"THIS TOO SHALL PASS APRIL 5 2009
ST. LUKE’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
M. KENT MILLARD
Palm Sunday is remembered as the beginning of the last week of the life of Jesus here on
earth. Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover Festival in the
spring of the year 33 AD.
Last year the Jewish Passover Festival was celebrated by our Jewish brothers and sisters a
month later than we remembered Holy Week. But this year, Maundy Thursday, April 9,
is also the first day for the weeklong Jewish Passover Festival so Jews and Christians are
remembering Passover on the same days this year.
Jesus came riding on a donkey into Jerusalem and people came running out into the
streets waving palm branches and giving honor and praise to Jesus. Here is how Mark
tells that story.
Read Mark 11:7-10
Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. Many
people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had
cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming
kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’
THEY SHOUTED, “HOSANNA! BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE
NAME OF THE LORD.”
Now these crowds which shouted Hosanna and words of praise to Jesus on Sunday were
shouting “crucify him” five days later on Friday. Here is how Mark tells that part of the
story.
Read Mark 15:12-15
Pilate spoke to them again, ‘Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the
King of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil
has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy
the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to
be crucified. “THEY SHOUTED; CRUCIFY HIM.CRUCIFY HIM.”
Prayer
All of us go through good times and hard times in our lives and sometimes those
experiences occur very close together.
A few years ago I went to the hospital to pray with a family where the father was
critically ill. A few days later he passed away and then we conducted his memorial
service here at the church and his family experienced the pain of great grief and loss over
this untimely death of a beloved husband, father and grandfather.
Then, a couple of weeks after his memorial service, I visited that same hospital to offer a
prayer of thanksgiving for the birth of a beautiful baby girl to that man’s daughter. Her
family celebrated the birth of this new baby with great joy and thanksgiving and they all
said that they wished the grandpa could have been there to celebrate the birth of this new
baby in their family.
That family went through a difficult time of grief and loss over the death of a grandfather
and a joyful time of the birth of a new granddaughter just a couple of weeks apart.
Sometimes in life we have some joyful experiences and some painful experiences very
close together.
You see, that is what Jesus went through during the last week of his life here on earth.
Jesus experienced a time of rejoicing and a time of suffering within the same week.
On one Sunday in the spring of the year 33 AD, at the time of the Jewish Passover feast,
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey with his disciples following behind him. The
people of Jerusalem had heard about Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, who went about
doing good, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, forgiving sinners, and telling people
about a God who loved them all as a parent loves their children.
The people of Jerusalem were glad Jesus came and they hoped that he would drive out
the hated Roman rulers and soldiers who made their lives miserable and that Jesus would
become king and ruler himself and bring justice and peace to everyone.
So the people ran out to greet him as a political liberator; they threw their cloaks on the
ground in front of him and they waved branches of palm trees in the air and shouted:
HOSANNA OR PRAISE GOD. BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE
NAME OF THE LORD. BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES TO RE-ESTABLISH
THE KINGDOM OF KING DAVID.
You see, they were praising Jesus because they thought he would drive out the hated
Romans and re-establish the nation that King David had ruled centuries earlier.
Even though they misunderstood the message and ministry of Jesus, Jesus experienced
praise and celebration, honor and glory when he came into Jerusalem on what we now
call Palm Sunday.
But then, just five days later, on what we call Good Friday because something good came
out of it, that same crowd gathered around him in front of the Roman Governor’s palace
and shouted, “CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM.”
You see, Jesus had disappointed the crowd. He didn’t depose and drive out the Roman
governor and take charge of the government. Jesus also threatened the religious leaders
when he overturned their money tables in the temple and called them a den of thieves.
Both the political and religious leaders all turned against Jesus and called for his death
and rallied the crowd to call for his crucifixion.
So Jesus went from being praised on Sunday to being condemned on Friday just five
short days later.
But Jesus seemed to accept both the praise and the condemnation with equal calmness
and trust in God. On Palm Sunday he was not filled with pride and arrogance when he
was praised by the crowds and on Good Friday he was not filled with despair and
depression when he was condemned by those crowds.
You see, Jesus trusted so completely in God that he knew that both those times of praise
and those times of suffering would pass. He knew that the times of praise and honor
would not last forever and the times of suffering and death would not last forever.
Jesus knew that whatever was happening in his life: THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
Look at the picture on the screen. On the left you see the crowds praising Jesus and Jesus
knew that those times of praise would not last forever. On the right you see Jesus
carrying the cross of crucifixion and being jeered by the crowds and he knew that those
times of suffering would not last forever as well.
What happened to Jesus on Palm Sunday and on Good Friday teaches us that whatever
we are going through, whether it is good or bad will not last forever. This too shall pass.
There is a legend about an ancient king who had extreme moods. When his country was
prosperous and his armies victorious, he became extremely ecstatic and he was high with
happiness.
But when things were not going well in his country, when the crops failed and his armies
were defeated, he became extremely depressed, discouraged and almost suicidal. His
family and advisors were very concerned about his wide ranging moods of extreme highs
and extreme lows.
The king was concerned as well so one day he called for the wisest sage in his kingdom
to come and give him advice on how to handle his wide ranging moods. The king asked
the wise sage for advice on dealing with his problem.
The wise sage went away for a few months and pondered the king’s problem. Then he
made a gold ring and returned to give it to the king. Before he gave it to the king he
made the king promise that he would read the inscription on the ring whenever something
good or something bad happened in his life.
The king promised that he would do that. The wise sage gave him the ring and told him
to read the inscription on the ring. The king read these four simple words:
THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
The wise man explained that when good things were happening in his life, he could
celebrate them but not become egotistical and arrogant because these good things will
pass and not last forever. Similarly, when bad things happened in his life he should not
become depressed and discouraged because these bad things will also pass in due time
and will not last forever.
The legend says that the king became a good and wise ruler from that time on because he
knew that no matter what happened in his life, whether good or bad that: THIS TOO
SHALL PASS.
President Abraham Lincoln once quoted this story and these words in a speech he gave in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1859. Lincoln concluded that we should all remember these
words because when good things happen in our lives these words are “CHASTENING IN
OUR HOUR OF PRIDE” and help to keep us humble in good times. And when bad
things happen, these words are “CONSOLING IN OUR DEPTHS OF AFFLICTION”
and keep us from becoming depressed and discouraged.
When things are going well, we need to remind ourselves that THIS TOO SHALL PASS
so we don’t become filled with pride and arrogance and can accept good times with a
sense of humility.
When things are not going well in our lives, we need to remind ourselves that THIS TOO
SHALL PASS so we don’t become too depressed and discouraged.
When I was growing up I had to memorize a poem for an English class in school. It was
the poem IF FOR BOYS and it has this line which I have never forgotten:
IF YOU CAN MEET WITH TRIUMPH AND DISASTER AND TREAT THOSE TWO
IMPOSTERS JUST THE SAME, then you will be the person you were created to be.
Can we meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same? You
see, triumph and disaster are both imposters - they are not who we really are. We are
always far more than either our triumphs or our disasters.
We are unrepeatable children of God, made in the image of God and loved by God and
God is the source of our value. Our value as persons is not determined by our triumphs
or victories in life or by our defeats and failures in life.
Triumph and disaster come and go in everyone’s life but we are made in the image of an
eternal God and are surrounded by the love of God in the midst of both the good and the
bad things that happen in our lives.
So no matter what you may be going through right now say, “THIS TOO SHALL
PASS.”
You may be having a great time in life right now. Your health is good, your relationships
with family and friends are good, your income is fine and you are feeling great. Enjoy
this moment but don’t become filled with pride and ego over it because THIS TOO
SHALL PASS. There will be times when relationships, health, and wealth will all
diminish but your value as a person doesn’t diminish.
On the other hand you may be having a difficult time in life right now. You may have
lost your job, you may have lost your home, you may have lost a business, or you may
have lost a great deal in the stock market. However, in this down time in your life, don’t
give up hope because these bad times SHALL PASS and better times will return in your
life.
Jesus also went through a crucifying time on Good Friday but that time also passed and
he experienced new life and resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Recently a man told me that a few years ago he was going through a terrible time in his
life. His business was bad, there was conflict with his employees, and things seemed to
be going from bad to worse in his industry. He was feeling the tension and anxiety every
night when he came home.
One night he was feeling particularly bad and worried about the situation he faced and
uncertain what he should do about it. He was at home and the phone rang. He picked it
up and there was a lot of static on the line but then he heard a voice say simply:
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY.
He kept saying, “HELLO, WHO IS THIS?” But all he heard was more static on the
phone.
He hung up the phone and wondered who had called him with such a message. He kept
trying to think who might have made such a call but could think of no one who would
have done such thing. Eventually he just accepted it as a message of encouragement and
hope from God reminding him to stop worrying and to simply trust that indeed
EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.
He said he went to sleep that night simply trusting that everything would be okay and
everything in his life and business turned around and, in fact, became okay.
Perhaps we all need to develop the kind of trust which will allow us to believe that no
matter what we are going through now ultimately everything will be okay.
Perhaps we should learn this lesson from the seasons of the year. When it is cold and
snowy in winter we need to remind ourselves that THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
When plants and flowers become blooming and beautiful in the spring and we see new
life come in the world, we can enjoy it but know that THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
When it becomes unbearably hot and humid in the summer and we’re uncomfortable,
remember that THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
And when the leaves on the trees turn beautifully red, yellow or orange in the fall and we
marvel at their beauty, remember that THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
When we come to the point where we can say THIS TOO SHALL PASS, then we come
to the place of acceptance of our current situation, whatever it is, knowing that it too will
pass. And when we accept our situation, we give up resentment and resistance and
discover that we are now in a place where we are open to the leading and the blessings of
God.
I have a pastor friend who has had what I would call a very difficult life. His mother died
when he was a teenager. His father died when he was in his 20’s. His only brother died
when he was in his 30’s. By the time he was 40 he had no members of his immediate
family alive.
His wife discovered that she had multiple sclerosis when she was in her 30’s and they
have had to deal with that difficult disease for years. Their daughter discovered that she
had another chronic disease that she would have to deal with all of her life. Their son had
a very difficult time finding himself and his path in life.
I was talking with him one day and asked him how he handled all of these challenges in
his life.
He said, “I just trust God and count my blessings. I had a wonderful mother and father
for the time they were with me. My brother and I had a great relationship and I have such
wonderful memories of our lives together growing up. I fell in love with the most
wonderful, supportive wife in the world and she loves me and we are blessed with two
wonderful children. I have the opportunity of serving wonderful people in my
congregation and helping them to know God’s love that comes to us in Jesus Christ.”
I realized that in the midst of all the losses in his life he could also count his blessings and
somehow he knew that when pain and sorrow came into his life on multiple occasions, he
could still count his blessings knowing that God walked with him through the good times
and the challenging times in life.
This pastor has been dearly loved by his congregation because he models for them how to
live with trust in God through the good times and the bad times of life. This pastor
knows what it means to live through good times and hard times in life always saying:
THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
When you came in to worship today you were given a little cross made out of dried palm
leaves. These palm leave crosses were made in Tanzania, Africa by a county of poor
families and this is the way they earn their living. So in buying these crosses and giving
them to you we are supporting families in need in Africa.
And these palm crosses represent both the joys and the challenges of life. The fact they
are made of palms reminds us of a day of celebration and joy when Jesus came into
Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. But the fact that these palms are in the shape of a cross,
reminds us that Jesus went through suffering and death on a cross as well. The palm
cross represents both the joyful and painful times in our lives.
On my cross I wrote the words “THIS TOO SHALL PASS” so that when I see it on my
meditation table I will remember that no matter whether it has been a good day or a bad
day, THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
If you would like to, I encourage you to write THIS TOO SHALL PASS on your palm
cross and put it someplace where you will see it regularly. Then, when good things are
happening in your life, it will remind you not to become egotistical or arrogant because
these good times will pass. And when difficult days come in your life, let it remind you
not to become depressed or discouraged but to live with hope because these bad days will
pass as well.
When we receive communion this morning let us remember how Jesus surrendered
himself to God during the good days and the bad days of his life knowing that he was
always in the hands of God and that whatever was happening in his life: THIS TOO
SHALL PASS.
Let us pray."
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