First preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford at the Sunshine Cathedral on Palm Sunday, April 16, 2000, again on Palm Sunday, April 8, 2001, and now on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2006.
The grace of our Master Teacher — the love of God in the unity of Spirit — be with you all.
We raise branches high — Hosanna to the king is the shout of our hearts! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! As you move through us, in us and around us, you provide us with healing, strength, peace and love.
Yet, that which you give, we don’t always share. Lord have mercy!
At times we forget to lay aside our rights and take on the attitude of servant. Christ have mercy!
Often, we neglect the Divine voice of wisdom that provides directions for living. Lord have mercy.
Forgive us. And as we begin this holy week, guide us in embracing the meaning of Christ’s passion for us. May we examine our own lives not seeking recognition for our deeds, but to live as he so graciously lived. With all the glory, honor and praise to Jesus. Amen.
Philippians 2:5-11
5Think of yourself the same way Jesus did; let him be your example. 6He was quite confident of his Divinity — he was One with God — but he didn’t make demands of ‘divine privilege.’ 7Rather, he put all that aside — all the ‘glory and honor’ — and embraced his Humanity, taking the role of servant. 8In his humanity he willingly and humbly lived out his role in the Divine Design, even to the extent of dying the worst kind of death: the death of a common criminal. 9That’s why God has lifted him high, giving him the highest honor, so that his name is regarded above every other name. 10At the mention of his name every created being in all of Time and Eternity will reverently fall to their knees 11and acknowledge him as Master of All, to the glorious honor of God, Creator of All.
Mark 11:1-10
1Jesus approached Jerusalem, stopping by Bethphage and Bethany, on the opposite side of the Mount of Olives. Jesus told two of his disciples, 2”You go on ahead. There’s a little village between us and Jerusalem. You’ll find a colt tied there, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it to me. 3If anyone says, ‘Hey, what’re you doing?’ tell them, ‘The Master needs it. We’ll return it shortly.’”
4They did as he said, and they found the colt tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5the people standing nearby started to question them. ‘Hey, what’re you doing? “Don’t untie that colt!” 6His students answered with the reply Jesus had given them, and the people let them go undisturbed.
7After they brought the colt to Jesus, throwing their outer robes over it, Jesus mounted it and headed for Jerusalem.. 8As people saw him coming, they spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9The crowd continued to swell. Those who ran ahead and those who followed behind were shouting:
“Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of our God!”
10”Blessed is the coming reign of our ancestor David! “Hosanna in the highest!”
You can usually tell where people are from by the way they drive. Here, take this test. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the horn: Chicago. One hand on the wheel, one hand speaking sign language out the window: New York. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator: Boston. One hand on the wheel, one hand on a nonfat double decaf cappuccino, cradling a cell phone, a brick on the accelerator with a gun in the lap: Los Angeles. Two hands gripping the wheel, blue hair barely visible above window level, driving 35 on the Interstate in the left lane with the left blinker on: South Florida. Both hands on the wheel, eyes shut, both feet on the brake, quivering in terror: Ohio, but driving in South Florida.
Two hands on the wheel! Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like to go through life with only one hand? Those of you who have broken an arm or a hand know how hard it becomes to suddenly do even the simplest tasks. Try to tie your shoe with one hand. Or open a jar with one hand. Next time you’re packing a suitcase, fold your clothes with one hand. Two hands just make life a whole lot easier; one hand makes life quite difficult.
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus sends his disciples to fetch the young colt he will ride into Jerusalem. It starts out saying: “Jesus told two of his disciples, ‘You go on ahead.’” When Jesus assigns a task it is almost always a team he sends to accomplish it. Remember when he sent his disciples out to preach the first time? It says: “He called his twelve disciples together and sent them out two by two.” [Mark 6:7]
Two hands, two hearts, two people. He’s always doing things in ‘two’s’. Now he sends these two disciples to fetch a young colt, a valuable asset. This was someone’s transportation or means of livelihood. Has he asked them to be ‘horse thieves for Jesus?’
We don’t know if this was prearranged, or if the colt belonged to one of the many ‘other disciples’ Jesus had in Jerusalem. But we do know that Jesus was dependent on the owner of the colt. He needed help to get the job done. But at least he sent in a team. They could encourage one another. They could keep their eyes out in case someone questioned them about the colt. And in fact, someone did! So they said to him the very words Jesus told them to say: “The Master needs it. We’ll return it shortly.”
Jesus has thought of everything. The answer worked, and they walked on with the colt. Good planning and team work…T-E-A-M: Together Everyone Achieves More.
Today we are also called to work together in ministry. We are, as Paul says, “created to do the very things the Christ did, those things woven into the Divine Design from the very beginning just for us.” [Ephesians 2:10]
It may involve ‘glamour duty’ such as preaching, teaching or healing the sick. Or it may involve ‘garbage duty’, perhaps digging in the dirt or picking up bulletins after a worship service. But it works best with a team effort.
As I reviewed the history of this sermon, which I preached in 2000 and again in 2001, I discovered some of the history of this campus where we meet to worship, study, grow and have fun. In 2000 Walt Lawrence and Stephen Lewis had just made a ‘challenge gift’ of $500,000 to begin a building fund. They understood that to raise enough money to buy a church would take everyone’s involvement. By that Sunday almost 40% of the gift was matched.
In 2001 this church was put on the market. Two days before Palm Sunday we had a dinner on this campus, guests of Faith Church, its pastor Paul Alessi and his wife Wanda, who were also present. Walt Lawrence again stepped up to urge and prod people to give the additional money we needed to buy this church. That night we raised more than $100,000, bringing our Capital Campaign to a rousing finish.
It’s amazing that today we are again celebrating another Capital Campaign to renovate our worship center and make it much more usable as well as fantastically beautiful. Our Cathedral Foundation has again led the campaign, with many of you making generous donations and pledges.
When I preached this sermon back then we were emphasizing team building, for the Board of Directors, the Foundation, and the Senior Ministry Team. In 2001 we adopted our motto ― “Every Member a Minister; Every Ministry a Team” ― which we continue to emphasize every Sunday.
Six years later we continue that emphasis on teamwork. On Sunday, April 23rd, at a Special Congregational Meeting we will vote on whether to create a new position of Dean of the Cathedral, thus allowing me to remain in service here rather than retire. While there will eventually be a new team captain ― a new Canon Pastor ― as Dean of the Cathedral I would be serving as coach, participating in a new way in the life of the Cathedral and its mission.
Teamwork requires a sense of ministry based on servanthood. That’s what the Paul was talking about when he challenged us to think like Jesus. Listen again to his words: “Think of yourself the same way Jesus did; let him be your example.”
What example did he set for us? As Paul says, “He was quite confident that he was One with God, but he didn’t make demands of ‘divine privilege’. Rather, he put all that aside ― taking the role of servant.”
When we think of ourselves the same way Jesus did, we become servants to all the others on our team. We serve each other as we learn to love each other, to love all the world, and even our so-called enemies.
The story is told about a new student at Union Seminary in New York who arrived in a taxi. Noticing a white-haired man in shirtsleeves standing by the door of the dormitory, the student asked rather arrogantly, “Hey, mister, do you work here?”
Hearing that the man did, the new arrival commanded, “Then you may take my bags up to room 309.” The older man silently picked up two heavy suitcases and trudged up the three flights of stairs to the door of 309. The student followed, holding only his raincoat and a light briefcase. When the door was opened, the new student casually flipped the person who’d carried the baggage a small coin. The gentleman with the white hair politely thanked the young fellow, but declined the tip.
The following day, the newly-arrived student joined the rest of the seminary community in the opening communion service. He was horrified to see that the man he had assumed was the porter was wearing vestments and presiding at worship. When he whispered to a neighbor, the young student learned that the white-haired man was the president of the Seminary, the illustrious Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin. Rushing up to President Coffin afterward, the student began to stammer apologies for so brusquely commanding Dr. Coffin to carry his bags. The great scholar-pastor-teacher allowed himself a small smile, and gently answered, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. We must do likewise.”
Are we ready to do our part, to serve one another as did Jesus, to accomplish everything God has placed before us? We can do it in the power of the Christ who gave his all for us, willing to be the servant to the very end.
In his life and death and his example he challenges us to:
Find out what God would have you do,
Perform that service well:
For what is great and what is small,
’Tis only God can tell.[i]
He sent his disciples in groups to accomplish what he began at Calvary. Together we can continue the work. Together we can make a difference.
And that’s the Truth!
[i] Eleanor Doan, compiler, Speakers Sourcebook II (MI: Zondervan, 1968), p. 323.
I’m part of the bigger picture.
As I am blessed I bless others.
As I am healed I heal others.
One hand to receive —
One hand to give —
Two hands linked together —
Working as a team!We are being blessed together —
and I like it like that!
And so it is. Amen!
The story is told of a certain church in Europe which was bombed in World War II. In the explosion, a statue of Christ was mutilated by having the hands blown off. The statue has not been restored. It stands there today with the hands mission. But underneath has been put this well-known sentence: “Christ has no hands but yours.”[1]
