All the crowds are gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover – a joyous crowd, celebrating their deliverance by God's hands from slavery in Egypt. It is a time of great political drama and intrigue, so any time crowds of Jews gathered it made the Roman establishment nervous. The Romans soldiers are out in force. In that setting Jesus and his disciples have a parade, a parade that mocks the Roman authority. During the time of Jesus parades meant a battle had been won, the victor would come into town showing off all the power and might that could be mustered. Jesus makes fun of that kind of power: He comes riding into town on a borrowed colt, not a gleaming white horse. There is no polished armor, he's wearing his dusty traveling robes. And there's no army all decked out carrying the treasures they captured and leading their captives. Jesus stages his parade with ordinary people, some religious leaders, and the outcasts of his society. The Pharisees warn the crowds gathered for the Passover that Pontius Pilate, who is the Roman governor at the time of Jesus, will not take kind kindly to this mocking parade. (link)

But, as the parade continues more and more join in and the cries of Hosanna! Hosanna! "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" For the Roman authorities and religious leaders this parade is the final affront and they conspire to have Jesus arrested and dealt with as soon as possible.

As I said earlier this morning this is the day when celebration and anguish collide. It starts off so well – a joyous procession of hope. The crowds join in claiming Jesus as their king, the one hoped for, the one who would deliver them from oppression, who would heal them, who would establish for them a place in the world. And then it all goes downhill. The Roman rulers assert their might, the religious leaders say enough. The parade's last shouts are still being heard as the establishment scurries off to make their plans to take care of Jesus. We will remember those dark events this week in our Holy Week services.

That's the first century political reality of this great parade and its seemingly terrible ending. It is also a parade that still informs us and asks us to make choices, and reminds us of how we are called to live in the example of Jesus Christ. Think for a moment to an event in your life that you had anticipated, planned for in great detail … an event about which you were as excited as you could possibly be. The day of celebration finally arrives … and it starts out just as you had hoped for, all is well … more than well. And then something happens to deflate all the happiness, ruining the day. Something that was supposed to be the greatest time, will now always be remembered with great sorrow. The bubble has burst, the balloon deflated. If you can remember such a time you will begin to grasp what it was like for the disciples and followers of Jesus on that first Palm Sunday. Now they … we … have to decide whether we can continue to walk with Jesus, or fall away, or even join the angry crowds who so quickly turn on Jesus when things don't go their way.

Palm Sunday is our call to action … to live and work in the name and example of Jesus Christ. It is not easy – when we are truly about the work of Jesus there will be many to conspire against us, who will try and sabotage our work. We will experience the fierce anger of those who enjoy their privileges at the expense of others, who have an interest in keeping things unjust. Just think of the angry, angry mood of our country, the incivility of political discourse that then is getting whipped up into mob frenzy. From members of congress screaming "you lie," to the president as he addressed congress, to the shout of baby killer in this week's health care debate; we go to how those examples have stirred up acts of violence – of horrible racial slurs, of death threats against our congress, bricks being thrown through their office windows. It is appalling to witness this unbelievably nasty behavior … to have it excused away by people saying we need to do what it takes for our cause, there really is no excuse for such behavior. Yet, as we witness this, we get a sense that this was what it was like that for Jesus and it will be like that for us when we are following as he calls us. It is easy to drop in to church when the going is easy. The crowds still join us at Christmas and Easter to experience the church in all its splendor. But when it comes time to talk the talk and walk the walk, not all are able.

There is a moment in the events that we remember during Holy Week that is very telling in how we are called to behave. When the mobs had come to arrest Jesus, one of the disciples struck out and cut off the ear of the high priest's slave. Jesus stopped the disciples, saying "no more of this!" And then Jesus went further – he healed the slave. Even as the mobs were coming to arrest him, and there was more and more danger, Jesus healed this man.

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 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."

That is the example we are called to follow. It is an example that calls us to commitment, one that calls us to reach out in Christ's love to all people, regardless of who they are. And as followers of Christ we are called to continue walking with Christ after the cheering stops and the cries of crucifixion begin. We are called to walk the way of the cross. We are called to action in the name and example of Jesus Christ.

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