A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at St. Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church on Sunday,    November 23, 2003, Sunday next before Advent.  Please read St. Mark 11:1-11.

            The story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is usually commemorated in the church’s celebration of Palm Sunday, anticipating the great events of holy week and Easter Sunday. It may seem odd at first to hear this story on the Sunday before Advent, yet there is something about this different context that enables us to see the story in a different light. When we think of the Advent season, the term “preparation” readily comes to mind. The prayers and lessons of Advent focus on the manner in which the Old Testament saints prepared for and anticipated the coming of Christ, and we are similarly encouraged to prepare for his second advent. However, the notion of “expectation” is closely related to preparation. One prepares for something in particular, and the work of preparation is based upon the expected person or event. The people of Jerusalem prepared for the coming of Jesus, and their preparation was based upon a certain expectation of Jesus’ and how he would fulfill his role as messiah or anointed king. They expected that Jesus would be a political ruler that would subdue Israel’s enemies, particularly the Romans, and set up an earthly utopia with Jerusalem as its capital. Their cry of “Hosanna” (“save us” in Aramaic) echoes the words of Psalm 118, but from what did they wish to be saved? As the later events of the story indicate, they had expected and prepared for a salvation from earthly problems; and Jesus failed to meet their expectations. He was not the kind of savior they wanted. Their disappointment turned to anger, and their anger led them to cry, “Crucify him!”

            All of us who are followers of Christ look to him in order to be saved; but we must ask ourselves the question, “Saved from what?” Are we following Christ simply to make life easier for ourselves, to have God solve our problems so that we might avoid hardship and suffering? Do we see our walk with God as a means of buying insurance against calamity and disaster? If this is the kind of savior we are expecting, then we too will be disappointed with Jesus Christ. Sadly, for many people their disappointment turns to anger against God because he has failed to do what has been expected. As Christians throughout the centuries have known, following Christ has blessing in this life, but it also entails suffering in this life. Sometimes Christians suffer more than others precisely because they have chosen to follow Christ. The Savior that we are preparing for, the Savior that will save us eternally, is one that Saint Paul speaks of when he writes, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God… The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God: And if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:14, 16-18). This is the kind of preparation we should be conducting this Advent season and for the rest of time God has given us to live in this world. Amen.