Lent 6 year C Sermon 07 Palm Sunday
what does Paul mean? ’every knee should bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.’
How subversive and dangerous can that be?
How problematic can it be… to swear allegiance to the prince of peace? Couldn’t be a problem here in our little town surely.
Well it obviously depends on where you are.
But…just listen to this little slice of drama.
KING HEROD says: What does that mean?
The Saviour of the world?
ADMIRAL TIGELLINUS responds:
It’s a title... that Caesar takes.
KING HEROD shrugs: Wherefore should I not be happy then? Caesar, who is lord of the world, who’s lord of all things...loves me well. He’s just sent me most precious gifts. And he’s promised me... to summon my enemy... the king of Cappadocia...
to Rome. It may be at Rome he will crucify him...
for he’s able to do all things that he wishes.
Verily, Caesar is lord.
Tiberius Caesar is Lord. The Jewish king Herod is happy to confess this... in the chilling dialogue from Oscar Wilde’s play Salome...
Yes it’s a drama...but it’s certainly not fiction.
The same proclamation could be heard
right throughout the Roman Empire
Caesar is lord – kyrios.
Caesar is saviour of the world –
spread the good news... that Caesar’s presence brings peace and security to the world. [pause]
Caesar is ruler of the whole world.
Caesar is a god among gods. Hail Caesar.
And the most powerful symbol of Caesar’s power... is the wooden cross... upon which trouble makers will be executed.
Caesar’s ultimate tactic for ruling...for controlling those who oppose him...Caesar’s ultimate weapon... [pause] is death.
But contrast Rome’s political rhetoric in the 1st century… with Paul’s hymn about Jesus…
written to Christians in the Roman Empire.
Make your own... the mind of Jesus Christ:
who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…
becoming as human beings are; being in every way like a human being. And he was humbler yet, even to accepting death...death on a cross.
for this God raised him high…
and gave him the name…
which is above all other names;
so that at the name of Jesus… every knee should bow…in heaven and on earth and under the earth…and every tongue confess…
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
So you can see that for people in the 1st century…Paul’s hymn to Jesus would be a powerful parody… of Caesar’s grandiose claims. A fierce proclamation... of the victory of the one true God...
over the pagan Empire of Rome... particularly over the cult of Caesar.
And this provides a clue for us… as to why Jesus dramatic entry into Jerusalem would provoke so much fear and denial. [pause]
In the first century... when Jesus entered Jerusalem and later when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians... to all intents and purposes... Rome had conquered the world. A world whose ruler had the confidence… to claim to be a god …
You see… forty two years before Jesus was born....
Julius Caesar took the title Augustus...and gave it some mana…some extra punch
by adding "son of god."
People would hail him as Augustus Caesar son of god. Poems would be written about Caesar’s divinity... and across his vast empire... coins, monuments, temples and artworks…
would promote... the cult of Caesar.
People were encouraged to have "faith" in their "Lord," the emperor…who would preserve peace and increase wealth. And yes Roman civilization did bring stability and wealth to many.
Caesar’s spin doctors would proclaim the evangelion…the gospel of Caesar... the good news
of how Caesar had brought peace and security…
to all the world.
And right into the middle… of the greatest Empire the world had ever seen… Jesus proclaims his gospel and gives the language of Empire new meaning...
the prayer Jesus teaches his followers...
takes on subversive overtones...against the claims of Caesar.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name...thy kingdom come...thy will be done
in heaven as on earth...
And after Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ... Paul coopts the language of Empire…he takes the Greek word parousia... which described Caesar’s triumphal entry into conquered cities... and turns it into the Christians’ word…
for the triumphal return of Jesus.
For the Romans…peace was the Pax Romana... imposed by their armies. A peace…
guaranteed by Rome... fear and death and taxes…. were how Caesars peace was to be kept.
And the sign of the cross of execution
would not allow the world to forget it.
And right into the middle of this world...Jesus brings a message... of an altogether different peace...
a peace... in which violence and oppression
have no place... a peace that can’t be won by armies.
When Jesus says... my peace I give you, my peace I leave you. I do not give as the world gives.
Jesus is talking about the peace of God...the Shalom of God. A peace created only through love and by showing justice compassion and mercy.
And Jesus taught his followers... that’s how the children of God will be recognised!
Israel would have to give up its graven image…
of the warrior god who would redeem them...
who would save them by destroying their enemies. They’d have to learn that redemption through violence and revenge was a diabolical myth...a lie.
The children of God would not rid the world of evil by using the same tactics as Caesar… imposing control… through fear… and demanding a heavy price for a guarantee of protection… in the payment of tax. The motto of the Pax Romana may as well of been “Pay us off and we won’t hurt you
and we will call it peace!”
But Jesus taught and Paul after him...
That Caesar’s peace… achieved through domination isn’t peace at all. The only way the Children of God would overcome evil… would be with love...
even if it meant speaking out against the deathly tactics of empire... even if it meant dying.
And if we don’t shout hosanna when the prince of peace arrives...if we’re silent and scuttle into the shadows… then we bow our knee to Caesar not to Jesus. We betray the prince of peace we claim to follow. [pause]
And when the going got tough in the coming days after his Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem...
many would betray him. Many would cringe and deny their friendship with the troublemaker from Galilee. They would watch his violent death on the cross... from the shadows and they would see no victory for God in his shame. [pause]
Yet love did overcome the evil of that day...in his act of self giving love... Jesus would transform...
the terrifying symbol of Roman power and domination...
and redeem it forever... for God’s purposes of love.
It had to be done. And the confession that ‘Jesus is lord’... would become the earliest... and most profound confession... of Christian faith.
And some how... a small band of former fishermen, one-time tax collectors, business women and tent makers... would bravely spread...
this subversive and dangerous confession... throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. [pause]
Caesar could impose his lordship…
by the power of military might… and death.
But the Lordship of Jesus’ is only and always exercised…with the full consent of those…
who pledge their loyalty and faithfulness to him.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God is at hand. But it is by no means complete…there will be others who seek to dominate the world through power… the kingdom Jesus inaugurated then…
will only be firmly established… when every tongue confesses faithfulness to the prince of peace.
When there is love and respect and justice for everyone. [pause]
And Rome’s power eventually succumbed. Rome could cope with revolutions; but she couldn’t cope...as history would prove... with a community who had made its own mind
the mind of Christ...
Yes, with Paul... we still live between the times ... confident and hopeful after Jesus resurrection...
And like the first Christians we are called to be ready to protest any power and principality that works against the coming of God’s kingdom .
Over and against a world... where public crucifixions proclaimed the power of death... as the way to rule the world...
Paul’s calls us to stand up to the tactics of tyrants... confident that their power is no match for the power of love seen on the cross of Christ.
A love which is stronger than death.
In today’s world, we might call these tactics genocide or ethnic cleansing or holocaust. Jesus and Paul call us to stand against all those… who would create their political or economic empires through exploitation…oppression and death. [pause]
Everyone bows their knee to something or someone. And for Paul the question isn’t, "Do you have a lord?"
but rather, "Who is your lord?’
Paul’s answer is firm...I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live… but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
what does Paul mean? ’every knee should bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.’
How subversive and dangerous can that be?
How problematic can it be… to swear allegiance to the prince of peace? Couldn’t be a problem here in our little town surely.
Well it obviously depends on where you are.
But…just listen to this little slice of drama.
KING HEROD says: What does that mean?
The Saviour of the world?
ADMIRAL TIGELLINUS responds:
It’s a title... that Caesar takes.
KING HEROD shrugs: Wherefore should I not be happy then? Caesar, who is lord of the world, who’s lord of all things...loves me well. He’s just sent me most precious gifts. And he’s promised me... to summon my enemy... the king of Cappadocia...
to Rome. It may be at Rome he will crucify him...
for he’s able to do all things that he wishes.
Verily, Caesar is lord.
Tiberius Caesar is Lord. The Jewish king Herod is happy to confess this... in the chilling dialogue from Oscar Wilde’s play Salome...
Yes it’s a drama...but it’s certainly not fiction.
The same proclamation could be heard
right throughout the Roman Empire
Caesar is lord – kyrios.
Caesar is saviour of the world –
spread the good news... that Caesar’s presence brings peace and security to the world. [pause]
Caesar is ruler of the whole world.
Caesar is a god among gods. Hail Caesar.
And the most powerful symbol of Caesar’s power... is the wooden cross... upon which trouble makers will be executed.
Caesar’s ultimate tactic for ruling...for controlling those who oppose him...Caesar’s ultimate weapon... [pause] is death.
But contrast Rome’s political rhetoric in the 1st century… with Paul’s hymn about Jesus…
written to Christians in the Roman Empire.
Make your own... the mind of Jesus Christ:
who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…
becoming as human beings are; being in every way like a human being. And he was humbler yet, even to accepting death...death on a cross.
for this God raised him high…
and gave him the name…
which is above all other names;
so that at the name of Jesus… every knee should bow…in heaven and on earth and under the earth…and every tongue confess…
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
So you can see that for people in the 1st century…Paul’s hymn to Jesus would be a powerful parody… of Caesar’s grandiose claims. A fierce proclamation... of the victory of the one true God...
over the pagan Empire of Rome... particularly over the cult of Caesar.
And this provides a clue for us… as to why Jesus dramatic entry into Jerusalem would provoke so much fear and denial. [pause]
In the first century... when Jesus entered Jerusalem and later when Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians... to all intents and purposes... Rome had conquered the world. A world whose ruler had the confidence… to claim to be a god …
You see… forty two years before Jesus was born....
Julius Caesar took the title Augustus...and gave it some mana…some extra punch
by adding "son of god."
People would hail him as Augustus Caesar son of god. Poems would be written about Caesar’s divinity... and across his vast empire... coins, monuments, temples and artworks…
would promote... the cult of Caesar.
People were encouraged to have "faith" in their "Lord," the emperor…who would preserve peace and increase wealth. And yes Roman civilization did bring stability and wealth to many.
Caesar’s spin doctors would proclaim the evangelion…the gospel of Caesar... the good news
of how Caesar had brought peace and security…
to all the world.
And right into the middle… of the greatest Empire the world had ever seen… Jesus proclaims his gospel and gives the language of Empire new meaning...
the prayer Jesus teaches his followers...
takes on subversive overtones...against the claims of Caesar.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name...thy kingdom come...thy will be done
in heaven as on earth...
And after Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ... Paul coopts the language of Empire…he takes the Greek word parousia... which described Caesar’s triumphal entry into conquered cities... and turns it into the Christians’ word…
for the triumphal return of Jesus.
For the Romans…peace was the Pax Romana... imposed by their armies. A peace…
guaranteed by Rome... fear and death and taxes…. were how Caesars peace was to be kept.
And the sign of the cross of execution
would not allow the world to forget it.
And right into the middle of this world...Jesus brings a message... of an altogether different peace...
a peace... in which violence and oppression
have no place... a peace that can’t be won by armies.
When Jesus says... my peace I give you, my peace I leave you. I do not give as the world gives.
Jesus is talking about the peace of God...the Shalom of God. A peace created only through love and by showing justice compassion and mercy.
And Jesus taught his followers... that’s how the children of God will be recognised!
Israel would have to give up its graven image…
of the warrior god who would redeem them...
who would save them by destroying their enemies. They’d have to learn that redemption through violence and revenge was a diabolical myth...a lie.
The children of God would not rid the world of evil by using the same tactics as Caesar… imposing control… through fear… and demanding a heavy price for a guarantee of protection… in the payment of tax. The motto of the Pax Romana may as well of been “Pay us off and we won’t hurt you
and we will call it peace!”
But Jesus taught and Paul after him...
That Caesar’s peace… achieved through domination isn’t peace at all. The only way the Children of God would overcome evil… would be with love...
even if it meant speaking out against the deathly tactics of empire... even if it meant dying.
And if we don’t shout hosanna when the prince of peace arrives...if we’re silent and scuttle into the shadows… then we bow our knee to Caesar not to Jesus. We betray the prince of peace we claim to follow. [pause]
And when the going got tough in the coming days after his Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem...
many would betray him. Many would cringe and deny their friendship with the troublemaker from Galilee. They would watch his violent death on the cross... from the shadows and they would see no victory for God in his shame. [pause]
Yet love did overcome the evil of that day...in his act of self giving love... Jesus would transform...
the terrifying symbol of Roman power and domination...
and redeem it forever... for God’s purposes of love.
It had to be done. And the confession that ‘Jesus is lord’... would become the earliest... and most profound confession... of Christian faith.
And some how... a small band of former fishermen, one-time tax collectors, business women and tent makers... would bravely spread...
this subversive and dangerous confession... throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. [pause]
Caesar could impose his lordship…
by the power of military might… and death.
But the Lordship of Jesus’ is only and always exercised…with the full consent of those…
who pledge their loyalty and faithfulness to him.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God is at hand. But it is by no means complete…there will be others who seek to dominate the world through power… the kingdom Jesus inaugurated then…
will only be firmly established… when every tongue confesses faithfulness to the prince of peace.
When there is love and respect and justice for everyone. [pause]
And Rome’s power eventually succumbed. Rome could cope with revolutions; but she couldn’t cope...as history would prove... with a community who had made its own mind
the mind of Christ...
Yes, with Paul... we still live between the times ... confident and hopeful after Jesus resurrection...
And like the first Christians we are called to be ready to protest any power and principality that works against the coming of God’s kingdom .
Over and against a world... where public crucifixions proclaimed the power of death... as the way to rule the world...
Paul’s calls us to stand up to the tactics of tyrants... confident that their power is no match for the power of love seen on the cross of Christ.
A love which is stronger than death.
In today’s world, we might call these tactics genocide or ethnic cleansing or holocaust. Jesus and Paul call us to stand against all those… who would create their political or economic empires through exploitation…oppression and death. [pause]
Everyone bows their knee to something or someone. And for Paul the question isn’t, "Do you have a lord?"
but rather, "Who is your lord?’
Paul’s answer is firm...I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live… but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
