Call on the Name of the Lord #6 | “From King to Worm”

0:10 This Lent, the congregation of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church has been studying names for God. Names recorded in scripture, names used down through the centuries by Christians in corporate worship and individual prayer. We've been puzzling over, marveling at, and reverently making use of God's names. In recent weeks, as we've stepped closer and closer to Holy Week, our focus has shifted a bit. We've turned our attention to names the Bible gives to Jesus. Last week, Reverend Werner Consider two different but beautifully connected names for Christ, carpenter and prophet. Today, as we begin the journey of Holy Week, we're going to do something similar.

1:13 Consider two names given to Jesus. The events of Holy Week yield a bountiful crop of names for Jesus. as the week swings from Palm Sunday's parade to a series of trials and eventually a hilltop execution, everyone has an opinion. Everyone wants to tell us who the gentle soul at the heart of the story is. Some of Holy Week's names for Jesus come from onlookers, people in the crowds, a soldier at the foot of the cross. Some come from people who play major roles in the story of the Passion. The disciple Peter, Pontius Pilate. Some come from the gospel writers who use ancient and weighty names to describe our Lord, like Suffering Servant.

2:19 Some of the names come from Jesus himself. In the week ahead, with worship services, as Natalie has described on Maundy Thursday evening and midday on Good Friday, we are going to have an opportunity to consider many of the evocative names given to Jesus. This morning, though, we start on this journey by turning to the story of the first Palm Sunday. Listen now for God's word as it echoes to us from Matthew chapter 21, beginning with the first verse.

3:03 When they had come near Jerusalem and reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, the Lord needs them, and he will send them immediately. This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet. Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

4:03 They brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, who is this? The crowds were saying, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. This is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God.

5:01 Palm Sunday is part spontaneous parade, part protest march. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem beside a donkey, residents of the city begin to whisper. They elbow each other. They point. They quote scripture. Remember that passage from Zechariah? the one that says your liberating king will show up riding a donkey. The warrior who will chase away your oppressors will enter town on the most humble of steeds. The crowd squints. They nod at each other. They get excited. Soon they're shouting, singing, dancing. They throw palms into the street. Don't let that colt scuff his hooves. Clear the way. Messiah on board.

6:01 People lean out open windows in Jerusalem. Blue whistles. Hoist homemade signs. Romans out. No emperors. All along the parade route people chant. They sing verses from the Psalms. They cheer the donkey's rider. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming of the king, the descendant of David. Yes, others reply. Let's put this guy on the throne. Let's name him king. At this point, Palm Sunday starts to look like a political rally. And that's when things get dangerous. Dangerous? How? Well, first off, to name some local rabbi king is a risky play. It's especially risky when there already is a king. The current wearer of the crown, Herod, Antipas, and the true power in Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, must have noticed this spontaneous parade.

7:22 They must have heard the reports. You can almost picture their cynical smiles. Isn't that cute? The Passover crowds have named a king for themselves. let's prepare a special welcome don't you think for their new ruler let's fashion a fitting crown for this king The second risk associated with the exuberant crowd naming Jesus King has to do with the fact that they are, well, a crowd. The good book keeps us guessing when it comes to crowds. Do mass groups of people trend toward righteous behavior or are they wrong-headed?

8:17 Are crowds prone to wisdom or wickedness? In his book, The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki argues that large groups of people are smarter than an elite few. They are better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions. they're even better at predicting the future. Ask a few passionate baseball fans here this morning who will win the World Series next October, and their answers will be informed by statistics and visions of fresh lineups. But these fans will also be influenced by their own bias, their own hopes.

9:10 Chris Palmer will tell you that the Phillies are a shoe-in. Thomas Pack, I see you back there, is really going to say it's got to be the Mets, folks. Kathy Henderson, Yankees all the way. Survey a broad swath of Americans, however, as Las Vegas bookmakers regularly do, and the vast majority will tell you that the Los Angeles Dodgers, with their $400 million payroll, are overwhelming favorites to repeat. Crowds, says Surowiecki, smooth out our internal biases and allow wisdom to percolate to the surface. the Judeo-Christian tradition is not so sure.

10:12 Two years ago, this church studied 1 Samuel together. In that politically spicy text, we listened to a crowd demand a new system of government. The people asked the prophet Samuel to appoint, to anoint a king over Israel. Samuel, with God's backing, cautions the gathered throng. Trust me, the prophet warns, you do not want a king. All sorts of bad things are going to happen if you vest one person with the power that ought to belong solely to God. Still the people press, and eventually Samuel relents. He gives the people a king. And then, well then sure is the rising of the sun, the crowd returns complaining to Samuel, complaining about life under the rule of King Saul.

11:14 The good book is not confident that crowds are wise. Nor does the Christian tradition view crowds as being especially moral. In his book, Moral Man and Immoral Society, written in 1932, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr argues that social groups consistently act in immoral ways to preserve their own power. Niebuhr's perspective runs counter, though, to our typical way of thinking about morality. we tend to focus our moral attention on individuals. There are people in this world who are bad actors. If society were just to weed out these evil individuals, this wicked citizen, that corrupt politician, this greedy corporate exec, that undocumented immigrant, well then everything would be fine.

12:21 Here, Niebuhr shakes his head. Yes, individuals have their faults, but it's a mistake, says the theologian, not to see the many ways in which human sin has infested the DNA of educational institutions and businesses, government agencies, and even national culture. Pointing to his own native Germany, Niebuhr accurately observes that entire societies are perfectly capable of working together, conspiring together to form theories, weave stories, and frame political philosophies that will justify the most immoral behavior imaginable. And this takes us back to Palm Sunday.

13:24 Do we trust the crowd lining Jerusalem streets? Part of me wants to argue, yes, the crowd celebrates Jesus. They praise him from the rooftops. They wave their palms. They name Christ King. What's not to like? well they're a crowd they're not says neighbor immune to sin what happens when this particular crowd tires of their new plaything what happens when this this donkey riding preacher doesn't turn out to be the sort of warrior leader the people demand What happens later this week when the crowd is given a choice between freeing Jesus, gentle Jesus, and freeing the bandit Barabbas?

14:26 The choir answered these questions in a powerful fashion on Friday night in their riveting performance of Bach's St. John's Passion. When the crowd next meets Jesus, they change their tune. Instead of shouting Hosanna to the king, they scream, Kreuzica, Kreuzica, Kreuzica, crucify him, crucify him. Along similar lines, consider the painting by artist James Ensor that adorns your bulletin cover today. In this wild work from 1888, Ensor imagines what it would be like if Christ were to show up riding a donkey through the streets of the painter's hometown, the Belgian city of Brussels. Hence their picture is the savior of the world lost in this chaotic crowd.

15:27 It's difficult to find Jesus. Instead, our eyes are drawn from one wacky face to another. Many of the people in this surging scene seem to be wearing masks. Their heads are inflated like balloons. Are they meant to be humorous? or frightening. We're not sure. These grotesque heads, skeletal heads, clownish heads, misshapen heads flow around, skirt past, just plain miss the presence of the Messiah. Jesus is lost in the mad swirl.

16:13 And the crowd churns on, marching to its own chaotic beat. What would happen if someone were to, God forbid, upset their groove, mess with their agenda? Would they turn and chant Kreuzica, Kreuzica? perhaps we should ask what does Jesus make of the Palm Sunday crowds and the exuberant names they toss his way this isn't entirely clear either Jesus doesn't pause his ride through Jerusalem to chastise the people for naming him king and at the same time he doesn't embrace the name the title that the crowd offers either. Later this week, Pontius Pilate will ask Jesus point blank, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus responds in an evasive manner, my kingdom is not of this world.

17:16 At this, Pilate pounces, so you are a king. Again, Jesus sidesteps the world's attempt to define him. He rolls his eyes at Pilate and says, those are your words, not mine. I came into this world to testify to the truth.

17:37 If Jesus doesn't welcome the regal title bestowed by the crowds, well, then what name does he embrace this holy week? There are a few. One of the most startling occurs on Good Friday. When Jesus, subject to one of the more terrible torments humankind has ever devised, nailed to a wooden cross, quotes Psalm 22.

18:10 Today, we're going to sing the song that was on Christ's fateful lips that day. A friend of mine, David Gambrell, has written a hauntingly beautiful setting for Psalm 22. The choir is going to teach it to us. They're going to sing the refrain, and then you are invited to sing the refrain with them and to join each time it is repeated. Now, part of the refrain is in Aramaic. Before the band, choir teaches us the music. Let's loosen our tongues and practice a bit of Aramaic. Would you repeat?