Called to Be Faithful, Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, April 13, 2025

Is it OK if I let you in on a little secret? Somebody nod yes. OK. My little secret is this. In terms of sermon preparation, every week I wait for a hook, I call it the hook. I’ve been doing this for 35-plus years now, and I still love sermon preparation because it’s never been just sermon preparation for me. It’s always been a couple DNA strands where you’re preparing a sermon and you’re also thinking about your own life. I mean, what a gift, sermon preparation. Notice I’m making a distinction between sermon preparation and preaching. Sermon preparation has always been a great gift to me because it’s – I don’t know what it is. It’s a spiritual journey, I guess. So today I was sitting in one of my favorite spots in the whole cosmos, our dining room beside the window in one of the most comfortable chairs on earth. And I couldn’t find the hook after all these years. Eh, maybe this, maybe that, and I thought, I know what I do when I can’t find the hook. I decide it’s time to think with my fingers, so I start to type. I don’t always do that. What you are about to hear now is what came out. Would it be wrong for me to say that I like it? Because I do.

Call to be faithful. It was a parade. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on what we later called Palm Sunday was so important to the early church that a report of this parade appears in all four Gospels. This doesn’t always happen. If something appears in all four, it was incredibly important to the early church. All four accounts are similar and not surprisingly, not identical. It is also not surprising that John’s account, the one we look at today, is the most dissimilar. John is the only one, for example, that has Palm Sunday happening on a Sunday. Historically, this Sunday. And John is the only gospel writer that reports that the branches people wave were palm branches. Did you know that? It’s hard to believe. It’s true. John’s the only one that identifies the branches as palm branches. Luke doesn’t even mention branches. The palm branches, of course, are not a minor point. At this time in history, palm branches were symbols of national triumph and victory. The waving of palm branches suggests that the crowd greets Jesus as their national hero.

Palm Sunday for us can be the day during Lent when we ask ourselves the question: What kind of Jesus do we want to ride into our hearts today? Do we want a national hero symbolizing national triumph, national victory, national power? Do we want a Jesus who is, speaking of course hypothetically here, do we want a Jesus who is like a president who says, “I want a national military parade on my birthday, a parade of tanks, missiles, soldiers” – and God bless those, seriously, who have served and are serving our country. What kind of Jesus do we want? What kind of Jesus do we need? Jesus clearly had power. He clearly held power over people, and he held power with people. What was the nature and purpose of Jesus’ power? What can be the nature and purpose of Jesus’ power for us today? Are you and I called to be heroes? I don’t know. Maybe. Heroic in the good ways? Heroic in the right ways? Are we called to be victorious? What does victory look like to someone who follows Jesus? On Palm Sunday, should we have a military parade?

I have this vivid memory as a little boy in Alliance, Ohio, my father’s hometown. We were visiting my grandmother, his mother, for the 4th of July. We were in downtown Alliance. As I mentioned, I was a little boy and somehow, some way, somebody in town had access to a Sherman tank. I will never forget standing on the street in Alliance and that Sherman tank going by and watching it just tear up the street. Was this a good idea? On Palm Sunday should we have a military parade? Should we have one on Easter morning? Is this the nature and purpose of Jesus? And is it the nature and the purpose of this religion, based on the teachings and the title, Christianity? Is this the nature and the purpose of Christianity? It’ll get you elected.

There is this interesting scripture in Mark. Those of us who perform infant baptisms quote it during the baptism. If you’re Presbyterian or have Presbyterian roots like me, it’s required. It’s the one where Jesus is teaching the disciples in public, and it turns out there are other people from the general public who are drawn to what Jesus is saying. I know you remember this story. It turns out that there are some women and children present. Apparently, the women wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. They brought their kids. Women weren’t supposed to do that in Jesus’ day. They were supposed to – what is the phrase? Some of you women help me with this phrase. These women were supposed to – what is the phrase? Were they supposed to know their place? You’re supposed to know your place. And worse than that, some of the women brought their children with them, and as we all know, little children and babies are always decent, always in order and always quiet.

What did they ask him to do? It says people. It doesn’t say women, it says people. It’s in Mark 10. Please wait until after the service to look it up. And the people asked Jesus what? They said, would he touch their children and bless them? What is the power and the nature of this Jesus? The people ask Jesus to touch their children and bless them. The disciples, remember, they get angry, and essentially, they say, “Get these kids out here.” And what’s that other phrase? Oh yeah, this is man’s work. Get these kids out of here. This is man’s work. How does Jesus respond? Most of the English translations pretty it up. That’s a very technical biblical scholarship term. Most of the translations pretty it up. If you look it up, it says that when the disciples got angry, they said get these kids out of here. It says that Jesus becomes, quote, indignant. That’s not what it says. The Greek word there is angry. Jesus becomes angry with the disciples. And he says to them, essentially, “You’re not getting it. You are missing the point of all of this.” And he continues, “When you look at these children, you are looking at the kingdom of God. Let the little children come to me,” he says, “these little children who hold no value in this society, for such is the kingdom of God.”

Is it possible that situations like this show us the nature and purpose of Jesus’ life and message? Is it possible that the nature and purpose of Christianity involves diversity, equity and inclusion? What kind of Jesus are we looking for on this Palm Sunday as we wave our palms? Tanks, missiles, or those on the margins of acceptance in our society? It was a parade that first Palm Sunday, and the years marched by like a band in an eternal parade. Over 35 years ago, as I started my personal parade march, as an ordained person, my seminary professors drummed into us, no matter what the class was, they drummed into us – and I am so grateful – they said a basic tenet of the Reformed Christian tradition – that’s us, we are post-Reformation people – a basic tenet of the Reformed Christian tradition is that you and I are called by Christ not to be successful, but to be faithful. This is more art than science. But when we set out to be faithful instead of successful, it feels different. It feels different inside of us. And our goal is not to win. Our goal is to run the race faithfully. Even when we don’t understand, Jesus is on that donkey, we follow him. Let the little children come to me. This is the opposite of a president asking for a military parade on his birthday.

So, I’ll conclude with this. After all these years of study and academics and books and scholarship, to this day this book continues to be one of my primary sources of understanding what faith is. We are called to be faithful. This book, in its last entry, has the best definition of faith that I have ever heard. And I’m going to read it to you. Before I get to it, the title of this book is “Children’s Letters to God,” published in 1991, compiled by Stuart Campbell and Eric Marshall, illustrated by Tom Bloom. What Tom, the artist, did, they asked a bunch of little kids to write letters to God, and the artist reproduced them on each page with the writing of the children. I’m going to read a few to you to get the flavor of it. And the last one is my favorite definition of faith.

This one is from Lucy. Lucy writes, “Dear God, are you really invisible or is that just a trick?” This one’s from Anita – “Dear God, is it true my father won’t get into heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house?” This one is from Nan – “Dear God, who draws the lines around the countries?” This is from Donnie – “Dear God, is Reverend Coe a friend of yours, or do you just know him through business?” This one is from Darla. It has no citation at the beginning, it just jumps into the letter from Darla. Darla writes, “Did you really mean ‘do unto others as they do unto you?’ Because if you did, then I’m going to fix my brother.” This one’s from Joyce – “Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but what I really wanted was a puppy.” There’s a theme to this. I’ll tell you who wrote this one at the end – “Dear God, it rained for are” – A-R-E – “whole vacation and is my father mad!” Exclamation mark. “He said some things about you that people are not supposed to say, but I hope you will not hurt him anyway. Your friend, but I am not going to tell you who I am.” These are real, they’re authentic. This one’s from Denise – “Dear God” – and there’s a dash in between every word – “Dear God, if we come back as something else, please don’t let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her.” This is from Peter – “Dear God, please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this summer.” One more and then I’m going to finish. OK, here we go. This is from Charles – “Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God. Well, I just want you to know. But I’m not just saying that because you are God. Charles.”

It’s OK to be a success. I think that’s fine. It’s OK to win, to win at the right things, fine. But I think my professors were right, and it’s not just them. They dedicated their whole lives to the study and the struggle, and wrestling with scripture to find out what Jesus … what is the nature and the character and the power of this man? And they said, “If you’re lucky enough to serve a church, make sure you tell them, ‘Yeah, but ultimately, we’re not called to be successful. We’re called to be faithful.’” Can you feel the difference? And this is my favorite definition of faith. I think it’s faith, and I think it’s what we’re called to do, and I think it’s what Palm Sunday is all about. This is from Frank, and it’s the last letter in the book – “Dear God, I am doing the best I can.” That’s it. That’s faith. We are doing the best we can. Amen?