My parents moved to Charlotte in 1977 when I was five years old so I know the very first year I went to a local event called, The Shrine Bowl.  Now the Shrine Bowl was an annual high school football game between the All-Stars from the states of North and South Carolina.  Now truth be told, it wasn’t until I was around 13 or so that I actually gave a spit about the football game.  Don’t get me wrong.  It was fun being there at Memorial Stadium and watching the teams play.  But I was young and barely understood the rules so it wasn’t the reason I looked forward to Dad and I’s annual Shrine Bowl outing. 

  No, what absolutely captivated me, especially when I was young, wasn’t the football game.  Neither was it just being with my Dad.  We had many special events like this, I really was blessed with an engaged Dad.  What made my day, what made me look forward to the next year’s Shrine Bowl day as we departed Memorial Stadium was the Shrine Bowl parade. 

  Now, I’ve come to know a great many Shriners in my adult life, but as a child, here were these lighthearted men driving mopeds like madmen.  Some were even dressed as clowns.  There were local bands, local “celebrities.”  I remember long-time Charlotte sportscaster Harold Johnson being heckled by some of the crowd as he rode down the street in a convertible.  There were all the typical accoutrements of parades – popcorn and hot dogs and sparkly tchotchkes for the kids.

  Man, I loved that parade.  One of the highlights of the year.  But moreover, I loved parades from that point forward. I confess, it’s been a good long while since I last saw a parade.  IN fact, we barely watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade this year given it’s scaled back nature during the time of COVID-19. 

  Of course, I’m clearly not the only one fascinated by these spectacles of sight and sound. In fact, parades have been enjoyed by peoples across the swath of time.  In this morning’s New Testament reading, we’re told about a parade, one that would take on perhaps a deeper and more difficult meaning as the week progressed to its’ ultimate conclusion – the crucifixion on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Here’s now is our reading from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, verses 1-11:

  “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.  And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

  One of my mentors as I was preparing for the pastorate was Rev. Steve Eason at Myers Park Presbyterian Church.  As part of my duties there, I participated in worship on Palm Sunday.  Rev. Eason is a great preacher and I was excited to hear the Word he’d share with us.

  Amazingly, he announced he’d be giving the same sermon he’d delivered the year before.  He went on to say that it was mostly same sermon he’d preached every Palm Sunday for the last 15 years. 

  I was a bit apprehensive at first. 

  But then I heard the sermon.  All Rev. Eason did was recount and reflect upon the events of Holy Week.  As I listened to the narrative, I realized it was something FAR MORE than a sermon.