This morning we reach the end of our sermon series on discipleship. Today's mark of discipleship is, appropriately enough, giving. For, Jesus' journey into Jerusalem that we celebrate this day will set into motion the final scenes of his arrest and crucifixion. We often pray in our offertory prayers something along the lines of having given our gifts in response to what God has given us. The money we give to the church is not about paying our dues, but a symbol of our giving in response to God's love for us. In Power Surge, Michael Foss reminds us: "For disciples, giving should be as natural as receiving. This may seem a 'hard saying' in a self-centered, acquisitive world where cultural convention determines a person's worth by how much they have, not by how much they give away." And "A membership church asks for money (and people resent it). A discipleship church simply reminds people in many and varied ways that life is pure gift and that the giver of life is liberal in sustaining life with every good and beautiful thing (and people give)." (Power Surge, pages 103-104) As we finish this series of sermons today and focus on Palm Sunday I leave you with this reminder: All of the marks of discipleship we have explored come down to this – they are our response to God's great gift of love – the ultimate gift.

The ultimate gift given begins with a parade: "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here … " The route Jesus follows is the same route that Roman rulers and generals took upon entering Jerusalem whenever they wanted to proclaim a victory. Theirs were lavish processions. The road from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem is full of winding turns, giving people plenty of places to stand along the way. It is also highly visible from the city, so that the parade would be seen from the city as it wound its way down the street. There would be huge horses and vehicles, great fanfares of music, lavish displays of wealth and glory. The parades were also chilling in the display of military power – calculated to remind Jerusalem of the complete domination of Rome upon their lives. They served as warning to those who might contemplate challenging Rome: "Look what we will do to those who try!"

Given the Roman victory parades, see what Jesus does in his actions. He stages a parade that is a parody of the victory march. He rides a colt. There is no armored guard, only his disciples – fishermen, tax collectors, loose women, the lost and the outcast. There could hardly be a more stinging spoof of Roman power, nor a more vivid challenge. The parade is an invitation for all of the city to join in with Jesus. His Palm Sunday parade is the embodiment of the text from Philippians we read this morning: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross."

This is the gift given. Standing on this side of the resurrection on the one hand makes the events this parade will start in motion a bit more palatable – we know how the story turns out. But at the same time, we protest at how foolish God's actions seem – surely there is a better way than this!? In his actions Jesus is setting into motion events that will go beyond his immediate control.

Henri Nouwen talks about this vulnerability. In an article "From Passion to Action," he writes of a friend who is dying and mourns his loss of action as he is now confined to bed. His friend says: "Help me to think about this situation in a new way. Help me to think about my not being able to do anything so I won't be driven to despair. Help me to understand what it means that all sorts of people are doing things to me over which I have no control." Nouwen's suggestion is that integral to all that is going on in Palm Sunday is the sense that Jesus' action in staging the parade leads to the passion of waiting through Holy Week. He says: "all action ends in passion because the response to our action is out of our hands." In the coming days, Jesus will be handed over … betrayed … he chooses to allow people to take over as they respond to the challenge laid down in the palms and rough garments of his "victory march."

The Palm Sunday parade calls us to either choose the path of discipleship or reject it. Again, over the past six weeks we have explored what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ as opposed to merely belonging to this church. The actions of Jesus set in motion God's final, disturbing challenge to the way things are. In the days of Holy Week we are called to sort out our response. All the possibilities are mirrored in the disciples – Judas betrays, Peter denies, in the garden they sleep through Jesus' anguish. But some stand strong, or come through in the end. Many come to proclaim the love and power given in Christ's actions. The parade we honor today is our reminder of all God has done for us. It is also our challenge – as even now God waits for our response to divine love – and in that there is no middle ground!