The Message, March 24, 2024, Palm Sunday: "Love Came Down," Mark 11:1-11

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
March 26, 2024

 

[Worship was cancelled on Sunday, March 24, due to an ice storm that knocked out the electricity at the church. Here is the text of the message that I prepared for our Palm Sunday celebration. The Children's Message was going to be the entrance of "Bat Jesus." He was going to have an assistant that held up signs behind him that said, "Pow!" "Zonk!" and "Bam!" in the manner of the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West. "Bat Jesus" was going to punch evil people in the nose ... "Pow!" But in the end, we would hold up a similar sign that said, "LOVE."]

“Love Came Down”

A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Mark 11:1-11

            I have shared over the years that I grew up cheering for the Boston sports franchises. It is no secret that I am a sports fan.
I grew up watching the Boston Bruins in the Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Terry O’Reilly years.
I watched the Steve Grogan New England Patriots and sat on those awful aluminum benches at the old stadium.
I said, “Wait ‘til next year,” as I watched the Red Sox suffer yet another September swoon.
With all due respect to the Celtics … I am not a basketball fan. (Although, I did watch some during the Larry Bird years.)
And to all of you New England Revolution fans … they were not even born yet.

            With the turn of the century, my fandom finally turned the corner. Since the year 2000, the Boston sports teams won TWELVE championships, and Boston was being called “Title Town.”

            My previous church just happened to be right on the commuter rail line that ran into Boston, and the train station was diagonally across the street from the church. Obviously, that meant that when it was time for the duck boat championship parades, I had a window seat from my office watching the adoring fans flock onto the trains.

            They showed up in droves, decked out in all of their fan gear. They were celebratory … excited. Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets of Boston and cheered as their heroes rode past in a phalanx of repurposed military vehicles. Their team had won! They were the victors!! Hip hip hooray!!!

            Of course, the church’s proximity to the train station meant that we were involved with the drama. We tried to ask people NOT to park in the church parking lot. We put up traffic cones and sawhorses, but the revelers just drove around them … or over them. We had parking lot attendants nicely ask them not to park there, and they received some very unkind and unmentionable responses. Every party has a pooper … and that was us.

            The point was that the city and the surrounding cities were pumped full of energy and enthusiasm. The lovable losers, the historically horrible Patriots and Red Sox had finally won a championship … or two … or four … or six … and the people wanted to celebrate their champions.

            In Mark’s Gospel lesson this morning, we heard about Jesus and the disciples heading toward Jerusalem for the Passover festival. There was great enthusiasm and excitement among the pilgrims as they arrived. There was an electricity in the city. Historians estimate that there may have been as many as three million people in Jerusalem. The city was packed, actually beyond packed. Many of the pilgrims had to stay in the surrounding towns and villages that were within a day’s walk of the holy city.

            Families were gathered singing, dancing, feasting, and praying. They were celebrating their heritage. They were celebrating God’s faithful activity in their lives and in their history. They celebrated their freedom from slavery and their escape from Egypt.

            Even as they celebrated their freedom from slavery, they knew that they were living under the crushing occupation of the Romans. Even as they celebrated their escape from pharaoh’s army, they hoped and prayed for their release from under the thumb of the emperor.

            They remembered and celebrated Yahweh, their Redeemer and Rescuer. They remembered the escape from bondage and their entry into the Promised Land.

            They remembered great Jewish kings that had fought and won with Yahweh at their side.

            They remembered Judas Maccabaeus and his family defeating the Syrians and driving them out of Jerusalem just 200 years prior. They remembered the way that the Maccabees had cleansed the Temple and restored their faith.

            And now they prayed for a new champion. They prayed for a new hero. They prayed for a king who would drive the Romans out of the Temple, out of Jerusalem, and out of their beloved homeland.

            They prayed for their Messiah.

            Little did they know that he was just a few miles away and he was heading to Jerusalem.

            Jesus and his disciples were making their way up the steep and rocky road from Jericho to Jerusalem. Despite the protestations of the disciples, despite what Jesus had told them awaited him in the city, they were on their way.

            Jesus knew that the city would be full of people and energy. He knew that the streets, shops, and marketplace would be crowded with people making their last-minute preparations for their Passover celebrations. He knew that all of that would be done under the watchful eyes of the Romans.

            Jesus took a page out of the ancient prophet playbook. The prophets of Israel always had a very distinctive method of getting their message across when the people were not listening or paying attention. When words failed … do something dramatic. Do something memorable. “If you do not hear, you will be compelled to see.”

            Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would not be spectacular … but it would be memorable.

            The people would know the words of the Prophet Zechariah:

            “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
            See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious,
            lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

            Jesus did not quote those words. Instead, he embodied those words, he lived those words into being. He had arranged to have a colt waiting for him, the colt of a donkey that he could ride into the Holy City. That simple act would be a dramatic and memorable act.

            His disciples had struggled trying to understand who and what Jesus is and was. They finally understood that he was their true king. They placed their cloaks on the back of the donkey and on the road before him. That act was not something that one did for friends or family. That was something that one did for a king.

            The people knew their history. They remembered what their ancestors did when King Jehu was anointed as king of Israel:

            “They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!” (2 Kings 9:13)

            The disciples and followers of Jesus called out as they made their way: “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

            They uttered the familiar words of the hallel psalm that the people offer during their Passover observance:

            “Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord, we bless you.” (Psalm 118:25-26)

            They had taken the common greeting that was offered to all pilgrims and made it into a royal proclamation. And you may recall that throughout Jesus’ ministry, he told those whom he cured or saved to, “tell no one.” But he did not give his procession that same instruction. As they approached the city, the members of his procession proclaimed to the people, “Here is your true king! He is here to save!”

            Jesus knew that this was a dramatic act. He knew that word would begin to spread. You notice that Mark’s Gospel account does not include a huge throng of people screaming and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” But the news would spread.

            And perhaps the most memorable and dramatic part of the message that Jesus offered that evening was seen beneath him … the donkey, the colt.

            Jesus knew that the people desired a warrior king. Jesus knew that Judas Maccabaeus was called “The Hammer.” Jesus knew that the people wanted a king that would smash and crush … Pow! Zonk! Bam! The donkey was the ride of a king that came in peace. Kings that came in peace came in on the back of a donkey.

            During the Christmas season, we speak of Love Incarnate coming down to live among us. One of the Christmas hymns that we sing is, “Love Came Down.” Mary rode into Bethlehem on the back of a donkey, and on that evening so long ago, Jesus … Love Incarnate … rode on the back of a donkey into the City of Jerusalem.

            He came in love … not in hate.
            He came in peace … not in violence.
            He came with open arms … not with clenched fists.
            He came to welcome … not to divide.

            Riding slowly on the back of a donkey Love came to town.

            As we look at the world around us, as we watch the news with one eye closed for fear of the horrors we will see, that message of love must calm our fears.
            As we hear angry rhetoric and witness world leader rattling their sabers threatening more death and more violence, that message of peace must rise within us.
            As forces seek to drive wedges and divide communities for political gain and we find ourselves turning inward, that message of welcome must open our hearts and our arms.

            A revolutionary or dramatic act does not have to be grandiose or immediately altering in order to make a difference in the world around us. One small act may be all that is required.

            Am I suggesting that we climb upon a herd of donkeys and ride them down Main Street? That would certainly be a dramatic act that would most likely make the evening news. (I mean … it would be great … but where would we get that many donkeys?)

            Each of us has the opportunity to offer love. Each of us has the opportunity to offer peace. Each of us has the opportunity to offer kindness and compassion. And every time that we do, we do our part to welcome the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Every time that we do, we add one more voice to the crowd shouting, “Hosanna! Save us!”

            This day and every day Love comes to town. Let’s join the parade. Amen.

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