Recorded Sermon 2 April 2023 Rev Steven Lottering BMC

This phrase. Gracious and loving God, today we give thanks as we should and as we must. For you are a good God. Your steadfast love lasts and lasts and lasts. We see it in the beauty of this day. We know it in the warmth of welcome in this Christian family. We feel it in the blessing of singing your praise and reflecting your love. We believe it in the message of salvation, that Christ is here and now and real. Yet this is the Christ the world will reject. This is the cornerstone that will be torn down so that the building of hope and well-being and righteousness is threatened with destruction. This is the Christ the world will take and crucify and seek to get rid of for good. Yet this is the very Christ who will rise again. The very Christ through whom we will find your forgiveness and acceptance and a new beginning for us. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hear the blessing from this very house of God, from the depths of our being, from the core of our faith. Hear and hear and hear again that we are grateful, that we are made new, that we are thankful, we are loved by our God. And so as a psalmist we give thanks to the Lord for he is good. We give thanks to the Lord that his steadfast love endures forever. We give thanks to the Lord as we should and as we must. In Jesus' name we pray, as we say together the prayer he taught us. We say together, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. We turn now to our scripture reading for this morning. This morning's scripture reading is taken from Matthew's version of that entry into Jerusalem. So we read from Matthew 21, verses 1 to 11. As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of the disciples on ahead with these instructions, Go to the village there ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied up with a colt beside him. Untie them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything, tell them, my master needs them. And then they will let them go at once. This happened in order to make what the prophet had said come true. Tell the city of Zion, look your king is coming to you. He is humble and rides on a donkey, on a colt, the fold of a donkey. So the disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do. They brought the donkey and the colt, threw their cloaks over them and Jesus got on. A large crowd of people spread their cloaks on the road, while others plucked branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds walking in front of Jesus and those walking behind began to shout, praise to David's son. God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was thrown into an uproar. Who is he? The people asked. This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth and Galilee. The crowd answered. Thanks be to God for this word to us. So friends, as I've said, today is Palm Sunday, the day we remember how Jesus entered Jerusalem, just before the Passover, in the week that led to his crucifixion and his resurrection. The week that we now call Holy Week. He entered Jerusalem riding a colt, the foal of a donkey. And of course this, as we heard, was in fulfillment of the prophecy from Zechariah that's quoted there. Let me read from Zechariah 9, 9-10. Rejoice, rejoice people of Zion, shout for joy you people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming. He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The Lord says, I will remove the war chariots from Israel and take the horses from Jerusalem. The bows used in battle will be destroyed. Your King will make peace among the nations. He will rule from sea to sea, from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth. We often refer to this as the triumphant entry, but we must not forget the emphasis on humility. People lined the streets as Jesus entered and spread their cloaks and branches from the trees on the roads. The crowds of people shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. The word Hosanna traditionally means, save us. In fact, it's quite emphatic, save us now. But at the time that Jesus entered it, it had become more of a greeting. Kind of like, you know, in South Africa, we say, howzit? And very often when I say howzit to somebody who is a non-English speaking person, they'll respond, I'm fine, thank you. Because they think I'm asking, how are you? But, you know, in South Africa, howzit just means hi. And in the same way, that word that meant save us now had become a greeting. But we mustn't forget that it does contain that idea of inviting this King to save us now. Because the people were hoping for a new King who would defeat the Roman Empire and restore the Kingdom of Israel. But Jesus knows that God has other plans. Nothing less than the restoration of all things. And it will happen very differently to the way the people expected. That reading from Zachariah speaks about the fact that this King will make peace among the nations, all nations, rule from sea to sea, from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth. This is not just the King of one place. But the King of all creation. And as we think about this King, I'd invite us to listen to the words of Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 to 11, which is considered possibly one of the earliest hymns. And it reads as follows. The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had. He always had the nature of God. In fact, I'm going to read it from a slightly different version. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be crossed, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness, and being found in appearance as a human. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even dead on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him even more highly, and gave him the name that is above every other name, so that as the name given to Jesus, every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus challenged all the norms, everything people expected, the way things usually work. And Jesus continues to challenge the norms, the way we expect God to work, the way things normally work. Jesus challenged social, political, and even religious norms. He turned everything upside down. Right from the beginning, Jesus proclaimed, the kingdom of God is within your grasp. The kingdom of God is in your midst. But the kingdom of God is not like any kingdom we would normally think of. Jesus enters Jerusalem as a king, and there are many images in the Old Testament of the king riding in on a donkey, and so that would have been a sign of Jesus coming in as king. And then of course the reference to Zachariah clearly means that Jesus is entering as king, the long-awaited Messiah king. But he does not act like any king that anyone could ever have imagined. He does not lead a revolt against the evil Roman Empire, as was expected. His entry into Jerusalem... Sorry, lost my place. His entry into Jerusalem was very similar to the entry of Simon Maccabeus, who had led a revolt earlier and also entered Jerusalem on a donkey as a victory procession, because he had led a group of insurgents that had defeated the Roman Empire. But the reality is that Simon Maccabeus' victory was very short-lived. But now Jesus has arrived, the real king is here, and yet he does not act like the king that everyone expected. According to Matthew, the very first place that Jesus goes to as he enters Jerusalem is not the seat of the Roman Empire, but the temple, where he overturned the tables of those who were exploiting people, especially the poor, and they were doing this in the name of God. Later on he speaks of the destruction of the temple. He challenges the religious leaders of the day and calls out their hypocrisy. And all of this ultimately leads to his crucifixion a few days later. He threatens the religious systems of the time and the political systems. And I believe he continues to challenge both the religious and political and social systems of our day. He comes to bring about a new way, God's way, the way that God intends for things to work. And that's very different from the way things usually work. It's a radical new way that turns everything that we are used to, the way things normally work, upside down, or as I often say, actually turning things right way up. Because the way things are at present is upside down. And Jesus comes to turn things right way up, the way they should be. During Holy Week we'll be looking a bit at how Jesus challenges the status quo as we continue the journey with Jesus through this week, to the cross, and of course beyond. And so I'll be sending out devotions via WhatsApp each on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And that'll help us, I think, to see a little bit about how Jesus challenges the status quo. And then of course, as Raelynn mentioned, we have our Tenebrae service on Thursday, Good Friday service, and then the Resurrection service on Sunday. If you're not a part of a WhatsApp group and you'd like to receive those devotions that I'll be sending out, then please contact Anton at the church office, and he will make a plan to ensure that you get those devotions. The kingdom of God is not about ascent, achievement, accumulation. It's about self-sacrificial love. So I love the version that I read, that it says that even though Jesus existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself. Taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness and being vowed in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even dead on a cross. That's the self-sacrificial love, not grasping at power as is so surreal in the world in which we live. And because of that, God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name. It's not about the love of power, it's about the power of love. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus shared a meal with his disciples. And in John 13 we read, Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power. He knew that he had come from God and was going to God. So, because of that, he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, wrapped a towel around his waist, and began to wash the disciples' feet. He took on the form of a slave, because that part was the part of the lowest person in society, the lowest person in the household. And Jesus takes on that role. And then he tells his disciples to follow his example. And not just the twelve, but all of us who follow Christ are called to follow that example. When Jesus enters Jerusalem, it's not a show of power, at least not in the way that we generally understand it. In fact, it's in direct contrast to our idea of power. Jesus relinquishes power. He is betrayed by a friend and handed over to be arrested. He is beaten, mocked, and ultimately crucified. That's not generally how we see power. One commentator wrote this, the power exhibited by the Lord Jesus is profoundly different. The Lord Jesus becomes a human being. However, rather than seducing people, or insisting upon their obedience, or removing their free will, the Lord Jesus instead literally pours himself out and takes the form that perhaps is most undesirable, that of a slave, powerless. Powerless. The power of the Lord Jesus then is not power over, but is rather love, compassion, mercy, and companionship alongside. The form taken by the Lord Jesus seems to be a deliberate indication that God's desire is not for the fulfilment of his own divine self, so much as a desire for the blessing of humanity. To go on to say, moreover, we note that the inherent power of the Lord Jesus is deliberately put aside to prefer obedience. This obedience is to God, and for the most perfect articulation of the character of God. The form of Jesus' obedience is that of love. Jesus loves, and loves, and loves, even to the point of crucifixion, and even then he loves. Father, forgive them. Question I'd like to leave us with is, have we allowed the King on the cross to transform our approach to worldly powers? Have we allowed the King on the cross to transform our approach to worldly powers? As we follow Christ, as we walk with Christ on this journey to the cross and beyond, we walk in the way of sacrificial, self-sacrificial love. It is the only way to bring about the healing and transformation of all creation. Let's pray together. Let's pray together. Gracious and loving God, our world is still full of clamoring voices competing for our attention, crying out in the marketplace of contested values and forgotten needs. We are sure of what works, and what is most needed, and how to get there, until Christ arrives on a donkey. Into our conflicts and our wars, you turn up unarmed and ask us to follow you. We pray for peace. Still a little unnerved that your way to achieve this was a path that went through betrayal, rejection, and the cross. And so bring your peaceable ways to Gaza and the West Bank, to Ukraine and Yemen. Ride on into these places and into our families, our communities, and even our church, and turn expectations on their heads. Bring new life and hope, even out of strife and endings. You came into the capital from a more simple life in the regions, from healing and teaching ordinary folk. You came to where power was wielded and interests were well established, to where the seats of states and religion had their base. You came to where decisions are made, and you came without powerful friends, and still try to make a difference, and you call us to follow your way. We pray for people in our places of power. We pray that they would make wise and compassionate decisions. And we pray for ourselves to have the courage to get involved where Jesus on a donkey is needed today. We pray for people without homes, refugees, and victims of violence, for those sick, suffering, and dying. May the humble arrival of Jesus present in us, present in us, make a transforming difference still. You surprise your friends, going along with the commotion and failing to avoid the risks. Give us in our time wisdom, loving God, wisdom to know where compromise should be made and peace be sought, and wisdom to know when not to bend, to speak with clarity and walk your way as your people. Come into our conflict, our problems, and deepest needs. Turn us unarmed and transforming still. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.