"The Power of a Great Emotion"

Sermon by Pastor David Layman

April 1, 2007

Psalm 118:21-29

Luke 19:28-40

On the first Palm Sunday, something unusual and unexpected took place. Crowds of people were flocking to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Jesus was on his way to the cross. But as he entered Jerusalem, he had his disciples bring a donkey for him to ride. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah spoke of Israel's king coming to Jerusalem as a humble and peaceful ruler, riding on a donkey. Jesus proclaimed his coming rule by fulfilling the prophecy.

As a way of showing honor, the disciples spread their cloaks upon the humble colt. The crowd about Jesus, caught in the excitement of the moment, took their cloaks and spread them on the road. Others cut branches from trees, and shouted "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" Halford Luccock points out that men and women normally were expected to own one cloak for about 7 years. "Their impulsive act was comparable to throwing a new suit in the dust or mud." (Halford Luccock Treasury, Robert Luccock, ed. Abingdon Press, New York, 1963, p. 121). Not everyone acted with such abandon. The Pharisees were disturbed by this display of enthusiasm and acceptance of Jesus. Yet the power of a great emotion can carry believers beyond ourselves, lead us to do things which normally we would not.

There is no record that Jesus ever encouraged his disciples to follow some of the forms of religious enthusiasm today. To our knowledge, Jesus never encouraged his disciples to speak in tongues, run the aisles or handle snakes. Not all emotions are great. Some emotions can lead us astray. But the emotions God inspires lead to a self-forgetting love and devotion. Once a woman anointed him with very expensive ointment. Some disciples said such display was a waste. But the emotion of love which caused this woman to spend an excessive amount and show her devotion so boldly brought forth praise from Jesus. He welcomed the self-forgetting acts of those who laid their precious cloaks in the dust to demonstrate their devotion.

On Palm Sunday, followers of Jesus showed the power of a great emotion. A great emotion, enabled by God, can lead us beyond our normal selves, enable us to do that which we and others would not normally consider ourselves capable of. Emily Dickinson once said "If it blows the top of your head off, it's poetry." (Ibid., p. 122) Perhaps we could say "If it lifts you out of yourself, it's great faith." The coming of Christ into our lives is a power that can carry us out of ourselves. Emotional belief with no rational basis is dangerous. Fanaticism has led people to do horrible things. But could many of us be on the opposite extreme? Are we too cold and calculating in our approach to God? Could not the power of a great emotion move us to do great things--for God, and our fellow human beings? God is the author of self-giving love and other great emotions. When we're deeply touched and moved by great love and gratitude, that's God! Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." ("Wake Up Your Life", Barbara Bartocci, Catholic Digest 5/88, St. Paul, Minn.) "Enthusiasm" comes from the Greek and means "God within". When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd was so moved by his courageous presence that they felt God within themselves. They forgot themselves, laid their cloaks in the dust before him, and shouted their praise. Are there not times when we need to be lifted into a self-forgetting love and praise of God!

Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a man whose life came under the power of a great emotion. He read Jesus' parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and felt moved to go to Africa, seeing Africa as Lazarus. Schweitzer was written up in LIFE MAGAZINE, and William Larimer Mellon, Jr. was looking through that magazine and saw the story. William Mellon came from a wealthy Pittsburgh family, associated with the Mellon bank. He also had developed a successful ranch, and was living the life of a gentleman farmer. But Mellon became so interested in Schweitzer that he went to Africa and visited him in Lamborene. Mellon was inspired, sold his ranch, re-entered college and then finished 4 years at Tulane Medical School. His wife, the mother of 4, took nurse's training to assist in the work. The Mellons then went down to Haiti where a hospital was needed, and built one. He set up a foundation for it and moved down to Haiti, to serve the needy there. As St. Augustine once said, "One loving heart sets another heart on fire." The power of a great emotion!

Mary Jo Copeland was born in Rochester, Minnesota in 1942, but had a tough childhood. Her father came from a wealthy family, but had little control over his life. He flew into fits of rage, and often beat her mother. Mary Jo's mother focussed her life upon trying to keep her husband from getting angry. Little energy was left to take care of Mary Jo, and the other children taunted her for being poorly kept and doing poorly in school. Mary Jo's father insisted she was stupid and worthless. But one thing kept Mary Jo from being destroyed. She attended a parochial school, and in the religion class, as Mary Jo relates, "I was enthralled with the idea that God loves us all equally and unconditionally...I began to know that God had some special task in mind for me." (READER'S DIGEST, "Someone Who Cares", John G. Hubbell, August 1991, p. 59) As an adult, Mary Jo created "Sharing and Caring Hands", an organization to provide food, clothing, dental care, a room for the night, a shower and shave, for people who fall through the cracks of the welfare system. When one becomes caught up in the power of a great emotion, many lives are changed and touched!

Those who saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem could have been calculating. They could have been prudent, and careful. They could have thought "Wait a minute! Do I really want to take my cloak, which needs to last me 7 years, and put it in the dust before Jesus? It would have to be washed! It might be torn and ruined. And word is out that the chief priests and scribes are eager to arrest Jesus and put Jesus to death. Some of his teaching sounds pretty radical. He says we should forgive our enemies--that would take away all the joy I receive from despising and putting others down! Jesus says we should give to those in need. What would that do to my investment portfolio? He wants me to associate even with the sick, Samaritans, and the despised. What would my neighbors say? And if the authorities go after Jesus, and aren't satisfied, what if they come after ME?

You and I need to decide what this Palm Sunday really is about. Is our worship today an historical remembrance, along with some beautiful music, of an event long ago? Or are we called today to be caught up in the power of a great emotion? To realize that "Jesus rode into Jerusalem not to make a show, or to state a case, but to turn the tide of history!" He came to face all the powers of darkness, and to bring the dawn of forgiveness, hope, self-sacrifice, and new life!

So what will it be? Will we turn and walk away--or place our cloaks in the dust before Him, and join in saying "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

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