Luke 19. Triumphal entry
Sermon notes
3/24/13
·
History and value of Passover.
·
People desperate to be saved [from Rome],
celebrating God’s saving work in Egypt, asking God to do it again.
·
Jesus enters the scene
o
Hailed as king
o
Honored as king
o
Prophesied details
§ Green
colt
§ Didn’t
follow the social norms for a king, should have been a stallion
·
Celebrated by people as king (like Jehu
from OT)
o
Threw their cloaks on the ground for him
to walk on
·
Lauded by the disciples (a lot of them)
with what is considered a “normal Passover greeting” OR a greeting for a king
o
“Blessed is the KING who comes in the
name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven.”
§ Not
just words. Not just a greeting. Part of a Psalm. Psalm 118. For the Jews the Psalms were like songs, to
know them is like knowing our hymns. If
I sing part of a hymn, you can sing the rest of it. In a similar way, if a Jew
quoted part of a Psalm, the rest of it would start to come to mind for the
other people. So in using this phrase
from Psalm 118, it’s not just these words that are important, it’s also the
rest of the Psalm.
·
Pharisees come in and tell Jesus, “Tell
your people to stop!”
·
Jesus: If it weren’t them, it’d be the
rocks.
o
The rocks would shout
o
The rocks would cry out
o
The most lifeless part of creation would
come alive to make this proclamation
o
“HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER”
o
GOD IS COMING TO SAVE US!
o
GOD IS HERE!
·
And the response that comes: “Oh Shut
Up!”
·
And it breaks Christ’s heart.
o
“Good grief, you just don’t get it. I am
the answer. You’re gathered here remembering who God was and what God did and
praying or God to please save you, to release you from the grip of the Romans
and yet when that answer comes, when that prayer is finally heard, you REFUSE
to see God at work. The disciples are proclaiming healing and forgiveness and
new life and acceptance and inclusion—the TRUE works of God—our lie source, the
true peace makers of our world, and you’re so blinded, you’re so lost all you
can think to say is, “Oh just make it stop!”
·
GOD IS HERE. HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.
o
God has sent an answer. His love endures
forever. I am here to bring peace. I have been bringing peace—to people, to
bodies, to relationships, to communities, and yet you refuse to even stop to
look. FINE!
o
If you want to keep your head in the
sand, then stay there. See what happens. But remember this—I gave you the path. God showed you where to go. We
offered you the chance and you, in this moment, are refusing to go. I hurt for you. My heart breaks or you.
o
I may sound angry or harsh, but it’s
because I wanted something better for you. We want what’s best for you and I
hate to see you suffer. But you are free
to make your own choices. That path, the one away from God, it leads only to
destruction: famine, death, fear, hopelessness, war, bitterness,
resentment. Thos aren’t what God wants
for you. But that’s what’s down that
road. I hate to see you go that way. That’s
why I came, to convince you to come back over here, to remind you what God has
promised, but you’re so set in your ways.
·
For most of us, I imagine this part of
scripture is really dissatisfying. It is for me. I imagine many of us are clamoring or their
second chance. We want to cry out on the
Pharisees’ behalf.
o
“But wait! God’s love ENDURES FOREVER!
You can’t do this to them. Save them! Help them! The story can’t end this way.”
o
But it does. At last today. But let’s be
clear—it’s not because Jesus forsakes them.
It’s not because God is all of the sudden indifferent. THEY CHOSE THIS! THEY PICKED THIS PATH. THEY
WALKED AWAY.
o
If we look at the story as a whole, the
Old Testament and the New, God has offered 100s of second chances, so many that
that’s what we now bank on. We tell
ourselves that this sin or that lie or this injustice or that prejudice is ok
because God’s a God of love and there’s always a second chance.
o
We flippantly say to God, “Yeah, not this
time, I’ll catch ya next time. I promise next
time it will be different. “
§ It’s
as if what God offers us, and in turn asks of us, is worthless. Not in our heads. Of course not. We don’t actually think that grace and mercy and
forgiveness are worthless. No. Of course not. And yet, often, when presented
the opportunity, we just walk away from the path God has for us. And by choosing away from God, or burying our
heads in the sand and refusing to even look at righteousness, or peace, or
justice, we have undervalued God’s gift for us.
We’ve counted it as worthless. Because honestly, if we really wanted it,
wouldn’t we go after it with all we have and all we are?
·
Jesus was there with the Jews, the
disciples, the Pharisees, all of them.
The face of God staring them in the face; the TRUE answer for peace
knocking at their door and yet he didn’t fit their mold. He wasn’t the answer
they anticipated, wasn’t what they wanted, or what they thought they needed.
And so they pushed him away. The best of what God had to offer—deemed worthless--expendable.
·
The point for us is not “oh man they were
clueless” or “how dare they?” Our point
should always lead us to self reflection—how closely does this resemble
me? Am I pleading and praying and
waiting for God to answer and then refusing to follow when God tries to lead
me? Am I choosing my own path or have I
chosen God’s?
·
Do I value peace and justice and mercy
and forgiveness and reconciliation and inclusion as invaluable or do I only use
them when they come in handy? Do I seek
them when it’s hard, when it goes against the grain? Or only when they have the
popular vote?
o
We like to demonize the Pharisees as the
bad guys. But the reality is they were faithful people stuck in the old views
and expectations of God. They were
unwilling or unable to see the new things God was doing in Christ. We can become like them when we refuse to
veer from the path we’ve deemed as God’s and instead choose the path God deemed
as God’s.
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