Acts 2:41-47; I Peter 2:19-25 and John 10:1-10

Bless thou, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, oh our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen Today I want to talk to you about devotion - devotion to the teachings of the apostles, to the fellowship of the church, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. The first thing I want to tell you is this - that without devotion to these things our life as individuals - and our life as a church - cannot succeed. It can't succeed because without devotion to those things God has given us, we end up adrift - we end up separated from our Lord - the shepherd of our souls, and swept away by the false teachings of our world. We loose the strength and the hope that we are supposed to have, and our joy, our health, and our strength, quickly dissipates. We become a people who are lifeless and unattractive and, unless we change our ways, unless, by the grace of God, we are once again found - we stumble and fall.. The father of all lies tries to tell us - that devotion - that the dedication of ones time and energy to the teachings of the apostles - and to the fellowship of the church - and to the breaking of bread and to prayer, is not really all that important. He tries to tell us that we can get by with an occasional prayer, and that it will not hurt all that much if we don't read and learn about the Bible, and that a person doesn't really have to attend church or get involved in Christian groups to be a follower of Christ. This is a lie - and anyone who tells you otherwise is speaking to you with the voice of Satan. The secret of every growing church, and the basis of every healthy spiritual life, is an overriding commitment to hearing the word of God and applying it to one's life. It is a dedication to the health and prosperity - both spiritual and physical, of one's fellow believers, and the desire to invoke the presence of God within that community, and within one's own private prayer life. I am sure many of you have seen the bumper sticker that says - the family that prays together, stays together - We are the family of God - and unless we pray - together - unless we study and seek the will of God in the word of God together - and unless we share good times and bad times together, we will suffer the fate that comes upon those who stay apart, we will be alone; and ultimately we will loose our sense of direction; our sense of purpose; our faith. And that is happening and has happened in churches throughout North America and Europe. It is happening in those places where individual happiness is prized more than righteousness; where pursuing material success is held to be more important than spending time in community, where golf on Sunday or watching Football or taking the children to a ball game is deemed more important than building one's relationship with God, where watching TV or going shopping for the weekend is deemed more important than sharing with one's brothers and sisters the joys and the concerns that we have and praying together and sharing together those things which have helped us in God's word. I assume, that despite our parent's advice, that all of us have played with fire. We have sat before a fire place or a camp fire, and watched the coals glowing red and hot. And all of us know - that if we take a single coal out of the centre of the fire and place it to one side - it soon turns dull grey, its bright heat becomes first lukewarm and then cold - while the rest of the fire continues to burn. So it is with us. Separate a person from the Christian community, take them away from the place in which the word is proclaimed, bread is broken, and prayers uttered, and soon the light of their faith grows dull, and the warmth within their souls begins to diminish. Let no one lie to you! You can't be a Christian, at least you can't be an effective Christian, a fully alive Christian, one who, as Jesus says in today's reading - has life and that abundantly, if you do not listen to the voice of the shepherd who calls you by name, or if you flee from the sheepfold that he would lead you to for your own safety. How can you expect to do what is right? How can you expect to experience the blessings of God? How can you hope to minister to one another the love of Christ and feel that love return to you 30, or 60 or 100 fold, if you do not turn to Christ and listen to his voice? If you do not enter the sheepfold with your brothers and sisters? If you do not pray together and work together and love each other with the love of Christ? You can't! And the evidence of that is all around us. It is in the people we meet day by day who claim to believe in and love God - and yet have none of the signs of the abundant life that Christ promises to all who hear his voice and enter his sheepfold. Devotion, Dedication, Commitment - this is the secret of success in all endeavours, and in all endeavours that devotion, that dedication, that commitment is focussed on specific things. To experience life - and that abundantly - as Christ says we can, our focus must be on the teachings of the apostles, which are the teachings of our Lord, on the fellowship of the believers, on the breaking of bread - the invoking of Christ's presence in community, and on prayer. The early church had this focus - and the results were tremendous. As Luke tells us in today's reading - "all who believed were together and had all things in common, they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread from house to house, and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God, and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day God added to their number those who were being saved." Day by day, God added to their number. From that first community - came the entire church - a church that survived the stoning of Stephen, the persecution of Paul, and the destruction of Jerusalem itself. The early church survived and prospered, because the people within it committed themselves to one another and to the Lord who brought them together, The early church grew and spread like a fire in dry grass because those who believed sought God' presence, and prayed for his will to be done in their midst, not just one day a week, but each and every day. I wonder how many of us even pray each and every day? Let alone seek out the fellowship of fellow believers and pray with them and eat with them on a regular and consistent basis? I wonder how many of us read the scriptures each day? Or even think about what it is God has said in the past to us? Let alone seek to hear what it is he may be trying to say to us now - in the midst of our busy routines? I am sure everyone here is familiar with the expression - "cool as a cucumber". The expression "cool as a cucumber: refers to someone who is able to remain calm and collected in the heat of life's battles. The expression actually has its basis in scientific fact. A cucumber lying in the sun on a hot day is cooler on the inside than the outside. In fact the centre can be as much as ten degrees cooler that the outside. Even without a thermometer, the temperature can be easily detected by the touch. But the difference in temperature between the inside and the outside can only exist as long as the cucumber is attached to the vine. Once the cucumber is severed, it loses its ability to "keep its cool." Like the cucumber, we can only keep our cool in the midst of difficult circumstances, we can only thrive in the midst of an insane world, as long as we remain attached to the vine. Our vine is the fellowship of fellow believers and its head - Jesus Christ. The sap which runs through it is the word of God and the power unleashed in listening to it and in breaking bread together and in praying together. In the vine we have life. Jesus said: "I am the vine, you are the branches. They who abide in me and I in them, bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus also said - I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. God has prepared a fold for us, He has made ready a safe haven for us, and appointed a faithful shepherd over us. To enjoy that haven, we need to listen to voice of our shepherd, and together, in the company of our fellow believers, follow him. When we follow him - he will lead us by the still waters, and to the green pastures, and he will keep us safe as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, his rod and his staff will comfort us. And the opposite is also true. When we fail to follow him, when we fail to listen to his voice and join ourselves with the rest of the flock, the waters will not be stilled, we will experience terror in the valley of the shadow of death, and our cups will not overflow in the presence of our enemies. We need, and all those who claim to believe in God need, to truly commit ourselves to our Lord and his teachings, and to one another as brothers and sisters in him if we are to be as alive as was the church in Jerusalem after the day of Pentecost. As we do this, as we pray and break bread together Christ our Lord will do the rest. He will make sure our souls are restored, he will set a table before us in the presence of our enemies and ensure that we dwell in the house of God forever, He will do this, for he is the bread of life; and the good shepherd; the way and the door; the resurrection and the life, the one in whom God was pleased to fully dwell within, the one in whom God is even now fully revealed for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Praise be unto our God, and to our Lord Jesus Christ - now and forevermore AMEN

Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4 (UMH 741) 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48

Bless thou O Lord, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen The tradition to which we belong, the Protestant tradition begun by Martin Luther believes most strongly that we meet God - that we meet Christ - in the word of scripture - in study - and in prayer. The scripture reading that I read today speaks about these things. It is the story of how two men, on Easter Sunday, set out on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus - a distance of about seven miles - were met by a stranger going along the same road - and began to speak to him about all that had occurred in the Holy City during the previous week. This man - this stranger - responded to their grief, their dejection - their shock and horror - regarding what had happened - how Jesus, a good man, a prophet, a man powerful before God and all the people - had been crucified and buried - and how his body had disappeared from the tomb - by taking them on a journey through the law and the prophets. In that journey he showed them how the scriptures foretold all that Jesus did, and all that he suffered, even how he would die - and what purpose it served. The scriptures are an amazing thing - Moses and David, Isaiah and Malachi, Jeremiah and Ruth, all speak of God's anointed one - of God's suffering servant - they speak too of God's purpose and plan for the world, how the world began - and how it will end. The scriptures are a way to come to know God, to come to know Christ, and it was through them, one night many years ago now - as I was reading the gospel of Luke that I first invited him to be my Lord and my Saviour. I met Christ through the scriptures. I came to know him by what they said about him, and wanted for myself the forgiveness and the joy of which he spoke, the strength and the hope which he offered, the wholeness and the salvation for which he came - and for which he died and rose again. The stranger who walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus spoke of these things. He taught them about the mind of God, and the purpose of God, and how Jesus fit in with it all. In the record of that encounter we are told that their hearts burned within them as this stranger talked to them about these things, as he "opened the Scriptures to them" Our tradition teaches us that the reading of scripture, and the study of scripture, and the proclamation of the message of the scriptures is the primary way in which we meet God, the primary way in which we meet Christ. Prayer is equally important however. While we get to know Christ, while we meet him, through the Word of God, we commune with him, we conduct our relationship with him through prayer. I can't number the times that prayer to the God who I have met through the scriptures has warmed my heart, calmed my fears, and given me a basic assurance about the future. In prayer I felt God's Spirit touch me - in prayer I have heard him tell me what I should do - and what I should not do - in prayer I felt his forgiveness and experienced a joy that words cannot express. There are hundreds of prayers in the Bible. For every mood, for every need, for every feeling that we experience we can find a matching mood, a matching need, a matching feeling described in the Holy Book. In the Psalms - and in the prophet Isaiah, and in many other places I have found my prayers to God echoed by those who have gone before me - indeed often I have found the words that I want to pray there... Lord - you are my rock and my refuge, be swift to help me. You have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure and so I praise you. Because you are at might and I will not be shaken, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.. Lord, lead me not into temptation but deliver me from the time evil. Forgive me - have mercy upon me - for I have done what is wrong in your sight, my sin is ever before - have compassion according to the abundance of your steadfast love. Father, I will praise you in the morning and in the watches of the night I will exalt you, my God and my King, You are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in love. I thank you. Prayer is so precious - in it - the God we meet, the Christ we meet - becomes ever more real to us, his presence ever more immediate. Scripture, study, and prayer are ways in which we meet God and get to know him better, ways in which we meet Christ and come ever closer to him. Without them we have very little. Without them we cannot expect to know God, to encounter God, to commune with God. But the story of the two disciples who walked on the road to Emmaus on that first Easter Day tells us something more about how to get to know Christ - something more about how we might recognize him - how we might encounter him. It speaks to us of how Christ walks with us on our journey - and how, in the breaking of bread he comes to be known to us. In the Middle East at the time of Jesus, and even to this day, to eat a meal with someone - to have a person into your house and to sit at table with them, is the greatest compliment - the greatest kindness that one can show. It is an act of profound intimacy - an act of trust - of honour - of friendship. It was in that act - and specifically in the breaking of bread and in the prayer of thanks given over that bread that the two men - whose minds were clouded by anxiety and grief as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus had their eyes opened, that they recognized that the stranger who was with them - the stranger who they had invited into their home was the risen Christ, and having recognized Christ, they are filled with joy and excitement and return to Jerusalem to give witness to the disciples and to bring them the assurance that they needed. The Church has long taught us that we come to know God, that we come to recognize God in the literal act of breaking bread and giving thanks. That we recognize God, and that we commune with God, that we fellowship with God, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. I believe that is true - but I also believe that more is meant here in the story of the Road to Emmaus I believe that this story is telling us that we too come to recognize Christ that we commune with Christ whenever we gather together, whenever we meet with and share with another person our joy and our grief and offer prayer over the bread we break together or the cup that we lift up and share with each other Jesus said - that where two or three gather in his name there he would be. When we gather in moments of intimacy. When we share the greatest gifts that we can share with one another: our homes - our tables - our bread and wine - our inner sanctums - Christ comes among us. I have had great moments in reading scripture. I have had great moments in prayer, moments in which I have been very much aware of the presence of God, very much aware of his plan and his purpose for me, very much aware of the closeness that he has to me - the love he has for me. But I have had some of my most profound moments of contact, most profound moments of recognition in the breaking of bread with strangers and with brothers and sisters in the faith; in sharing my innermost hopes and fears, my griefs and my joys with men and women who were willing to walk with me for a time and talk with me for a time and to share with me the few things that I could offer them. The Bible - and the church - calls this meeting - this sharing - this hospitality - this trust which we extend to friends and to strangers alike - communion. If you would meet God - if you would encounter Christ and recognize him in that encounter, read the scriptures and study them, listen to them being proclaimed where the saints gather - at Church and in Bible classes and pray over them with others - and at home alone by your bedside And reach out to others. Open your homes and your hearts to others as did the men who travelled the road to Emmaus. By doing so you may well be entertaining angels unaware. By doing so you may well encounter the Risen Christ, Where two or three are gathered in his name -- he is there. Amen!

Acts 2:14a,22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31

Bless thou O Lord, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts that they be of profit to us and acceptable to thee, oh our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen

For a moment imagine a scene of peace.- close your eyes and imagine it - describe it to yourself as fully as you can - enter into it deeply enough to feel its glow.

Some of you may have pictured yourself dozing in the bottom of a row boat on a calm and tranquil lake. Others may have seen yourselves looking at a little baby sleeping in her crib, or a cat napping on a sun soaked window ledge. Still others may have seen themselves in a landscape empty of people - but full of grain gently waving in a breeze or beside a stream in the woods with the water making music as it runs over and around stones lying in its course.

Whatever the picture you painted and entered into - chances are it was not like the kind of scene drawn by today's gospel text.

That text speaks of locked doors , of secret meetings by night - and of fear. None of these things makes a person normally think about peace - nor does the presence of one whose body is marked by the signs of torture and death.

It seems clear however that the evangelist wants us to see the two visits of Jesus to his disciples in the upper room as occasions of peace.

And perhaps they can speak to us about some dimensions of peace that we do normally think of - perhaps they can speak to us of peace in the midst of turmoil - of peace in the midst of fear - of peace in the midst of doubt.

False ideas about peace and joy abound in our society. These false ideas can distort our entire picture of what life is supposed to be about, and of who Christ is and of who we are.

A woman once related the story of how she once went to a worship service where the entire congregation was told

"If you don't have a smile on your face, you've got the wrong religion and should not be here. Christianity is a religion of joy."

She fled that service in tears - because she did not feel at that time like she could smile - she was having difficulties and was looking for comfort. Instead she was told that she was not good enough for God because she was not smiling.

God never asks us to falsify our experience. - our risen Lord never waits until we are already happy in order to come to us - and he never wears a pasted on smile.

Think of this for a moment - Christ could have miraculously obliterated his wounds after he was raised from the tomb, but chose not to. He bore the marks of his wounds into the presence of his disciples. In the same way Christ does not ask us to banish our wounds when we come into his presence - not even at Easter when we are supposed to be full of joy.

The risen Christ came to his disciples in the midst of their turmoil and fear. He came in the midst of their doubt and their sense of having failed both him and their own selves and said to them: "Peace be with you."

And when he said this he showed them his wounds - the holes in his hands and in his side - as if to say:

See these wounds - feel them and know that it is all right to hurt. Pain comes to us all - I was hurt as all people are hurt - but that pain and that hurt no longer has dominion over me - I live - as I said I would. I told you that I would suffer - and that you, if you followed me, would also suffer - but I told you too that after passing through various trials and tests -that pain and even death itself would lose its power - its power over me and its power over those who believe in me.

The three times that Jesus offers his peace to his disciples in today's reading - it is done in close connection with the wounds of crucifixion. The enemies of peace had already done their worst to him. They had made cowards and liars of his followers and had mocked his own words and actions. They had humiliated him in the city streets. The had violated his flesh and robbed him of his life. But their war against him failed. On the evening of the first day of the week he came to his disciples and showed them that he lived despite the worst that could happen.

The peace that Jesus offers can be described as the confidence his followers are able to take from his resurrected appearance. His return on that first day of the week signalled the fact that his life and promises will endure. His "peace be with you" was more than a greeting to be followed by another good-bye. It was the declaration of a persistent fact. Because Jesus lives nothing can separate his followers from him and from life in him.

The disciples realized this fact and in realizing it received the peace that Jesus offered - the peace that only Jesus could offer - for without him they would have been left to continue alone in the darkness and fear of their locked room.

The confidence that the disciples received when Jesus came and said to them "peace be with you" is demonstrated in the response of the disciples to his appearance. Peace showed itself in their rejoicing - and in Thomas' confession of faith - "My Lord, and my God."

And peace showed itself - confidence showed itself - inner security showed itself - later when the disciples left that room and went into the world to proclaim the love and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ - the risen Lord.

But my friends - notice that none of the external circumstances of the disciples changed when they received and accepted the peace that Christ offered them.

They believed in him - they had confidence in him - they knew that nothing could separate them from God's love after he appeared to them - but they still had to face the same situation they faced before he broke into the room they had locked because of their fear. They still had to face authorities. They still had to risk going out on the streets, they still had deal with the crowds who had mocked and crucified Jesus. They still had to face trials and tribulations - as do we.

Peace be with you - is the word of Jesus to us. Peace be with you and blessed are you when you have not seen, as the disciples saw, and yet have come to believe.

Blessed are you - not because life will be plain sailing for you. Blessed are you - not because you will always want to smile and will never have to suffer.

But blessed are you because you have linked yourself to a power greater than yours; to a power that wants to sustain you and will sustain you, to the power that raised Jesus from the dead, to the power that will bring you to the inheritance that Jesus has won for us, that inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith.

Finally - I leave you with these words of Jesus. They are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples just before he went out to the Garden of Gethesame and onward from there to his cross and his death.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Believe in God, believe also in me. Amen.

I Corinthians 15:1-11 and Mark 16:1-8

Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen

We celebrate today the resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Think of it - what a day this day is!

Jesus - whom his friends, his family, and indeed all of Jerusalem, thought dead, was raised to life on this day some two thousand years ago.

Not only was he raised to life - but he appeared to people.

He presented himself to Peter who denied him; to Thomas who doubted him; to Mary who wept for him; He visited with his friends, He supped with his disciples, He talked with his followers.

The first Easter was an incredible day, one that started with disbelief, with fear and trembling and bewilderment beside the empty tomb, and ended with astonishment, excitement and thanksgiving.

You know what strikes me about the resurrection day?

It is that despite all the disciples had seen Jesus do, from healing the sick to calming the storms, and despite all the disciples had heard Jesus say about how he would be killed and on the third day be raised, not one of them expected - after the cross was raised, not one of them hoped - after he was laid in the grave, to ever see Jesus again.

No one stood watch near the tomb. No one waited to see if he would rise.

When Jesus died their hopes died, their convictions died, indeed their faith died and they huddled in the upper room where they had celebrated the Passover hiding there in fear that the authorities would treat them just as they had treated Jesus.

What is striking about the first Easter day is that the resurrection is first discovered - not by Peter or any of the other males disciples, but by two women - and that these women do not go the tomb to see if their Lord is risen, but rather they go to finish the job of burying him.

No one expected the resurrection. Despite what they had seen. Despite what they had heard. Despite what they had experienced.

But, Praise God - it did happen! It happened because God made it happen.

And, praise God too, because not only did God make it happen, God went on and raised the faith of the disciples, He brought to life again their dead convictions and restored the hopes that they had lost.

It is because of the resurrection that we are here today.

If it had not happened the disciples would never have gone on, they would never have had the courage, the audacity, the nerve, or the temerity to say another word about Jesus in public, let alone to claim that He rose and is Lord of the living and the dead.

Hear again this morning the words of Paul - the words of one who experienced the presence of the risen Christ even as he travelled to Damascus to persecute and kill his followers.

What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day - also according to the Scriptures.

This is what we preach and this is what you believed!

Brother and Sisters in faith - The resurrection is the most important thing that we believe in as Christians.

The resurrection is the centre of our faith, it is the foundation of our Christian experience, and it is the goal towards which our lives move.

The resurrection is of first importance to us, not because it is a nice ending to the story of Jesus, but because it is the beginning of our story, a story in which our faith can triumph over death just as did the faith of Jesus.

As Christians we are urged over and over again to trust in and accept the reality of the resurrection and to make it a part of our lives through faith in the one who rose from the dead.

We are a people who are called to believe in the power and the love that it shows - to believe in the power and love of God to bring goodness out of evil; life out of death; and hope out of despair.

And as Christians we are promised that when we trust and believe in this way, that when we believe in the power and the love of God, a power and love that can raise the dead to life, that our lives will be blest, and that we will be a blessing to others.

We are promised that what we believe will make a difference to us - and indeed it does....

Let me tell you a true story:

In Russia some years ago a railway worker accidentally locked himself in a refrigerator car. Unable to escape or to attract attention, he resigned himself to his fate. As he felt his body becoming numb he took a pencil out of his pocket and recorded the story of his approaching death. He scribbled on the walls of the car:

"I am becoming colder... still colder... I am slowly freezing... half asleep - these may be my last words.

When the car was opened the man was found dead, but the temperature of the car was only about 56 degrees. Officials found that the freezing mechanism was out of order and that there was plenty of fresh air available. Although there was no physical reason that they could find for the man to have died. It was concluded that he had died because he had believed that he would die.

My friends, what you believe to be true affects you to the core of your being, it shapes you and makes you what you are, it either blesses you because it opens you up to the power of God, or it afflicts you because it blinds you to what you could be and what God is trying to do for you.

Another story, this time a fable, that goes like this:

Once upon a time a man found the egg of an eagle. It had been abandoned for some reason by its mother, but as it was still warm the man took it and put it in the nest of one of his backyard chickens along with the other eggs that were there being brooded upon.

After a period of time the eaglet was hatched, and along with the other chicks from his nest began to go about the backyard doing what the other chicks did. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He looked for the corn that the man would throw into the yard. He clucked and cackled as best as he could, and as he grew, he would, like the other chickens, thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air.

Years passed in this way and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. It glided majestically among the powerful wind currents, soaring and swooping, scarcely beating its long golden wings.

The old eagle looked at it in awe and asked "what is that"

"That is the eagle, the king of the birds", said one of his neighbours. "He belongs to the sky and to the high places. We belong to the earth, we are chickens."

The old eagle knew this was true, and so it was he lived and died as a chicken, for that is what he believed he was.

Think my friends of what happened to the disciples after the first Easter morning, after they finally accepted and believed in the resurrection that Christ had told them about.

They came out of the upper room where they had huddled in fear, and they went to the ends of the earth, and they created a mighty church despite the efforts of Emperors and Princes to stamp it and them out of existence.

They went from being people afraid of dying, to being people who offered their very lives to help others come to the faith, and hope, and joy that they had.

Like Paul - and others who have since believed - they were transformed and changed because of the resurrection and their conviction that it was for them that it occurred.

The disciples were changed by their faith in the resurrection and in the God who brought it about: they were given power to heal and to help others. Power to conquer their own fear and despair and power to defeat the fear and despair that afflicts others.

This is what the resurrection is about, what our faith is about.

God can bring back to life that which has died, God can bring good out of evil, love out of hate, and hope out of despair.

This is what we believe; and what we believe makes a difference.

Praise be to God our Father who raises the dead to life, Praise be to Jesus the Son who shares his life with the faithful, and Praise be to the Spirit who makes one with him. Amen

Matthew 21:1-11; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Matthew 27:1-2,11-50

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

Crowds. They are sometimes scary. Sometimes supportive. There are cheering crowds. There are jeering crowds, and there is a "crowd mentality".

You've heard of "mob rule". That's the mentality of a crowd. There is no space for individual thoughtfulness. No time for reflection. Just immediate and mass response.

One thing that's been true, from the very moment the first crowd gathered, and that is this: There are usually two sides in a crowd. Whether its a packed stadium for a soccer game, or a political rally, there are those for, and those against. There are the cheerers and the jeerers.

And sometimes one side or the other takes over. Sometimes, you get a crowd that becomes either supportive, or hostile. Often - the balance is delicate and fragile. A crowd can turn on you.

The crowd that Jesus faced in these days at Jerusalem was both.

It started off as a cheering and supportive crowd, and that is the crowd we met today on Palm Sunday.

But - watch out Jesus! Because - in a very few days - these same people are going to be a very different sort of a crowd for you! And God help you, my Saviour Jesus. These cheering ones - are going to turn into jeering ones.

Jesus attracted crowds.

He was a most charismatic person, this One who called himself the "Son of Man". People came from far and away to hear him. To see him. To witness to the amazing things he was doing. The great and inclusive and loving addresses he gave. The miracles he was known to perform.

But in any crowd - then and now - you get two kinds of people - the believers, and the doubters. And we see this quite often in the Bible - when we are told of the reaction of the crowds, the behaviour of the onlookers.

For example: When Jesus healed the man born blind by making mud with dirt and spit and anointing his eyes with it some of the Pharisees believed it to be a great miracle. Some believed that indeed Jesus was the Messiah.

But many more did not believe. As we heard two weeks ago, they expected kept questioning the healed man. And his parents. And his neighbours. And then they accused both him and Jesus of being an agent of the Devil.

Some for, some against. The cheerers - and the jeerers.

And later - when we look past Good Friday, past Easter, to the events of Pentecost - to the time when the Spirit descended on the disciples like tongues of flame and they began to praise God and speak in other languages, we discover that some of the onlookers saw it miraculous event. To others it was just a big drinking party! "They are filled with new wine" they said.

But - you know - as a crowd takes shape, as "mob rule" comes into effect the sentiment of the crowd solidifies. The mind of the crowd moves to one side - or the other - of an issue. It can be very frightening. And if you are in such a crowd - there's only a couple of "safe" ways to behave. Either go along with the crowd, or keep quiet.

If you don't agree, better stay silent, or leave - inconspicuously.

Some interesting experiments have been conducted by psychologists to understand crowds. And these experiments show how readily people will change their opinion to match the crowd. And I don't mean pretend to change their opinion, to fake it. I mean - really change their mind.

The experiment was simple. A bunch of people were seated in a dimly lit room. Onto a screen at the front of the room two straight lines were projected. One was obviously longer than the other.

The task was simple. State which line was longer. However unknown to the one subject of this experiment (let us say unknown to you) all of the other people in the room were involved in trickery. They had been told to lie. So - you had twenty or so other people around you saying that line A was the longer one. Everybody else in agreement. And you can see clearly that line B is longer.

What happens? Well, the experiment showed that you change your opinion, that's what. Pure and simple. And - even after the experiment is finished, and you are told what was going on you still hold to your changed opinion. That line "B" was longer. That is how persuasive the effect of a crowd is. It will even sway you to an obviously wrong opinion - and keep you there.

There was a big crowd in Jerusalem that day. Lots of people who did not even know who Jesus was - even though he'd been the talk of the city in recent weeks. It was at Passover time, when many Jews from the countryside would be there - celebrating this special feast.

There would be Jews from far away places too. Honouring their religious beliefs by travelling the great distances to Jerusalem, perhaps only once in their lifetime. Going to the Holy City for the most Holy of Feasts - the Passover. And this crowd - this day - was in a happy mood. They're ready for a parade! They are ready to celebrate.

And Jesus - knowing the mood of the city just before Passover - knowing the prophecies concerning how the Messiah would enter Jerusalem - and knowing what would come later - rides into the city on a donkey - his disciples beside him.

For those who have eyes to see - it is significant this choice of animals. Conquering heroes - generals and kings ride into town on horses - on stallions. The Messiah comes in a more humble fashion - on a donkey. Just as predicted by the prophets.

And on this day - and on this crowd - the Spirit of God had descended. "Hosanna" they shouted "Hosanna in the highest Heaven". "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord".

The disciples must have thought they had it made. Success - at last! Where are those arrogant Pharisees now? We have got it made - with Jesus! The people are all for him. They recognize that he is the promised one - the Son of David - it won't be long now - everything is going to go our way.

But Jesus knew what was to come.

He know even as the people shouted on Sunday Hosanna in the highest - hosanna to the Son of David - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. What was to come on Friday.

He knew what the same crowd would shout out when Pilate asked them "What should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?"

He knew that they shout out "Let him be crucified!" And that when Pilate asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" they would shout all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

And so Pilate released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

How quickly things can change. One week a hero, the next just another victim, a person, an object, to be spat upon and scorned - to be beaten and killed.

And yet here we are today - the Sunday before the Friday. With our palm leaves and branches - singing praises to Jesus with our children.

We have cheered with the crowd that cheered for Jesus - and rightly so - for Jesus deserves all our cheers.

But we have also -if we have understood aright, cheered with a heart heavy with the knowledge of what is to come.

In that we are closer to Christ and his knowledge of the real situation than the disciples were.

Jesus knew who he was dying for - he knew that Judas would betray him, that Peter would deny him, that the disciples would abandon him, and that crowd would call for his death.

He knew what was to come - and yet he ate and drank with Judas.
He knew and yet he prayed with Peter.
He knew and yet he called all the disciples his friends.
He knew and yet he taught in the marketplace and healed those who came to him.

Jesus knew - and we know.

We know his part - and we know our part - and knowing - we have celebrated and I say to you we must celebrate.

We must cheer for life, knowing that death follows. We must praise Jesus and call him Lord even knowing that we - like all the others have failed him, and may yet fail him.

We must cheer, and we must remember. We must remember that Jesus knows who we were - and who we are, and what we have done and will yet do and he still lay down his life for us.

Today we handed out palm leaves so that we might celebrate a token memory of the cheering crowd on Palm Sunday when they lovingly spread palms and cloaks and branches into the roadway ahead of our Saviour. And we have handed out palm leaves shaped into crosses.

Look at what you hold - perhaps you have placed it on a seat beside you...

The palms of "hosanna"!
The palms of this "day of acceptance" of our Lord, are woven into the cross of rejection.

And yet, it is an empty cross - this cross you hold - a cross which bespeaks resurrection - cross which bespeaks forgiveness.

It is a very holy mystery - this cross that you hold - this cross upon which Jesus died.

It is a mystery which the crowd can never quite accept. A mystery which you and I cannot truly understand - but which, when we accept it in faith - in our heart of hearts turns earthly despair into heavenly triumph.

Hosanna - Jesus! Hosanna - in the brief moment of earthly acclaim.
Hosanna, and may God your Father give you strength for what is to come.
Hosanna, blessed are you who have come in the name of the Lord to save and
deliver your people.
Blessed be your name - now and forevermore.
Hosanna in the highest heaven. Amen