Author William Martin, in his book The Parent’s Tao Te Ching, offers this advice to parents: ““Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.” Every year we celebrate Palm Sunday in the church. And on the surface it seems like a pretty ordinary sort of tale. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. And a crowd of people gather to welcome him in. They shout out words of praise and acclamation. And they wave tree branches. None of that was extraordinary. It was not how someone of prominence would have entered Jerusalem. Yet somehow this event was pivotal in the story of Jesus, which is the story of our salvation. So, let’s dig a little deeper.

There are three things from Mark’s version of this story that I want to point out this morning. First, Jesus enters Jerusalem on a borrowed ride. As I sat writing this sermon, I occasionally would glance out my window to see high schoolers in fancy dresses and tuxedos standing on the bridge behind my house getting their picture taken, in preparation for what I can only assume is Prom or some other formal dance. And I remembered how at the Proms I attended way back when, many students would rent or borrow fancy cars to take their dates to the dance. I was never so inclined, but I know many were. I would assume that is still the case with youth today. Palm Sunday was sort of like Jesus’ prom night and he needed a ride. The Palm Sunday story is often called in our Bibles “The Triumphal Entry.” That’s because Jesus was entering Jerusalem as the perceived Messiah, come to conquer Rome and redeem the land for Israel. And while part of that turned out to be true, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and Jesus’ redemption of Israel (and all humanity) came through much less flashy means. This included the ride he procured for his entry into Jerusalem.

He didn’t come into the city riding on a white stallion or some other noble steed…like a conquering king typically would. Instead, Mark says that he rode in on a borrowed colt. The Greek word translated as colt seems to be referring to a young donkey. So, not only was this not a noble steed, but it was instead an immature pack animal. Jesus rode into Jerusalem, not as a regal king, but as cargo. Yet despite the modest ride that Jesus borrowed, a crowd still awaited his coming. And they prepared the way for him, which leads me to the second thing I wanted to point out from this story.

The decorations the people use are simply whatever they can find. Mark tells us that the people spread their cloaks on the ground and wave branches they cut from the field. It wasn’t streamers or confetti or noise makers or flags, but it was what the people had. So they utilized their resources. There is an old Chinese legend that goes like this: “A group of elderly, cultured gentlemen met often to exchange wisdom and drink tea. Each host tried to find the finest and most costly varieties, to create exotic blends that would arouse the admiration of his guests. When the most venerable and respected of the group entertained, he served his tea with unprecedented ceremony, measuring the leaves from a golden box. The assembled epicures praised this exquisite tea. The host smiled and said, “The tea you have found so delightful is the same tea our peasants drink. I hope it will be a reminder to all that the good things in life are not necessarily the rarest or the most costly.” I think that is a good reminder for us as we consider the story of Palm Sunday and all of the ordinary things that went into Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

That leaves us with just one last thing to consider from this story this morning. And that is the noisy crowd. As Jesus entered the city, the crowd began to shout, “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!” Being shouted at as you enter a city could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing, depending on what the people are shouting. Here the people are shouting out to Jesus saying, “Hosanna!” Hosanna is a word from Hebrew meaning “save us, we pray!” It was a plea for help. So, despite the rather simple and ordinary entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the people still believe that Jesus can do something extraordinary. This simple carpenter’s son can save them.

Bishop Curry asks the question, “I’m just a regular person, can my love have an impact?” The story of Palm Sunday proves that ordinary things have an impact all the time. I can think of many other examples: Rosa Parks refusing to leave her seat on a bus. Malala Yousafzai simply speaking about the education of women or lack thereof under the Pakistani Taliban. Elizabeth Elliot returning to live with the people who murdered her husband. Regular people whose love made an impact. Ordinary acts that brought about extraordinary change. This is the message of the Palm Sunday story and a word of encouragement for each of us as we live our lives. We may be regular, ordinary people, but when we love as Jesus’ loved, extraordinary things can happen. Amen!