How NOT to Welcome a King Lenten Sermon Series: Being the Church God Wants Us to Be Mark 11:1-11 I am a servant. I am obedient. I will put others first. I will do whatever it takes to seek the best for others and our church. Rev. Michael D. Halley March 25, 2018 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Palm Sunday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have come to the last Sunday in Lent 1. During these Sundays we have asked the question, How can we be the church God wants us to be? We have looked at the multitudes who pass by each day. We have invited them in. We have welcomed them because God led them to us and God wants them and all people to know him. Today we conclude this series by considering the most important welcome of all: the welcome of the King. Each of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell this story 2. Our text today comes from Mark s account. One of our first tasks in understanding a Bible passage 3 is to make sure we understand the context of the events about which the author is writing. In the case of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, this understanding is most critical. What was going on at that time? Let me describe it this way 4 : 1
Page -2- When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, everyone knew a regime change was taking place. This was the day that God s people had been praying for. They had been under the boot of Rome. They had been reduced to nothing more than a puppet state. They had no king, because the Romans wouldn t let them have one. They could still appoint a high priest, but the Romans said, We have to approve whomever you choose and to make sure your high priest never gets any ideas about leading a revolt in an effort to create a Jewish state, we re going to keep the ceremonial robes of your high priest locked up in our guard towers. You can get them out for Passover and other holy days, but only if you behave yourselves. And in case the people who come to the temple get any crazy ideas, we ve built a giant fortress named after Marc Antony -- the Antonia (ann-toh- NEE-uh) -- on the side of your temple. That s right we built it on the side of the heart of your nation; your most precious building; the structure that means the world to you. Now your temple will fall under the long shadow of our fortress. When you come for Passover, look up! On the rooftops, all around the temple, we ve got Romans soldiers with their spear tips gleaming in the sun. There are 600 soldiers on duty there at all times. This fortress has four giant columns that are fourteen stories high. We can look down on your temple area to make sure nothing gets out of hand. The Jewish people, in effect, lived in a police state. Their precious land was no longer theirs. They longed for the One promised long ago who would free them and rule over them with justice and righteousness. In spite of their terrible circumstances, the Jewish people of that day never lost hope. Always in the back of their mind was what the ancient prophet Zechariah (9:9) had written long ago: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king
comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 5 Page -3- And so, when Jesus came into the city that day, exactly as Zechariah had prophesied, the people just knew that he had come to throw off the yoke of the Roman Empire and set them free. No wonder there was rejoicing! No wonder they welcomed King Jesus! Now they would be a free people and God would set up his kingdom on the earth! And here came Jesus. Humble, riding on a donkey, just like King Solomon did so many years ago, coming into Jerusalem to take up his throne. Down from the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, up through the gates of Jerusalem he came. The crowd could not contain their joy. Quick, someone must have said, take off your cloak and lay it in the road before him. You people over there, break off some tree branches to put in the road! The city was crowded that day because faithful Jews had come from all over to celebrate Passover 6. And they sang their ancient Passover song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The more the crowd thought about it, the more excited they became. They thought this king would march straight over to the Roman fortress and drive out the godless Romans. Then they would be free! But they were in for a big surprise. Jesus didn t go to the Roman fortress. He went to the Temple itself. There he saw the moneychangers ripping off the people, making a great deal of money for the temple treasury.
Page -4- As the people had prayed for many years, Messiah, the Chosen One of God, did come at Passover to judge the ungodly. But to their great surprise, Jesus confronted them and not the Romans. Jesus seemed to be saying, Who is violating the Holy Place more -- the Roman soldiers who live in a tower with the high priest s garments locked inside, or the temple bankers who are making money off of every poor person who comes to pray? Is that any way to welcome the King of Glory? The prophet Amos (5:18-24) put it this way: Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light... I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.... But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! God was saying to his people, You are interested in religion, but I m interested in people! When Messiah rides into town, be careful. You never know where he might go or what he might do. Like the Jews of that day, we think he is for us and against all those sinful and evil people out there. But, the fact of the matter is, Jesus is against sin, wherever he finds it. He wants to to destroy anything that separates people from God. And so often, when we welcome Messiah to our churches, he finds evil all right; he finds sin and wrongdoing right in the hearts of his people. He too often finds us distracted from him and following our own paths. He too often finds us neglecting our daily worship of him. He too often finds that we are not as loving as we should be. Too often he finds that we don t welcome the stranger among us, as he wants us to do.
Page -5- So, let s be careful... we want Jesus to return in triumph to judge the ungodly... but he will start with us, just like Peter (1 Peter 4:17, RSV 7 ) said: For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. Today we do not have a physical brick-and-mortar temple, as they did in Jesus day. Today the temple, the place where God resides, is in you and me -- his people. So do you suppose that Jesus is still in the business of cleansing the temple, you and me? What in your temple or my temple needs cleansed? Just about any sin you can think of will fall somewhere within the Ten Commandments 8. Listen to this partial list 9 of things Jesus would no doubt want to cleanse: greed, covetousness, love of money, not loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, disobedience, attachment to riches or material goods, cursing, swearing, speaking evil of Christian brothers or sisters, an unforgiving heart, unmerciful, dissensions, contentions, arguing, fighting, envy, lust, jealousy, lying, gossiping, slandering, backbiting, spreading rumors, hypocrisy, dishonesty, speaking evil of others. This is no way to welcome King Jesus, is it? When Jesus cleansed the physical temple in Jerusalem during his last week on earth, he reached all the way back to the prophet Isaiah (56:7) to say, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. You may not notice, but Isaiah was speaking a radical truth to his people. Oh sure, we would all agree that God s house should be a house of prayer. But did you notice who is invited to inhabit this house of prayer? All nations, Isaiah says. That was a radical statement in his day. Accepting the stranger in their midst did not come easy for them. Especially if that stranger was from another
Page -6- country and spoke another language and had other customs and had a different skin color. That was hard for them. Is it hard for us, today? I would think it is easy to list all the ways NOT to welcome the King. The right way to welcome the King could probably be summed up by simply saying we would welcome all those the King loves and for whom he gave his life. Do you know King Jesus? Do you know that when he entered Jerusalem that day it was the bravest thing any human has ever done? His entering the city that day threw down the gauntlet into the face of the Romans. He challenged them and they would retaliate in the most cruel of manner. It was Jesus last week and you were on his mind. He saw your picture on Heaven s refrigerator and he thought of you when he gave his life. Is that a Saviour you can love and follow? I invite you to pray with me. Dear Jesus, you came to Jerusalem that day to finish your purpose on earth. You came for me, to die for my sins and to offer me life eternal in heaven with you. Send your Holy Spirit now into my heart and cleanse me of my sin, that I might follow you and worship you and serve you within this body of believers. And may my life henceforth be lived in such a manner that I will be a channel of your blessings and your glory to all people. Come into my heart, come in to stay; come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I am a servant. I am obedient. I will put others first. I will do whatever it takes to seek the best for others and our church. 10 Amen
Page -7- +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. The Lenten season is a time when many Christians observe a period of fasting, repentance, moderation, self-denial and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ -- his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. 2. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 28:28-40, and John 12:12-19. 3. This process is known as hermenutics (herm-men-noo-ticks). The purpose of biblical hermeneutics is to help us to know how to properly interpret, understand, and apply the Bible. 4. This account is from Regime Change, by the Rev. Kevin A. Miller, www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2009/march/regimechange.html. Mr. Miller is the Executive Director of Ministry Advancement at Christianity Today and senior pastor at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, Illinois. 5. Zechariah s prophesy was confirmed by the prophet Isaiah when he wrote (62:8-9): The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; but those who harvest it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary. 6. Passover (or Pesach) is a commemoration of the liberation by God from slavery in ancient Egypt and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses. It begins each year on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. In 2018 it runs from sunset of Friday March 30 to nightfall of Friday 6 April / Saturday 7 April (7th day). From Wikipedia
Page -8-7. Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 8. The Ten Commandments (Exodus chapter 20) You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image... You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain... Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother... You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet...anything that is your neighbor s. 9. See A List of Sins from the Bible, by Jack Wellman, September 8, 2014, www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/09/08/a-list-of-sins-from-the-bible/ 10. This pledge was adapted from a paragraph in Thom S. Rainer s book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive (B & H Publishing Group, 2014), p. 50.