Luke 19 vs 28 and following King For a Day?

Context for this message is an urban congregation in a large city in California I was visiting. It was given on Palm Sunday in 2016

I was about 6 or 7 years old when we got our first TV set. It was a black boxy thing that got three channels. It was great fun to watch the shows which were presented back then. I love Lucy was the cultural shaping force which held the attention of a significant percentage of the American population.

 News was broadcast on national TV at 5: 30 for half an hour, local news at 6 pm for a half hour.

I mention this because my Mom was a person who enjoyed some of the shows that were on in the afternoon. The Art Linkletter show where kids would say the darnedest things was a regular feature of my mom’s afternoon. But the show which seemed to capture my mom’s attention while she was standing at the ironing board was Queen for a Day.

 The show opened with host Jack Bailey asking the audience— mostly women—” Would YOU like to be Queen for a day?” After this, the contestants were introduced and interviewed, one at a time, with commercials and fashion commentary interspersed in between. Bailey began each interview gently, asking the contestant first about her life and family and maintaining a positive and upbeat response no matter what she told him. For instance, when a woman said she had a crippled child, he would ask if her second child was “Okay.” On learning that the second child was not crippled, he might say, “Well, that’s good, you have one healthy child.”

Bailey’s trademark sign-off was: “This is Jack Bailey, wishing we could make every woman a queen, for every single day!” As I read these descriptions of the show, I am appalled at how the story lines went.

 And the person selected for being queen for a day was chosen by the audience applause to her sad story as compared to two or three other women with really equally sad stories. But as it is, my mom loved it. I think she wished she could be queen for a day, but knew her story of the overworked farm wife with five kids could not even begin to compete with some of the others who had really awful things going on in their lives.

But here is the thing about queen for a day, the next day all the women who had been gloriously crowned queen went back to their humdrum lives. Nothing ever really changed.

That TV show kind of arose in my mind as I was thinking about the Scripture reading for today. We are just five days away from when Jesus is going to be crucified. He knows it, he’s told his disciples about it. He has been preparing them for this momentous week for about a year now, and here it is.

And as he rides into Jerusalem on a little donkey, he is King for a day. And it is the applause of the crowd which coronates Jesus. The people are singing and chanting the traditional songs from the book of praise. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The applause meter is spinning around and around. It is a great sight!

And one can almost imagine that on those dusty roads to Jerusalem the crowds are packing tightly to get a glimpse of this one who is going to save them. Here is the savior!

Here is the one who will save us from our sins. Oops, that is my mistake, they were looking for a Savior from the Roman occupiers. These people who are in Jerusalem on this first day of the week have just spent their Sabbath getting ready for the upcoming feast which will happen in less than a week’s time.

The Passover is near, and for many of these pilgrims, it is a momentous event indeed since many of them only got to Jerusalem once or twice in their lives. They have come from all over the ancient Mediterranean world. They have sailed on rough seas and walked robber infested roads to arrive now at the great city Jerusalem = = which translated means city of peace or vision of peace.

 The crowds were packed into Jerusalem. The city was about 425 acres in size and normally had about 60 thousand inhabitants. During the feast of Passover that number swelled to over 200 thousand, with some ancient historians putting the number at over 2 million. When one considers that most of the city would be taken up by houses and various official buildings for the temple and the government, it was a tight fit for all those who came to Jerusalem.

When we arrived in California in Feb it was the week before the Super Bowl and since it was being held in nearby Santa Clara, my son in law and daughter said, let’s go to the big party in Super Bowl City in downtown San Francisco. We were there on Friday night with 150 thousand others with another estimated 100 thou who were kept from getting in because the area was at capacity.

I can about imagine what it would have been like had the two quarterbacks come riding into the area in a convertible – sitting on the back together. The crowds would have gone wild with enthusiasm.

That is what happened 2000 years ago when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. He was the savior, all these people thought, from the Roman occupiers. And as such he was greeted with great joy.

The song is reminiscent of the song of the angels at Jesus birth. There on the hillsides of Bethlehem the song was glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men. On this day however, the song changes, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.

Peace in heaven? It seems they were expecting war on the earth under the leadership of this Jesus whom they celebrated this day. Peace in heaven!

But, But we discover that there is a problem. For as the week moves on the crowds forsake Jesus. He is not the savior they wanted. The same crowds that cried “Hosanna” on the first day of the week cried “Crucify him!” at the end of the week.

 Why? Could it have been because they wanted an instant kingdom, and he offered them an eternal kingdom? Or could it have been because the crowds wanted entertainment, not enrichment? Or simply, when during the week, they saw the demands of his kingdom and they were not willing to change their lives, much less their lifestyle for him?

It is very simple. Jesus resisted any attempt to make his message or ministry a  handmaiden to the culture, to the government, or any other religious group.

As this became clear, the crowds began to melt away. They were not much different than we are.

 A religious commitment that will not support my political view or my economic opinion is not for me.

 Any faith that claims first place in my life is not acceptable; after all, my faith should support me, my world view, and demand nothing of me.

We live in a day of instant everything, from instant cake mixes to information and entertainment. We no longer can wait for anything.

We are like the person who prayed, “Lord, give me patience–and I want it now!” We no longer have the patience to let character develop, or to postpone gratification.

A God who does not give us what we want now is of no use to us.

The idea of a church service that is not immediately translatable into four useful ways to do or not do something on Monday morning is a waste of my time. I

 pray and I expect God to jump.

For many in our culture, religious commitment is an add-on to our lives, such as an accessory to a new car. Will it be leather or velour interior? What is your preference–standard hubcaps or deluxe chrome?

 The idea of a God who does not give us short, immediate thrills will not have us for very long.

Music that will not compete with Saturday night we will not have on Sunday morning.

Truth presented to us not supported by an opinion poll has no claim on us.

 Jesus would not adjust his message to the popular ideas of the Messiah that prevailed in his day. He called his disciples to a life-time commitment and not to a short-term ministry. He would not adjust his message to their whims or gain following by stroking their prejudices.

However, we, like the crowds on that Jerusalem street, are no different. God calls us to repentance. We want to make a deal. God says his kingdom is forever, and we say it is as long as I need it or can use it. God says all things are mine. We say try and get them from me.

God stretches us. He does not stroke us. I do not think God is particularly concerned with our happiness, but I do think God is very concerned with our holiness. He is concerned with our commitment and not our pleasure.

A math teacher is not concerned with whether or not her students are happy the night before a big test, but the teacher is concerned with the students being committed to learn math.

Here’s the end of the matter Jesus is not interested in being king for a day, but he does want to be Lord of our lives.

Year C First Sunday of Lent

Deut 26: 1-11 and Romans 10: 8b-13 text Romans 10: 11

Context for this message is an established congregation with a mixture of farmers and businessmen, laborers and tradesmen, moms and dads, youths and kids, plus a few professionals. It was written for the first Sunday in Lent, Year C. Written in 2004

 Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.

Shame on you Bob, just look at what you did! Or, more often, what you did not do. People have, all my life, been putting shame on me. Over and over again, I have heard the words, shame on you! I don’t know if I am just a particularly good collector of shame in people’s eyes, or if I really am such a shameful creature. But I know I have heard those words directed toward me all of my life. And then I know it is a very strong word of grace to me to read, anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame. When we come to the cross, we come with shame laid on us.

This morning I want to examine that for a while with you. What does it mean to be ashamed? Philosopher Lewis Smedes describes for us what the feeling is that we call shame. He says,

it is these feelings that people have that are shame. I feel like sometimes I am a fake. I feel that if people who admire me really knew me, they might have contempt for me. I feel inadequate; I seldom feel as if I am up to what is expected of me. When I look inside of myself, I seldom feel any joy at what I am. I feel inferior to the really good people I know. I feel as if God must be disgusted with me. I feel flawed inside, blemished somehow, dirty somehow. I feel like I just cannot measure up to what I ought to be. I feel as if I will never be acceptable.

 So it is not so much that we feel guilty, that comes from what we do. Shame comes from what we are. Do you sometimes feel ashamed? Remember Paul’s promise to you and me, anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame. Yet what we discover so often is that we are disappointed with ourselves, we are ashamed.

I’ve heard people say to me, I’m not a guy who is a financial wizard.

I’m not a guy who can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

 When I look at myself, I see all too many of those actions we heard about in the reading Jim did earlier.

 I look for all sorts of things that will seem to satiate that hunger that is within, but somehow, the things I choose don’t seem to do it for me.

I look at myself and I see that my favorite pacifier is food. I have a hard day and the first thing I do when I go home is look in the refrigerator for something good to eat. And I have these cravings for things. But, the problem is that whenever I have those cravings, I don’t find myself settled. The hole is still there in my heart. Food will never fill God’s rightful place in me. So I am disappointed with myself. I am shamed of and by my self.

 That’s when I need to hear these words from Paul again. Those who trust in Jesus will never be put to shame.

And now here it is, the season of Lent once again. And I listen to the Scripture readings we did this morning and I think, what must it have been like to own the fact of one’s own history the way Moses told the Israelites to do. You came into a new land, and there they settled down. And when you harvested the first bit of crop from your property, you were to go to the place of worship and there say, my father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt and only by God’s mighty hand did we as a nation ever get out of there. Then God led us through the wilderness for forty years. And now, look, here I am, a landowner whose property has yielded a harvest for me. I give the first fruits to God as a celebration of his goodness to me.

Now, when you and I read those words, we don’t necessarily see them as something that could get stuck in someone’s throat. But let’s notice it once again. My father was wandering Aramean. That means he was a homeless man. Not only that, but he couldn’t even feed his family and so had to go to Egypt to find food. Then we became a nation of slaves. Then we wandered forty years because we were so rebellious to God. But those things showed that there was something wrong with the people’s ancestry. And in spite of that, God had made provision for them. You see, when we look back at what is basically true of ourselves, we will discover that there is always a basic flaw in some part of our resume.

One of the most profound statements I have heard about the human condition came when we first got a TV back when I was about 6 years old. I would come home from school in the afternoon and my Mom would allow me a half hour of cartoons, before I had to go out and get my chores done. Popeye the sailor man was one of the most popular cartoons at my house. Whenever he was frustrated or wasn’t sure what to do or felt inadequate, Popeye would simply say, I yam what I yam.

(I don’t recall where I got this next paragraph, but it is not original with me.) Now, Popeye was not a sophisticated guy. He had never been to therapy and was woefully out of touch with his shadow self. He didn’t have much education as far as I could tell. He was just a simple seafaring man who loved Olive Oyl and he didn’t pretend to be anything else. But there was always a touch of sadness in his confession of who he was. I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam. He didn’t say, just wait till I get my degree. Or just wait till I get to command my own ship. It was always just I yam what I yam.

That is the sad cry of the human race.  You’ve said those same words in your own way and so have I. It is the struggle between what we know we are and what we have as dreams for our lives. It is to people who know that of themselves that the line in Romans comes as such a message of hope and good news, No one who trusts in Jesus will ever be put to shame.

When you come to love Jesus you will never have to listen with your heart to anyone to point at you again and say the words shame on you!

I thought I would do a little search on the internet to see how many times people say shame on you. I was amazed at how many people want to make their pointed finger and blood-curdling cry shame on you public. Nearly two hundred thousands of places on the web feature people who have a picture of someone and the caption reads, shame on you, so and so. And it goes on to relate why that person ought to be ashamed.

 Let’s bring it a little closer to home. How often haven’t you and I pointed at someone and shamed them. Told them they were inadequate. Informed them in no uncertain terms that they ought to be ashamed of themselves. In fact, we do it all too often here in the church. Here’s a suggestion for something to give up for lent. Let’s give up shaming people. As a whole church, let’s stop our picking on each other and pointing out one another’s failures to be all that they ought to be and start saying of ourselves, my father was a wandering Aramean. I come from a family that was a part of a nation of slaves. I myself have been in rebellion against God. And yet, look what he has done in spite of all that I was. And all that I yam. I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam. Why? Because when we are profoundly aware of our own disappointment with ourselves, and God’s amazing grace in spite of me, I can share that grace with others and we can celebrate God’s goodness to us all in spite of ourselves. For then we know that we are truly dis-appointed. The term itself is apt. I have dis-appointed what I was meant to be and where I was meant to be. I was appointed to live for God, and look what I have done with me. What a mess!

 During the course of the Lenten season, I want to invite you along on a little journey toward spiritual wholeness that is provided for us in Jesus Christ. I want to have you join me for this journey for I believe that it is desperately important for us all to know that in Jesus Christ not one of us will ever be put to shame. We can be done with that debilitating thing called shame, and we can know that it is in Christ, and only in Christ, that we are accepted as we are. I yam what I yam. But that’s not all that I will yam. I will be a new person in Christ, who died to set me free from my old disappointing self to be a man after God’s own heart in Jesus! And for that I celebrate!

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John 13 A Maundy Thursday Message

 Got Your Towel?

The context for this message is an urban congregation of people who have been in the church for some time. This is an attempt to tell the story of the foot washing in a fresh way. Note: I found this was best presented at an evening service when all the lights in the church were turned off except for the light on the pulpit area. I positioned myself on a tool off tohe the side so that I could gesture toward where the “action” was taking place.

The house lights have gone down. The orchestra that had been noisily tuning just moments before has fallen silent. In the darkness of the theater, the crowd which had been rustling and quietly talking now falls into an expectant hush. The drama of the Passion Play of St John the Evangelist is about to begin.

Then the footlights come up and as the curtain opens on the passion play of St. John the evangelist, the scene comes into view. We in the audience are wondering what to expect.

The program notes for this first act indicate that this act is set at the time when the hour had come. The play, we have been told, is about the glory of the Son of God. Well, we in the audience wonder what that word glory might mean and certainly do not understand the term, the Son of God. But we have been assured by all who have seen the drama that what we will see is indeed the glory of the son of God.

 As the curtain opens, we see what is obviously a Jewish feast scene. There are three main sections of a table assembled in a u shape. As we see the actors in the drama come onstage, we count thirteen men. As they come through the door at the back corner of the stage, we see them kick off their sandals and walk barefoot into the room.

 Now I should note that this theater is a very small intimate theater, it is not the huge place like deVos hall downtown here. Instead it seats maybe a hundred people is all, and we are arranged in tiers of seating close in to the action and the stage comes out into the audience. We are gathered around in a very close manner. We can see details from here that would never be possible in a huge setting.

So we see these thirteen men come in and kick off their sandals at the door, but, even though they have had sandals on, we can see and actually smell that their feet are very dirty. When we peer a bit more closely at their feet, we can see the source of the smell. They have been walking in some pretty dirty streets. The sheep that were driven to the temple for sacrifice before the Passover have left their marks and these guys have been  trampling in the stuff. The horses of the soldiers and the wealthy don’t have a scooper running after them in those streets. The oxen pulling the carts don’t wait for a stall. The feet of these guys are gross by our standards.

And, even though, there are some ten to twenty gallon containers at the door filled with water and there are towels and basins, no one seems about to wash their feet. They are too busy arguing about something. The cacophony of words reaches our ears as a mumbling but insistent stream. I think I’m number one. What about Peter? No, he’s nothing but a blow bag. He’s always suffering from foot in the mouth. And look at his feet now. How about a taste of that?

 What about Judas, he’s the treasurer for us. He holds the money bag. Nah, it couldn’t be him. He’s a thief.

I think I am number one among us.

 No, I am.

As they argue, we see them milling around the table. It seems they are looking for place cards or something so they know where they will be reclining for the meal. Then one of the men begins to invite the others to have places, he gets them all  settled then, he himself, takes the center place as they recline at the table.

We can pick out a few of the actors – there is Judas, he’s the one with the shifty eyes and the dark look on his face.

That one has to be Peter, he’s big, burly and talking all the time.

There is John, he gets the place of honor right next to the central figure – who must be Jesus.

 Jesus is the one who begins the meal. He is taking the ancient role of the senior person at the Jewish feast of the Passover. There are four different actors who ask questions, but this central one is giving the answers. As the meal progresses, it comes to a point where several small basins of water are passed from person to person and each one carefully washes his hands.

And as if that is his cue, Jesus gets up from the table and he goes to the area near the door. There he takes off most of his clothing and wraps one of the big towels around his waist. He pours water from one of the jugs into a basin. Then he carries that over to the actors reclining at the table and begins to carefully wash their feet.

Now it needs to be noted that only a non-Jewish slave could be ordered to wash people’s feet. No Jew could be expected to wash another’s feet. It was a task one did for oneself.— for one’s spouse, children or one’s parents. But beyond that level of intimacy, no one did that.

But here is Jesus, showing his glory, as he takes on a role that a gentile slave – an outsider to the Jewish family – could be expected to do. We can sense the tension that is on each of the faces of the twelve around the table. It looks like they are moving from embarrassment to anger to shame.

 When Jesus gets to Peter, he argues, but that only lasts for a little while. You’ve heard the saying, If looks could kill – well, that is the look he gets from Judas as Jesus washes the feet of Judas. When he gets done, Jesus brings the basin back to the corner, and puts his clothes back on. The he goes and takes his place again in the place of honor at the table.

He asks, Do you understand what I have done for you?

The program notes tell us that in this first act of the Passion Play of St John the Evangelist, he is showing the full extent of his love. He is showing his followers what God is like. Later, as he speaks with his disciples during this holy evening, he will explain that anyone who has seen him has seen God the father.

You will find that in the very next chapter of the gospel.

This foot washing, this humility, this giving of oneself in love for someone else, this is what we see in God. And Jesus asks, Do you understand what I have done for you?

It is a question which we in the audience come to realize that he is not only asking of the other twelve around the table with him there, but he is asking it of us who look on from the audience in attendance at this drama.

Do you understand what I have done for you?

 It is the central question of the Christian faith, isn’t it? And it’s not like the Grand Rapids Press which used to use the line, Be someone who gets it – means.

 Jesus is looking at each of his followers and is asking, Do you get it? Do you understand what I have done for you?

Consider this. The foot washing takes place on the evening when Jesus is betrayed. Jesus knows that the hour has come for him to be glorified – in the Passion Play of St John the Evangelist, that means that this is the hour when just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the Son of Man be lifted up. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes on him will not perish but have everlasting life.

 Do you understand what I have done for you?

The question ought to linger in our minds all during the Lenten season. That is why the Church has for 2000 years been actively involved in going through a season of preparation for Good Friday and Easter. We simply need to have a time of preparation when we ponder on the suffering and death and resurrection of Jesus.

 Do you understand what I have done for you?

 A question which we all need to think about. The language John uses to describe this scene is so telling as well. When he says Jesus took off his outer clothing, it is the same word that will be used later for Jesus laying down his life for his friends. The taking up of his garments is the word used later for his resurrection. So here we have an acted parable of what will happen in the passion play of St John the Evangelist.

 And the question we all must answer is, do you understand what I have done for you?

Jesus knows what is about to happen. Judas is going to betray him. But Judas, before you go, let me wash your feet. The thought in Judas’ mind is that he may wash my feet, but he will never be my Messiah. And when Jesus gives him a piece of bread, he goes out into the night. A condition in John’s gospel of not knowing what you are doing.

Jesus knows what is about to happen. Peter, in this very night, you will disown me three times. But Peter, before you go and call God as your witness that you do not know me, let me wash your feet.

Do you understand what I have done for you? The question is a haunting one. Even though Jesus knows that he is about to lay down his life for the world, he refuses to throw in the towel.

 The world’s best golfer this week, found that he wasn’t playing so well and simply threw in the towel on the tournament he was playing. He couldn’t deal with the setbacks he was facing. So, he threw in the towel.

 Jesus knows he will die as the Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and even though it is going to involve a great deal of anguish in his soul, he refuses to throw in the towel.

Do you understand what I have done for you?

 When in your life, you are given the opportunity to serve someone else, do you ever feel that it is below your dignity? Do you ever think that person, that plant, that animal, can get along just fine without me? Do you understand what Jesus has done for you?

 You see, In the passion play of St John the Evangelist, we are given a command to do as Jesus has done. If we understand that, then we will become servants who do not ask, what if, when I am washing his feet, he simply kicks me in the face?

 No, Jesus says, Let me wash your feet, no matter what you will soon be doing to me. He refuses to throw in the towel.

 He has given us an example of how we are to live.

 Do you understand what Jesus has done for you? Here’s a way to find out. Find someone, a child, someone new to the faith, someone outside the faith, and explain to them what Jesus has done for you. If you cannot explain it clearly and simply to a child, then you really do not know the answer.

 Then this time of the Lenten Season is a new opportunity for you to ponder again what Jesus has done. Maybe this year will be the first year that you will understand what he has done for you. He calls all of us to refuse to throw in the towel on our calling to be servants.

On behalf of the King who is so humble, I ask you. Do you know what Jesus has done for you?