Palm Sunday Service

 

Hosanna to the Son of David, the King of Israel.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest!

 

Collect

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.

 The Gospel of the Palms - Mark, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10 :-

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no-one has ever sat; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it, and will send it back here straight away.’” And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it. And those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it. And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!”

                                                Thanks be to God, for this his holy word.  Amen.

A few words of reflection :-

If we read John’s Gospel we’ll find Jesus had slipping quietly into Jerusalem on to attend some of the festivals; but it’s only now, at this particular Passover Festival, as crowds are gathering from all over, that Jesus chooses to make a very public and dramatic entrance to the city - to declare his hand, so to speak.

One of the Old Testament prophecies  -  Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9, tells of a future king who will enter the Holy City riding a donkey. So this was widely accepted as describing what the Messiah would do, as he came to restore the Kingdom of David. And Jesus very deliberately does just that - and as we read the story we can see that it’s all been carefully prepared.

Disciples are sent to collect a particular donkey that’s been made ready. Those who are standing around as they get there were expecting someone to collect the donkey, and they knew why, and who needed it. And perhaps they were among the crowds of folk who scattered clothes and branches, and called out “Hosanna!” as Jesus rode into the city.  Most of those people though would have been pilgrims who’d come down from Galilee, as Jesus and his disciples had done. They knew who Jesus was; they’d heard him preach, seen the miracles he had performed. So they shouted their hosannas. Hosanna isn’t simply a shout of hooray, by the way, though it may have been used like that. It’s an acclamation, and a prayer: the word means “Save us, we pray!”

So with their shouts of hosanna the crowd was saying something about what they wanted and expected Jesus to do. They wanted their freedom; they wanted the kingdom to be restored. They were sure that this was the moment at which the kingdom of David would be refounded. The disciples no doubt thought the same. And the powers that be in Jerusalem, the temple priests and their allies, they too feared that this is what this Galilean would try to do; they were also quite sure he would fail, and they’d be swept away by the sort of Roman backlash that did happen thirty years later, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.

Only Jesus himself knew what would really happen. And he knew that it would be the end of him. He knew he was entering the city to die there. He’d told his disciples, but they hadn’t grasped or accepted any of it; after all, God’s Messiah was guaranteed his victory.

But this Messiah, this king in the line of David, enters his city as a servant. That’s why, out of all the prophecies of the coming Messiah, he chose the one about riding a donkey. The one where the new king arrives meekly riding on a beast of burden.

On Palm Sunday we see Jesus enter the city not to take but to give; to give it all; not to demonstrate earthly power and authority, but to show the full breadth of God’s love as he lays down his life. Which is why at this service we also read the story of the Passion, as Palm Sunday opens the way into Holy Week. And, after a short reading of one of the Old Testament writings called the servant songs, that’s what we will do today.

Old Testament Reading - Isaiah, chapter 50, verses 4 to 9 :-

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, and skill to console the weary with a word in the morning; he sharpened my hearing that I might listen like one who is taught. The Lord God opened my ears, and I did not disobey or turn back in defiance. I offered my back to the lash, and let my beard be plucked from my chin, I did not hide my face from spitting and insult; but the Lord God stands by to help me, therefore no insult can wound me. I have set my face like flint, for I know that I shall not be put to shame, because one who will clear my name is at my side. Who dare argue against me? Let us confront one another. Who will dispute my cause? Let him come forward. The Lord God will help me - who then can prove me guilty?

                                                Thanks be to God, for this his holy word.  Amen.

The Gospel of the Passion - Mark, chapters 14 and 15 - may be read.

Statement of faith -  We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer  -  We stand with Christ in his suffering.

For forgiveness for the many times we have denied Jesus, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For grace to seek out those habits of sin which mean spiritual death, and by prayer and self discipline to overcome them, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For Christian people, that through the suffering of disunity there may grow a rich union in Christ, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who make laws, interpret them and administer them, that our common life may be ordered in justice and mercy, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who still make Jerusalem a battle ground, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who have the courage and honesty to work openly for justice and peace, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those in the darkness and agony of isolation, that they may find support and encouragement, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who, weighed down with hardship, failure, or sorrow, feel that God is far from them, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

For those who are tempted to give up the way of the cross, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

That we, with those who have died in faith, may find mercy in the day of Christ, let us pray to the Lord:

Lord, have mercy.

Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Blessing - May Christ crucified draw us to himself, to find in him a sure ground for faith, a firm support for hope, and the assurance of sins forgiven; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore. Amen.

A short service for the beginning of Passiontide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.

Collect

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ

delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross

we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Confession

Let us make confession of our sin to almighty God.

 

God our heavenly Father, before the cross of Christ we confess our sins; we have done what is wrong in your sight, and have failed to do what is right. Meet us in our sorrow, Lord: wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin. Renew a right spirit within us, and restore us to the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

May almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever.  Amen.

 

God’s Word - Jeremiah, chapter 31, verses 31 to 34 :-

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt - a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

 

John, chapter 12, verses 20 to 33 :-

Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

 

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say - 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."

 

Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.

Reflection [This is a shortened version of the address given on YouTube / Zoom]

What exactly happened on the cross? The facts are straightforward – a man died – well, several men died, but arguably there was one of them who did not deserve that fate. The Romans made their point about who was in charge, and what would happen to anyone who opposed them. Those among his own people who wanted rid of Jesus got their way, and the Roman governor did what he reckoned he had to, to keep the peace at the turbulent time of Passover.

But none of that, of course, explains why the cross is the symbol of our faith, and a focus for our prayer and worship. The cross is where the saving love of God is displayed in all its glory, and it is the place of atonement.

When I was training at theological college I recall there were various theories of atonement, the work of scholars through the centuries who reflected on what the cross actually means. There was a price which had to be paid, said Anselm; the cross is the place of ultimate confrontation between good and evil, said Gustav Aulen; the cross is where God’s love draws us forward to kneel before him and offer ourselves, said Peter Abelard.

All of these theories have something to say; and all of them have some way in which they fall short, and fail to say enough. After all, if you try to see the cross in terms of a mechanism to achieve atonement, you’ll miss the central point.

And that central point has to do with the remaking of relationship: a relationship we have broken and cannot repair. We saw in our first reading this morning how God earnestly desires to be in relationship with his people. Jeremiah the prophet is given this vision of a future in which God won’t be a subject people need to learn about, but an ever joyful presence in their hearts. “I will plant my Law in their hearts” is in fact the same thing as “I will plant myself in their hearts.”

“There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin” wrote Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander in the hymn “There is a green hill far away.” The goodness of Jesus, who we find hailed in the Letter to the Hebrews as at once both perfect priest to make the offering, and perfect sacrifice to be offered – that goodness has to do with his complete humanity. Jesus is not God playing at being crucified, but the man from Nazareth crying out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” He is divine, but he cannot know himself to be.

I suppose that out of the three theories of the atonement we were taught about at college, Anselm, Aulen and Abelard, it’s Abelard’s vision that strikes the strongest chord in me – the cross is where God’s love is displayed in all its wonder and beauty, even in this terrible instrument of death, and it’s a love the draws me and challenges me. “When I am raised up,” says Jesus in our reading this morning – and by being raised up he means lifted on the cross – “When I am raised up I will draw all to myself.” I am drawn, but I am also challenged to recognise my own sin, for which the cross is the only remedy, and to recognise that the battle between good and evil is fought within me, as well as across our world, and it’s a battle I myself can never win – but the cross is the place of victory.

On the eve of Good Friday our readings will remind us of the terror Jesus faced – and overcame – in the garden of Gethsemane, as he prayed that, even at this late hour, the cup might be taken from him. His closest and most trusted companions could hardly keep their eyes open – and later they would all run and desert him – but he prayed on, with the sweat on his brow like great drops of blood.

Two weeks ago in our readings we found Paul telling his readers in Corinth that, though it was foolishness to the Greeks and a scandal to his own people the Jews, he could only preach Christ, nailed to the cross. At the end of his Letter to the Galatians he writes, “God forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world!” Those words helped inspire that great Passiontide hymn “When I survey the wondrous cross.” The cross should be an offence and a scandal; it should blame us, convict us and condemn us, not save us. But instead, what we have broken is remade, what we have lost is returned to us: it truly is wondrous.

Statement of faith -  

We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer Pointers - Pray that as we are drawn to the cross, we may be inspired to take to heart its message of saving and sacrificial love. In the world Church today we pray for Christians in England, and for the Church of England. Pray for our own diocese and for Richard our Bishop; and today we pray especially for the churches and communities of the Kington and Weobley Deanery.

Today is Down Syndrome Day - pray for all who have this condition, and for their integration into society and right to participate. On the International Day of Forests, pray we may protect our wild spaces, and recognise the vital importance of forests to the health of our world. Tomorrow is World Water Day – pray for all in our world who still lack access to clean water.  

Pray for all who are ill, in pain, anxious or fearful. Pray for the care, treatment and rehabilitation of those who are ill, and that those who care for them may do so safely. Pray for all who continue to suffer from the Covid virus, and that we continue to take seriously the need to act in ways that protect ourselves and others. Pray too for all in our world who suffer from TB, and for their treatment.

Pray for our families and friends, and for the life of our churches and communities. Pray for our local schools and colleges – for teachers and other staff, for children, young people and for parents and families. Pray that we may be enabled to look out for each other, and may be kept safe ourselves.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing -  

 

May Christ crucified draw us to himself, to find in him a sure ground for faith, a firm support for hope, and the assurance of sins forgiven; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore.  Amen.