Jesus came to Jerusalem today

Transcription

1 Jesus came to Jerusalem today A Service for the Evening of Palm Sunday 24 March, 2013 A time to reflect on the events of Palm Sunday: what they might have meant to people of Jesus time and what they might mean for us today. A Palm Sunday Painting by Kai Althoff Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not let me! Luke 13:34 New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 1

2 OPENING MUSIC Via Dolorosa from On the Breeze of the World bynchant WELCOME A POEM The Donkey by G K Chesterton AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EVENTS OF PALM SUNDAY Please stand. Jesus came to Jerusalem today. He was riding on a donkey. Humbly riding on a donkey. We greet you Acclaimed by crowds and carolled by children, We cheer you. Moving from the peace of the countryside to the corridors of power, We salute you, Christ our Lord. You are giving the beasts of burden a new dignity; you are giving majesty a new face. You are giving those who long to be saved a new song to sing. With them, with heart and voice we shout Hosanna! But Jerusalem was a noisy and rebellious place at the time a place where those with courage were not afraid to shout out their protests: 2

3 (SHOUTS FROM BIBLICAL JERUSALEM) And today, we are not afraid to shout out our protests: (SHOUTS FROM MODERN TIMES) This was the sort of place Jesus rode into, humbly, on a borrowed donkey. Please stand HYMN Common Praise 129 Ride on Ride on in majesty Please sit A FLASHBACK It was some time before Jesus disciples fully realized who he really was and what were the implications of his mission. And as they moved towards Jerusalem, this realization probably grew hand in hand with their misgivings and fear of what was to come. Maybe this conversation could have taken place between a disciple and Jesus Listen to what might have been said PRAYERS to take us gently into God s presence with reminders of the way Jesus took towards Jerusalem. Let us pray Please sit or kneel. Son of Mary 3

4 Carpenter of Nazareth Healer of the sick Bringer of good news Saviour of the poor Disturber of the mighty Contradictor of the smooth Destroyer of false religion You, who moved towards Jerusalem, trailing hope and hell behind you You, who calls us sister, mother, brother, friend and who asks us to come with you Lord, Jesus Christ, 4

5 you called your disciples to go forward with you on the way to the cross. Since you first walked that road countless millions have followed you. In all that we do as your disciples, save us from false familiarity with your journey. May we never presume to step into your shoes, but make us small enough to fit our own, and to walk in love and wonder behind you. AMEN Please stand. HYMN King of Kings, Majesty King of kings, majesty, God of Heaven living in me, gentle Saviour, closest friend, strong deliverer, beginning and end, all within me falls at your throne. Your majesty, I can but bow, I lay my all before you now. In royal robes I don't deserve I live to serve your majesty. Earth and Heaven worship you, love eternal, faithful and true, who bought the nations, ransomed souls, brought this sinner near to your throne; all within me cries out in praise. Your majesty, I can but bow, I lay my all before you now. In royal robes I don't deserve I live to serve your majesty. 5

6 Please sit. This is how it might have been for one woman on the day Jesus came to Jerusalem. MONOLOGUE: The watching woman Listen to what she might have said PRAYERS What were you doing Jesus? The same as you do today when you come into our world to challenge us? Let us pray. Lord, Jesus Christ, over the broken glass of our world the rumours meant to hurt, the prejudice meant to wound, the weapons meant to kill, ride on trampling our attempts at disaster into dust. Ride on, ride on in majesty over the distance which separates us from you, and it is such a distance, measurable in half truths, in unkept promises. in second best obedience, ride on until you touch and heal us, who feel for no one but ourselves. 6

7 Ride on, ride on in majesty through the back street and the sin bins and the sniggered at corners of the city, where human life festers and love runs cold, ride on bringing hope and dignity where most send scorn and silence. Ride on, ride on in majesty For you, O Christ, do care and must show us how. On our own, our ambitions rival your summons and thus threaten good faith and neglect God s people. In your company and at your side, we might yet help to bandage and heal the wounds of the world. Ride on, ride on in majesty, and take us with you. Amen. Please stand and we will say together a collect for Palm Sunday: True and humble king, hailed by the crowd as Messiah: grant us the faith to know you and love you, that we may be found beside you on the way of the cross, which is the path of glory. Amen. 7

8 Please stand. HYMN Common Praise 123 There is a green hill far away And so we leave Jesus at the start of Holy Week, a time when we look towards the Green Hill far away outside the city walls of Jerusalem. But what might have been going on inside those city walls at that time What might people have been thinking and doing? CLOSING MUSIC Spiegel im Spiegel by ArvoPärt (Spiegel im Spiegel means Mirror(s) in the Mirror(s)) As you listen to this music, ponder on what you have seen and heard tonight, pray for the coming week and the time we have now to make Jesus sacrifice worth while as we seek to build God s Kingdom here on Earth, as we mirror Jesus love for us in the way we interact with others. 8