Hosanna! Save Us!

It was the time of the Passover, and the people of God were hopeful that perhaps this year, God would deliver them from the oppression of Roman rule. There was a prophet, a man named Jesus, who had been teaching and healing and attracting a large following. The authorities in the Temple were resentful, outraged, threatened…the people believed he could be the Messiah, they were calling him the Son of David like he was going to be God’s anointed King, the next to rule in the line of King David. It had been 14 generations since King David ruled, the high priest and the elders were quite comfortable interpreting and administering the rules.

Matthew tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred. The verb here is the verb used to describe earthquakes. The whole city was shaken. I am reminded of an incident that took place several years ago during a visit by our state evaluators. One of the standards by which our stars are given is the effectiveness of our disciplinary actions, and if you want to get the most points, you don’t say “no” or “stop.” Some of us who have been home for a few weeks with our children can attest to how practical this is! In one of the three year old rooms, a little boy had an idea to move the wooden spoon from the kitchen area to the science area, where the class fish tank resided. He proceeded to “pretend play” by stirring the fish tank, and the fish, while the teacher tried her best to remain calm and suggest that perhaps the fish didn’t like being stirred, maybe he could pretend to stir something else, and the little boy, just kept stirring as though he was whipping egg whites to a peak. That’s what is happening in Jerusalem. The whole city is stirred like that fish in the fish tank. Desperation and despair motivated the people to gather by the roadside that day as Jesus road into town and shout, “Hosanna!”

We tend to associate “Hosanna!” with joyful parades of children waving palm branches, and I really am sad that we are missing our children’s choir singing today as planned. It is disappointing that the children didn’t parade at the beginning of worship to bring the palms forward to fill the vases. Yet, perhaps we can even more fully appreciate the shouts of the crowd this year. “Hosanna!” means “Save us!” Their shouts were certainly filled with hope and joy at the possibility that this Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, but the hope and joy was all the more poignant against the realities of the fears that permeated their everyday lives.

Church historians and statistical researchers look back over the crises of the 20th Century and see that crisis has increased church attendance – the crowds come when our hearts cry out “Hosanna! Save Us!” for a few weeks. And then, attendance returns to normal, or even drops. Why?

I think it is the same reason that the crowds changed their shouts that Passover week in Jerusalem. As Jesus entered, they cried out “Hosanna!” but by the end of the week, they cries were “Crucify him!” What they expected to happen, didn’t. Jesus didn’t come in and whip up rebellion. Instead, he continued to share God’s Word. He taught both in words and action the Greatest Commandment, loving the Lord our God with all – heart, soul, and mind, and loving neighbor as self. He gathered with those closest to him to eat together and remember God’s faithfulness throughout all the crises the generations had experienced. And he drew away to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and to lay down his will and accept God’s Will.

And at a level deeper than those in Jerusalem could understand, God heard their cry, “Hosanna!” “Save us!” and God did. “Blessed is the name of the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The Greek word translated “Blessed” here is not the same word that Matthew used in the Beatitudes – that word for blessed was makarios, and means “recipients of God’s favor” are those. The word for “Blessed” here is not related to makarios, it is eulogheymenos and means “worthy of praise.”

“Worthy of praise” is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

I hope that you will share our worship services with your friends and family. I hope you will share the link on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Snapchat and email and text. I hope that people will turn to the church in this crisis as we all feel like a fish in a stirred tank and cry out “Hosanna! Lord, Save Us!”

And I hope that we will adequately proclaim the Good News that even if it seems like everything is going wrong, even if things are not turning out the way you expected or hoped, God is answering your cry.

As Paul wrote to the church at Rome, “We know to those who love God, God works all things together for good.” Throughout Scripture and throughout the ages, we have known through experience and declared that God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Paul’s statement has a second part, “For those who love God, God works all things together for good, for those who have been called according to God’s purposes.” It is in following the example of Jesus and laying down our will and accepting God’s Will that good comes out of difficult times, crisis situations, the shaky, stirred up times of our lives.

As Session members have called every member household, over and over again we hear. “I am glad to help, to deliver food or supplies to those who shouldn’t get out.” Members are making cloth masks for hospitals and medical personnel and vulnerable people to allow their N95 masks to last longer. People are pausing and having longer conversations with their loved ones. Family time is enriching the lives of our children. Look around, where do you see good?

Perhaps our cries of “Hosanna! Save Us!” will be answered in a way different that we expect or hope, but they will be answered. Let us, in this time, be faithful in following the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Remember those things he did that week in Jerusalem?

He shared God’s Word. He taught loving God and loving neighbor with his words and his actions. He gathered with those closest to him to eat together and remember God’s faithfulness throughout all generations and all crises. He drew away and prayed. And he laid down his will to accept God’s Will.

This Holy Week, may you do the same, maybe not in the ways that we normally expect to be able to do – be creative – how can you share God’s Word, love God and neighbor, connect with loved ones and remember God’s faithfulness, draw away and pray – how will you lay down your will and accept God’s Will? For it is then that good will come and your prayers of “Hosanna!” will be answered. Amen.