April 13, 2025 Sermon
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You know that old saying, you can't win for losing? Well, sometimes it seems that you can't win for winning. Dr. Buck Foster is a professor of American history at my and Julie's alma mater in Arkansas. Just this past week he was on a podcast that I listened to, and he shared this story about reaching the pinnacle of his academic achievement. He said, "My grandmother's grandfather was an M.D., and we had a great-grandfather on the other side of the family who was an M.D. also, and I was the youngest of the grandchildren. So she said to me, 'I want you to become a doctor.' And I finally became a PhD. And I came in and said, 'Look, I'm finally a doctor.' And she came back with, 'You're the kind of doctor that don't do folks no good.'"
And I think that that is the perfect story for us today. Because, in a way, it can be very easy for us to look at Palm Sunday and say, "This is the day that don't do folks no good." Because what is this joy? What is this celebratory nature about? What is this triumphal journey into Jerusalem if it but ends in crucifixion and death? What is the point of all of this if it still ends in the despicable and inhumane killing of an innocent Jesus? And I have to admit, that is very often where my heart and my mind go.
Throughout the long history of our Anglican tradition, we have erred on the side of looking at the incomplete, an unjust nature of our lived experience. I think it's probably one of the most significant parts of our tradition that is shaped and formed by the Reformed tradition from the European continent, the tradition that comes out of Switzerland, where we often want to look at the shortcoming, the places where we don't hit the mark in our earthly journey, and to focus To focus on the kingdomhood of Christ, the kingship of Christ, the coming kingdom of Christ. And to see in that coming kingdom the places where we in our human journeys, where we in our human institutions, where we as the whole world come up short of that ideal. And that's, at times, a really important reminder. When we get too stuck and too mired in the physical things of this world, too complacent or too certain of the goodness of the institutions and things of this world, it's helpful to remind ourselves and to be reminded of the places that they come up short.
But the flip side... The flip side that is equally important for us to remember is that when we only focus on the things of the kingdom, we can sometimes slip into this habit of seeing the brokenness of the world as simply the way things are and not have a compelling reason to change, or to push back against institutions of injustice and oppression. And this day, this day is a helpful reminder that there are times and places and moments in our earthly journey where the material things of this world do in fact reflect the material things of the kingdom. Because ultimately, if we take that line of reasoning about Palm Sunday leading to the cross, the crucifixion, and the tomb, we have to continue that line of reasoning to its logical end. Because there is a material reality, a real physical truth, not only to the cross and death, but to the empty tomb and the resurrection. That that is as true, as physically real as the things of death. And so our earthly journey is not just about the shortcoming, but the overcoming of that shortcoming and the transforming of the material things of this world into the things of the kingdom.
There's been a long history in the United States and in the Christian experience in the United States of seeing the truth of that material goodness. Even in our own Episcopal denomination, we have many who participated in what is called the social gospel movement at the early beginnings of the 20th century, in which we ascribed or worked towards and strived towards the things of material change in this world to reflect the true nature of the kingdom of God. And this is a tightrope walk. I'm not going to make any kind of effort to say that it is not. But it is insufficient for us to always focus on the shortcomings and not to take a moment to glory in the places and times where we do show up fully, where the kingdom of God is realized even if fleetingly in this earthly journey.
And one of those moments is today in this beautiful and powerful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem where people physically, materially, and realistically in this real world celebrate the truth of who Jesus is and reflect accurately how he should have been received by us as a human body. And so may we today, as we celebrate this Palm Sunday, continue to rejoice in the coming kingship of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ, may we take this moment not simply to jump immediately to Maundy Thursday, to that long and agonizing wait in the garden, that sad, tragic, and overwhelming experience of grief on Holy Friday, Good Friday, but instead to see in this moment, the truth that sometimes the kingdom of God can be really realized in this place.
And may we be compelled, activated, and encouraged to see in this the place where we can make our own impact in this place, in this time, in this community, and in this world, that we too may find those moments where we can reflect the kingdom of God in the material things of our time and context. And may we in all of that always point not just to the incoming, the horizon-bending truth of God's kingdom, but the places where God shows up for us and materially is present in each and every moment of our lives. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.