"4-1-07 Palm Sunday" Palm Sunday
Jim Burklo, Sausalito Presbyterian
April 1, 2007
Hallelujia! The Messiah has come.
He’s a strong leader. He’s the good guy who will get rid of the bad guys.
He’s the force of righteousness who will destroy the forces of evil.
You’re either for him or against him, so get on the right side now.
No effort or sacrifice will be required of you while he fights to protect you.
While you shop, evil will drop.
APRIL FOOLS!
Hallelujia! The Messiah has come.
He’s got a miracle diet for you to follow. Eat all you want and you'll lose weight. Got an ailment? He’ll heal it for you, on the spot. All you have to do is ask him and all your aches and pains will go away. You don’t have to exercise, just call the Messiah’s name and you will be in fine form in no time.
APRIL FOOLS!
Hallelujia! The Messiah has come.
He’s got the formula for financial freedom. Sign up for his amazing pyramid scheme now and wealth will be yours! The sooner you sign up, the more people will be under you on the pyramid, and the more wealth will flow upward toward you. All you have to do is believe. And sign here.
APRIL FOOLS!
Hallelujia! The Messiah has come.
She’s the girlfriend of your dreams. You’ll be lonely no more. She’s everything that your last partner, or your current partner, isn’t. She’s got exactly what you want. She’s here! All you have to do is call her name and she’s yours.
He’s the man who will sweep you off your feet – he’s the ultimate provider. Here’s his cell phone number – he’s waiting for your call. Your first date will be a week at a resort in Kauai. Pack your bikini and get ready for salvation!
APRIL FOOLS!
But wait a minute – perhaps we should look a little closer at this Messiah who has just arrived with so much fanfare through the gates of Jerusalem. Yes, I see the crowds and the singing. I see the waving branches. But – isn’t he riding on a donkey? Isn’t he wearing ordinary clothes? What kind of Messiah is he, really?
“Follow me,” he says. But that looks like work. His sandals are dusty and his skin is rough from exposure to the elements. If we follow him, will we wind up riding at three miles an hour on the back of a donkey, too? “Judge not,” he says. That’s impossible! Everybody always has opinions about others. “Love your enemies,” he says. That’s crazy! What good are enemies if you can’t hate them? “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,” he says. But isn’t getting rich the purpose of life? “Heal the sick,” he says. But who wants to hang out with sick people? “Give to the poor,” he says. But poor people are uncool – who wants to be seen hanging out with them? If they’re hungry, isn’t it their own fault?
Wait a minute! What good is a Messiah who asks us to do a long list of things that are a lot of work? This can’t be the Messiah we have been waiting for all this time. Maybe we are April Fools for following Jesus, for thinking he’s the One.
Or maybe we’re just April Fools for expecting that somebody or something can come along and sweep all our troubles away. Maybe we’re April Fools just like so many of the folks who waved branches and sang songs when Jesus came to town for the last time. They didn’t welcome him for who he really was. They welcomed him for who they wished he was. They wished for magical salvation. Just accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and you are saved – there will be a condo with white carpets waiting for you in heaven, just like that. But that’s not the salvation that Jesus offered. He didn’t ask people to mutter a magical incantation and bingo! - get saved on the spot. He asked people to follow him and do what he did. Heal the sick, feed the hungry, make peace, do justice, transform the world with faithful hard work. Maintain the constant spiritual practice of awareness of the presence of God, practice a deep communion with God. Not an easy way, though certainly a joyous and fulfilling way to live.
So let’s be that kind of April Fools. The kind that think it’s fun to do the hard work of faith. The kind that enjoy rising to the challenge that Jesus put before us. The kind of April Fools who are glad to see Jesus for the real, down to earth guy he was, and not for the supernatural image we might project onto him. Let’s be the April Fools who will follow the fellow on the donkey’s back all the way into the ghettos and shantytowns of the world, all the way into the jails and hospitals, all the way into the lonely and dark places of our own hearts. Let’s be the April Fools who wave branches for the coming of the Christ into our lives – coming with marching orders to build heaven on earth, one brick and one trowel-full of mortar at a time.
Hallelujia – welcome to town, Jesus!
Amen....