Through a Child’s Eyes
Luke 19:28-40
Dr. Robert Chance
Palm Sunday, 2010
Theme: Discovering and Re-discovering over and over the sheer joy of Palm Sunday helps to remind us to be joyful, enthusiastic and happy in our faith.
Introduction…
I have fond memories of my dad and mom taking my brother Steve and me downtown to parades when we were very little. The memories are very dim but they still seem to register bright in my heart.
All I remember is that my dad worked at the time as a young lawyer to be for an outfit called Lawyer’s Title. He worked in an office “downtown”. Not sure what “downtown” was or where the office was located in “downtown” but wherever it was it had to have a view of one of the main avenues in the heart of Washington D.C. We would go up to a high office and watch the parade from the windows. Sometimes, we didn’t go to the offices at all but stood along Pennsylvania Avenue or Constitution Avenue and watch up close as a parade went by.
Funny thing about all this is I have no idea what so ever of what the parades were for or who was in them or what was in them. What I remember is the sense of joy, the feeling of joy, the excitement of being there and of taking part in something so big and so exciting and by definition so important that I was happy, sheer happy to be there. Watching a parade on television can hardly do the experience justice. The important thing to note is the absolute sheer joy I remember from these trips to the parade. I was little. I have no idea of what the parades were about, they were 55 or more years ago, yet the feeling of joy and happiness remains in my heart.
First: The Bible tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem and a parade broke out.
The road from Galilee to Jerusalem goes from the shores of the Sea of Galilee, through Jericho, along the Jordan River, through the hot and arid desert and eventually starts to winds up from the valley floor not far from the Dead Sea to the peaks of Jerusalem. One of the last little villages Jesus went through, before reaching Jerusalem was called Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. As he got closer to Jerusalem Jesus send two of disciples ahead of him telling them they would find a colt tied which no one had ever ridden. They were told to untie the colt and bring for Jesus to ride the remainder of the journey on. If the owners of the colt were to ask them what they were doing they were to tell him that “The Lord needs it.”
They did as they were told and upon returning to Jesus they threw their coats on the back of the colt and put Jesus on the colt. As they rode into Jerusalem people began spreading their coats along the road. When Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully praising God in loud voices and shouting “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The people were expecting something different and they didn’t really understand who Jesus was and the kind of king he was but none the less they were joyful. They were happy. They were excited to be part of the day.
I can only imagine what little boys and little girls must have seen, what they heard, what they smelled and who they internalized it all. Like I remember from my own experiences of going to parades the people and especially the children it must have been a wonderful day, a day full of excitement and meaning, and a day of great joy!
Second: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had that same sense of joy and celebration and excitement not only here today but throughout our experience of the joy of being a Christian and being in church?
· That’s what we are trying to re-create here today.
A lot of work and a lot of effort have gone into making our day joyful, special, and wonderful.
We work hard at re-creating that sense of a grand and glorious celebration, a parade of note.
We want the children to remember this day. We want to implant in their hearts the joy and happiness of being in church and of being a part of something grand and important.
· Sometimes I get the feeling people come to church because they have to.
Sometimes I get the feeling being in church is like being in the penalty box in Hockey – it’s a place we are sent to time out and cool our jets, to get over something wrong we’ve done in the game of life.
Sometimes I get the feeling of drudgery and duty and obligation from people more than joy and happiness and celebration.
· Yet, being in church and being a Christian is meant to be joyful. It’s meant to be happy. It’s meant to bring a smile to our face, a dance to our feet and a joy of joy to our hearts.
Being a follower of Jesus is a happy and joyful thing.
Being a follower of Jesus is meant to bring happiness and thrill and joy to our lives.
Being in church to worship and to celebrate is meant to be a joyful and happy time for us.
· We aren’t here because we “have to be here”.
We aren’t here because of duty – although there is an element of duty to all we do.
· We are here because we “get to be”.
We are here because we want to be.
We are here because it bring great joy and hope and meaning to our daily lives.
· Today reminds me that I wish that we would all rediscover the …
o The sense of joy of being in church.
o The sense of happiness of being a disciple of Jesus.
o A smile upon our face and a shout of joy from our voices.
Third: The difference would be immense if we could rediscover something of the joy and celebration in our faith.
· If we had more joy and happiness in our faith more people would be drawn to want some of it.
· If we had more joy and happiness in our faith being in church would be a happy and joyful experience and we would get more out of it because we would be more open.
· If we had more joy and happiness in our faith we would make a bigger difference in the world around us and especially in the lives of those closest to us.
· If we had more joy and happiness in our faith we would by definition bring more joy and happiness to a world of people who are …
o Hurting,
o Lonely,
o Sad,
o Left out,
o Looking for something deeper and more important than all the fluff in their lives to attach themselves to.
· If we had more joy and faith in our lives we would come to every Sunday with a sense of excitement, a sense of expectation that something good was going to happen to us and by golly it would happen – because we were ready for it to happen.
There is so much unjoy out there in the world.
There is so much unhappiness out there in the world.
There is so much grief and sadness.
The joy of the Lord is the antidote that overcomes all the unhappiness in the world.
The joy of the Lord is what so many are looking for it but don’t know how to find it, don’t know how to keep it, don’t know how to integrate it into their hearts and souls.
The joy of the Lord is my strength,
The joy of the Lord is my strength,
The joy of the Lord is my strength,
The joy of the Lord!
Closing…
All week long I kept trying to think of something new to say this year.
All week long I kept hunting for some new insight, some new point to make, and some new way to get people to respond.
Then it hit me. I was riding on the metro and while half asleep and half awake and fully exhausted a little boy sitting the seat across the aisle let out a wild and wooly whoop. WHOOP!
Of course his mother sat on him like a lightning bolt striking the ground. A few people looked around at the boy and let their stern faces express their displeasure. This little guy, with all the wild enthusiasm and energy of a four year old had just expressed pure, unbounded, unbridled, wild joy. Riding in the Metro was exciting for him. As others grimaced I smiled, felt my heart fill with joy and I said to the mother, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all enjoy the ride so much?” I’m sad to say she didn’t understand English very well and I think she thought I was criticizing her. But I reassured her with a smile that I thought it was all pretty cool.
That’s the moment I remembered all the joy and happiness I used to feel going to parades when I was the little guy. My heart was flooded with warm and joyful memories of time spent with my mom and dad and brother Steve. It was a great moment for me.
I realized I had my Palm Sunday Sermon. I realized something I had overlooked all these years of Palm Sunday – the sheer joy of the day and the importance of remembering to be joyful in my own life.
Yes… that’s it. Let me say one more time. That little boy was filled with pure, unbounded, unbridled joy that brought a “whoop” to his voice. Wouldn’t it be something if we could rediscover and bring that same sense of pure, unbounded, unbridled joy to our lives as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and as church members today? And not just today, but every day, every place we go, everywhere of our lives.
What a difference it would make.
What a joy life would be.
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord”…
To bring joy and happiness to our lives which we in turn can bring to everyone else on the train with us1