Hosanna — Sermon scribbles
(This post is a direct copy paste of notes for a sermon on Palm Sunday. Kindly excuse the disjointed nature of thoughts which were to be made up in speech. I shall re-write it into a more coherent piece of writing soon!)
Hosanna : Jesus the Eternal King
28 January 2021
Mark 11:1–11 (Gospel)| Colossians 1:14–23 (Epistle)|
Zechariah 9:9–17| Romans 11:16–36 (Lessons)
Introduction
- Beginning of holy week
- Road to the cross Calvary as well as the garden of resurrection.
- The Word transforms us and gives us a new lens.
o Walter Brueggemann’s book’s name:
The Word that Redescribes the World.
The Gospel gives us a new lens to face the world as we go through this pandemic, into this Holy Week.
Prayer
Opening Story
Money Heist –
The professor planned a heist that would take place without bloodshed or loss of lives. It was planned down to the minutest detail. Yet it ended up in much bloodshed, loss of the lives of his own two crew members. When they were shot at, they shot back. When their lives were threatened, they responded with violence.
The Background in that context
The Roman Empire of Jesus’ time enforced Pax Romana. Eyes for eye. Many had to suffer for the mistakes of some. They had one answer to everything — force. They enforced peace through the Sword, violence and fear.
Maccabean Revolt. How Jews revolted against the Greeks and won, temporarily, establishing a Jewish nation led by priests who also functioned as the King. They are violent and eventually become corrupt, killing even Jews. They become another face of the Roman government by swearing allegiance to them over the Greek Seleucids.
This is where Jesus as King becomes important, relevant and crucial. He diverts from the path taken by earthly kings and rulers.
True to the scriptural prophecy in Zachariah. A fulfillment of God’s word (Zech 9:9–17)
The whole of this sermon can be summed up in one sentence:
Jesus offers a diversion that leads us to our destination / ഹോശാന: ലക്ഷ്യ സ്ഥാനത്തേക്ക് നയിക്കുന്ന ദിശാമാറ്റം
1. Hosanna is a diversion from the oft tread path (the default) / ഹോശാന മനുഷ്യന്റെ സ്ഥിരപാതയിൽ നിന്നുമുള്ള ദിശാമാറ്റമാണ്
Robert Frost’s ‘ The Road Not Taken ’
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;…
It ends saying:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Jesus took the road less travelled, or not travelled at all. When the Roman Emperor and the Maccabeans took the regular route, he led us to the cross, the cross which became the symbol of love. And yet, he went beyond the cross and rose again, showing us that he is in charge of life and death, that He is in control. The Romans and the Maccabeans could not do that.
M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled :
“Genuine love is volitional rather than emotional. The person who truly loves does so because of a decision to love.”
He chose love and showed us what choosing wisely can do.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,… (1 Corinthians 1:30)
നിങ്ങളോ അവനാൽ ക്രിസ്തുയേശുവിൽ ഇരിക്കുന്നു. അവൻ നമുക്കു ദൈവത്തിങ്കൽ നിന്നു ജ്ഞാനവും നീതിയും ശുദ്ധീകരണവും വീണ്ടെടുപ്പുമായിത്തീർന്നു.
2. Hosanna: a proclamation that leads us to our true destination
ഹോശാന : ശരിയായ ദിശയിലേക്ക് നമ്മെ നയിക്കുന്ന മുദ്രാവാക്യം / പ്രഖ്യാപനം !
“YOLO”
“Live like there is no tomorrow”
“Be what you wanna be…”
“Jeevichu pokunnu…”
Many today romanticize journeys without a specific destination — in life, in relationships, in business, etc. The tone changes when it becomes a journey that leads to immorality, danger to human life, immense loss of money and dignity.
Story : Battle of the Beetles
On the slope of Long’s Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood for some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador, and half grown when the pilgrims settled at Plymouth.
During the course of its long life it was struck by lightning fourteen times and the innumerable avalanches and storms of four centuries thundered past it. It survived them all. In the end, however, an army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the ground. The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks. A forest giant which age had not withered, nor lightning blasted, nor storms subdued, fell at last before beetles so small that a man could crush them between his forefinger and his thumb.
There is a parallel in this story which should serve as a warning to us. Most of us can survive times of crisis. We summon the strength of faith or resolve for most any battle that we face head on. Whether it is in our professional or personal lives, we often overcome great obstacles. It is the small things like jealousy, anger, resentment, pettiness and negativity that eat us from the inside, which often bring about our downfall. Unlike a giant tree, we can identify and fight those moral or ethical “beetles.” We must, however, be constantly on guard. (Author: Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick).
Are we aware of what eats us? Are we aware of where our life is headed if we continue the way we are living now?
Etymology. Hosanna comes from the Hebrew word, Hosheeyaana that appears in one of the Psalms which was used as a pilgrim song (Psalm 118:25). It’s root word is Yasha which means, “to loosen, to deliver” and this particular word appears 355 times in the Old Testament.
Jesus came to liberate and save. Jesus came to liberate us from all forms of evil bondage (Luke 4:16–19) and to give us life.
John10:10 | 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
മോഷ്ടിപ്പാനും അറുപ്പാനും മുടിപ്പാനും അല്ലാതെ കള്ളൻ വരുന്നില്ല; അവർക്കു ജീവൻ ഉണ്ടാകുവാനും സമൃദ്ധിയായിട്ടു ഉണ്ടാകുവാനും അത്രേ ഞാൻ വന്നിരിക്കുന്നതു.
So what is the change in our destination?
Therefore, in their proclamation, the people are calling Jesus as the one who was to come to save. He is a different kind of King, the King over life and death, the King who leads us to eternal life.
Our theme tells us that Jesus is the eternal King and he came that we may have eternal life. His Kingdom was not created by things of this world, but comes from beyond earthly materials. He is the one who not only created us but also the one who fulfills us.
The difference in his Kingship is evident in his appearance. A donkey instead of a horse, the symbol of Roman power. Heading to the cross and not to a palace. Heading towards, suffering and death but eventually to resurrection.
And his whole life was an overflow of God’s goodness, God’s healing and God’s salvation in everyday life. And he brought that into everyday life. We are called to help and heal.
Quote : Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., ‘Together’
“I once had a physician mentor who would pause and take a deep breath before he entered a patient’s room, using those few seconds to remind himself how grateful he was for the chance to help someone heal. Today, we all share this opportunity. Healthy relationships are as essential as vaccines and ventilators for our global recovery.
And Jesus showed us that love on the cross. The path forward, he showed us, was through the cross. It was a life redeemed through the crucible of the cross.
Therefore Hosanna is a diversion from the oft beaten path to our destination, that is growing to the stature of Christ and bringing His Kingdom on earth.
It is an inauguration of a different way to live.
(In the context of communalism, that is what we need)
The question it then poses us is:
1. who is the King of your life?
2. Are you afraid of this Christian journey towards the cross that you avoid it?
“Ships are safe in the harbour, but that is not what ships were made for”
Pope Francis call in 2020
This Lent your call reverberates urgently: “Be converted!”, “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of your judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to you, Lord, and to others
— Pope Francis, Urbi et Orbi 2020
Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow him, accept what he has done for us and live like him.
Ending story : Rabbi — Krakau and Warsaw
Song: Swantham ninakkini njaan yeshu deva….
