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“WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE TRIAL
STARTS?”
All rights reserved; Please do not reproduce
without permission
The title of my sermon is “What happens when the
trial starts.” I decided to mic up today, because I
am fired up about this sermon…. And I may just have
to wander around, flail my arms about, preach a bit
this morning. You been warned…
The Bible is full of wonderful stories that teach
us, and guide us. Introduce us to people who are
role models; words that give us wisdom and hope.
But, not today.
Today the Bible has offered up a story that I hope
we never follow--ever… not as nation, not as a
community of faith, not as individual human beings.
Now the first part is kinda funny. It starts out
with Jesus telling the disciples to go get him a
mule to ride into Jerusalem. I love this part of the
story, because I can just see the disciples – James
and John. Fighting over who gets to bring the
donkey—“ME! No ME!!” Finally, they get the donkey
and head into town. There is a huge crowd there,
throwing palms, cheering "Hosanna! Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is
the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in
the highest heaven!" It is a beautiful
narrative. A triumphant narrative. A royal
narrative.
Fast forward five days later. A very different
scene. Here, we see--what happens when the trial
starts. When Jesus is brought in front of Pilate
there were no palms being waived, only fists. No
cheers of welcome, only jeers and threats. The same
crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as the
blessed one, Hosanna, the Messiah…now shouted
crucify him! Crucify him! Release barabas! Crucify
him! Interesting – what happens when the trial
starts.
You can say that this story teaches all kinds of
things, but to me it is pretty clear. This is a
story about hospitality. Plain and simple. What is
true [Christian] hospitality all about? Is it about
waving palm leaves in welcome… or is it about a bit
more? What does that mean?
Now, if you ask folks what hospitality means… you’re
gunna get all kinds of answers. Oh it means being
kind, showing compassion, being welcoming. I like a
quote I read from Al Capone. He said: “When I sell
liquor, it's called bootlegging; when my patrons
serve it on Lake Shore Drive, it's called
hospitality.” But perhaps bootleg whiskey and Al
Capone are not the place to base a sermon.
The Bible for it has a lot to say about hospitality.
Romans chapter 12, for example, says: “Take
delight in honoring each other and regard others as
more important than yourself. When God's children
are in need, be the one to help them out. Look for
opportunities to be hospitable.”
Look at our story today…Is hospitality about waving
the palm leaves and welcoming the
stranger—absolutely. Is that all it’s about though?
Absolutely not. Ironically, I did a quick search on
google for hospitality and church. And you know what
I got? I got a ton of articles and sermons about the
importance of yes, coffee hour. Coffee hour! I mean
don’t get me wrong, I love a good coffee hour. I am
well aware that the congregation needs a jolt of
caffeine after one of my long winded sermons. We can
always look forward to sugar too—maybe a donut, or a
cookie. On special days, we might even have onion
dip. But, call me crazy, I think Jesus had something
bigger in mind for hospitality and the church… than
coffee hour. After the waving of the palm leaves and
welcoming and sipping of coffee, what happens when
the trials starts? After coffee hour, do we stand in
solidarity with our brothers and sisters on trial,
or do we step back into the shadows in silence as
the crowd yells “crucify him!” “crucify him!”
“release barabas!” That’s the true test of
hospitality.
It is kind of easy for us to say sure I do! To look
at that story and say, oh I would be standing in
solidarity. I would never stand in the shadows or
yell crucify him! Really? Well, actually I am afraid
we do it everyday.
Lets look at it from the perspective of our nation…
of being an American. We’re right there waving the
palm leaves. In fact, we have a huge statue in NY
harbor waving a proverbial palm leaf:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
But what happens when the trial start? Are we
standing in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters? Like Romans says, “When God's children
are in need, are we the one to help them out?”
Oh we wave the palm leaves for the huddled masses,
yet when the trials starts, do we really as a nation
show hospitality?
How about basic standard of living? 36M people below
the poverty line…in the richest nation in the world!
How about equal access to health care? 11% or 8.5M
children in this country have NO health care? Equal
access to competitive education? Civil Rights? Wage
and hour laws? In fact, we are talking about
criminalizing illegal aliens and all those who
provide services for them. We go from waving palm
leaves in NY harbor to yelling “Crucify him. Crucify
him.”
Don’t feel like that’s you? Well, when is the last
time you signed a petition against unfair
legislation? When is the last time you wrote a
letter to your senator or congressperson on a
justice issue? When is the last time you stood up
and spoke out for something you believed in? This
sermon for me as much as anyone here. Standing in
the shadows and saying nothing is the same as the
chanting, “crucify him, crucify him” What happens
when the trial starts?
How about from the perspective of an individual
human being? We can be great friends, partners,
parents, on the sunny Palm Sunday. What do we do
when the trials start? When the divorce hits, when
the addiction crisis hits, when the cancer diagnosis
is made, when a job is lost. Can we still wave the
palm of welcome stand with our brothers and sisters
in their trials?
Hubert Humphrey’s last speech to US senate 1977 had
the following words:
“The moral test of government is how it treats
those who are in the dawn of life; those who are in
twilight of life, and those who are in the shadows
of life”
Well, I say it is not just the moral test of a
government…it is the moral imperative of all of us
It is the true definition of hospitality.
As this church considers its direction and work and
ministry, I urge to you to ask your self this
question… after the waving of the palm leaves and
welcoming of the guests, what happens when the
trials starts?
Where are we as Americans, where are we as MABC,
where are we as human beings when the trials start?
Are we standing in solidarity with our brothers and
sisters on trial or have we stepped back into the
shadows and yell "crucify him!", "crucify him",
“release Barbaras”, “crucify him.”
Take palm leaves home… and think on them this week.
Especially think on them Good Friday. Think of the
courage it takes to wave them not on palm Sunday,
but to wave them while standing front and center
standing with Jesus in front of Pilate. That is
where it matters. That is where our faith comes of
age. Because true hospitality is about what happens
when the trial starts.
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