03-29-2026 | Inspiring Us to Act

“The Good News is. . . 
Inspiring us to Act”
Mark 11:1–11

Preached by 
Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser

Eden United Church of Christ  
Cherryland, CA 
29 March 2026

We’ve been mighty busy this Lenten season leading up to Holy Week—potlucks, Songs of Resistance last Sunday (shoutout to Pastor Ashley), and another No Kings rally yesterday (shoutout to District 20 Woman of the Year, Pat Payne). And to those of you who were there, you may hear a few echoes today.

Today is Palm Sunday—wave those palms! 

We know the story: smiling faces, palms laid down, a triumphant entry. But the version handed down to us has often been sanitized, often turned into a mere children’s pageant.

So let’s set the record straight. Palm Sunday was a protest. 

Biblical scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg in their book The Last Week, posit that Jesus enters Jerusalem at the same time that empire enters too. On one side, the machinery of Rome: governors like Pontius Pilate riding in on war horses, backed by soldiers, enforcing control. A parade of empire. A parade meant to intimidate. A parade meant to remind people who is in charge. Meanwhile at another entrance of the walled city, the Mercy Gate, here comes Jesus on a donkey, with the people, cloaks on the ground, palm branches in their hands. Not a parade of domination, but a parade of protest.

Hoy es Domingo de Ramos. Conocemos la historia: una entrada triunfal, palmas tendidas en el suelo. Pero, con demasiada frecuencia, ha sido reducida a una representación infantil.

La realidad es que el Domingo de Ramos fue una protesta. Eruditos como John Dominic Crossan y Marcus Borg nos recuerdan que, mientras Jesús entra en Jerusalén, el imperio entró también. 

Por un lado: Roma; gobernadores como Poncio Pilato montados en caballos de guerra, respaldados por soldados: un desfile de poder destinado a intimidar.

Al otro lado: Jesús. Montado en un asno. Junto al pueblo. Mantos tendidos en el suelo. Palmas en las manos. No un desfile de dominación… sino un desfile de protesta.

The question of Palm Sunday is: Which procession are you in? The parade of empire? Or the parade of liberation? Are you a stormtrooper of empire? Or a rebel of the resistance?

Because this tension is as old as the Book of Exodus and as current as today’s headlines. Are you on Pharaoh’s side—or on the side of the people crying out for freedom? Are you on Caesar’s side—or on the side of the radical prophet who feeds the hungry and welcomes the stranger?

Let’s be honest. Empire still operates the same way. It takes. It extracts. It redistributes wealth—just not in the way God intends. It takes from the poor to fund its own expansion. It builds itself on the backs of those it marginalizes.

But Jesus? Jesus feeds the hungry. Jesus welcomes the stranger. Jesus refuses to starve people, deport people, bomb people, support genocide. 

This isn’t complicated. This isn’t abstract theology. This is not rocket science, folks. Palm Sunday is not a dress rehearsal. It is time for the Church to get up, stand up. If you’re with me, wave those palms. 

El Domingo de Ramos plantea una pregunta sencilla: ¿En qué procesión te encuentras? ¿En el desfile del imperio o en el desfile de la liberación?

Esta elección es tan antigua como el Libro del Éxodo y tan actual como el día de hoy. ¿El Faraón o el pueblo que clama por libertad? ¿El César o el profeta que alimenta al hambriento y acoge al forastero? Porque el imperio sigue funcionando de la misma manera: Toma. Extrae. Se edifica sobre las espaldas de los marginados.

¿Pero Jesús? Jesús alimenta al hambriento. Jesús acoge al forastero. Jesús rechaza los sistemas que dañan y excluyen. Esto no es complicado. El Domingo de Ramos es un llamado a ponerse de pie.

When the crowd shouts “Hosanna!” they’re not just praising, they’re crying out. “Hosanna” means: God, save us. So, what do we want God to save us from? Write it down on the paper waiting for you in the pew.

Save us from systems that criminalize migrants. 
Save us from violence against trans and queer bodies. 
Save us from economies that demand more and more from working people while concentrating wealth at the top. 
Save us from the machinations of war. 

Because here’s the truth we proclaimed yesterday, and the truth that Palm Sunday has always proclaimed: El pueblo salva al pueblo. The people save the people. Some of us remember 20 years ago, A Day Without an Immigrant, when millions withdrew their labor, their presence, their participation— and this country felt, even if just for a moment, what it means when the people rise together. That wasn’t just a protest. That was a revelation. A reminder that what systems depend on is us. Be ready for another general strike May Day this year.  

Now hear me clearly—this is not a rejection of God, this is a recognition of how God most often works. God works through the people. Through community. Through solidarity. Through collective action rooted in love and justice.

That’s what Jesus is doing. He’s not arriving to seize power like a king, much to the disappointment of militant zealots. He’s organizing a movement. He’s embodying a different kind of power, one that supersedes the power of a throne seat or a tacky ballroom. 

Cuando la multitud grita «¡Hosanna!», está clamando: Dios, sálvanos. Sálvanos de los sistemas que criminalizan a los migrantes, dañan los cuerpos queer y trans, explotan a los trabajadores y declaran guerras.

El Domingo de Ramos nos recuerda: El pueblo salva al pueblo. Ya lo hemos visto antes: cuando el pueblo se alza unido, los sistemas lo sienten. Así es cómo obra Dios: A través del pueblo. A través de la solidaridad. A través del amor en acción.

Jesús no está tomando el poder; está construyendo un movimiento. El camino de Jesús es sencillo: Justicia. Misericordia. Amor.

El Domingo de Ramos declara: No a los reyes. Porque no se puede aplastar la solidaridad. No se puede detener un movimiento. No se puede dividir a un pueblo arraigado en la comunidad.

Así que no te limites a recordar esta historia: Vívela. El movimiento está vivo. El amor se está organizando. Y Dios sigue salvando a través de nosotros.

And so let me say again, as clearly as I can: There is nothing—nothing— Christian about Christian nationalism. 

And it is not just wrong—it is blasphemous—to claim that war, violence, or domination are divinely inspired. That God would sanction destruction, suffering, or death in the name of power. That is not the Gospel. That is empire masquerading as religion.

Because the way of Jesus is not domination. It is not exclusion. It is not control. It is justice, mercy, and love.

Palm Sunday is a declaration: No Kings. 
No to systems that concentrate power. 
No to ideologies that decide who belongs. 
No to any authority that demands obedience at the expense of dignity.

Because what empire doesn’t understand is this:
You can try to take away rights—but you cannot take away solidarity.
You can try to silence voices—but you cannot silence a movement.
You can try to divide us—but you cannot break a people rooted in community.

And that’s why the people lay down their cloaks. That’s why they raise their voices. That’s why they show up. Because they know: Another way is possible. 

And that’s what we are called into today. Not just to remember this story—But to live it.
To choose courage in the face of fear.
To choose joy in the face of despair.
To choose community in the face of division.
To step into the protest with Jesus. Because the Good News is not just that Jesus entered Jerusalem.
The Good News is that this movement is still alive.
The Good News is that love is still organizing.
The Good News is that God is still saving us—through us.

So I ask you again:
Which procession are you in? It’s our turn. Are you ready to walk with Jesus? Right now, we join those in the Jesus Movement world over, protesting empire. 

I invite you to take a sign in the pews near you and join us as we march around our church building. Pastor Ashley will lead us in song while marching, and Pastor Brenda will lead those who wish to stay within the sanctuary.

Es nuestro turno. ¿Están listos para caminar con Jesús? En este momento, nos unimos a quienes, en todo el mundo, forman parte del Movimiento de Jesús y protestan contra el imperio.

Los invito a tomar un letrero de los bancos cercanos y a unirse a nosotros mientras marchamos alrededor del edificio de nuestra iglesia. La pastora Ashley nos guiará con cantos durante la marcha, y la pastora Brenda guiará a quienes deseen permanecer dentro del santuario.

We’re part of the procession now. If you believe God cares for the hungry and the stranger, march and sing with us.