Once again it is Palm Sunday -- Easter here we come!

I must admit that I really look forward to Holy Week. It is exciting! It is the high point of the Church Year. Palm Sunday is the celebration of King Jesus returning to his capitol ready to reclaim the kingdom. He enters His Temple and establishes his authority. It is then on to the glory of his Resurrection! Jesus lives. He has defeated sin and death. Victory in Jesus! Oh wait -- did I forget something. Oh, that's right, I forgot Good Friday and the cross! How could I do that? I know that Jesus died for me, but, it is so exciting to see his glory and the great victory!

Of course, I'm kidding! Right? Well, yes and no. All of us who are believers realize that the cross of Christ is central to our belief. It is central indeed to our salvation. But, it really is all too easy in our celebrations during Holy week to skip from Palm Sunday to Easter with not much mention of Good Friday. When I was much younger, there were community celebrations of good Friday. There would be services running from noon until 3:00 in the afternoon where the cross was central. Now, these kind of services are rarely seen -- the world and our culture has changed. Some churches have Good Friday Services, but much of the time, they are poorly attended. Many of the liturgical churches try to deal with this by designating this Sunday, Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday.

My text for Sunday's sermon is 1 John 5:1-12, with verses 3b-5 somewhat problematic:

And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Why are these verses problematic? It seems like they are great promises -- and they are!  I also certainly believe that they are true, but here is where they become problematic -- what is meant by overcoming the world. I think that sometimes we become enamored with a triumphalism that neglects the cross. We just see one degree of glory following another. "Just have faith brother -- after all our faith will conquer the world." We forget that the glory of the resurrection only takes place after the humiliation and suffering of the cross.

A second problem is the tendency to see this as some kind of temporal power over our society and culture. I think that this is especially true here in America. We don't understand why it seems like Jesus is losing. "We no longer pray in school. We don't celebrate Christ in Christmas. Now the gays want to have the opportunity to marry!" The complaints go on and on. It sure doesn't seem like we are overcoming the world -- we pray -- and there is one defeat after another. Is this promise true?

This great promise was written when Christians were a very small minority in a pagan culture. Certainly Christianity was not respected or honored, yet John says that we will overcome the world. I think that he is saying that we overcome by not being conformed to the model of this world. We can be transformed and live victorious lives. Remember Jesus lived a victorious life. He was not just victorious on Palm Sunday and Easter. He was victorious on Good Friday. Perhaps that was his greatest victory.