Laying Down the Branches of Our Life

Luke 19:28-40

Some of you may remember the coronation of Jean-Bedel Bokassa in 1977. Bokassa took over the presidency of the Central African Republic by cout-d’etat in December 1967. Within a year he had invalidated the Constitution of the Country and created a new form of Government. In 1972 he named himself “President for Life.” Then, on December 5, 1977 he crowned himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
At 10:10 AM trumpets and drums announced the approach of His Majesty.
The beginning of the parade had eight of Bokassa’s 20 official children proceed down the royal carpet to their seats.
They were followed by the heir to the throe, Jean Bidel Bokassa II – dressed in a white admirals uniform with gold braid. He was seated on a red pillow to the left of the throne.
Bodassa I’s favorite wife, Catherine, one of nine of his wives, paraded next to her throne wearing a $73,000 gown that was hand sewn with pearls.
Bokassa then arrived in an imperial coach decorated with golden eagles. His coach was drawn by Six matched Anglo-Norman horses.
The Central African Empire Marine Band struck the hymn “The Sacred March of His Majesty,” a song written especially for the event. Emperor Bokassa I strutted proudly to his throne. He was bedecked in a 32 pound robe decorated with 785,000 strewn pearls and embroidered in gold.
The emperor wore white gloves and pearl slippers on his feet. On his head, he wore a gold crown of laurel-wreaths, similar to those worn by Roman consuls of old and a symbol the he was favored by the gods.
As the “Sacred March” ended, Bokassa I seated himself on his $2,500,000 eagle throne.
He took his gold laurel wreath off and placed a crown on his own head that contained a 70 carat diamond in the shape of Africa. The lavish coronation ceremony cost $200,000,000 and all but ruined the country’s economy.

Contrast that with how Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Jesus sends for a young Donkey to ride. Not a stallion. Not a noble animal, but a Donkey. For those that were watching and waiting, this was a clear sign of who Jesus was claiming to be. Prophecies had claimed it to be true: Zechariah 9:9, written some 250 years before Christ, tells us:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king [a] comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
But by our standards today, Jesus wouldn’t have been coming to town in a Rolls Royce, or a Lincoln Limo as we expect royalty to come. No, Jesus didn’t even come in a Mustang, He came in the equivalent of a new Pinto.
Jesus didn’t come with glitz and glamor, Jesus came into Jerusalem, the place where he was to die, being heralded by his followers as the Messiah that he was. Jesus was rejoiced over by the Disciples and celebrated by the people along the way. He knew the rest of the story. He knew what was to happen at the end of the week, but, that didn’t stop him. Romans 5:8 reminds us that, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus knew that the people that were celebrating on Sunday were going to be crucifying him on Friday. Though I think Jesus hoped with every step that the people would truly turn and follow him, he also knew that you and I would need the salvation he was to offer at the end of the week.

Oh, that Sunday was a day of celebration. A day that Jesus enjoyed. I can just see Jesus smiling as he told the Pharisees that “if they keep silent, then the rocks will cry out.” In other words, some things just must be said, I am the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. I will be worshiped.

Today is an enjoyable day for us as well. We come together on this Sunday. We celebrate. We have an Easter Egg hunt. We rejoice with our family and friends. We wave palm branches and sing praises to our King. Today we Crown Jesus king of our lives, yet, by Friday we have crucified him with our actions. Today we vow to be good. In the church we try to do good. Then, by the time we get to the end of the week we have lived our lives in such a way that our actions are the very reason that Jesus had to face “Good Friday.” Just in case some of you are as self-righteous as I can be sometimes and think that you have done well this week, that you didn’t sin. Were you completely honest this week? Did you always say kind things about people? Did you gossip any? Did you lust after anyone? Did you covet your neighbors wife, husband, dog, car, truck, tractor….
You get my point.
We crown him on Sunday and Crucify him by Friday.
That is the fact of this week. I can’t sugar coat it. I can’t change it. I may want to. I could make this sermon all lovey dovey. I could tell you how wonderful you are. I could make you feel good. But that is not what happened between Sunday and Friday. To get to Easter we can not forget what happened the week before.
In fact, we can’t forget what we talked about last week: the cost of following Jesus. That is as much a part of the day and the week as the palm branches.
You see, I look at these palm branches as a symbol of control of our life. These palm branches are those sins that keep us from Christ. These palm branches are the busy lives that interfere with our relationship with God. These palms represent all those things that get in the way of our commitment to the life Jesus taught us. Today, I invite you to lay yours down. I invite you to lay down the palm branches of your life and fully give your life to God. I invite you to take a step toward the life that Jesus taught you to live. I invite you to hear the Holy Spirit’s call on your life to do what you were called to do, to be who you were called to be, and to live a life worthy of that calling.
Given the choice, without the intervention of God in our lives we would be more like Emperor Bokassa than we care to admit: lavishly bestowing upon our lives hundreds, if not millions of dollars worth of nothing. Given our way, we would follow the example of a man that thought he was a god rather than the God who became a man.
Today, I invite you to lay down the branches of your life and allow Jesus, the God who became a man to take them up and make them to be what they need to be. Won’t you let him?