Sermon at Grace Episcopal on Palm Sunday 2008 Mark 11:1-11

I love technology - and we got a new toy this month at home - a DVR. And since I am a CSI fan, my DVR has been full of CSI episodes that I haven't been able to sit down and watch at other times. What's really cool about a DVR is that you can rewind, fast forward and record all at the same time. If I miss a moment of the show, I can replay it over and over again. And you can pause the frame and go make popcorn. And then you can also search the screen for clues to help the CSI guys solve the case. You can even go frame-by-frame and slow things down.

Well the Bible is a collection of books that tell the story of how God has actively pursued us with His love. And as we read, some stuff goes by really fast and we don't always understand it, like some of the readings in this week's daily devos… like what does that mean? Why? What's going on here? You know I'd really like a DVR capacity somehow to go back and be able to play some of the scriptures over in a DVR fashion so I can see it through God's eyes and understand what the heck is going on. Now even in the New Testament, which is kind of the high def version of Scripture, we see Jesus going here and there, doing lots of teaching, healing, explaining, and we're like the disciples, there are still a lot of times that we just don't get it.

But then they s-l-o-w d-o-w-n the story of Jesus… because most of the focus is on the last week of His life. I don't know if you've noticed that when you read the gospels. This week begins today… Holy Week. He sends His boys out for a donkey. The owner says "sure thing." He enters Jerusalem, clears out the Temple, tells them to go prepare an upper room so they can celebrate Passover together. No problem. The owner says "sure come on down." He washes their feet after that meal to show them the love He expects them to show others. He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed so hard that He literally sweated blood. He was arrested, tortured and crucified. Why all this s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n attention to detail?

It's because they wanted us to know that He was REALLY dead… then He was really alive… and being alive again means nothing if He WAS NOT REALLY DEAD... they were His own eyewitnesses… "We saw HIM" they say... they ate, they drank, they cruised with Him… they watched Him die, some from a distance… and they went back to the upper room and hid. And then they watched Him live and THEY WERE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN.

Seeing someone you love die is a hard thing. Many of us have been there. It can be life changing. But seeing them wake up after they've been dead is even more life changing!

I don't know if any of you has seen the Princess Bride. Anybody here seen the Princess Bride? Well they needed a miracle for a noble cause… they needed to have the hero come back to life. And Miracle Max said, "There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead… he is only mostly dead." But that was a fairy tale. There is no mostly dead... or part way alive.

Oh my goodness Jesus is alive! Jesus suffered for True Love to change lives to bring us from being mostly dead, even when we're walking around, to dying with Him and becoming fully alive for eternity.

Jesus still changes lives. Do you believe it?

You know we ramp up for Christmas - even the world gets involved beginning right around Halloween. You hear the music, you see the decorations, and the pressure is on to get ready for Jesus' birthday.

But the whole point of that birth was this death.

If you really believe Jesus can change lives, your life will never be the same. And you're not going to be whispering with the bishop, you're going to be shouting! It's true ! I know 'cause He changed my life and I want to help you change yours. There is nobody too far for Him not to reach out and touch.

If you really believe that Jesus can change lives, you are going to be the first one to reach out and give somebody a hand up who needs it. You are going to be the first one, when someone's struggling with an addiction to be there for them. You are going to be the first one when someone has lost a job to take them some food and say, "What can I do to help?" You are going to be the first one to reach out with His love and you are never going to be the same, and neither will they… we need to live like we believe that Jesus can change lives and like He is alive. Amen?

Return to Sermon page.