August's Sermons

Church Period: Lent Palm Sunday
Sermon Title: Living Through Holy Week Successfully
Sermon Date: April 7, 1968
Rev. August Hauptman
Sermon Text: John 12:1-8

Dear Christian friends:

During this past week the world has been surprised and shocked by several earth shaking events: last Sunday evening our president announced that he would not be a candidate in November; on Wednesday we heard that Hanoi was ready to meet with our government and talk about peace; before we could quiet down we heard terrible news about Dr. Martin Luther King.

In my life time I can't remember of any week in which so many earth shaking things happened. Perhaps the only other week in history that can compare is the first Holy Week more than 1900 years ago, the week when Jesus on the first Palm Sunday rode on the donkey into Jerusalem to suffer and die, then to rise again on Easter Sunday. That first Holy Week also was full of many earth shaking events.

By the events of this past week God is speaking to our world and especially to our country. God is saying to all of us, "Wake up! Confess your sins. Be ashamed and sorry about your wicked ways. Believe my Words and be saved."

And God chose a very good time to let these terrible things happen to us, right before Holy Week. Often we begin Holy Week and live through it and Easter either half asleep or fully asleep. God wants us to wake up and see what happened 1900 years ago and how we are joined with that. We need to believe to be saved and healed.

Our text for this Palm Sunday is a good one to help us wake up and live. It will help us to prepare ourselves for living through Holy Week successfully.

A successful preparation for Holy Week requires that we be encouraged and comforted by the faith and love of Mary. Six days before Passover Jesus went with His disciples to Bethany to the home of Simon the leper. Mary and her sister Martha served the supper, and their brother Lazarus whom Jesus a short time before had raised from the dead was sitting with Jesus at the table.

While they were eating Mary came with some very expensive perfumed ointment and poured it on Jesus' head and body, and also some on His feet. Then she loosened her hair and knelt down and wiped His feet with her hair.

Now the odor of the sweet-smelling ointment (oil) spread through the room. The twelve disciples and other guests saw what Mary was doing. Judas was displeased and criticised Mary. He asked, "Why not sell that perfume and give the money to the poor, why waste it?" But Jesus said, "Leave her alone she's doing that for my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have Me."

Jesus praises Mary because by pouring that expensive oil on Him she shows her faith and love to Him. Several times before Jesus had told His disciples and all of His friends that "He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be crucified and then rise on the third day." Many believed Jesus' words, prophecy, about His death and resurrection. So she now anoints His body for burial. Mary also believed in Jesus and loved Him very much because He had shown His wonderful kindness and power when He made her brother Lazarus arise from death a few weeks before.

The twelve disciples did not believe in Jesus and love Him like Mary. Her faith and love in Jesus should be strong encouragement to all of us to believe in Him and show our love to Him by worshipping Him and offering to Him expensive gifts. Judas says that perfume was worth 300 denarii, one years wages at that time. To us it would be like $3,000 or $4,000. Remember last Thursday Martin Luther King gave His life to serve his people, his country and his Savior Jesus. What will you give for Jesus this Holy Week?

Mary is a big help to us in preparing ourselves to wake up and live successfully through this Holy Week. Also by attending to Judas who sat at the table and complained we will be helped in our preparation for Holy Week.

Judas complained when Mary showed such strong faith and love. He tried to criticise her and say she was wasting too much money. And he tried to make a good argument. He asks, "Why not sell this perfume and then give the money to the poor?" But John tells why he said that - "not because he loved the poor but because he was a thief and often stole the money from the box." Judas was the treasurer.

We know very well that Judas did not love Jesus and didn't care for the poor. He loved money and on Thursday night he sold Jesus to the Jewish priests for thirty pieces of silver.

All of us have greed in our hearts, too. We are daily tempted to love money and all the nice things money can buy. T.V. commercials, newspaper ads, attractive magazines ads daily tempt us to value earthly things and pleasures, more than Jesus and His spiritual riches or blessings.

We may be hypocrites like Judas, too. You know on Easter I always want you to buy and bring many flowers to decorate our church to honor and praise Jesus on Easter Sunday. Then some members perhaps say, "Why waste the church money for flowers? Why not give the money to the poor or to missions?" But do they really love the poor? Do they really want to support missions? No! Thy don't give for flowers and they don't give for missions or the poor. They only want to keep their money for themselves. They really don't want to give for anything. Like Judas, they love money rather than Jesus.

Each one of us should honestly today search our hearts and confess our sins. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't argue and make false excuses like Judas.

See Jesus how He loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus and how He here bravely and calmly prepares to suffer and die for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. He even loves Judas. He knew what evil and deceit was in Judas' heart, He kindly tried to help Judas see His sin. He reminds Judas that in a few days He will die for the world.

Wonderful Jesus! He is very kind and merciful. He suffers our sins and insults without complaint, He does no violence, like Dr. King, non-violent.

On this Palm Sunday and during this Holy Week let us attend carefully to all the things Jesus did for us in Jerusalem 1900 years ago. He did that because of us. He saw us too when He suffered and died.

Jesus can heal our hearts and our nations, too.

Amen.