6th Sunday in Lent/Palm Sunday
16 March 2008
THEME AND SUGGESTED SERMON TITLE: MYSTERY AND
MERCY: POWER AND POWERLESSNESS
LECTIONARY TEXTS
Matthew 21: 1-11; Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
Isaiah 50:4-9
4GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to
sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning God wakens—
wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5The Ever-Present One
has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6I
gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled
out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7YAHWEH
helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my
face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8the One
who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up
together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9It is GOD who
helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a
garment; the moth will eat them up.
Psalm 31
1In you, O God, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
2Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
3You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake
lead me and guide me, 4take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for
you are my refuge. 5Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have
redeemed me, O faithful God.
6You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in you
alone. 7I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because
you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities,
8and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my
feet in a broad place.
9Be gracious to me, O God, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from
grief, my soul and body also.
10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my
strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. 11I
am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object
of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from
me. 12I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have
become like a broken vessel. 13For I hear the whispering of
many— terror all around!— as they scheme together against
me, as they plot to take my life.
14But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my
God.” 15My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand
of my enemies and persecutors. 16Let your face shine upon your
servant; save me in your steadfast love. 17Do not let me be put to
shame, O LORD, for I call on you; let the wicked be put to shame; let
them go dumbfounded to Sheol. 18Let the lying lips be stilled that
speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19O how abundant is your goodness that you have laid up for those who
fear you, and accomplished for those who take refuge in you, in the
sight of everyone! 20In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from human plots; you hold them safe under your shelter from contentious
tongues.
21Blessed be the Holy One, who has wondrously shown steadfast love to
me when I was beset as a city under siege. 22I had said in my
alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my
supplications when I cried out to you for help.
23Love the LORD, all you saints. God preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. 24Be strong, and
let your heart take courage, all you who wait for our God.
Psalm 118
1O give thanks to God, who is good, whose steadfast love endures
forever!
2Let Israel say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love endures
forever.”
3Let the house of Aaron say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love
endures forever.”
4Let those who fear the LORD say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love
endures forever.”
5Out of my distress I called on the LORD, who answered me and set me in
a broad place.
6With the God of power and might on my side I do not fear. What can
mortals do to me?
7God is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate
me.
8It is better to take refuge in God than to put confidence in
mortals.
9It is better to take refuge in God than to put confidence in
princes.
10All nations surrounded me; in the names of the Holy One I cut them
off!
11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of YAHWEH
I cut them off!
12They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in
the name of YAHWEH I cut them off! 13I was pushed hard, so that I
was falling, but God helped me. 14The One who is my strength and my
might has become my salvation. 15There are glad songs of victory in the
tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does
valiantly; 16the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of
the LORD does valiantly.” 17I shall not die, but I shall live, and
recount the deeds of the Sovereign. 18The LORD has punished me severely,
but did not give me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through
them and give thanks to the LORD. 20This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it. 21I thank you that you have
answered me and have become my salvation. 22The stone that the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23This is
God’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24This is the day
that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25Save
us, we beseech you, O God! O God, we beseech you, give us success!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you
from the house of the LORD.
27The LORD is God, and has given us light. Bind the festal procession
with branches, up to the horns of the altar. 28You are my God, and
I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
29O give thanks to the LORD, who is good, and whose steadfast love
endures forever.
Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the
Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go
into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey
tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone
says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’
And the person will send them immediately.” 4This took place to
fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell
the daughter of Zion, Look, your ruler is coming to you, humble, and
mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6The
disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the
donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on
them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others
cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds
that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna
to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the
Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil,
asking, “Who is this?” 11The crowds were saying, “This
is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
A CALL TO WORSHIP
ONE
In our weakness we are strong
In our poverty we are rich.
In our foolishness we are wise.
In our shadows we seek light.
In our silences we listen.
In our touching we are spirit.
In our searching we are found.
In our longing we are satisfied.
In our powerlessness, we are powerful beyond all human
understanding.
ALL
God of mystery and mercy
Grant us new life with you
as we seek to overturn the powerful with our powerlessness during this
journey of Lent. Amen.
A CONTEMPORARY LESSON
Excerpts from A Beautiful Mind, an article by Rev Dr Joanna Adams
found at http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=488
Two thousand years after Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, another visitor
came to the city, Germany's last kaiser, Wilhelm II. His entourage was
so grand that he had to have the Jaffe Gate in the old city widened so
that his over-sized carriage could pass through. After the parade had
ended, someone climbed up and attached a large sign to the gate. The
sign read, "A better man than Wilhelm came through this city's gate. He
rode on a donkey."
What made Jesus a better man, do you think? What was it about him
that compelled the people to spread their cloaks and wave their branches
in the air? What made him a better man? It was his beautiful mind,
which was nothing less than the very mind of God. His beautiful mind put
him on the back of that donkey.
* His beautiful mind led him to overturn the tables of the money
changers in the temple, led him to cure the blind and the lame.
* His beautiful mind brought him to his knees before the disciples so
that he could wash their feet on the night of his betrayal.
* His mind led him to the cross where he poured out his life.
What does a Christ-like mind look like as we live in the world? We
can see it clearly in the great saints and martyrs, such as Mother
Teresa or Albert Schweitzer. I'm drawn as well to the idea William
Placher suggests in his book Narratives of a Vulnerable God as he uses
an illustration from the world of basketball. Professor Placher writes,
"In basketball the players who are always asking, 'How am I doing? Am I
getting my share of the shots?' Those are the ones who never reach their
full potential. It is the players who lose themselves who find
themselves. And it's that kind of self-forgetfulness that makes the best
players." ….
An artist becomes lost in the work. Lovers become lost in their
beloved. Workers are excited about a common enterprise. … In
self-forgetfulness, you become most fully yourself….
Why did Jesus ride that little donkey into town that day? I think he
did it to demonstrate true greatness to all the world. After the donkey
came the cross. And it is there, right there, that you see greatness in
all its glory….
MUSIC
Hymns:
Lift High the Cross
All Glory, Laud, and Honor
#216 in the New Century Hymnal
My Song is Love Unknown
#222 in the NCH
Hosanna, Loud Hosanna
#213 in the NCH
Choir:
Hope of the World, Lloyd Larson
Two-part mixed. Pepper 10029684
A CONFESSION
We’re taught it from our youth, O God, that power is what we
need - power in our own lives and over others. We confess that we
often live by this value and exert our power in ways that are
destructive to ourselves, to others and to our planet. We view
power as a commodity to be claimed rather than a good to be shared.
Grant us now your beautiful mind, that we may live in true greatness,
empowered by your righteousness and love and empowering others through
your spirit.
Forgive us when we doubt that this is true and help our unbelief as
we live in this world where power is wielded against much that is
holy. Forgive us; set us free; and empower us from within.
In the name of the one who relinquished his power for our sake,
Amen.
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