Are you a coat person or a palm person?  You see there were two kinds of people who welcomed Jesus that day.   There were the people who welcomed Jesus by spreading their coats on the ground and there were the people who welcomed Jesus by waving palm branches in the air.  

Now the people who spread their coats on the ground truly gave of themselves.   That’s because they sacrificed their coats.  Remember now.  Mark says that the people went before Jesus and after him. What that means is that after the parade was over their coats were undoubtedly dirty and dusty.  Some of those coats probably had a few rips and tears in them and one or two may have even ended up with a few donkey droppings on them.  It wasn’t like that for the people who waved the palm branches in the air. After all it wasn’t as though they brought those palms branches from the trees at their homes.  It wasn’t as though they bought those palm branches from a souvenir salesman along the side of the rode.  No. Mark tells us where they got those palm branches.  They got those palm branches by cutting them from the trees out in the fields.  So it wasn’t even their trees.

The people who waves palm branches didn’t really give of themselves that day. They were a little like the woman who went to see a dentist while she and her husband were on  vacation. “Doctor,” the wife said.  “You’ve got to do something. This tooth is ruining our vacation.” “I see,” the dentist said, “why don’t you let me take a look at it.  Maybe we can save it.”  “No,” the wife insisted. “We don’t have time for that.  Just pull the tooth and we’ll be on our way and I also don’t want a Novocain.  This is our vacation and we’re in a hurry.”  “All right,” the dentist sighed. “Which tooth is it?”  At that point the wife turns to her husband and says, “Show him your tooth dear.”

The difference between coat people and palm people can also be seen in a bumper sticker that I saw many years ago.  It was a take off on a bumper sticker that used to be popular.  It said, “Honk if you love Jesus.”  Do you remember those bumper stickers?  Well, this bumper sticker was a little different.  It said, “If you really love Jesus tithe. Any fool can honk.”

If you really want to keep the apathy at bay; if you really want your life to come alive with a joyful excitement all you have to do is be a coat person.  All you have to do is do something that makes Christ’s kingdom of love and peace and justice come alive.  That’s what people did over and over again during Holy Week.  People gave of themselves and it was a big change from what happened in the weeks and months leading up to Palm Sunday.  

Throughout his ministry you see Jesus helping others.  He heals them.  He comforts them.  He shares God wisdom with them.   Now you see others helping him.

The people did it when they welcomed Jesus by laying their coats on the ground.

That unknown man did it when he let the disciples take his donkey.

Mary Magdalene did it when she poured that expensive perfume on Jesus and anointed his body for burial.   

Simon of Cyrene also made the kingdom come alive with his deed of loving kindness.  Do you remember what he did?  Simon of Cyrene was the man who helped a bloody and beaten Jesus carry his Cross.

Then last of all lets not forget Joseph of Arimethea and his deed of loving kindness.  He was the rich man who allowed his tomb to be used as the final resting place for Christ’s body.

All of these people made the kingdom come alive with their deeds of loving kindness. That’s where you’ll find the antidote to apathy.

Just ask Patrick Greene.  He’s a retired Air Force office and taxi driver who lives in Henderson County down in Texas.  He’s also an atheist who threatened to sue the county if they didn’t remove a Nativity scene from the grounds of the Henderson County Courthouse.  After some lengthy negotiations Greene followed through on his threat.  He filed a law suit against the county.   As the case was making its way through the courts though Patrick Greene suffered a detached retina and was at risk of going blind.  He had to quit his job and his medical bills and day to day bills started to pile up.  After a while he was forced to drop his law suit.  When that happened did the Christians of Henderson county celebrate?  Did the pastors go to their pulpits and proclaim that God was punishing Patrick Greene for his sins?  No.  I’ll tell you what they did.  One morning Patrick Greene received an envelope in the mail.  In the envelope was a check for $400 to help with his medical bills.  The check came from the Christians he had been fighting in court.  He was flabbergasted and told the Tyler, Texas Morning Telegraph that, “They said they wanted to do what real Christians are supposed to do – love you – and they wanted to help.”  Patrick Greene said that he now plans to write about their gesture of loving kindness in a book that he’s going to call “The Real Christians Of Henderson County.”

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”   When you’re a coat person the antidote to apathy is always near. All you have to do is lay down your coat for the One who laid down his life for you.  Sounds like a fair exchange to me?  What do you think? Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

April 1, 2012 – Palm Sunday