Sermon Title: Faces in the Crowd: The Disciples
Sermon Text:
Sermon Date: March 16, 2008, Palm Sunday
“You Do It: Andrew”
I’m Andrew, brother of Simon who
later became known as Peter. I was the
first disciple you heard about. My
brother and I were fishermen by trade and followers of John by passion. It was through John the Baptizer that we came
to know Jesus. So when he said, “Follow
me,” we were ready to follow. We left
our fishing business in the hands of our other brothers and took off, never looking
back.
One of the things I will also
remember about Jesus is that he didn’t invite us to follow him so we could be
bystanders. He wanted to teach us to do
the things that must be done. That’s why
when I think of him I hear the words – “You do it.”
“You heal them. You cast out demons. You preach.”
The twelve of us were overcome with the tasks but we loved him so much
that we would have done anything he asked.
So when he said, “You feed them” it shouldn’t have been such a shock.
You know the story. The news that John had just been beheaded by
Herod Antipas had reached us. Jesus went
off by himself to grieve but the crowds followed anyway. Finally he gave up on solitude and began to
teach them.
The day was getting long and we
began to worry about them having food and lodging. I went to Jesus and suggested that he send
them home so they could have a meal and a place to sleep. That’s when he said, “They don’t have to
leave; you can feed them.”
We had no idea how to do what he
said. Even if a shop had been nearby we
wouldn’t have had the money to feed 5,000 men, not counting women and
children.
As we stood there stunned, he
patiently asked, “How much food DO you have?”
Just then a young boy tugged at my
robe and showed me five barley loaves and two fishes. “Here,” he whispered, “he can have my lunch.”
From then on we did what Jesus told
us. We had the people sit and Jesus
prayed over the food. He broke the
loaves and gave them to us and we took them to the people. Every time we returned there was more
food. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Now when I hear the words “You do
it” I think of him.
“A View from the
Cheap Seats – Judas”
I was delirious. People were singing “Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is the King who comes in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!” I’d never heard such joyful singing,
particularly not with Jesus as the object of their admiration. It was truly amazing. Finally my dreams for a
majestic Messiah were about to come true.
What a might army!
As I stood there in awe, certain
rulers fought their way to Jesus on the colt and yelled for him to control his
disciples.
But Jesus said, “If I tried, the
very stones would cry out.”
I was delirious. Smiling with the thrill of
victory yet to come. Then I
looked at Jesus and our eyes caught. I
was celebrating and Jesus was crying. He
wasn’t rejoicing in the public acclaim or basking in the glory of the
moment. He was crying. I wanted to grab him and howl, “Don’t lose
heart now!”
I felt panic. Jesus looked more like a defeated messiah
than a reigning king. Nothing I said or
did made any difference to him. “Don’t
give up, my Lord. Don’t give up. The time is coming soon for your
victory. The power is yours if only you
will reach out!”
Just then the crowds swept us away
and Jesus got off the colt at the booths.
Hundreds of them in the southern portico where the
tables of commerce were placed. Where animals were sold for sacrifice. The usual business of the day….until Jesus
strode in there yelling at the merchants.
“Away,” he cried. “Away!”
I trembled with pleasure. Now this was the Messiah, hurling fire to the
earth. “Judgment has come, O you
people!” Don’t cheat my people. Don’t make this house of prayer into a den of
thieves. Away!”
All these things took place on the
first day of the week, the Sunday before the Feast of Passover. I stood there, thinking, “This is he whose
coming is a refiner’s fire – and who shall endure it now? Who shall be standing when this week is
done?”
All the way back to Bethany I wiped
tears of excitement from my eyes. But
that was the last time I felt such joy.
That was the last time that I, Judas Iscariot, was glad….for the rest of
my life.
Peg’s Message: “The Rest of Us”
Sometimes he called them one by
one. Sometimes in
pairs. Their names were:
Peter
John
James
Andrew
Philip
Bartholomew
Thomas
Matthew
James, son of Alphaeus
Simon, the Zealot
Judas, the son of
James
Judas Iscariot
They were called to learn and to follow. They were sent out to heal and rid the world
of demons. Sometimes it worked but there
were times when Jesus had to come along and do it.
Very often Jesus spent time alone
with them, teaching. If you turn in your
bibles to the passages following Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem until the time
when he is arrested you will see that Jesus crammed a lot into those few
days. He had so much to tell them. So much to leave behind. So much to explain. This reminds me of the young mother who spent
her final days making tapes for her daughter.
They taught her how to put on makeup, how to go on her first date and
prepare for college. It also told her to
love the woman her father would eventually marry. She prepared her daughter to go on without
her and Jesus did the same for the disciples.
One minute they are entering
Last week we baptized Jennifer and
Christine, new faces in our crowd. And I
asked if you realized that you too are faces in the crowd. Have you thought about that this week?
What does it mean to be a face in
Jesus’ crowd? If you had been there at
the time, where would you have been?
Throwing your coat down and waving a
palm branch?
Or looking out your window, afraid
to be seen and judged as a religious fanatic?
Would you have thought him a
revolutionary and be plotting his downfall?
Or wondering…..just wondering if
this guy is who they say he is?
Where would you have been, a face in
the crowd?
Where are you now? There are still many faces in Jesus’ crowd,
although it gets harder to judge just what that means. If we judge it by church attendance we would
say that in these
Is the crowd getting smaller?
Or can we believe that people are
more interested in being spiritual than being religious? So while they aren’t in church, they are still
in the crowd?
Something to think about for
sure!
I sincerely hope you will all come
to the Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m.
This is when we will read the scriptures that take us from waving palm
branches to the cross. We will receive
communion and one by one the candles will be blown out until we are in the
darkness waiting for the light to come again.
You see, if
you just come to church on Palm Sunday and Easter, you don’t experience the
community mourning together as we come closer to the cross.
The
faces in the crowd receiving the body and blood. The
faces in the crowd confused. The faces in the crowd mourning. The faces in the crowd
waiting.
You are a face in the crowd. Please come to the funeral as one of the
family.