SPEAKER_00 0:00

The Lord be with you. Thanks so much, and welcome to Palm Sunday. College students are on spring break, and a bunch of you are gonna join them. But we've got Holy Week purposes on our minds. Palm waving and crowd shouting, the king, the king! Blessed is the king, Hosanna. I love Palm Sunday. I've always loved Palm Sunday. When I was a kid, I would uh pretty much every Sunday run before and after the service up and down the church hallways and sometimes during the service, too. You know, people would quiet down, slow down, and end up sitting next to my mom in the pew. She'd be like, Why are you sweating? Then on Palm Sunday, they sanctioned it all. You know, they gave us sticks, and they're like, wave them around, which doubled as weapons to taunt my sister. I love Palm Sunday. It's always been one of my favorite days. It's got this high holy day vibe about it, but without any of the pressure. You know? No one's like, what are you doing for Palm Sunday this year? You know, it's great. You've heard of priesters, you know, people come to church on Christmas and Easter. Have you ever heard of Palmers? There's just no pressure to it. Yet we sing these songs designated for this day. Hosanna! They're like carols. And the kids come forward like it's a nativity scene, sort of. You know, there's something great about it, and yet it's just it's odd. It's kind of odd. You get the feeling like you could probably do away, do without Palm Sunday, you know, in like the grand scheme of salvation history, you know, like gotta have Good Friday, definitely need Resurrection Day, but Palm Sunday? It's just a weird day. I love it. Um it's kind of disorienting in a certain way. The NT Right, he's got the so the crowds, they're waving palm branches, which is an exceedingly Hanukkah thing to do. But it's Passover. Uh he says it, it'd be like uh you you fell into a deep sleep and woke up years later and you saw people setting chocolate eggs around their living rooms and hanging stockings filled with presents on the mantle. Like, what are we doing here? This is just an odd day. It was then, it is now. Uh this disorienting. I think I think we should call it disorientation day. I think that's a better name for it. Which I I like it. I like it. I like the disorientation because it just feels like that sometimes. I don't mean Palm Sunday, I mean life. It just feels like what's going on? What are we doing? You know, wars rage across the globe, troops march, bombs fly, people suffer. I'm thinking about 215 this afternoon when Michigan plays basketball. It's just disorienting. You know? Economies bounce, you know, like super balls on concrete. The fundamentals of my life haven't shifted much. I'm just glad it's gonna be like fifty-five degrees today. It's just disorienting. Social media is indicted as the addictive substance that it is worth billions of dollars this week. And we're still gonna go home and doom scroll. It's just disorienting. That's why I like Palm Sunday. It fits us. It's our day. When the great crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests, planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since on account of him many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. The next day, the great crowd that had come to the Passover learned that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, so they cut branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel. Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it. As it is written, Don't be afraid, daughter Zion, your king is coming, riding on a donkey's colt. The disciples didn't understand these things at first. But after he was glorified, then they remembered what was written about him and was done to him. The crowd who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. Those who heard he had performed this sign went out to meet him. The Pharisees said to one another, You see, you can do nothing. Look, the whole world's gone after him. This is the word of the Lord.

unknown 5:56

Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Thanks be to God. It's John 12, 9 through 19, if you wanted to find it. It's John's version of the Palm Sunday story, what we call the triumphal entry, Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I wonder what the energy was like. You know, that day. They're waving palm branches like it's Hanukkah, but it's Passover. I don't know. Like there's that song we sing, I don't know if we sang it this morning, that song, you know, uh to whom the lips of children their sweet hosanas rang. You get the feeling like Jesus liked it. I mean, that's what I kind of raised thinking Jesus liked it. You know? Like he's like he sits on the donkey waving, you know, like a politician on a float, you know, holding babies, shaking hands. The king! The king! Blessed is the king! There's no indication he liked it. I guess unless you assume because he went through with it, he must have enjoyed it. And the crowds, I mean, I get that we have the kids come forward and they are so stunningly cute. I'm in the back crying, watching these little ones trap forward. But but that doesn't mean that scene in in Jerusalem was tame. Like there was a revolt in the air. This was a coup. The king! The king! Blessed is the king. You get the feeling they they they they they shout the right words, but they miss the intention. He was about to establish the kingdom. The upside down, inside out, turn us all around kingdom. It's disorienting. I've got this therapist friend who talks about the process we go through from orientation the way things are. Through disorientation, this disruptive event occurs, and you can't go back now. To reorientation, the new way it's gonna be. Jesus is the disorientation. Jesus is the disruption. You can't go back now. You gotta be reoriented to the kingdom. The king, the king, blessed is the king. Let me show you what I mean by this disorientation. This is verse 9. When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus, but also to see. Does that feel a little duplicitous to you? They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus. They liked the spectacle of it all. Maybe, maybe, maybe he'll do in a way for us what he did for Lazarus. Maybe, maybe we could get something out of Jesus too. Maybe, maybe they came not only, but also, like, I wonder how how quickly we are caught between not only, but also. The king! The king! Blessed is the king, but not the kingdom. Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the peacemakers. Shall I go on? Those who want to save their life will lose it. Those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Shall I go on? If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. Love your enemy, hate, pray for those who persecute you. Don't look to your own interest, but to the interests of others. I did not come to be served, but to serve. It's the kingdom. This day, this whole thing, it's so disorienting. To me, to you? Like, what are we in it for? What do you think this thing's about? His crown is made of thorns. His throne is a cross. His ascension is held in place by nails. His reign is done in humility. His rule is made by grace. His death is life, and his life is sacrificial. It's the kingdom. I was down in North Carolina this past week with some pastor friends. It's our annual gathering. I've been doing this for like, I don't know, quite a quite a number of years. We joke, this is a total joke, so just laugh, even if it's not funny. We we meet to keep each other out of the headlines. We pray together and we read the Bible together and we ask probing questions to each other. And when one of us doesn't feel like they're really really being forthright, we're like, eh, lean a little deeper in. We talk about life and loss and grief and hope and you. So Theo of Golden. Who's read it? So good. It is so good. Someone told me earlier this morning the library, Herrick District Library, has a 400-person weight for Theo of Golden. It's so good. A guy named Alan Levi is the author. Alan Levi, do you any of you know about this guy? He's 70 years old. He's a young life guy. Like, he would go to young life camps like 40 years ago or something like that and play his guitar and lead singing. Like, amazing. Alan Levi. He writes a book called Theo of Golden for no audience whatsoever. He just wrote it, put it in his drawer in his desk. Some buddies found it, and they're like, You've got to publish this. He's like, I'm not gonna publish that. Like, no, you gotta publish it. So he self-published it, sells 3,000 copies. Simon and Schuster picks it up last month and it sold three-quarters of a million copies. It's unbelievable. He went to the University of Georgia, which we'll forgive him for. He graduated with a law degree, became a lawyer, and then a judge, and in 2012 he quit it all to spend a year with his younger brother Gary, who was 54 at the time, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He spent the year with his brother Gary as he died. This is, he's been interviewed a bunch now. This is from one of the interviews. He says, Every day my one job was to love my brother. If that meant changing his socks and his clothes and washing his hair, that's what I did. If it meant walking around the farm, that's what I did. If it meant holding him up so he could walk 50 feet, that's what I did. It was a wonderful year. For the first time in my life, there was not a hundred things on my plate all competing for attention. There was only one. I don't think he'd might. He actually kind of does go on in the interview to make the same point I'm about to make. Like there's a lot going on, you know. Like there's a hundred things we could be doing, but but really there's only one. The kingdom. And one thing to do. Love my brother, love your sister, love your neighbor, love your classmate, love your coworker, love the person you don't like and the person who really does like you. It's the kingdom.

unknown 14:32

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Not only because of Jesus, but also we've got to be disoriented. Here's another disorienting moment. There's so many. We could be here till Easter. Last line. This is verse 19. The Pharisees then said to one another, You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after it. What's that phrase? Never a truer word has been spoken. They didn't even know it. Like we pick on the crowds for shouting Hosanna, you know, and then, you know, you know the quip. They shout Hosanna on Palm Sunday and crucify him on Good Friday. Well, the Pharisees are doing the same thing. The whole world is gone after they don't even know what they're talking about. They're there, they're watching, they're checking it out. Crowds coming out to Jesus, you know, big deal. You see, you can do nothing. The whole world's gone after him, which is maybe a misunderstanding of what the Apostle Paul would say a different day. Every knee will bend and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord. The whole world has gone after him. Or Saint John, who would catch a glimpse of glory and see people from every language and tribe and nation all gathered around the throne, singing to the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb. You see, the whole world has gone after him. Or Jesus himself, who would say, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. You see, the whole world has gone after him. We have to be disoriented out of any me first version of the Christian story we've embraced. It's never other than you, don't get me wrong. Christ cares deeply for you, but it's never just about you. The kingdom. The whole world. All things will be made new. N.T. Wright has this, I think, great line in his commentary on this part of John's gospel. As we watch Jesus' progression into Jerusalem and on to meet his fate, we must ourselves be drawn into the action and the passion that awaits him. And we must ourselves become a part of the means by which his message goes out to the world. It's never just, it's never other than you. It just can't end with you. The whole world has gone after him. On Fridays, I run with some guys. When you see us downtown, please don't laugh. We've been doing this for a while now. We exercise. I mean, most of you walk faster than we run, but we're we're out there. We mostly do it for the friendship. One guy's a pastor on the north side, another guy is a pastor at Grand Valley University, and then another's a young life guy. We were talking, we just talk about stuff. They talk a lot. I I preserve my energy a little more. So I can't remember, it must have been oxygen depletion. I can't remember what we were talking about, but I do remember a couple weeks ago the young life guy says, everybody walks into a conversation asking three questions. Very interesting. The first question, what does this have to do with me? The second question, what does this have to do with me? The third question, what does this have to do with me? Different way of saying what Eugene Peterson would say in a book titled Eat This Book. He talks about this unholy trinity. It's important to observe that in the formulation of this new trinity that defines the self as the sovereign text for living, the Bible is neither ignored nor banned. It holds. It holds, in fact, an honored place. But the three personal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is replaced by a very individualized personal trinity of my holy wants, my holy needs, and my holy feelings. We've got to be disoriented. The whole world. Any version of the Christian story that remains too myopic must be disrupted. The borders keep expanding, the boundaries keep getting wider. Our imagination expands until the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. You see, the whole world has gone after him. Are you with me? This is why we're trying to raise money to support the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf. So that the whole world might go after him. This is why Beijing and a group of others just got back yesterday after pounding nails for a week and they're exhausted. But hopefully, maybe just maybe the whole world will go after him. This is why Luis starts Thy Neighbor so that people in our community might experience the goodness of Jesus until the whole world goes after him. That's what this whole thing's about. The king, the king. Blessed is the king until the whole world bows. You know? So I don't know if this works homiletically. Probably doesn't. So don't email me. Okay? If you have thoughts, keep them to yourself. Here's what I want to do. I want you to listen to the story again. I want you to listen to this Palm Sunday story, this triumphal entry story, and I want you to ask yourself, where do I need to be disrupted? How do I need to be disoriented to the kingdom? When the great crowd of the Jews heard that Jesus was there, they came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well. Since on account of him, many of the Jews were deserting and believing in Jesus. The next day, the great crowd that had come to Passover learned that he was coming to Jerusalem, so they cut down branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel! Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written, Don't be afraid, daughter Zion, your king is coming. Riding on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first. But after he was glorified, then they remembered what was written about him and done to him. The crowd who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. Those who heard he had performed this sign also went out to meet him. The Pharisees said to one another, You see, you can do nothing. Look the whole world has gone after him. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.