FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

 

Palm/Passion Sunday

April 9, 2006

 

A VISION TO GUIDE US

FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION – PHILADELPHIA

(Passion and Power)

 

Scripture:  Mark 11:1-11, Revelation 3:7-13

 

INTRODUCTION

 

On this Palm/Passion Sunday, our children have led the way by re-enacting Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem long ago, as those crowds lined the streets, laid palm branches at His feet and shouted Hosanna!  Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!  (Mark 11:7-11)

 

One of you e-mailed me the story about a five year old boy who was supposed to be in his congregation’s processional on Palm/Passion Sunday, but he was sick that morning and had to stay home with his grandmother.  When the family returned from church carrying palm branches in their hands, the boy asked “What happened?”  His mother replied “People waved palm branches at Jesus as He rode by on a donkey.”  “Wouldn’t you know it,” said the boy, “the one Sunday I don’t go, Jesus shows up!”

 

The truth is, Jesus did show up that day in Jerusalem, and He had told His disciples in advance what was going to happen.  None of them could really comprehend the magnitude of those events which we call “Holy Week,” and nearly 2000 years later, looking at “The Passion of Christ” from this side of Easter, we are still overwhelmed by the mystery of it all as He shed His blood and gave His life for you and for me and for all of humanity – to set us free from sin and reconcile us back to our Father in heaven.  By the grace of Almighty God, that’s what happened when Jesus showed up in Jerusalem!

 

I

 

Now there is another city we’re going to visit this morning, the city of Philadelphia in ancient Asia Minor.  Sometime between 90 – 100 A.D., - a generation after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus – John, who was exiled on the Island of Patmos, sent a letter in the name of the risen Christ to the church in Philadelphia.  The words are recorded in the third chapter of the Book of Revelation, and this is the sixth letter we have explored together in our sermon series since the beginning of the Lenten season.

 

Remember, John was writing to those late first century Christians during a painful time of persecution by the Roman Emperor Domitian, and this letter to the Philadelphians was sent to commend and to encourage them:

 

          I know your works… (and though) you have little power…you have kept my word and not denied my name…Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial, which is coming on the whole world…I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

          He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it.  And I will write on him the name of my God… (Revelation 3:8-12 – selected verses)

 

Most Bible commentaries agree that the church in Philadelphia, though small and without financial security, had remained faithful to the Lord.  The promise to them, according to the Biblical expositor John Stott, was that the risen Christ “would keep them from harm and uphold them in whatever suffering they had to endure,” looking toward the final reward of eternal life in heaven.  (See “What Christ Thinks of the Church: An Exposition of Revelation 1-3” by Dr. John Stott, Baker Book House Company, 1990, 2003, pages 102, 110)

 

That’s what we were talking about when our First Century Voyages group explored the ruins of Philadelphia last summer, which is today Western Turkey.  We were impressed by the stories which our tour guide told us about the founding of that city by the King of Pergamum, Attalos Philadelphos II, in the 2nd century B.C., a city designed with a vision to bring Greek culture into that region…and about how Philadelphia then became a major center of transportation, trade and industry within the Roman Empire…and about how the Philadelphians survived the great earthquake of 17 A.D. and worked with the Roman Emperor Tiberius to rebuild and restore their city to its former glory…and about how the Christian Church was established there in the first century A.D. and grew in strength during the next several hundred years, sending representatives to the Nicean Council in 325 A.D. and to the council at Ephesus in 431 A.D…and about the massive columns of the Church of St. John which we saw with our own eyes, constructed in the 6th century A.D., indicating that this once small and poor church eventually became a powerhouse of worship, work and witness during the Byzantine Empire which lasted until the 15th century.

 

II

 

Listening to our guide share all of that history, the thought occurred to me that here was a Christian community which emerged out of the swirling tide of cultures, conquests, earthquakes and persecution, and beginning with next to nothing except their faith in the risen Christ who helped them to survive, they went on to thrive as a growing church in that part of the world.  Why?

 

Because the Philadelphians knew that ultimately, in the words of the Apostle Paul, The power belongs to God and not to us (II Corinthians 4:7).

 

And where did that idea come from?  From Jesus Himself, in the city of Jerusalem during that first Holy Week, when He was arrested and brought to Pontius Pilate who looked Him in the eye and said Do you not know that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?  Without blinking, Jesus looked back at Pilate and replied, You would have no power over me unless it had been given to you from above.  (John 19:10-11)

 

Exactly so!  And as Christians living in America in the 21st century A.D., looking back over the rise and fall of many empires and civilizations, we need to remember and never forget that “the power belongs to God and not to us.”

 

Our nation is described today as “the only super-power left on this earth,” and that is the source of great pride to many people in this country.  But how we use, or abuse our financial, industrial, political, educational and military power in this world is the source of great concern to God.

 

Which is also true in the church.  As Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians, we comprise two billion members of the world’s population.  We have more local congregations “on the ground” to deliver food, clothing, shelter, money, and disaster relief and assistance than any other organization on this planet.  And yet, our internal “power struggles” between conservatives and liberals over issues ranging from theology to human sexuality often consume more time, energy and resources than we are able to give, in the name of Jesus, to the poverty stricken people of this world who are all around us.

 

So in reflecting on what John wrote about that small and struggling church in Philadelphia long ago – I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word – I think we need to remember the words that Harry Emerson Fosdick spoke back in 1931 on the day of dedication of the Riverside Church in New York City.  Looking around at that great gothic cathedral of stone, stained glass, carved wood and crafted marble, he stood in the pulpit and said “It is strange to remember that all of this has been built in honor of a Galilean carpenter who had no place to lay His head.”

 

You see, in His humanity and divinity, in His humility and His glory, the power belongs to Jesus.  And by His grace and Holy Spirit, He has shared that power with us!

 

CONCLUSION

 

Which leads to one last thought before we go, and it is the final thing we need to know about the Christians in Philadelphia.  Not only did the Lord give them power to endure and become a faithful community – He also blessed them with passion to become the women and men that He called them to be.

 

I am coming soon – hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.  He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (Revelation 3:11-12).

 

You see, when all is said and done, faith in Jesus Christ first has to happen to us if anything is ever going to happen through us.

 

When the French mystic Blaise Pascal died, his friends found a secret parchment which he had hidden in the lining of his coat, and in his own handwriting, this is what it said:

 

          “This year of grace, 1654, Monday, November 23…From about half past ten at night to about half after Midnight, fire!  God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the wise.  Security, feeling, joy, peace.  God of Jesus Christ, O Righteous Father, the world hast not known Thee, but I have known Thee.  Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy!”

 

That’s what happened to the Christians in Philadelphia.  As they received power to love one another and to reach out to others, they discovered the passion of Christ’s presence and peace and joy for their journey of faith.  And if that is what you have come here looking for on this Palm/Passion Sunday, then you are in the right place at the right time to hear again the words which the Spirit has to say, not only to the church in Philadelphia, but to each and every one of us.

 

From the Book of Revelation, Chapter 3:

 

Behold I have set before you an open door.  I know you have little power and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  Hold fast to what you have so that no one may seize your crown.

 

These words remind us that the power and the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ are available to all those who seek to follow Him.  And if that is what you have come  looking for today, then remember this:  He has shown up here in this sanctuary and He wants to give those gifts to all of you.  Open your hearts to Him, and He will lead you all the way to Easter!

 

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

 

 

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