March 24, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
" On the Threshold of Holy WeekI"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
March 24, 2024 Based on Mark Mark 11:1-11
I learned this week that the term “Threshold” comes from medieval Europe. They would use a specific type of straw, called thresh, to insulate the floors of their homes, but with construction full of gaps and holes, anytime really strong winds would come along, they would blow into the houses. The straw would get everywhere, and blow underneath doors into other rooms. And so, they added a piece of wood underneath the door to hold the thresh back.
The term has of course evolved since the medieval ages and come to mean something more. It’s still what we refer to entry ways, and that strip of material underneath, that’s not quite in, but also not quite out. However, it is also a word we use to describe the beginning of something new, like: She was on the threshold of a new career.
It is also the term we use, say, for example, in science, to describe the magnitude or intensity something must exceed for a reaction to occur. Say something like: Nothing will happen until it passes a certain threshold.
It seems like all these definitions are accurate as Jesus stands at the threshold at the city gates of Jerusalem.
The air in the story of Palm Sunday is thick with anticipation. Tensions are at the threshold of a boiling point with authorities. Palm branches practically rustle in the breeze, a phantom echo of the triumphant entry soon to come. But beneath the excitement, a hush falls too, a sense of something momentous just beyond the horizon.
Jesus is on this threshold at the city gates – a liminal space, neither here nor there, a gateway between a former reality and another. He’s there with the dust of the road he’s just walked still clinging to his sandals. Behind him stretches the familiar path of his ministry, the crowds he's touched, the individual lives he changed, the lessons he's shared, crowds following him and calling him “Rabbouni” which means teacher. Before him lies the climactic and tumultuous week that is to come, a week pregnant with tension, betrayal, and ultimately, sacrifice. In this coming week he will be called many things: Lord, and then Criminal, or King of the Jews in a mocking tone, and then Messiah.
What is going through Jesus’ mind in this threshold moment, looking back at his life, looking forward at what is still to come. Thresholds represent a moment of pause, a chance to reflect before stepping through.
They remind me of a story I once heard about a girl who lived up in a bustling city. Her life a constant whirl of activity. But every summer, she'd go to stay with her grandmother who lived way out in the country. Her grandmother's house had a weathered wooden gate, the paint peeling and the hinges protesting with every creak. For this girl that gate was a threshold, a line between one part of her life and the other, between the familiar world of her city life and the slower pace of her life in the countryside.
And every summer, at the beginning of the season and at the end, she would stand at that gate before opening it, she would pause. She'd feel the city's frenetic energy ebb away, replaced by the quiet hum of crickets and the rustling of leaves. It was a space of transition, a chance to shed the city's anxieties and embrace the simple rhythm of time at her grandmother’s house.
Palm Sunday invites us to stand with Jesus at a similar threshold. We pause alongside him and peer through the city gates of Jerusalem. We will never be able to match his gaze, or know his mind fully, but today on the threshold of Jerusalem as we stand alongside him with anticipation and preparation we might ask ourselves what are we about to enter into? What will this week bring for us?
Will we be a part of the joyous throngs of people, waving palm fronds and chanting “Hosanna!" “Save us!”? Or will we stand among the disciples who will be invited who have followed as faithfully as they could, but still remain hesitant when following involves bold action or risk to our comfort or way of life?
Is our faith conditional, flickering out when faced with the demands of true discipleship? When it comes to it, will we deny him like Peter? Or betray him like Judas? Or will we run away in fear like all the rest of disciples.
Maybe we will wind up standing amongst the growing tide of dissent, those who, for whatever reason, will turn against him, arrest him, and chant “Crucify him!”.
Will we ultimately see Jesus as a threat to our established order, a rabble-rouser challenging authority?
Maybe, ultimately we will be like the women who followed Jesus, there to the bitter end as witnesses to his journey, there to accompany him, and support him. Will we stand alongside him through it all, anointing a touch of compassion in the face of impending suffering? Are we prepared to bear witness to the darkness before the dawn, to the pain before the promise of resurrection?
There's no single answer, no "right" place to stand at this threshold. The beauty of Holy Week lies in its ability to challenge and confront us each in our own way.
This week, as we enter these liminal spaces, let's shed the sanitized versions of the story. Let's confront the betrayal, the anguish, the sacrifice. Let's ask ourselves the uncomfortable questions: Where do we find ourselves in this story? Are we comfortable with a leader who embraces humility over worldly power?
The gates of Holy Week are not reserved for the perfect, the sinless. They are open for all of us, with all our doubts, our uncertainties, our shifting loyalties. Because ultimately, what our faith is about is embracing the messiness of where we are, the ongoing journey of wrestling with meaning and purpose. And recognizing what Jesus will always do no matter where wind up standing… open his arms wide to us in love, welcome us to his table of grace, and always, always, always, offer forgiveness
As we step through these gates, let's carry open hearts. Let's allow ourselves to be surprised, challenged, and ultimately transformed by the story of Jesus' sacrifice. Remember, this threshold is not an ending, but a beginning. It opens the path to a deeper understanding of love, justice, and the transformative power of faith that we will come to know this Holy week.
May we enter with open hearts and minds, ready to receive whatever awaits us on the other side.
Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*SCRIPTURE READING Mark 11:1-11
When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’”
They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. Those in front of him and those following were shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.
*PROCESSIONAL HYMN insert “Praise, Praise, Praise the Lord” LOUEZ LE SEIGNEUR
After singing a few verses and waving your palms, pass your palms to the choir to adorn the chancel.
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION written by Thom Shuman Jim Legg
Ever constant God, mixing love and hope together, you pave the way to the kingdom, but we prefer to stub our toes on the potholed roads of temptation. You will touch the cup of grace to our parched lips, but we seem to hunger for the ashy taste of bitterness. You beg us to learn the songs of salvation, but we hum along with the chorus death plays in the background of our lives.
Silent prayers may be offered.
Have mercy upon us, God of Holiness. As you come to us, you bring healing for our brokenness, peace for our troubled lives, hope for our doubting minds. May we empty ourselves of everything which keeps us from following you, so we may receive these gifts, and more, from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
One: …This is the good news, my friends: God's steadfast love endures forever.
All: Hosanna! Hosanna!
Blessed is the One who brings us
the kingdom of God! Amen.
*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE 551 “Lord, Have Mercy” LAND OF REST
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Hosanna” Alfred Fedak
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION written by John Paarlberg
SCRIPTURE Psalm 118:1-4, 19-23, 26-29 ICEL Liturgical Psalter
Give thanks, the Lord is good,
God’s Love is forever!
Now let Israel say, “God’s love is forever!”
Let the house of Aaron say, “God’s love is forever!”
Let all who revere the Lord say, “God’s love is forever!”
Open the gates of Justice,
Let me praise God within them.
This is the Lord’s own gate,
Only the just will enter.
I thank you for you answered me,
And you became my savior.
The stone the builders rejected
Has become the cornerstone.
This is the work of the Lord,
How wonderful in our eyes.
Blest is the one who comes,
Who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the Lord’s house.
The Lord God is our light:
Adorn the altar with branches.
I will thank you, my God,
I will praise you highly.
Give thanks, the Lord is good,
God’s love is forever.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Trip Porch
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN 200 “A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd” CHRISTIAN LOVE
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “The Love of God” Frederick M. Lehman, arr. Jennifer Cook
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE TABLE
GREAT PRAYER
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
*HYMN 215 “What Wondrous Love is this?” WONDROUS LOVE
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
One: Enter this week as children of God.
All: We will journey with praises of Hosanna on our lips.
One: Enter this week as followers of the crucified one.
All: We will join the parade of the broken, the lost, the hopeless, for that is where Jesus
may be found.
One: Enter this week with the Spirit's peace.
All: We will share the warm breath of reconciliation and redemption with all we meet.
POSTLUDE “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna” From the Gesangbuch der Herzogl
arr. C.E. Walz
Acknowledgments:Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452