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What Matters, and What Doesn’t            Luke 19: 28-40         April 1, 2007      Palm Sunday

Bill Murray is without a doubt one of the funniest people on the planet.  Along with the other members of the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” on Saturday Night Live, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Dan Ackroyd, Jane Curtin, Loraine Newman and Al Franken – hands-down, the funniest ensemble cast in the history of television – he rose to become one of the top comedic talents of our era. 

Murray’s signature character will always be Carl Spackler, the goofy greens keeper at the Bushwood Country Club in the movie Caddyshack, where he practiced his golf swing on defenseless ornamental shrubs, caddied for an aging Episcopal Priest in a raging thunderstorm and battled gophers with plastic explosives.  Very funny stuff indeed.

But the Bill Murray moment that I remember most vividly is from Meatballs, a movie that proceeded Caddyshack at the box office by a year or so, in which he starred as Tripper Harrison, Head Counselor at Camp Northstar, a summer camp that always stood in the shadow of its ritzier rival on the other side of the lake, Camp Mohawk.

The scene from Meatballs that stands out in my mind is actually a Bill Murray monologue.  Tripper, his character, is giving a pep-talk to the kids at Northstar in the middle of their annual two-day camp Olympics against Mohawk. 

As usual, Northstar is losing badly, and Tripper’s speech to the campers goes like this:  “And even if we win,” he says to the kids, “If we win, HAH! Even if we play so far above our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days; even if God in Heaven above points his hand at our side of the field; even if every man woman and child joined hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk because they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or if we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!” 

At this point, all of the campers and counselors join in the chant:  “IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER...”

This scene is the turning point in the movie.  It sets the stage for the classic happy ending that follows.  Northstar triumphs in the Olympics, several kids’ lives are changed for the better and Tripper wins the heart of his girlfriend.  It just doesn’t get much happier than that!

As all of you know, the focus of our worship today is Palm Sunday – it’s the Sunday where we remember Jesus, riding on a borrowed donkey, leading a parade of people who threw their garments in the road, waved palms and chanted “Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

So I’m guessing many of you are thinking, right about now, “where’s the connection?”  “What, in heaven’s name, does Tripper Harrison’s ‘It Just Doesn’t Matter’ speech have to do with Palm Sunday?”

Well, as you might expect, I’m about to tell you.  Actually, there are two connections.

First, in the same way that the “It Just Doesn’t Matter” speech was the turning point in the Meatballs movie, Palm Sunday was the turning point in Jesus’ life. 

For those of his followers who thought that he was going to turn the Government upside-down and end the stranglehold that the Romans had on the Jewish people, it was the beginning of shattered hopes.  And for those who understood, as we Christians do now, that this King Jesus came not to overthrow the government but rather to proclaim good news to the poor, the hungry and the powerless, it was also a turning point, but one leading in a totally different direction. 

Jesus’ life, from this point on, was about sacrifice, about death and about resurrection.  Prior to the Palm Sunday parade, Jesus might have been mistaken for just another itinerant preacher.  He might have been mistaken for another rabble-rouser, trying to stir up anti-Roman sentiment.  Even those in his closest circle of friends weren’t quite sure what to make of him. 

His entry into Jerusalem, however, put an end to the uncertainty.  Up to this point, Jesus regularly told people to keep his miracles and signs to themselves.  No more.  Jesus planned this event.  He orchestrated it.  His decision to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey was an in-your-face announcement to all those who were threatened by his presence.  Look at his response when the Pharisees warned him to quiet his disciples:  “If these were to keep silent,” he says, “the stones would cry out.” 

Everything that happened in Jesus’ life prior to this point was just prologue.  What matters is what lies ahead – his passion, his death and his resurrection.

And so it is true for us today as well.  For every man, woman and child gathered here this morning, Palm Sunday is our annual opportunity to set aside the whole rest of the year and look forward to this crucial week ahead.  Everything we have done together in the past was just prologue.  What matters is that we grasp the significance of what lies ahead of us, between now and Easter Sunday.  As far as the rest of the year is concerned, we can echo the words of Tripper Harrison:  “It Just Doesn’t Matter.  It Just Doesn’t Matter.”

Which brings us to the second, and even more important connection between that scene in the movie and our Palm Sunday worship today. 

Palm Sunday provides an opportunity for us to take a look at all the things that matter in our lives, at all those details that occupy our busy schedules.  It is an opportunity to look at all the “stuff” that we find ourselves accumulating and protecting, at all the things we work for and take pride in owning, and then step back and ask ourselves if, at the end of the day, any of these things really matter.

If we look at the example of Jesus, the answer emerges in clear, bright focus.  Jesus was clearly someone who could pay attention to details.  He knew exactly where to tell his disciples to go to fetch the donkey for him to ride on.  He arranged in advance for the loan of the animal.  He knew exactly what words the disciples should use to assure the owner that it was OK to release the beast.

On the other hand, however, Jesus did not pay attention to the things that others thought were important.  He lived in the present, with no concern for the urgent demands of others.  He had no concern whatsoever for fame or recognition.  Not only did he not play to win, he regarded the losers he saw around him as role models for the Kingdom of Heaven. 

And he most certainly never worried about what might happen tomorrow.  “Don’t worry about tomorrow,” he told his disciples.  “Tomorrow will bring worries of its own.”

It’s starting to sound familiar, isn’t it?  The details that consume us, on pretty much a daily basis, never crossed Jesus’ mind.  So when I picture Bill Murray in my mind, standing in the lodge at Camp Northstar, leading the campers in that chant:  “IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!” I picture Jesus, standing before his disciples, chanting the same words.  Look at your lives, he is saying to them – and to us – all those things you do to get ahead, all those things you accumulate, all those hours you spend worrying.  They just don’t matter.

What matters, is the week ahead.  What matters is Palm Sunday, and the Last Supper, and Good Friday and Easter. These are the events that allow us to take our eyes off the things that do not matter and set them upon the arrival of the Savior.

When Jesus sat upon that young colt and began to ride into Jerusalem, some of the people around him were wise enough to recognize the moment of their salvation. They cut branches down and spread them on the ground in front of him. Many spread their cloaks on the ground. They began to shout, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Glory to God in the highest heaven!"

The spreading of psalms was a liturgical act repeated at every Passover and feast day. Every time the people worshiped, they waved those psalms. Year after year, week after week, day after day they paid attention to the details of looking for a savior. And when the Savior came, this time, they were ready.

Today, you and I are invited, as children of God, to join the parade; to follow our servant King and serve beside him.

May we be ready to receive the Savior this year.  May we grab hold of this opportunity to leave the unimportant things behind us and walk forward, soaking up every element of the week that lies ahead.

                                                                                                            AMEN