“How Can One Day Contain So Much?”
Preached Sunday, April 13, 2025
How can one day contain so much?
We have already paraded around the sanctuary with palms, echoing that subversive and powerful parade into Jerusalem, Jesus on the back of a donkey, palms and coats strewn out on the road, shouts of Hosanna! Save us!
We have heard from our monthly mission - an invitation to serve, to meet the needs right in front of us in our community. Certainly an apt action for Holy Week.
Preached Sunday, April 13, 2025
How can one day contain so much?
We have already paraded around the sanctuary with palms, echoing that subversive and powerful parade into Jerusalem, Jesus on the back of a donkey, palms and coats strewn out on the road, shouts of Hosanna! Save us!
We have heard from our monthly mission - an invitation to serve, to meet the needs right in front of us in our community. Certainly an apt action for Holy Week.
We’ve heard our children sing and we’ve even caught a glimpse of Easter as they sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” Which is getting just a little ahead of ourselves but still appropriate as every Sunday is a mini-celebration of the Resurrection.
And in just a moment, our choir will turn our attention to the Passion of Christ, those events that happened in the last 48 hours of his life - events that we will revisit later this week on Thursday and Friday.
When you leave church this morning you might think, “How could one day - one service, one morning - contain so much?”
And in just a moment, our choir will turn our attention to the Passion of Christ, those events that happened in the last 48 hours of his life - events that we will revisit later this week on Thursday and Friday.
When you leave church this morning you might think, “How could one day - one service, one morning - contain so much?”
And in this service we are really covering the events of a whole week of Jesus’s life…and yet even then! When you hear of all that happened in that final week, you may think, how can one week contain so much? With a disclaimer that some of the Gospels have these events taking place at different times, here’s a brief outline of some of what happened in Jesus’s final week before his crucifixion:
On Monday, Jesus drove the money changers from the temple.
On Tuesday, Jesus cursed a fig tree, verbally spared with religious leaders, and taught his disciples many things - including the Parables of the Great Supper, the Good and Wicked Servants, the Ten Virgins, the Two Sons, The Owner of the Vineyard, The Wedding Banquet, and the Ten Talents. In Matthew this is where we also get the Greatest Commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart - and love your neighbor as yourself.
On Monday, Jesus drove the money changers from the temple.
On Tuesday, Jesus cursed a fig tree, verbally spared with religious leaders, and taught his disciples many things - including the Parables of the Great Supper, the Good and Wicked Servants, the Ten Virgins, the Two Sons, The Owner of the Vineyard, The Wedding Banquet, and the Ten Talents. In Matthew this is where we also get the Greatest Commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart - and love your neighbor as yourself.
On Wednesday, the woman anointed Jesus’s feet with precious oil.
On Thursday, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples, gave us the Sacrament of Holy Communion, washed his disciples feet, and commanded us to love one another. He went to the Garden, wept and prayed, was betrayed and arrested.
On Friday, Jesus was tortured and put to death on a cross, the death penalty reserved by the Roman Empire for the worst political offenders…We’ll hear more of that today.
On Saturday, the world held its breath as Jesus’s body laid in a tomb.
On Sunday, well…Death was defeated. Christ rose again.
Today we may ask - how can one Sunday service hold so much? This week we may ask, how can one week hold so much? And these are appropriate questions. The events of today’s service, the events of this week, the event that is the very life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - we could spend a whole lifetime exploring these events - this person - God revealed in Jesus - and what his incarnation and every word he said, and every action he took - including the cross and the empty tomb…we could spend our whole lives delving into the meaning…and we are called to do that. And it still wouldn’t be enough to fully comprehend. Comprehend the mystery. Comprehend the beauty. Comprehend Divine Love.
And so today, as we turn from Palm to Passion. And as we move through the events of this week. And as we approach the Joy of Easter. I invite you to marvel at the mystery, beauty, and Love of these events - of the person of Jesus. How can one person…contain SO much? God came to us in Jesus to offer us more than we could ever comprehend. Let us wonder at God in Jesus in praise and thanksgiving. Let us be moved by the events of this week. Let us weep and pray and rejoice and sing and everything in between.
May it be so. Amen.
On Thursday, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples, gave us the Sacrament of Holy Communion, washed his disciples feet, and commanded us to love one another. He went to the Garden, wept and prayed, was betrayed and arrested.
On Friday, Jesus was tortured and put to death on a cross, the death penalty reserved by the Roman Empire for the worst political offenders…We’ll hear more of that today.
On Saturday, the world held its breath as Jesus’s body laid in a tomb.
On Sunday, well…Death was defeated. Christ rose again.
Today we may ask - how can one Sunday service hold so much? This week we may ask, how can one week hold so much? And these are appropriate questions. The events of today’s service, the events of this week, the event that is the very life, death, and resurrection of Jesus - we could spend a whole lifetime exploring these events - this person - God revealed in Jesus - and what his incarnation and every word he said, and every action he took - including the cross and the empty tomb…we could spend our whole lives delving into the meaning…and we are called to do that. And it still wouldn’t be enough to fully comprehend. Comprehend the mystery. Comprehend the beauty. Comprehend Divine Love.
And so today, as we turn from Palm to Passion. And as we move through the events of this week. And as we approach the Joy of Easter. I invite you to marvel at the mystery, beauty, and Love of these events - of the person of Jesus. How can one person…contain SO much? God came to us in Jesus to offer us more than we could ever comprehend. Let us wonder at God in Jesus in praise and thanksgiving. Let us be moved by the events of this week. Let us weep and pray and rejoice and sing and everything in between.
May it be so. Amen.
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