St Albans and Welwyn Circuit Service for 2nd April 2023
Prepared by Chris Hancock
Call to worship
Some words from Psalm 118 “You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever”.
Singing the Faith: 354 – Jesus is the name we honour
Opening Prayers
Lord, we come into your presence, waving our banners and shouting your name in praise. We gather as your people to give you the very best of our worship. We come asking to know more of you, to receive your Holy Spirit so that we can be filled with the good news you come to reveal to us.
Encourage us to allow your light to shine through us so that we will bring your light into the dark places of the world. We ask that whatever this week brings for us we will let your light shine.
Lord, as we come to worship we take time to bring the wrong things we have done to lay at your feet. We come to say sorry and ask that you would forgive us and set us free.
Take a moment to reflect on the things you need to bring before God in this moment of confession. –
Silence.
Thank you Lord, that you merciful and always ready to forgive us. Let us hear those words of forgiveness that our sins are forgiven and we may go in peace. Amen
Read Mark 11 v 1 – 11
11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Singing the Faith: 264 – Make way make way
Sermon – The Challenge of Palm Sunday
Today we celebrate the day on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey. It is possible that Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem was not the only procession that the city saw that day. Roman historians record that in 30AD the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, led a procession of Roman cavalry and centurions into the city of Jerusalem. Perhaps we can Imagine the spectacle of that entry. Pontius Pilate leads Roman soldiers on horseback and on foot. Each soldier was clad in leather armour polished to a high gloss. On each soldiers head, hammered helmets gleamed in the bright sunlight. At their sides, sheathed in their scabbards, were swords crafted from the hardest steel; and, in their hands, each carried a spear; or a bow with a sling of arrows across his back.
It was standard practice for the Roman governor of a foreign territory to be in its capital for religious celebrations. It was the beginning of Passover, a strange Jewish festival that the Romans allowed. However, the Romans must have been aware that this festival celebrated the liberation of the Jews from another empire, the empire of Egypt. So, Pilates entry into Jerusalem was meant to send a message to the Jews, and to those who might be plotting against the empire of Rome. To remind them of what had happened the last time of a wide-scale uprising which had been mercilessly put down.
If Pilate’s procession was meant as a show of military might and strength, Jesus’ procession was meant to show the opposite. Both Matthew and Mark record Jesus’ own words, as he instructs his disciples to go in to the city and find a donkey tied up. They are to ask the owner if they may use the donkey, and they are to say that “the Lord needs them.”
Then, Jesus quotes from Zechariah, the 9th chapter – 5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ But, there is more to this passage than just a description of Jesus’ means of transportation for that day. The prophet Zechariah is speaking to the nation. In Zechariah 9, the prophet reassures the people of Judah, that God has not forgotten them: So, Jesus’ quote from the prophet Zechariah reminded those who heard him of this entire passage. The message they heard was, “God will deliver the nation from the oppressor” — in this case, Rome! But, the king they seek will come to them humbly, not on a steed of war, but on a slow-moving donkey, the symbol of a king who comes in peace, according to Zechariah.
The two processions could not be more different in the messages they convey. Pilate, leading Roman centurions, asserts the power and might of the empire of Rome which crushes all who oppose it.
Jesus, riding on a young donkey, embodies the peace and tranquillity that God brings to His people.
Those who watch that day will make a choice. They will either serve the god of this world, might and power; or they will choose to serve the king of a very different kind of kingdom, the kingdom of God. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem may or may not have occurred on the same day as Pilate’s procession through the western gate of the city. However, the two processions provided a contrast that was unmistakable.
And, although many of the common people thought they sided with Jesus, they did so for the same reasons the Pharisees and others sided with Rome. They thought Jesus could do for them what Rome had done for their rulers — make their lives better, deliver them from the oppressive system under which they lived and worked, and turn the tables on the Romans.
So, when Jesus is accused, when he is brought by Pilate before the angry mobs, they want to be rid of him. Jesus, in their minds, never did what they wanted him to do. He never defeated the Romans, he never dissolved the unfair tax system, he never put common people in charge of the government, and furthermore, he never would.
But for one moment, ask yourself, “If I had been in Jerusalem that day, and had seen both processions passing by, which would I have chosen to follow?”
Because that is the choice we make each day. To choose power and might over love. To choose “the way things are done” over “they way God intends them to be.” Two processions. Two theologies. Two choices. Which would you choose? What kind of king do you expect?
Singing the Faith: 263 – Hosanna, Hosanna
Prayers of intercession
We pray for the church. Those who are in positions of leadership, our ministers and church stewards as they lead us. We pray for all those who worship in the churches we are associated with and the wider Christian church.
As your people we ask that you encourage and enable us to be your hands, feet and voices in the world. That through the small part we each play in your awesome work of creation we may bring your good news to our own lives, communities and the world.
Secondly, we pray for the world. Living God, as we see the darkness of the world on our televisions and in the news we remember that you are present in every one of these situations. That in the darkness you bring light. Where there is conflict you bring your peace. Into damaged lives and communities you bring your healing.
Finally we for those we know and love who are in need of our prayers. In the silence we name them in your presence. We pray that they may feel you especially close cradling them in your loving arms and bringing them peace and wholeness.
We pray these, and all our prayers, in the all – powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Singing the Faith: 345 – And can it be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ5dOxqJ2NQ
Blessing
May the peace of God reign in our homes, and the love of God forever hold each of us tight,
May the Spirit of God flow through our lives, and the joy of God uphold us day and night. Amen
