By Pastor Johnny R. Almond
Frederick Buechner writes this about Palm Sunday: “Despair and hope travel the road to Jerusalem together, as they travel every road we take—despair at what in our madness we are bringing down on our own heads, and hope in him who travels the road with us and for us, who is the only one of us all who is not mad.”
Journeying through life, we have mixed emotions—angst thinking about current events of war, starvation, international unrest, and political chaos; optimism meditating on the promise of a new Jerusalem, a new earth without sickness, pain, death or sin.
Konrad Adenauer, German chancellor, told Billy Graham, “If Jesus Christ is not alive, then I see no hope for this world.” Imagining what it would be like were there no resurrection, Paul wrote “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching amounts to nothing and your faith is futile, you are still in your sins, and those who have died with faith in Christ have perished.” (1 Corinthians 15:14-18 MLB) It’s like saying, “Suppose the sun did not rise tomorrow, then what? There would be only darkness and confusion and despair. But the sun has come up, and we walk in the light without fear.”
Jesus travels the road of life with us. He made a promise to remember— “I am with you all the days until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And God is for us, so even death cannot separate us from his love (Romans 8:31, 38).
Years ago, someone gave me a piece of newspaper with these anonymous words: “Refuse to be discouraged by the many signs that planet earth is the insane asylum of the solar system.” Sometimes I wonder.
C.S. Lewis wrote of the trilemma—Jesus is either a lunatic, liar, or Lord. Considering Jesus’ teachings, life and love, we call him Lord. Reflecting on the condition of our world and our own heart, one question remains to be answered—Is Jesus Christ “the only one of us all who is not mad”?
Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote about people who have many material things, but “care nothing about how long they have been given to live because they can no longer think up ways to spend their hours.” Believing a paradise without sadness or sighs will materialize is not a mark of insanity, but a sign of implicit trust in God (Isaiah 26:3). Hope triumphs over despair, bringing perfect peace to one whose mind is stayed on God, whatever happens in this crazy world.
