“Getting the Rug, but
Missing the Hug!"
Palm Sunday, April 1, 2007
Scripture
Reading
Matthew 21:1-9
Scripture Reading
Matthew 20:17-19
And so Christ’s final journey to Jerusalem begins.
All of Jesus’ life has lead up to this journey It was the reason
Christ came to planet earth. He was going up to Jerusalem to die
a cruel, shameful, criminal’s death on a cross. Christ took his
disciples aside and clearly explained what would happen once they
reached Jerusalem. But the disciples missed the heart of Jesus.
In the Palm Sunday, “triumphal entry” story that Paul read
for us earlier, we see all the disciples and the crowds missing the
heart of Jesus as they offer Him self-serving worship driven by their
misplaced hopes that Christ was coming to Jerusalem to overthrow the
Romans, not to die by the hand of the Romans.
Indeed, the story of Christ’s so called “triumphal
entry” into Jerusalem, and the events that occurred just before
and after this entry, is a story of people who are so blinded by
self-serving purposes that they miss the heart of Jesus repeatedly and
so overlook the opportunities that are right before them to extend the
love of God.
And so these stories are our story. Because I suspect that all of
us at times get so busy trying to manage chaos that we fail to take the
time to enter into the mess of compassion.
We are going to join Christ in his journey to Jerusalem and discover
some of the ways we may miss the heart of Jesus in our busyness and
misplaced priorities. Let us begin by proclaiming the same words of
praise declared at Christ’s triumphal entry. Only let us do so
worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
Worship in Song
“Hosanna”
Scripture Reading
Matthew 20:20-28
Reflections
on placing Status over Service
Can you even imagine the insensitivity in this request? Christ
had just finished telling his disciples that he was on his way to
Jerusalem to die, and two of them take Jesus aside to ask for the
highest positions of power and honor in God’s kingdom!
In their lust for power and importance they had completely missed
Christ’s heart and His calling that invited them to be a servant
in order to lead, and to die in order to live.
Christianity in America long ago was seduced by the mistaken idea that
it could reclaim its influence on society by controlling positions of
power in government. While Christians should be salt and light, and
defend moral decline, such a pursuit of legislating morality has only
lead to compromise, and to a dangerous wedding of politics and
patriotism.
So that Christianity has become to the majority nothing more than a
civil religion. The faith of many is no longer in the power of the
gospel, but in political activism.
All this has fostered a view for many that Christians are power hungry,
arrogant, judgmental, materialistic, and with little concern for the
powerless or the environment. I must concur with Tony Campolo who
declares that power and love are mutually exclusive.
Of course none of us are ever guilty of putting the pursuit of position
over humble service, of wanting to be seen as important, or a good
person, over sacrificial, unnoticed-by-others acts of love?
Because we are all prone to pride, we all need to be continually
reminded that Christ declared that if we want to be first, we must
become a slave to others. Christ came not to be served, but to
serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. May Christ
always grant us His humble heart of a servant!
Let us stand and declare in worship that Jesus is the only one worthy
of honor and praise!
Worship in Song
“Jesus, Name Above All Names”
Scripture Reading
Matthew 20:29-34
Reflections
on placing Projects over People
So here is Jesus on his way to Jerusalem with the disciples.
Hundreds of people were following them. This is the same crowd
who had just seen Christ raise Lazarus from the dead! They were
now following Christ to Jerusalem, no doubt believing that since Christ
had the power to raise the dead, surely He had the power to overthrow
the Romans and restore Israel to freedom and political dominance.
They have almost reached their goal. They’ve left Jericho on the
way to Jerusalem, intent on getting there as fast as they can.
But along the road they encounter a barrier to accomplishing their
project.
Two blind men were shouting out so loud they could be heard over the
noise of the large crowd, “Son of David, have mercy on
us!” The crowds yells back at them, “Stop your
whining! Can’t you see we are in a hurry? This Christ has
promised us that when we get to Jerusalem he is going to do something
to save and deliver the whole nation of Israel! He doesn’t have
time to stop and help two pathetic, blind beggars!”
But as they are speaking, suddenly the whole crowd stops walking.
“What’s going on,” they protest, “we
don’t have time to stop.” They see Jesus pushing his
way through the crowd. He walks up to the two blind men and deeply
moved with compassion, reaches out, touches their eyes and these two
become the only ones in the entire multitude of people who truly see!
My daughter walks up to me with a drawing in her hand smiling
proudly. “Daddy, want to see my picture?”
“Not now,” I respond impatiently, “can’t you
see I’m trying to write a sermon about loving people!”
How often do we put projects over people? How many congregations
have invested more emotional energy in arguing about the color of the
rugs in the sanctuary then over how they can better reach the lost,
lonely, and hurting outside their doors?
May Christ always grant us a heart that never misses a single
opportunity to love another!
Let us stand and bow our hearts in worship.
Worship in Song
“We Bow Down”
Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:12-15
Reflections
on placing Religion over Relationships
This temple cleansing happened right after the events of Christ’s
“triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. The anger that enflamed
Christ to violently cleanse the temple was not because things were
being sold in the temple. Such selling of animals was allowed so
that those that traveled long distances to come and worship there would
be able to buy the animals required for sacrifice.
But what was happening is that the sellers were exploiting the people,
especially the poor, by charging inflated prices. Those most
needy were being shut out of entering into worship!
Even the very structure of the temple, even though it followed the
design given by God, was being used in a manner that discriminated
against women, children, non-Jews, and any one with a handicap or
infirmity of any kind so that they too were restricted from full access
to God’s house. You see, those in power were placing
following the manmade rules of their religion over providing a place of
worship that welcomed all into God’s saving, healing, comforting,
transforming presence.
Everything was being done decently and in order! And such decency
and order quenched the Holy Spirit, shut out many from worship, and
placed religion over relationship, law over love!
Back in the 60’s, a pastor named Chuck Smith began reaching out
to the hippies. This birthed a full blown revival among that
group. But it didn’t start out that way.
Pastor Smith tells this story:
“I came to church on one Sunday morning and I saw a sign on the
front that said, ‘No bare feet allowed.’ It was signed by
the board. I was fortunate to be there early and I took the sign down
and I called a board meeting and I told them, ‘Do you mean to say
because we have this beautiful new carpet, we’ve got to say to
one kid that he can’t come in because you’ve got bare feet
? Let’s rip up the carpet and have concrete floors.’ I also
said, ‘If you have to say to them that they can’t come
because they have dirty clothes and we don’t want you to soil our
upholstered pews, then let’s get benches and let’s never,
you know, turn a kid away from the church.”
So who are we turning away from worship with our current
structures? We say no one, because we do not do so
consciously. But the truth is, the majority of seekers in our
country and city find the format of our traditional Reformed,
Presbyterian structure of worship alien, unapproachable, a barrier to
worship.
As we seek to be more missional, we need to discover a way to continue
to offer the worship format we currently offer, because many are
blessed by it, but also find a way to offer alternative structures of
worship that connect with a 21st century culture.
So here are the big questions: Will we continue to put up a sign on our
door that says, “Only those that are blessed by traditional,
liturgical worship allowed.” Are we in any way choosing
decency and order over freedom in the Holy Spirit? Are we in any
way choosing religion over relationship?
May our Lord always grant us a heart that chooses love over personal
preference!
Let us stand and declare just how great is the name of our Lord!
Worship in Song
“Great is Your Name”
Scripture Reading
John 12:1-8
Reflections
on placing Image over Involvement
Most of you are familiar with the story of Martha and Mary wherein we
find Martha busy, busy, busy, while Mary is sitting at the feet of
Jesus enjoying His presence and savoring His words. Once again in this
story we find Martha and Mary together with Jesus. And again
Martha is busy, busy, busy serving everyone dinner, while Mary is
worshipping at Jesus’ feet.
In all these stories that we explored this morning surrounding
Christ’s triumphal entry nearly everyone, the crowds, the
religious leaders, even the disciples miss the heart of Christ, and
misunderstood God’s kingdom plans.
Only the two blind men saw God’s kingdom rightly, as a kingdom
that had come already in the person of Christ, not in overthrowing
Rome, but in overthrowing the powers of darkness and brought sight to
blind. Only the lame that came to Christ in the temple caught the
heart of Jesus who longed to break down the dividing walls that kept so
many from full worship in the Father’s big house.
And in a house crammed with disciples, and leaders, and even a man
raised from the dead who all were pulling from Jesus something for
personal gain, only a one woman sensed the sadness of Jesus who knew he
was just six days from the cross. And so she anointed his feet for
burial. And her worship was scandalous in its extravagance!
A woman kissing Jesus’ feet in public! Disgraceful!
Pouring on his feet a pint of perfume worth an entire year’s
wages! Outrageous! Why didn’t Jesus stop her?
What a waste of money when the needs of the poor were so great!
What kind of rabbi was this that opened himself up to such gossip and
rumor? Surely this act was going to end up on the front page of
every tabloid come morning. Surely someone there had a video cam
in their cell phone and this juicy clip was going to be shown
repeatedly on cable news!
What kind of rabbi was this? Christ was the kind of savior that
always chose messy involvement with those caught in the most
distasteful of sin over any concern about what others might think of
him. So much so that Christ was accused repeatedly of being a drunkard
and a sinner.
A life of love is scandalous, messy, inconvenient! How are we
loving the unlovable, reaching the unreachable, seeking those hiding
from God in the darkness so relentlessly that we might open ourselves
up to be called a “friend of sinners?”
“Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring
in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, “ says Jesus,
“go into the roads and country lanes, and compel them to come in,
so that the banquet table in my house will be full!”
Holy Communion