Community Church Sermons

Year B

April 1, 2012

Palm Sunday

Today We Celebrate

John 12:12-16

Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows

Associate Pastor

 

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And what else is there to talk about except that which everyone is talking about - of course, Mardi Gras. It’s that time again, that wonderful, crazy, colorful, crowded, happy, mixed up but glorious when all New Orleans forgets itself for a day, lets its hair down, puts on a rubber nose, a funny hat, and walks around laughing at the silly people in crazy costumes. It is a day for contrasts, a day for change. A day when legions of quiet, timid, introspective little men forsake their cashier’s windows and their neat clerk’s desks, put masks across their faces, and suddenly become Don Juan. A day when a secretary can become queen of England.  A housewife, Annie Oakley.

Mardi Gras is fantasy in a fright wig, reality with burnt cork at the end of its nose, a dream with a scepter in its hand, and pompousness about to be punctured. Mardi Gras is fun and laughter, vulgarity and coarseness, color and light, and at the end, quiet. Mardi Gras is a state of mind, an attitude, a pose, an opinion. But at its most basic, and perhaps most satisfying of all, Mardi Gras is the day when New Orleans can tell the whole world: we’re going to have fun. And we do. No one should be serious on Mardi Gras Day. So we won’t be. But we do reserve the right to be serious tomorrow. Good evening.    

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking  “Here I tis April 1st and he’s talking about Mardi Gras, surely there is a punch line coming, that is what you are thinking, but you would be wrong. The truth is that I heard that commentary each year of life that I lived in South Louisiana. Every year WWL TV station manager Phil Johnson repeated the commentary and initially it did not make much sense to me, but with the passage of time, the growth of webbed feet, and the development of gills to breathe the water of South Louisiana humidity, Phil Johnson’s words became clear to me, in fact, they became dear to me . They are words of celebration. They are words that encouraged us to come apart for a while from our daily routines and to engage life at the level of fun ----- to let celebration be the purpose for at least one day in our year. They are not words of denial, for Johnson notes the existence of problems, but they are words of hope that maybe a day of refreshment will give us the strength we need to get back to solving problems in due time. They are needed words of reminder that too much work and no play makes us dull, dry, and dense people who do not know the joy of living. They are not the words of Jesus, (though in South Louisiana, Phil Johnson, Nash Roberts, and Hap Glaudi were often confused with the Holy Trinity). No, they are not the words of Jesus, but they do bear a striking similarity in tone and message to the words of Jesus we find recorded in our readings for today.

Like Phil Johnson, Jesus, is calling people to a time of revere, a time of celebration, a time that would be followed by great seriousness, but that seriousness did not, in fact, should not, crowd out the celebration that preceded its coming. Welcome to Palm Sunday, a day we often rush past in our anticipation of the events of Holy Week that include crucifixion and resurrection. We are so eager to “get on with it” that we miss Jesus’ call to stop and celebrate ---- to stop and have a party ---- to engage with each other in the frivolous fun of a sometimes serious life.

Jesus’ call to celebrate is a reminder to all who join in that in him life can be different. His royal entry into Jerusalem reminds people that while the social, political, and religious systems of the day seem broken --- there is another way --- a better way. Do you think this is a message that our current social, political, and religious systems need? 

Jesus’ call to celebrate is a reminder that the only thing needed to make life different, are people who will collaborate with him in making his vision a reality. People who choose to believe that despite the current rhetoric of the social, political, and religious systems, it is possible to love God, to love your neighbor, and to do to others always and only what you would want them to do to you. Do you think this vision is something our current social, political, and religious systems need?

Jesus’ call to celebrate is a reminder that there is an inherent value in the act of celebration. It is ok at times to shout, to cheer, and raise a stein or two. To give thanks for the goodness of life that has been and the potential of life that may be. To have fun and not be serious, knowing that we can be serious tomorrow.

Celebration seems to have been the purpose of Jesus’ ride that Palm Sunday. Celebration seems to have been the point of all those who waved palm branches, threw down their coats, and shouted HOSANNA!

                Celebration seems to be the call and challenge for us this Palm Sunday. So let me ask you:

                What can you celebrate today? How can you just have fun?

                Who can you celebrate with today? Who can you share the joy of living with, for a time?

What will you do if you do not celebrate today? Don’t you know that no one should be serious on Palm Sunday? You can reserve the right to be serious tomorrow.

                May God give us the grace to celebrate today the passion, potential, and hope Jesus brought that first Palm Sunday. May God grant that our celebration will make them as real today as they were that day. AMEN!