From the Pastor |
Hosanna to the King! A call of praise and honor... of celebrating… but it is so much more than that. The word “Hosanna” comes from the Hebrew word (that I will not attempt to pronounce) whose definition is “save, we pray” or “help, we pray”.
Think about that for a moment… instead of simply cheering, celebrating and calling out greetings, the people were joyfully crying out “Save us we pray!” Yet as most of us know from experience, things can, and often do, change very quickly. A few days after this amazing entry into Jerusalem, another large crowd of people, probably even some of the same people, gathered around Jesus, only this time instead of cheers of “Hosanna” their cries were entirely different: “Crucify him!” … “Crucify him!” Such a drastic change in so short a time. It is hard for us to imagine how Jesus could be honored and celebrated one day and then have people cry out for his death a few days later! How did this happen? How could they turn on him so quickly? It seems inconceivable! But is it really? Fear… discontent… anger…this is what tends to drive people. They had hoped for a Messiah… a warrior… a savior who would drive the horrible Roman Empire out of their lands for good. They longed for the king who would raise Israel up to great heights. Instead… they got Jesus… a nobody from Nazareth… a man who miraculously healed the sick… who oddly ate with sinners… who criticized the religious establishment and called them hypocrites… who spent his days preaching love and peace for ALL people. Jesus was not what they expected or longed for. They were frustrated and angry with their situation… they feared Rome and hated how powerless they were… all it took was a few properly placed rumors and suggestions… and the tide quickly shifted! They turned against Jesus. And if the sudden rise of anger and animosity within the crowds was not enough… Christ’s own followers betrayed and deserted him. The disciples ran away in fear. They left Jesus to face this pain and suffering alone. Peter had said: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will… Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Yet… Peter, the Rock on which Christ would build his church, denies even knowing Jesus… not once but 3 times! However, the betrayal of Jesus did not end that day on Calvary. Jesus has been betrayed every day since then by his followers… by me… by you. we let fear of ridicule keep us from doing what God has called us to do; from serving and loving God and our neighbor. Many times, we avoid openly sharing our faith… speaking up for what is right, for what we believe. We avoid the hard path that follows in the footsteps of Christ. We are afraid to carry our cross… it might hurt… it is scary. So we just don’t! But we must recognize that whenever we do not speak out against injustice, whenever we do not help those in need… we betray Jesus. When we ignore suffering and just “walk on by” we demonstrate that we are not fully committed to Christ and his teachings. Evil flourishes when good men do nothing… and by doing nothing… we betray Jesus. If we hold onto our anger… when we fail to forgive… whether enemy or friend… when anger causes us to turn our back on those who need us. When we seek vengeance instead of justice… When we hurt others (even unintentionally) we betray Jesus. Whenever we hide our faith so others won’t see it, when we fail to discuss our faith openly and try to “keep it in church” where society tells us it belongs… then like Peter, we deny Jesus. I admit that my own life is filled with betrayals… Times when I have done things without thinking, hurting someone else… actions that I know were not according to God’s will but I did them anyway. Times when I haven’t acted, even though I know I should have, because I was afraid. Times I failed to openly profess my faith because I worried about what someone else might think. We have traveled through this Lenten season, here to this point striving to make ourselves more like Christ; to turn our hearts and lives around to be more honest, more loving, more concerned for those in need, and more dedicated to following our Lord and Savior. A call to live as Jesus lived is a call to rise above ourselves. Let us strive to rise above imperfections, to be holy as the Lord was holy. And let us be ready when we fall short, when we fail, to turn to God in repentance, and ask him to help us do better because God is always there for us and He will raise us up! “For God so loved the world…” that… Even through our times of betrayal… even though the guilt was ours and we DO NOT deserve God’s Grace and Mercy… Christ voluntarily suffered and died a humiliating, horrible death so that each and every one of us would be saved. “Save us, we pray”…. “Hosanna to the King!” Amen.
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Yeon Shin
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