APRIL FOOL!

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2007

Philippians 2:7 "He emptied himself taking the form of a servant."

Here we are on April Fools Day! It's very hard to keep Palm Sunday on April Fools Day. This is the beginning of the most important and solemn week for Christians, as we celebrate firstly, the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem, and secondly, the Passion of Jesus - expressed by the haunting theme of our psalm today.

Actually for me April Fools day came early - it happened on Friday. I got home in the afternoon and there was a leaflet on my door with a picture of Jesus. It said:

This year the anniversary of Jesus' death falls on Monday April 2^nd after sundown. Jehovah's Witnesses invites you to meet with them on that date to examine what makes Jesus and what he did so important to every one of us. The following questions will be considered: Who really was Jesus?

This really is a joke!

Firstly, Jehovah Witnesses don't really believe who Jesus is - God's only son.

Secondly, they think his death was the end of his life.

And thirdly, they certainly won't be celebrating Good Friday.

Obviously they will be doing something tomorrow night after sundown.

They are the April fools!

Then I thought about it again. April Fools day is appropriate for Palm Sunday. Today, all over America, clergy are riding donkeys. How foolish they will look! And Jesus looks silly on a donkey too! Despite what the prophet Zechariah prophesied about the Messiah entering Jerusalem.

But that isn't where the foolishness of Jesus finishes. Five days later the same crowd who shouted "Hosanna" will be shouting "crucify him."

On Friday Jesus will really look foolish. In the morning the soldiers will mock him - make a fool of him. With crimson robe, crown of thorns and mock secpre of reed they will say "Hail, king"! Then they will blindfold him and strike him, saying "play the prophet Christ - who stuck you?"

The passion of Christ not only involves physical suffering but mental torment and being made a fool of. And who amongst us enjoys being made a fool of? Who could stand that?

So, yes, April Fools day is a good day to begin Holy Week.

Actually I have no problem with Jesus being an April fool. In the middle ages the fool had an important role. He was the court jester, the joker, the clown.

+ He made people think.

+ He challenged them.

+ He took them to a deeper reality.

This is exactly what Jesus does on the cross.

He makes people think. He challenges us. He takes us to a deeper reality.

St. Paul knew all about this foolishness from his own experience. His conversion from persecutor to preacher must have seemed a little foolish to his friends. In 1 Corinthians 4 he says: "Here we are, fools for Christ's sake." Earlier in 1 Corinthians he refers to the folly of the cross. He says: "While Jews demand miracles and Greeks look for wisdom - here we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the pagans, madness." It's not the first time they thought Jesus was mad.

Then St. Paul goes on to say these words: "But to those who have been called, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God."

In his wisdom Jesus chose to seem a fool so that God's love might triumph in his foolishness. All the love in the world can not equal the love we see on the cross. God's kingdom of love is ushered in by such foolishness as Jesus offering himself - by his preparedness to look a fool.

And we, too who follow Jesus may look foolish celebrating this Holy Week. Many people do not understand why we have so many services at All Saints, why we are in church so much this coming week. Some will scoff at our long and ancient services. More than a few will ridicule our belief that what we celebrate is not only at the heart of our faith - it is the heart of love.

Many think we are the April fools. And if so we keep good company. For all seemed foolish and lost on Good Friday.

Let St. Paul have the last word: "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."