Sermon Preached By: Dr. Larry Corbett, Pinnacle’s former senior pastor
Date: Palm Sunday, April 1, 2007
Scripture: Luke 19: 28–40
Sermon Title:

"The Three “G” Words"

Introduction: The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in this passage is richly suggestive of Old Testament passages related to kingship in ancient Israel. There are at least five separate images from the O.T. echoed here with call to mind the coronation of Israelite kings, and the divine covenant between God and the royal representative of the Israelite people.

Text of sermon:

What are the three “G” words? In Scottsdale they are glitter, glamour and gossip — it could be the three words descriptive of a grand fund raiser at the Four Seasons or the Phoenician; or a huge golf tournament at a nearby course. The three “G’s” are also descriptive of much of what we see on television and the internet, especially around the Academy Awards.

If you watched the Academy Awards you got your fill of these three “G’s” as celebrities arrived on the red carpet on their way into the Kodak Theater to be entertained by talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres. For those who watch talk shows – Ellen and Oprah, you understand that following the lives of celebrities is important for many people in our land. The gawking and gossiping in the presence of all the glamour have a magnetic pull for many of us. How many hours and days have we heard about Anna Nicole Smith!?! And Britney Spears? Is she the model for teenage girls who think it’s more important to be hot than smart, or to have tons of money but no family or community? Millions of people are obsessed with the values beneath the surface of three “G’s.” As Dr. Erik Halas observed at the lecture last Thursday evening such values emphasize individualism at the expense of community. They emphasize my personal life and how it’s measured.

Why we do this is of much research for sociology, theology, and anthropology professors – and marketing and advertising agencies!

What’s the attraction with the Academy Awards, just one event?

To see whether two actresses may wear the same glitzy gowns; or whether the male actors are really hunks after all?

Or who may show up to announce a pregnancy with their newest companion?

The amazing thing is that people actually thrive on this stuff. The Academy Awards show is the most watched television event in the world, drawing nearly a billion viewers. Unbelievable. A billion! And, I think I heard more people this year than ever remark that they had only seen one or two of the films nominated for an Oscar.

Glitter, glamour, and gossip are magnets for people of any time. The twenty–first century isn't that different from Biblical days. Think of Palm Sunday as a sort of pre–show for Holy Week. A superstar is coming into town, and the people of Jerusalem have come out in droves laying down their cloaks on the road, and waving palm branches. It’s not a long red carpet, but personal cloaks. A major event is under way — a Passover festival that drew thousands of people to Jerusalem, ala the Muslim pilgrimages we see on TV today. We could say without too much exaggeration that Jerusalem was electrified with excitement. “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Jesus was aware of this, and knew exactly what he was getting into. He expects a hero’s welcome on Palm Sunday, but he also knows how this is all going to turn out. To the dismay of his disciples he has been alluding to it for the last several weeks. What is said in Hollywood could have been said in Jerusalem also, “People are always touching you — not because they like you, but because they want to see how soft you are before they eat you alive.” It’s a tough town.

The gospel informs us that Jesus and his disciples did all their advance work. He sent two disciples ahead of him to acquire a colt, and tells them, “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” (Luke 19:31) And sure enough, it occurs.

The point of Palm Sunday is that the celebrity Christ is given the super star treatment as he enters Jerusalem. Glitter, glamour, and gossip. All the expected elements are in place:

He makes a royal entrance;

In a procession associated with powerful kings and conquering generals;

Indeed, he rides on a colt, the foal of a donkey just as King Solomon did before his coronation.

Jesus is escorted by the citizens of Jerusalem, and the whole multitude of faithful followers;

They wave palm branches, praise him and sing to him — “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

So Jesus is a superstar complete with all the glitter, glamour, and gossip.

But his prize is not a shining gold Oscar to hold in his hands in front of cameras thanking his family and disciples and closest colleagues, and say, “To the Queen.”

His prize is a cross. Death. And he knew it. It’s Passion Week after all. He hears the disappointment on Monday and the rage on Friday. The political machinery that kills him on Friday was already in process on Palm Sunday. As the disciples sing praises the Pharisees already shout to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” But Jesus refuses with the words, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (v. 39–40)

From this point on things grow increasingly threatening. People sense he is not about to drive out the oppressive Romans. He is not with a cell of terrorists but a band of unarmed disciples. People hear him speak of persecutions and coming wars, not glorious victories. People start to look for a way to get rid of him, and by the end of the week are shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” And they are granted their wish.

Glitter, glamour, and gossip are not the words of the gospel. The “G” words for Jesus in the gospel are goodness, grace and gift of God.

In the last few years I am convinced that the popularity of the book, The Purpose Driven Life, is related directly to the emptiness people feel in spite of all the glitter and grandeur in which we live. No matter how secure our surroundings nor sound our portfolios there is desolate barrenness in our souls, and stark anxiety in our spirits. And to the barrenness and emptiness comes the goodness of God.

Do you remember the story in all the gospels in which a rich, young ruler approaches Jesus and inquires, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And in his response, Jesus asks, Why do you call me good? None is good except one, even God. (Mt. 19: 16–22; Mk. 10: 17–22; Luke 18: 18–23) Actually, it is a curious experience to study the meaning of good in the scriptures. In creation God looks at all of creation, over and over, and pronounces it good. I learned a table grace as a youngster “God is great, God is good, let us thank God for our food.”

And in the gospels Jesus exemplified God’s goodness. Indeed, the goodness of Jesus is unparalleled. In his goodness Jesus was sensitive to the suffering of people, persons with illness, blindness, people who were lame or lepers, outcasts and lonely; to the point that he even knew when a needy woman touched his robe. Goodness in the scriptures speaks to the sacredness of God and of life.

And the scriptures speak also of karis, grace.

It is God’s grace in Jesus that ultimately saves us, not our achievements, nor our own goodness, but the unmerited grace of God. We are children of grace, and but for that grace, only God knows where we'd be.

Goodness, grace, and the gospels are all about God’s gift.

For God so loved the world that he gave…. (John 3:16)

Jesus gave his whole life. He gave until there was nothing more to give. He who was rich became poor that we might be rich.

So it is right to give Jesus the palm branch praise, but let’s not make it a once a year event. His goodness, his grace, and his giving compel us to see life differently – to see the sacred dimension of life.

Our wholeness is not in the glitter, glamour, and gossip — but in God’s goodness, God’s grace, and God’s gift of life. In this holy week let us invite him into the empty spaces of our hearts that we might be made whole, and serve him gladly. Amen.

I am indebted to Homiletics, April, 2004, Vol. 16 for much of the content of this sermon.