Today I preached my fourth sermon as the Interim Senior Minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in downtown Fort Worth, Texas (you can learn more about this new role here).
Sermon
My Palm Sunday message, “Joining the Parade” is based on Matthew 21:1-11.
You can watch the sermon below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
. . . So those who chose to travel that day and be a part of this unique experience did so very intentionally. It makes me wonder what might have inspired you to participate. Who would Jesus need to be to you? What would his ministry need to mean to you? How fully committed would you need to be to his message?
At this point, if you are honest with yourself, it is likely you are not sure how you would respond to the opportunity to be a part of the parade. So, rather than ask you to decide now, let me invite you to consider a framework for making your decision. What we know of Jesus’ ministry to this point can be summarized using 4 Ps: priorities, parables, prayers, and proposal.
By sharing this I am also giving you a sneak peek at First Christian Church’s coming attractions. After Easter we will begin a sermon series called The Jesus’ Priorities. The idea for the series comes from a book by the same name.[1] While not written by someone in a Disciples of Christ congregation, the author, Christopher Maricle, utilizes as very Disciples-like approach to determining what Jesus truly prioritized.
After studying the Gospels, he embarked on a detailed line by line consideration of how the Gospel writers depicted Jesus. Every time Jesus said or did something, he wrote it down. Next, he grouped like items together. Finally, he counted up the number of occurrences. Using this methodology, he proposes that Jesus had eight priorities: heal, love, pray, seek God’s will, spread the word, treasure in heaven, children are precious, and live with humility.
I’m fascinated by this not because it tells me more about what Jesus prioritized, but because it suggests what we who consider ourselves disciples of Christ should prioritize. While his priorities are helpful, they are inadequate for making a decision about whether or not you would have chosen to attend the Palm Sunday affair. So . . .
[1] Christopher Maricle. The Jesus Priorities: Eight Essential Habits (Upper Room Books, 2007).