PALM SUNDAY
Psalm 118
A Song of Victory
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever!
2 Let Israel say,
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.[a]
25 Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.[b]
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.[c]
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Hymn – All glory, laud, and honour www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjGRDSMPV2g
- All glory, laud, and honour
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring!
Thou art the King of Israel,
thou David’s royal Son,
who in the Lord’s name comest,
the King and Blessèd One.
2 The company of angels
are praising thee on high,
and mortal men and all things
created make reply.
The people of the Hebrews
with palms before thee went;
our praise and prayer and anthems
before thee we present.
3 To thee before thy Passion
they sang their hymns of praise;
to thee now high exalted
our melody we raise.
Thou didst accept their praises;
accept the prayers we bring,
who in all good delightest,
thou good and gracious King.
4 All glory, laud, and honour
to thee, Redeemer, King,
to whom the lips of children
made sweet hosannas ring!
St Theodulph of Orleans (d. 821)
translated by John Mason Neale (1811–1866)
Prayer
Father, enshrined in mystery, we adore you.
Closing our eyes, we look deep within ourselves,
and are thankful that we find you there.
Son, riding on a donkey, we adore you.
We praise you for your generous love, one with us.
Holy Spirit, guiding and inspiring us, we adore you.
Through you we praise the mystery and the majesty that revealed itself in frail flesh, yet overcame it.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in adoration we celebrate your victory.
Amen.
Loving God, we are eager to join that first Palm Sunday crowd, we picture ourselves casting our cloaks before Jesus and joining the celebration.
Would we, though, if it were to happen again today?
An impoverished preacher on the humblest of beasts – would we cast our finest before him? Tear off our wool and cashmere coats, our leather jackets, and throw them down for his donkey to trample?
We confess, Lord, that we would probably be loathed to leave our homes.
We confess that we are carried away by stories and the seeming romance of them.
Those people threw their prized possessions before Jesus, giving the best they had. Forgive us for holding back so much from him, and help us to celebrate with all that we have.
Amen.
Lord, thank you for forgiving us when we have been mean with our attitudes.
Jesus forgives us and opens our hearts and our minds to how we should think and feel.
Lord, thank you for forgiving us when we have withheld our possessions.
Jesus, who had nothing, forgives us and shows us how to share.
Lord, thank you for forgiving us when we have kept ourselves to ourselves.
Jesus, who lived and died for others, forgives us and calls us to join him.
Amen.
Reading
Mark 11: 1-11 - Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”’ 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘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!’
11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Hymn – Ride on, ride on in majesty www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUYCxw0quuQ
1 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Hark, all the tribes ‘Hosanna!’ cry;
your humble beast pursues its road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.
2 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die:
O Christ, your triumphs now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin.
3 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
look down with sad and wondering eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.
4 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Your last and fiercest strife is nigh;
the Father, on his sapphire throne,
expects his own anointed Son.
5 Ride on, ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow your meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, your power, and reign.
Henry Hart Milman (1791–1868)
Reflection
My 25 year-old daughter has so many clothes that her summer wardrobe has to be stored in plastic boxes in the garage during the winter, and swapped with her winter clothes in spring, as there is not enough room in her bedroom for them all. I do not have this problem! She also has many pairs of shoes, and lots of coats. This was not so in Jesus’ time.
The coats laid out over the dusty, stone-strewn road were not ones taken from a wide selection owned by the followers of Jesus, but were probably their single, and only, coat. Therefore, allowing a donkey to trample on your only coat was an act of great sacrifice as well as of great devotion. We are reminded that a good coat was a thing to be valued, would be worth suing another person for (“if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well” – Matthew 5: 40), and worth spending time repairing properly (“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made” – Matthew 9: 16). And so, to allow your coat to be trampled underfoot by an animal and a following crowd of people, would be great personal sacrifice indeed.
But as we know, the sacrifice willingly offered at the beginning of this week, is long gone by the end of it. The sounds of praise and rejoicing which echoed along the streets as Jesus entered Jerusalem, is replaced by shouts of condemnation just 5 days later. So whilst we are happy to rejoice with the crowds today, are we equally committed to Jesus in the days to come, especially when things become more difficult? Or are we just one of the crowd, joining in “Hosanna” today, but silent, or worse, shouting “Crucify” tomorrow?
I reflect back to the summer of last year when we were all encouraged to stand on our doorsteps to clap the NHS, the nurses, doctors and other staff who were our heroes, to whom we owed our lives. But now, it seems, they are only worth a 1% pay rise. The gratitude of the nation and the respect that they fully deserved, does not, it seems, translate to finances which might be costly to us. Does this strike a chord for you today, as it does for me?
How easy it is to join the party when things are going well, but backtrack when things are more difficult, or too much is asked of us, or we are asked to stand up and be counted in a sacrificial way.
The fickleness of that Palm Sunday crowd must have been hard for Jesus to accept. He knew what was coming, and that he would be abandoned, not only by the strangers that had got caught up in the celebrations of this momentous day, but also by some of those he counted as close friends, people he had thought he could rely on. We are not told of Jesus’ reaction, but I am sure he would also have been swept up in the celebration – it would have been difficult not to. But the final words of our reading, verse 11, feel sad and lonely. Jesus takes his strength from being in the Temple, not from the temporary adoration of the crowd.
This is certainly one of those passages where it is helpful to imagine yourself in the crowd, or as one of the participants. What are you feeling and thinking?
One of the two disciples – Obedient – “It seems a strange thing to ask us to do, but I am sure he knows what he is doing.”
Bystander – Trusting – “they say they will bring it back, but will they?”
Disciples – Hopeful – “Wow, what a welcome! Look at the crowds! He must have got it wrong, it can’t be as bad as he was warning us.”
Onlooker – Rejoicing – “Here he comes. The Messiah! He has come to save us! Alleluia!”
Official – Worried – “This looks like trouble. We can’t allow this to continue.”
Palm Sunday is a beautiful story that we learnt in our Sunday School days, but, like many similar stories, beneath the surface lurks a serious and sometimes uncomfortable challenge to us as followers of Christ. Waving our palm branches in celebration is of little benefit if we step back when the time to show sacrificial commitment is upon us.
How do we show our commitment to Jesus, not just in terms of celebration, but also in the sacrifices we are prepared to make as we follow him?
Amen
Intercessions & Lords Prayer
We praise and thank you for the progress that has been made in the Covid vaccination programme, and we pray for those in our health services who have been put under additional pressure as a result of the pandemic; for those preparing for a third wave; and those working to support those suffering from long covid and the bereaved.
We praise and thank you for creative ways which have been found to unite people in prayer and worship. We pray for those who feel isolated; who long to gather with others; who cannot access online worship.
We pray for the churches in our Circuit, this week for Farrington Gurney, and their minister, Stephen Robinson and as Christians Together in Westfield and Radstock we pray for the Ammerdown Centre, and their Lead Manager, Christine Clinch.
We praise and thank you for the message of hope, encouragement and peace that Jesus brings. We pray for those who are fearful for the future, those who have lost direction in life and those whose lives are troubled. We especially pray for…
.. families in New South Wales who have been so badly affected by the current storms and flooding.
Lord Jesus, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord –
blessed for all you are; blessed for all you do.
Receive our prayers and speak to the needs of all your children, we pray.
Amen.
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn – Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_p7810nDx0
1 Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!
Lord, we lift up your name, with hearts full of praise;
be exalted, O Lord, my God!
Hosanna in the highest!
2 Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!
Lord, we lift up your name, with hearts full of praise;
be exalted, O Lord, my God!
Glory to the King of kings!
Carl Tuttle (b. 1953)
Blessing
And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you, now and forever more. Amen
Revd Martin Slocombe
CCLI Licence 354889
