Many of the over 900 men on that ship were in a panic. As they rushed up to the main deck, some men forgot their shirts; some men forgot their helmets; and some had forgotten their life jackets.

There was no time for them to return to their quarters.

On that troop ship also were four military chaplains.

The chaplains did their part to calm the panic stricken men, and helped fill up the available lifeboats. And they did something else. All four of the chaplains gave their life jackets to men who had none. The ship sank twenty-seven minutes after being hit by the torpedo. Each of those men who escaped and were later rescued, remember the witness to the love of God that they saw that night.

They remember the four chaplains, standing arm in arm together on the deck, singing the familiar hymn "Nearer My God To Thee" as that ship slipped under the water.

Their sacrifice was noted by the common soldier as well as by those in command. The men who reported that incident noted that their lives were never the same.

The choice that the Chaplains made had eternal implications.

They made a choice that made a difference.

In our text today we read that Jesus made a choice.

Jesus chose to go Jerusalem, even though He knew it meant certain death.

Jesus made a choice that had eternal implications.

Jesus made a choice that made a difference.

The Gospel writers describe the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the same way that the writers in that day would describe a conquering king who has returned from a successful war campaign.

But the celebration on Sunday turned into a lamentation on Friday.

The triumph looked like it had turned into tragedy.

Was the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus an accident of history?

I do not think so.

I believe that Jesus made a choice to put Himself in that position.

If we read the text of Mark 11-13, we will discover that every action Jesus took that week was calculated to draw attention to Himself; calculated to make the leaders mad; calculated to get Himself arrested.

The crowds that welcomed Jesus on that first day may have been confused later on in the week, because they discovered that everything was not going as they expected.

The people on the first day wanted to believe that Jesus was arriving in Jerusalem as a conqueror, ready to accept the crown of a king and the army of a general. But there was a difference in this conqueror.

This conqueror didn't ride a fine white horse, he sat on a donkey.

This conqueror didn't wear a general's uniform, just a simple tunic.

This conqueror didn't carry any weapons; all that He had were the words of His mouth and the testimony of His deeds.

Some of the people at that celebration had been with Jesus a long time, but they did not have ears to hear the hard message.

Jesus had told His disciples three times that He was going to Jerusalem to be killed.

Jesus had repeatedly stated that "My kingdom is not of this world." But some people in the crowds were confused, because they missed that part of the message.

Sometimes the word of God is right in front of us, but we miss it.

Jesus entered Jerusalem with a parade.

Jesus should have kept a low profile, knowing that the leaders were looking for an excuse to silence Him.

But on the day after His arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus made a choice to announce Himself in an even bolder way.

Apparently, the parade was not enough.

Jesus went to the temple, and disrupted the moneychangers.

He turned over the tables, and released all of the sacrificial doves.

Now it is one thing to talk about the corruption of the system, but is quite another thing when we physically disrupt that system.

When we interfere with someone getting paid, then we better be prepared for a battle. Jesus made a choice.

Jesus upset the temple financial system, and He knew that His actions would not go unnoticed.

Jesus knew also that his actions could not go unpunished.

Jesus knew that His days were numbered.

The next day, Jesus made another choice.

Jesus returned to the temple, where the religious leaders questioned Him about authority and theology.

Three sets of holy men argued and tested Jesus, and they all gave up trying to trap Jesus in a religious corner.

Then Jesus began to teach. His lesson was about unfit holy leaders!!

Jesus made a choice.

Jesus had set out to deliberately disrupt the expose the corrupt financial system and theological systems.

Jesus accomplished His goal.

And Jesus knew that there would be retribution.

Making a choice that makes a difference is never easy.

Jesus knew that the cross was the only way to change the disorder of the world into the order of God's kingdom.

By His actions that week, Jesus taught us that it takes obedience, and sacrifice, and yes, pain, to bring disorder back into order again.

It was not an accident. It was a choice.

It was a choice that made a difference.

In his book And The Angels Were Silent , author and pastor Max Lucado speaks about the deliberate choices of Jesus. He writes:

"Forget any suggestion that Jesus was trapped." "Erase any theory that Jesus made a miscalculation." "Ignore any speculation that the cross was a last-ditch attempt to salvage a dying mission." "Jesus died … on purpose. No surprise. No hesitation. No faltering."
The Gospel of John teaches that the journey to the cross; the redemption of all mankind; was planned from the beginning of time.
Max Lucado wrote that the sound of the crunching fruit was still in the air in the Garden of Eden as Jesus was beginning His journey to the cross.

The man who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a warhorse; who deliberately challenged the wrath of the enemy; has become the king and conqueror after all.

Many of those who were confused in the crowd of people understood the love of God for the first time when they witnessed the resurrection.

Our wartime story is a modern reflection of the value of choices. Four men of God, who had no particular status or command authority also changed the lives of people in the crowd, on a dark night in 1943.

Many of the men on the U.S.S. Dorchester witnessed the love of God in action for the first time, as they watched their chaplains sacrifice their lives.

Those soldiers lives were changed forever, because of four chaplains who made a choice. My brothers and sisters, our choices have eternal implications.

Let your choice be a choice that makes a difference.

AMEN