It was Palm Sunday, but because of a sore throat 5 year old Sammy stayed home from church with a baby sitter. When the family returned home they were carrying several palm fronds. Sammy inquired as to what they were for. “People held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by,” his father responded. “Wouldn’t you just know it,” Sammy complained. “The one day I don’t go and he shows up!”
What day of the Church Year is our name day? If we were Church of the Nativity, it would be Christmas day. If we were Church of the Holy Spirit, it would be Pentecost. If we were St. Francis’ Church, it would be the Feast of St. Francis, 4 October. On our name day we would have special prayers for the parish, with a special celebration, and perhaps a dinner with a cake, and candles for each year of our existence as a congregation.
But when you’re Church of the Redeemer, what’s your name day? There isn’t a day that’s called Redeemer Day. It could be the Second Sunday of Advent, since the Redeemer is mentioned in the Collect of the Day. It could be Christmas or Palm Sunday or Easter, since all of those days have to do with Jesus our Redeemer. A strong case could be made for Palm Sunday, since we do such amazing things with palms, and our dramatic Palm Sunday music, composed by our beloved Daniel Moe.
If I were to choose any event in the life of our Lord that would illustrate the meaning of the name Redeemer, however, it wouldn’t be a day, it would be a week—Holy Week. And at the very least it would be three days—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Day—the Paschal Triduum. This is The Week of the Redeemer, the week when we observe that greatest mystery of our faith, the reason for the existence of the Church, the event that brought about the redemption of the world.
We observe it in a grand way, with the reading of much scripture; with ceremony that the Church has used since the fourth century; with prayer, fasting, and feasting. And today is the beginning of The Week of the Redeemer—a week unlike any other week, an eight day week, beginning on the Lord’s Day and ending on the Lord’s Day.
It’s a dramatic week, but it’s not a kind of play, where we recreate an event of history and refresh our memories and our gratitude for what happened through that event. We celebrate this week that we might enter into the mystery of the event itself. Jesus suffered, died on the cross, and was raised at a particular time in history. That time never needs to be repeated, because Holy Week brings that event to the present so that we may participate in it and be renewed by its saving power.
So we begin the week with a procession as we go with Jesus into the Holy City Jerusalem. We are led by children, because the Church has done that for centuries, for Scripture tells us children were shouting in the temple precincts: “Hosanna to the Son of David.“
Then we head for the cross, but not like those who first watched our Lord suffer and die, for we know the outcome. Therefore, this is not just a time for sorrow. It is ultimately a time for great joy, for we know that he who “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, “has been highly exalted by God, who has bestowed on him the Name which is above every name, 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, to the glory of God the Father.”
This is The Week of the Redeemer. May this week bring us ever closer to the One who redeemed us from sin and death, and has given us life eternal. And by the way, Jesus does indeed show up, and you and I will be incredibly blessed.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
Palm Sunday
25 March 2018