For over 1,600 years Christians have been celebrating Palm Sunday. For 1,600¹ years the Church has remembered Jesus’ triumphal, joyful entry into Jerusalem only to jump with lightening speed into the story of his Passion, his betrayal, unjust judgment, and death upon the Cross. Palm Sunday is a day that is full; full of images, full of action, full of emotions that range from ecstatic joy to utter defeat. By the end of this Sunday the palms which we held with such joy at the start of our service will seem out-of-place, ill-fitting reminders of the way Jesus was welcomed only to be betrayed, made a mockery of, and killed. And then we return home, palm branches in hand, and we store them away, waiting to bring them back to church in nearly a year on Fat Tuesday to be turned into the ashes of Ash Wednesday. Some of us put our palms over doors, others in car visors, others use them as book marks, I often find mine sitting on top of my chest of drawers along with a lone sock and other debris. But no matter what we do or where we put our palm branches the fact is they seem out of place. Palms imported from Israel do not really seem to fit in our everyday life. And yet the palms remain with us, as out of place as they may seem, a visible reminder of Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, a reminder of his presence with us.

A little over a week ago Angela and I were sitting at our dining room table having a meal together. She asked me about my upcoming schedule and I mentioned that Palm Sunday was coming and that I was scheduled to preach. Then Angela asked me a telling question, "what are the palms really for?" Both of us knew the basic answer to that question, the palms are for us to remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The palms give us a tangible way to enter into the story of Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem before his passion and death. But the fact is, we hear lots of other stories about Jesus year in and year out. Often these other stories involve tangible objects that we don’t pass out at the beginning of each Sunday. For example we don’t have a "cooked fish Sunday" for when Jesus cooked fish for his disciples. We don’t have a "mud cake Sunday" for the telling of Jesus making mud out of dirt and spit and healing the blind man. Why is it then that we have a Palm Sunday, a day when we hand out props for the telling of a story?

At the time of Jesus palms had a rich symbolic meaning. Palms were used as symbols of power and royalty throughout the Old Testament. Palaces and the Temple were decorated with gilded palms symbolizing the power and prestige of the ruler and the power of the God of Israel.² Additionally, palms were used by both Jews and Romans as a symbol of victory and welcome for conquering armies and visiting dignitaries.³ Thus the people of Jerusalem who threw branches across the road for Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem were welcoming Jesus as a king, as a victor, as one worthy of honor and praise. So, at the most basic level, our possession of palms today reminds us that Christ was viewed by so many as a savior, Christ was viewed as One who brought hope and joy, One who deserved great honor.

But the palm points to something more; something deeper than the historical entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. It points to the profound fact that we are called to welcome Christ as our Lord into our lives just as the people of Jerusalem did. Jesus ought to be welcomed into our lives as he was welcomed into Jerusalem, as one who has power, as one who is our leader and Lord. This little palm reminds us in a physical way that Jesus is our king and that as he continues to enter into our life Jesus is worthy of our honor and praise just as he was worthy of honor and praise some 2000 years ago.

These palms which we hold in our hands and will soon take to our respective homes stay with us throughout a broad range of emotions and experiences. On this day alone our palms will witness nearly every emotion imaginable. The palm is with us in the victory and joy of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, the palm continues to be with us in the midst of Jesus’ intimate last meal with his friends. The palm is with us as Jesus prays to his Father begging for deliverance from his impending death. The palm is in our hand as Jesus is betrayed by a kiss, as he is arrested and unjustly judged. The palm is with us in the midst of Jesus’ beating and being repeatedly mocked. The same palm is with us through Christ’s rejection by those who welcomed him as a king only days before. The palm is witness, along with us, to Christ’s torturous crucifixion and finally his death on the Cross. In the midst of all of this, in the midst of joy and sorrow, hope and despair the church has, for 1,600 years carried palm branches. On this day, our seemingly ill-fitting palms become symbols that remind us that in the midst of all of life, in the midst of joy and pain, we are called to find and welcome Christ. Our palms remind us to see Jesus entering into our lives even in places we never expected to find him, places of pain, denial, and hurt.

No doubt you can think of parts of your life that seem to be abandoned by God. You can think of places where you never expected Christ to be, places of fear, places of darkness. Yet our palms remind us that just as we are welcoming Christ into our midst throughout ALL the emotions and actions of this Passion Sunday, so too should we welcome Christ in the midst of all of our life—the painful and joyful realities that are part and parcel of our beings.

My friends I urge you to carry your palm with you throughout this year. Take a palm cross to keep in your sight at work, take your palm home and put it in a prominent location. Use that palm as a reminder that we are to welcome Jesus into all of life. We are called to welcome Jesus into our driving to work as we shuttle our palm back and forth in the car visor. We are called to welcome Jesus in our cleaning as we dust off the top of our chest of drawers. We are to welcome Jesus in our working as we see our palm cross on our desk, our counter, or at our assembly line. Carry your palm with you and remember, remember that countless others before us have welcomed Christ, and we are called to join them, join them in the great procession which welcomes Jesus into all of life, which welcomes Jesus into our joy and our sorrow, our times of loving fellowship and our times of betrayal. May these palms assist us in welcoming Jesus with joy, welcoming him as one who deserves honor and praise, welcoming Jesus as one who brings healing and hope. May these palms be symbols of this reality for us. May they remind us day-in and day-out that Christ is with us and that we are to seek him out, to honor him, and to follow him now and always.

¹F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3^rd Ed., "Palm Sunday" New York: The Oxford University Press, 1997, 1212.

²See Ezekiel Chapter 40-41and 1 Kings 6-7 for multiple references to the Palm.

³http://www.historictrinity.org/palmsunday.html