April 13, 2003 - Palm Sunday
By Jack Price

Series: Stages of Faith (Growing Up in Faith)

(Universalizing faith)

             "Hosanna!  Loud hosannas the little children sing."  Cheers of "hosanna" would greet a conquering hero or a liberator, sometimes with palm branches waving such as we have witnessed in the streets of Baghdad this week.  The Palm Sunday parade of Jesus into Jerusalem was a living parody of the conqueror's entrance in stark contrast to the victory parade of a triumphant emperor riding a white charger.  Jesus' triumphal entry was a non-event, a poor itinerate preacher riding a young donkey with a handful of onlookers throwing cloaks on the ground and waving palm branches.  "Hosanna!"  They shouted with the words of Psalm 118, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."  Jesus entered the gate of Jerusalem, not to celebrate a great triumph, but to face his time of passion and death. 

            Palm Sunday is the gateway to this week we Christians call Holy Week.  It was the culmination of Jesus' human life and earthly ministry and the preamble to his resurrection at Easter.  Over the centuries, Christians have set this week aside, from Palm Sunday to Easter, to remember the transition from historical Jesus to risen Christ, from pre-Easter to post-Easter Jesus.  The man Jesus, compassionate rabbi and deeply spiritual prophet, walks with commitment down the pathway he was himself blazing, following the call of the Spirit he called Abba.  The importance to him of being faithful outweighed the very real possibility of death.  During this week, we remember the Last Supper with his closest friends, the pain of his suffering, the darkness of his death, and on Easter the reality of his resurrection.  As a congregation, we will remember during this week by sharing a Passover Seder meal together on Wednesday night and a service of darkness on this Good Friday.

            You may ask yourself from time to time:  "How are the titles of sermons are chosen?"  Inspiration can come from many sources.  Many of mine come in the creative passion of preparatory research.  Today's sermon, for instance, was inspired in part by a character in the major motion picture Toy Story.   Let me explain.

Toy Story is a poignant and gripping animated cinematic masterpiece illustrating the heroic power of love and belief in an "almost" human heart.  Okay, how about this?  Toy Story is the animated movie now on video and DVD that tells how a young boy fanaticizes his toys have lives of their own and how they, through loyalty and faith, ultimately find redemption.  Okay - Toy Story is an enjoyable and heartwarming animated motion picture illustrating how love and loyalty enable some pretty amazing things to take place.  Whatever you think of the movie, the one character who really does experience something of a transformational experience is the super-hero astronaut Buzz Lightyear.  At first, in denial that he is only a toy action figure, Buzz believes himself to be the genuine article.  Once reality hits him, he suffers depression and the toy's version of an alcoholic stupor.  Finally, when the chips are truly down, Buzz discovers that heroism is more a matter of the heart and the will than of the DNA.  He comes through and is able to shout with passion and conviction his own true mission statement:  "To infinity and beyond!"  So, naturally the title this sermon referring to spiritual growth in the sixth and final stage of faith development:  "To Maturity and Beyond."

We have been talking a lot about stages of faith over the last few weeks -- from this pulpit, in small group discussions, in the adult Sunday School class, and in many informal discussion in or near the parking lot!   About thirty years ago, theologian James Fowler introduced a way of understanding faith development and how the scope of our trust grows in stages throughout our lives.  Fowler's Stages of Faith are based on foundational theories of moral, psychological, and educational stages of development.  In talking about faith, Fowler means much more than any particular belief system, religious tradition, or philosophical perspective. 

"Faith is a.way of finding coherence in and giving meaning to the multiple forces and relations that make up our lives."   An infant gradually learns to distinguish the self from significant others in her or his world.  In this pre-stage of mutuality, a child learns to trust or mistrust others. 

Stage 1 -- A child (age 3-7) begins to become aware of their "self" in a world of others through imaginative fantasy, beginning to get in touch with what is ultimate.

Stage 2 - A child (age 7-11) begins to discover power to make sense of life, together with feelings of responsibility for their choices.  The ability of a child to learn to cope with the friction of competing meanings in their lives sets the stage for all future faith development.

Stage 3 - Adolescents find identity and direction from their "group," largely from outside themselves.  For adults who stay in this stage, there is a tendency not to examine commonly held wisdom.  People find meaning in accepting what is generally accepted, what authority says, and the widely held wisdom of their community. 

Stage 4 -  Identity and authority move to within the individual who also tends to reflect in a more objective way about the systems of relationships in which you find yourself. 

Stage 5 - the emergence of a desire to embrace the truth of "both-and" more than "either-or," of seeing the many dimensions of true simultaneously.  Truth is discovered through a kind of "dialogical knowing [in which] the known is invited to speak its own word in its own language."   

Stage 6 of faith development is a fulfillment of the promises inherent in stage 5.  The limitations of partial truth are recognizable because you "have been apprehended by a more comprehensive vision of truth."  Stage 6 faith means living fully within that more comprehensive vision of truth.  Regardless of the cost to self, family, or the existing order, "Stage 6 becomes a disciplined, active incarnation of the imperatives of absolute love and justice of which Stage 5 has partial apprehension."  Recall the words of St. Paul, "For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known."   Stage 6 moves toward that fuller knowledge.

Attempting to psychoanalyze any biblical character is a perilous practice, since the point of scripture is not to present biography or historical accuracy, but rather the power of God's presence in the lives of people.  With this in mind, the following faith-stage assessment of Jesus is intended to speak with more accuracy regarding stages of faith than about the actual faith development of Jesus. 

Jesus grew up in the nurture of Judaism.  He certainly developed, through the childhood stages, a sense of himself as a person who could trust and engender trust in others.  In his circle, Jewish faith was the perspective from which all else was seen.  As a young man in stage 3, Jesus must have embraced this. Then, at some point things began to change.  The words of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets must have caused him to step out and question the ways his faith was being practiced.  The suffering and injustice among his own people surely prompted him to seek inwardly for a sense of identity and direction.  The example of John the Baptist and the experience of wilderness temptation confirmed his movement through stage 4.  His ministry and teachings reflect stage 5 in faith development as he embraces the basic truths of Jewish faith, yet seeks to interpret them at a much deeper level of spirit and truth. 

  Holy Week and the story of Jesus passion and death were among the first elements of the gospels to be recorded.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke present this event with almost identical sequence and timing.  So central is this story that the Gospels have sometimes been called Passion narratives with extended introductions.  Holy Week marks the last significant change in terms of Jesus' earthly life and ministry.  He transitions to stage 6 in its crucible.  His commitment to the Father supercedes all other values.  He gives voice to the stage 6 faith in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prays, "Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will by your be done.  Stage 6 faith is not something we choose or to which we aspire.  Jesus did not seek such all or nothing commitment.  He did not choose the cross, but rather chose the path of commitment that inevitably led to Calvary. 

            We at Crossroads Church can take pride in our openness, our incisive theological understanding, our theological inclusiveness, and a willingness to invest ourselves in the causes of discipleship.  Many of us consider ourselves fairly mature in spirituality and faith.  Whether our faith is stage 3 or 4 or even stage 5, it represents a full and fruitful realization of the gifts and life God has entrusted to us.  Mature faith involves the commitment of mind and heart in ministry and spiritual growth.  As we continue to grow older and grow in faith, we find ourselves growing simpler, believing deeply in fewer and fewer things, yet believing in them with even more intensity.  The power of ultimate truth becomes more and more the supreme value for our lives.  Partial truth are increasingly marginalized.

The call of the Ultimate can lead to discontentment in our lives with what is partial, with the practical arrangements we make with our own conscience in order to live with ourselves and with each other just don't cut it anymore.  For the most part, we manage this discontent internally and talk ourselves out of acting impulsively.  Occasionally, we are propelled by clarity of vision and motivation to act in conjunction with what is universal and ultimate, regardless of consequences - stage 6 faith.  Faithfulness to what concerns us ultimately, and is worthy of that ultimate concern, overshadows any and all lesser concerns, even very good ones.  Fortunately for our comfort and the consistency of our lives, such brief excursions into stage 6 pass quickly.  Those who travel this far down the faith road motivate the rest of us to move beyond where we thought we could go.  They can also make the rest of us uncomfortable with our own limited vision.  Such people can so anger those who want to feel good in their partiality, that their lives actually become endangered.  Jesus is our model. 

The author of the New Testament letter to the Colossians writes, "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory." 

This week, this Holy Week is a time for seeking "the things that are where Christ is.  We recall the story of Jesus' passion and death and we anticipate celebrating resurrection.  The invitation to move beyond maturity in faith is extended to all, yet very few hear and even fewer follow in this life.  We are afraid to take the risk, afraid of the cost.  Let us confess our fear and begin to release its hold upon us. 

We will celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.  Let us acknowledge that the post-Easter Jesus, the risen Christ, calls us toward our own resurrection, calls us on a journey that leads along a path of our own creation that will inevitably lead through our own Calvary.   Let us confess our fear and our desire to walk that path and ask that the Spirit of Life itself guide us.

"Eternal Spirit, during this Holy Week, as we remember his journey toward Calvary's cross, remind us that the journey continued through Easter's resurrection.  The journey to eternal life with You moves through the valley of the shadow of death.  It is our resurrection that concerns you.  Help us fear no evil, but embrace the power of spirit and true, to place our faith wholly in You, to set our minds on things that are eternal for our lives are indeed hidden in You.  For it is in the truth of the risen Christ that we pray.  Amen.