“My Times Are In Thy Hand…”

Psalm 31:9-16

It is important that we not get so caught up in the parade today that we lose sight of the significance of Palm Sunday. Although it appears on the surface that this is a joyful day as Jesus triumphantly enters the city of Jerusalem, there is much more going on here than what meets the eye. Yes, the procession will appear to prepare the way for a coming King. Yes, the Roman authorities will become alarmed and hatch a murderous plot. Yes, one of his own disciples will betray Jesus, another will deny him three times, and all of them will abandon him and run away. Yes, the tide of public opinion will turn against him. Yes, he will be arrested, tried and convicted. And yes, the Palm Sunday cries of “Hosanna!” will become Good Friday calls to “Crucify Him!” and he will, in fact, be executed on a cross on a hill called Calvary.

We know all these things in advance as Palm Sunday leads us into the holiest week of all. And yet, we may still not have really gotten down to the nitty-gritty of what all this means to us and how WE live during Covid-19 Holy Week 2020.

You see, Palm Sunday is not entirely about the events leading up to and including Jesus’ death and resurrection. And if the events are all you concentrate on, you’ll miss out on an important discovery – Holy Week is not so much about how Jesus died, but about how Jesus lived in the face of death. When the walls of his life came tumbling down, when his world crumbled apart and evaporated like dust, how did Jesus deal with it?

So there is much more here than abstract theology-in-the-making. There is a human story being played out before us this morning, and through the course of this week. And it is not just Jesus’ story. It’s our story, too.

I’ve decided to use the Psalm reading out of the Palm Sunday lectionary texts because it captures what I think is the true essence of Jesus’ human struggle during Holy Week:

“Be gracious to me, O Lord, because I am in distress. My vision, my body and my soul waste away with grief. My life is spent with sorrow and sighing. My strength is gone, and I waste away.”

This is the picture of Jesus as he rides into Jerusalem on the back of a humble donkey. Though the crowds are chanting cheers of victory, the Gospels tell us that Jesus weeps over what lies ahead.

“I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my closest friends…I hear the whispering of many as they scheme together and plot to take my life.”

Someone once commented that it’s absolutely amazing how many important events in history took place right next door to a gift shop and a concession stand! I might add that it’s amazing to me how many Civil War battles are reenacted in our area by costumed actors playing Union and Confederate soldiers who – after they form the formations and carry out the maneuvers, and shoot their blank bullets, and get shot – get to go home afterwards and watch NASCAR on TV.

But what a different feeling you get when you stand in the middle of one of those awesomely hallowed battlefields and, rather than watch a reenactment of events, instead try to look at it through the eyes of the stunned eighteen-year-old farm boy whose hands shake too much to even load his rifle as he stares into the face of the last few minutes of his life.

And in the same way, when you look at this week through the eyes and experience of Jesus, you begin to identify with him, and to gain understanding. You start to see yourself and the struggles of your own life. Is there anyone here today who has never cried out with Jesus, “Help me, God, for I am in distress!”? Is there anyone here today who has never felt spent, and sorrowful, and weak, and all alone, and at the limits of your ability to endure? Is this not our national litany in these days of Covid-19?

There is a human drama being lived out here this Holy Week about living in the face of adversity – even the ultimate adversity, which is death.

And today, as Jesus rides that little donkey into the gathering darkness of life, I hope you’ll take for yourself the words of the psalm that became for Jesus the inspiration he needed to continue on.

“I trust in you, O Lord. You are my God. My times are in thy hand…”

What does it mean to truly trust in God with the times of our lives? I mean, how do you actually do that, not when everything is going your way, but when your life is falling apart?

To listen to many Christians today, trusting in God is to get your theology straight – you trust God by believing that God exists, by believing that God has a plan for your life, by believing that the Bible is true, by affirming certain truths and acknowledging certain ideas, and by believing that everything will work out in the end.

But that’s not really trusting God.

Fred Craddock told of his younger years as a brash young Bible scholar. He had just finished reading Albert Schweitzer’s “Quest For The Historical Jesus” and found it, in his twenty-year old wisdom, woefully lacking – more water than wine, Craddock says. He marked up the book as he read. Made notes in the margins. Raised questions. Challenged ideas.

Then one day, Fred read in the Knoxville News Sentinel that Schweitzer was going to be in Cleveland, Ohio to present a dedication concert for a new organ at a big church up there. According to the announcement, Dr. Schweitzer would remain afterwards in the fellowship hall for conversation. So Craddock bought a Greyhound bus ticket, and – book in hand – went up to Cleveland. He wrote out his list of questions on a separate page, along with references to the pages in the suspect book, and he was ready to do religious battle.

Well, Fred got there and heard the concert. Then he rushed down to the fellowship hall where he was the first to arrive. He got a seat in the very front row. He pulled out his papers and organized his notes. Schweitzer had played a wonderful concert, and Fred was somewhat awed by the fact that this man was a master organist, a medical doctor, a philosopher, a biblical scholar, a lecturer, a writer – everything. But Craddock – the twenty-year old zealot – was ready, sitting there with his notes.

Well, after a while, Albert Schweitzer came in – shaggy hair, big white moustache, stooped over, and 75-years old. Schweitzer thanked everybody for coming.

“You’ve been very warm and hospitable to me. I thank you for it, and wish I could stay longer among you, but I must get back to Africa. I must get back because my people there are poor, and sick, and hungry, and dying, and I have to go. We have a medical station there at Lambarene. If there’s anyone here in this room who has the love of Jesus, would you be prompted by that love to go with me and help?”

Dead silence.

Fred Craddock said he looked down at his sheet of questions and theological arguments. They seemed so absolutely stupid in the context of Schweitzer’s life. And Fred observed,  “I learned again that night what it means to be Christian, and had hopes that I could be that someday.”

What does it mean to trust in God, and to place our times in his hand?

It means not to believe religious theories but to live in godly ways – like Albert Schweitzer.

Like Jesus.

Do you realize that, as Jesus’ world fell apart during the course of that week long ago, he did some amazing life-centered things that demanded tremendous trust in God?

For one thing, he took care of his mother. Scholars are uncertain as to where Joseph was at this point in Jesus’ life. He’s not mentioned at all after the birth stories. Most likely, Joseph died at an early age, like many men of the period. And Jesus, as the eldest son, had the responsibility of taking care of his mother. Do you remember that beautiful moment on the cross, when his own life was slipping away and it would be easy to become lost within his own pain, how Jesus spoke from the cross, and told John to take care of his mother?

What does trusting God with the times of your life look like? It looks like Jesus…

…facing what he faced, yet still taking care of the responsibilities God had given him for his family.

And then there was another thing. Do you remember? In the face of death itself, Jesus made sure to love his friends to the end. They were not the best friends in the world to be sure. One of them would betray him. Another would deny him three times. All of them would run away, scared for their lives. And Jesus knew that. But still, he arranged a goodbye meal for them. He washed their feet. He assured them about the future. He encouraged them to be strong. He led them singing some hymns. And asked them to pray with him. He told them he would love them forever.

What does trusting God with the times of your life look like? It looks like Jesus…

… in the face of the worst crisis he’d ever experienced, still taking care of the responsibilities God had given him for his friends.

Do you see? Holy Week is such a beautiful story of a man facing incredible adversity by never losing sight of the responsibilities God had given him. He took care of his mother, supported his friends, and still stood up for what was right, too! Surely he knew that his own situation would be made worse by stepping into the corruption of the Temple and overturning the tables of the money-changers. But still, he did it. Because that’s what God’s people do! We step out of our own self-concern to stand with others. Can you imagine being laid off from work, and on your way home stopping to participate in an anti-racism march? Can you imagine coming home from the doctor’s office with a devastating diagnosis, and yet taking time to be with your child celebrating the “A” they received in class that day? Can you imagine stepping out of your own comfort zone into an overflowing Coronavirus ward to care for a ventilated patient because along with all your other responsibilities you are a nurse? Can you imagine wearing a mask when you go out in public not because you want to but because others need you to?

You see, we people of faith do these things because this is what Christ-followers do!

Look at all the living Jesus did on the way to dying! 

For me, one of the most touching moments comes when Jesus, who has been wronged and unjustly injured by everyone, makes sure he does not die before giving them all the gift of forgiveness.

He even gave it to me…and you.

What does it mean to trust God with the times of your life?

It means to live well in the moments you have. It means to be faithful in the face of adversity. It means to take care of the business God has given you even though the world is crumbling all around!

Now I know there are many today who are really being challenged by life. Not only by the pandemic but perhaps also because the personal pain is so great, the injury so severe, the depression so deep, the disappointment so huge, the betrayal so large, the problem so massive that it would be easy to simply give in and become bitter – self-absorbed – paralyzed people.

Don’t give in to that!

Cast your lot with Jesus who shows us another way. Join his parade and take up your life and LIVE IT!

Trusting God with the times of your life, do these things…

take care of your family,

love your neighbors,

stand up for the right,

heal the broken,

feed the hungry,

live the life God calls you to live!

And hold on to this prayer:

“I trust in you, O Lord. You are my God. My times are in thy hand…”