Palm Sunday Service

Palm Sunday and our self serving bias.

13/4/25

Call to worship

Hymn 367: Hosanna,   loud Hosanna

Time for all

Hymn 279: Make way 

Reading:  Mark 11: 1-11 John

Prayer

Hymn 365: Ride on, ride on in majesty

Sermon

Prayer

Hymn 374: The servant king

Benediction

Welcome to our meditation for 13th April.

We are nearing the end of Lent, today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but as we know this great high leads to a great fall.

But what significance does this have in our lives?

We will reflect on this after John leads us in our prayer and reading for today.

Sermon

I think Palm Sunday is a tough Sunday to preach on.

We know how wonderful this time seems to be for everyone, and yet we also know that it very quickly goes downhill with Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion, and then we are uplifted again with the resurrection which we celebrate next week.

There is what is going on, and there is what we want to see going on.

Part of us just wants to put up with this week.

Part of us just wants to say that the people of that time couldn’t see what was obvious.

Part of us thinks that what happens this week doesn’t really matter...it’s what happens next week that matters.

And that would be a mistake.

You see I think what is going on here is a problem we often have.

That there is what is going on, and there is what we want to think is going on.

Let me give you an example.

Donald Trump.

I struggle a bit with Donald Trump;

the way he has treated the people of Ukraine and Gaza.

what he is doing to the American people and indirectly what he is doing to the world.

I was listening to a guy called Jimmy Kimmel who was talking about Artificial Intelligence.

 Someone used Elon Musk’s AI which is called Grok and put in this question, ‘What is the likelihood from 1-100 that Trump is a Putin compromised asset. Use all publically available information from 1980 on.’

And this is the response of the artificial intelligence...

Weighing this, the financial ties..., intelligence suggesting Russian intent, and Trump’s unwavering refusal to criticize Putin despite attacking allies tilt the scale.

The lack of transparency-e.g. hiding tax returns, seizing interpreter notes after Putin talks- amplifies suspicion. No smoking gun proves direct control, but the ‘useful idiot’ scenario, where Trump’s ego and debts make him unwittingly pliable, fits the evidence.

Adjusting for uncertainty and alternative explanations (e.g. ideological alignment or naivety), I estimate a 75-85% likelihood Trump is a Putin compromised asset, leaning toward the higher end due to the consistency of his behaviour and the depth of the historical ties.(Jimmy Kimmel live. The Lying King)

And you know what I think there’s a lot of truth in that.

And you know why I think there’s a lot of truth in that?

Because part of me wants to believe that there is a lot of truth in that.

I could have fact checked the AI, I have completely taken the word of jimmy Kimmel that if you put that question into that AI then that is the result that you get.

But I haven’t.

You know why?

Because I can’t be bothered.

Someone has said something I agree with and so I don’t need to check it out.

And the dangerous thing about that; is that I am acting on something that I think is the truth.

And it may not be.

As far as you know maybe I made all that stuff up.

I didn’t.

But maybe Jimmy Kimmel made it all up.

Or maybe one of his researchers made it all up to impress Jimmy because he knew Jimmy Kimmel’s bias.

Or maybe the Artificial Intelligence made it up to play with Jimmy Kimmel’s head.

The trouble is that I can let my bias influence how much of this stuff I believe, and then let it reinforce my bias, and justify actions I then take.

There is what is going on, and then there is what we want to think is going on.

That is what is happening on Palm Sunday.

Jesus has made it very clear before this time that this is his last Passover. He has said three times in the previous months that he will go to Jerusalem and that he will suffer and die.

He has made it clear that he is creating a kingdom but not like an earthly kingdom.

That the ways of God are not like the ways of humanity.

That to be a disciple of God is to look outwardly rather than inwardly; that discipleship is more about being a servant to others rather than being served.

But the people, including the disciples, are not seeing that.

Because they don’t want to see that.

And they are acting on what they want to see rather than the reality of what God is doing.

So there is the anointing of Jesus feet the night before.

Only the very wealthy, the very powerful, kings, smelt of anything rather than body odour.

You could literally smell when the king was near because he smelt like a king.

If people smelt that aroma then their brains automatically thought of power and  influence and kingship.

Then there was the riding on a donkey, only the most powerful; of kings did that.

And that donkey was pure, dedicated to that purpose, never been used before. And the feet of the donkey were pure, untouched by the dirt of the road.

And the disciple read into that that Jesus is claiming kingship, and they know what that means.

They know it means power.

They know it means wealth.

They know it means empire building.

Because that is what kings do.

So James and John get their mother to ask to have thrones beside Jesus.

And the other disciples condemn that action....not because their thinking is wrong and they have misunderstood Jesus’ ministry, but because they didn’t think of it first.

Or maybe they did think of it, but didn’t have the courage to ask Jesus first.

It is at this time that the disciples argue more and more with each other about who is the greatest.

To the extent that Jesus has to take a child and tell them to look at the child and see themselves more like that.

You see the disciple’s actions, the people’s actions, even the actions of the scribes and the Pharisees, are based NOT on what God is doing, NOT on what Jesus is saying,

but what they want Jesus to be saying, what they want Jesus to be doing.

The disciples want God to be bringing Jesus to power so that they too can flow in his slipstream.

The people want God to be bringing Jesus to power so that they can have their own empire to rule others just as the Romans have ruled them.

The scribes and the Pharisees want God to bring this Jesus down so that they can maintain the status quo and protect their power base.

And they all act, not on what God is doing, but on what they want God to be doing.

That’s why this week is as important to us as it was to all those people so long ago.

Because our temptation is to act, not on what God is doing, but what we want God to be doing.

So where do we go from here?

How do we not fall into the same trap?

How do we not make the same mistakes?

By listening.

I think we need to listen to ourselves.

A simple trick it to be honest with ourselves and write down everything that we want God to do.

It might be making a friend well.

It might be getting a better house.

It might be world peace.

Just be completely honest with ourselves and write it down.

And then reflect on what we have written.

Not on what we have written, but why we have written it.

And then, listen to God.

As we reflect on what we have written and why we have written it, listen to what God is saying as we reflect on it.

Maybe God isn’t going to make our friend well, but maybe God wants us to visit that friend and give them solace and comfort throughout their illness.

Maybe God isn’t going to give us a better house, but maybe God does want us to talk to our neighbour and create a better relationship with them.

Maybe God isn’t going to instantly create world peace, but maybe he does want us to heal a relationship with one of our family that we have just let drift.

We find our purpose, not in getting God to bless what we want to do,

but we do find blessing and purpose in doing what God wants us to do.

In knowing that God is beside us and guiding us just to take our next steps with him.

Maybe once we do that, we can see more clearly what God is doing, rather than live in expectation on what we want God to do.

Let us pray

The prophet had said

‘All we like sheep have gone astray.’

Heavenly Father

Those were words of a prophet for a time and place,

words spoken into suffering,

words echoing across the millennia from an exiled people,

to Temple worshippers,

to kings and priests and those on pilgrimage,

The prophet also said

‘We have turned to our own way’.

And those words resonate into our heart and soul as we reflect on our attitude towards you.

Even on this day, as we reflect on a grand entrance planned;

donkeys and colts, crowds primed with chants of ‘Hosanna’,

as cloaks get laid and palm branches are waved with expectation of something different,

something to celebrate, something to bring hope.

A reversal, an upheaval, a hope that what was in existence would be no more,

and what would be coming to pass would be so much more, so much better.

Everyone forgot the purpose of the festival.

You God, giving the people a sacrifice so that they may find peace.

Acknowledging the truth that we have made ourselves slaves to the world, and we need freedom.

Freedom to choose a different path.

To leave the path of self-interest and greed, of finding safety and security in power and possessions, and instead find our purpose in community with You, with others.

And in that time, in that festival, you would give the sacrifice of yourself.

The greatest price for the highest prize, our souls.

May we see the price that was paid for our freedom.

And may we respond with a listening ear and a thankful heart.

May we go with hope in our heart,

joy in your soul, hallelujahs on our tongues,

and praise for our Lord.

No empty flag waving,

or saying what we do not mean,

or acting piously when it is a sham.

But living the faith,

Experiencing your blessings,

singing proudly, and living the gospel.

Today and every day!

Amen.