Episode 23: Luke 19:28-40

Translation: Common English Bible (CEB)

3 Questions:

What word, phrase or image strikes you in this text?

Toward what is God calling you in this text?

In what ways do you honor Jesus?

Additional texts:

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 22:14—23:56

Transcript

00:00:01.29
Nathan Pile
You know how when you wake up, you just think, wonder what today's going to bring. Well, where I'm at, it's snowing. Like we've had 70 degree beautiful days and now it's snowing.

00:00:18.89
Nathan Pile
March. And really, by the time you listen to this, it'll be April. But here on the mountain at Camp Sequanota, it's snowing today.

00:00:30.33
Kevin Shock
Yep.

00:00:30.57
Nathan Pile
Um, but yeah, well, lucky you.

00:00:31.11
Kevin Shock
Yeah. It's not doing that here, but.

00:00:34.69
Nathan Pile
Uh, I couldn't believe it when the forecast called us for weather, I like this, cause really we've had, I don't know, 10 days of beautiful, beautiful weather. Uh, and when it said snow, i was like, surely not, but they were correct today.

00:00:48.84
Kevin Shock
Hmm. Yeah.

00:00:50.88
Nathan Pile
So here, yay, weather people, you got, you nailed it today here. Um, that

00:00:56.01
Kevin Shock
I, uh, I just pulled up the, um, the daily forecast on my weather app. Cause it made me wonder and today, including today, the next three, the next four days, all have a high temperature with a different tens digit number.

00:01:16.67
Nathan Pile
but

00:01:16.77
Kevin Shock
which it feels like March, but also, oh my gosh.

00:01:18.27
Nathan Pile
Means we're going to go up and down. Means we're going to go up and down, huh?

00:01:21.61
Kevin Shock
Yes, we are. Yeah.

00:01:22.73
Nathan Pile
All right.

00:01:23.24
Kevin Shock
but Anyway.

00:01:23.77
Nathan Pile
ah The roller coaster continues. The roller coaster of life and weather continues.

00:01:25.78
Kevin Shock
Yep.

00:01:29.12
Nathan Pile
But that means the best thing we can do, Kevin, is tend our spirits. And so that's why we're here.

00:01:35.61
Kevin Shock
Amen.

00:01:36.67
Nathan Pile
That's why we're here, everyone. Thanks for tuning in um and joining us for Tend: a Bible podcast. This week, ah we are going to be looking at Luke, the 19th chapter, verses 28 to 40.

00:01:54.91
Nathan Pile
um And we're gonna Kevin and are going to read it from the Common English Bible, the CEB, Kevin's new favorite translation.

00:02:05.03
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:02:05.34
Nathan Pile
um And because his mama got him on that Bible like a year ago, if everybody remembers. If you don't, not now you know.

00:02:12.72
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:02:14.62
Nathan Pile
um um I believe it was for his 49th birthday.

00:02:20.57
Kevin Shock
Yeah, probably.

00:02:20.90
Nathan Pile
ah So there's three questions this week that we're going to look at. What word, phrase, or image strikes you in this text? Toward what is God calling you in this text? And the third question this week, in what ways do you honor Jesus?

00:02:36.34
Nathan Pile
um Hmm, that should be a good conversation, Kevin.

00:02:42.77
Kevin Shock
It was hard come up with that third question this week, but we'll see where it goes.

00:02:45.12
Nathan Pile
yeah yeah, well. Well, it's and it's an interesting, um well, we're going to hear the text. So, yeah, let's

00:02:51.83
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah. ah Here's some information about your hosts, Kevin and Nathan. We are men married to women in financially stable households, white, firmly in middle age, college and seminary educated.

00:03:04.12
Kevin Shock
We work in Lutheran Church and were born and raised in western Pennsylvania. All this affects how we read scripture and discuss it, but none of this makes us better able to read and discuss scripture than anyone else.

00:03:16.46
Kevin Shock
We believe that the wisdom of scripture is the whole community's compiled interpretation for life with God and one another. So we want to know what you hear and think from your life experience.

00:03:29.13
Kevin Shock
All right, as Nathan said, we're reading from Luke, the 19th chapter today. ah Today's the texts that we're, well, the texts we're talking about, plus our additional texts for today, ah have to, are related to Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, ah depending what you observe in your own congregation.

00:03:51.00
Kevin Shock
ah So we're hearing the triumphal entry from Luke's gospel.

00:03:56.75
Kevin Shock
After Jesus said this, he continued on ahead going up to Jerusalem. As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task.

00:04:08.24
Kevin Shock
He said, go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, why are you untying it? Just say, the master needs it.

00:04:22.36
Kevin Shock
those who had been it's say its master needs it Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the colt?

00:04:34.91
Kevin Shock
They replied, Its master needs it. They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the c colt, and lifted Jesus onto it. As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road.

00:04:46.30
Kevin Shock
As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing. They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen.

00:04:57.20
Kevin Shock
They said, of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, He answered, peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens some of the pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus teacher scold your disciples tell them to stop he answered I tell you if they were silent the stones would shout If you are meeting with a group or another person, you can pause the podcast now and engage the questions on your own.

00:05:27.56
Kevin Shock
Nathan, what word, phrase, or image strikes you in this text?

00:05:32.49
Nathan Pile
Um, uh, I'm going to share my silly mind, um, with the world. Uh, the thing that, um, one of the, one of the things that struck me is, um, that they lifted Jesus onto the colt.

00:05:51.00
Nathan Pile
Um, and I'll be honest, it took me back to when I was a kid and tried to get onto a horse, um, And like, I don't do a lot of horseback riding.

00:06:04.94
Nathan Pile
Like, um I can't even tell you the last time I've been on a horse.

00:06:11.93
Kevin Shock
yeah

00:06:12.69
Nathan Pile
It might be the image that I have. No, it's definitely not that image. um So I was a camper at camp when I got on a horse for the first time. But there was a saddle, right? and so And the saddle has the things that hang down that you put your feet in. I don't even know what what are they, stirrups? Stirs?

00:06:28.05
Nathan Pile
I don't know what they're called. Stirrups, I think they are.

00:06:30.20
Kevin Shock
Stirrups, yeah.

00:06:31.05
Nathan Pile
and And you step into the stirrup and you grab onto, if you have a Western saddle, ah the little ah thing that sticks up again, I don't know what it's called.

00:06:41.50
Nathan Pile
um You grab onto that and I pulled myself onto the horse and um I did a little stronger than I should have. um And so it went over the saddle a little bit.

00:06:55.48
Nathan Pile
Um, and ah my foot came out of the stirrup that it was in. and of course it wasn't in the other side stirrup yet. And so I'm like holding onto whatever that knob thing is on the top of the saddle.

00:07:08.00
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:07:08.80
Nathan Pile
And I'm like trying to pull myself back up onto the saddle. I did eventually do that. Anyway, the image that I have is is a bunch of disciples lifting Jesus onto a donkey.

00:07:20.61
Nathan Pile
Again, probably not something that they did very often. Um, and, or like the, the donkey would it have have something for, for Jesus to hold on to. Um, you know, cause again, I have that image of us with a saddle and the reins that we hold onto when you're riding a horse.

00:07:37.30
Nathan Pile
Um, or is there just like a piece of rope that is around the the donkey's neck and that's what was tied to the, to the, um, to the post, um, that they were untying. And so I have this image of like,

00:07:50.75
Nathan Pile
disciple on their hands and knees and some and Jesus stepping on the disciples back and the other disciples like trying to get them up there. It's just a chaotic situation. um And, and, um and this is, you know, this is the king coming into, you know, this is supposed to be the king.

00:08:00.58
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:08:09.38
Nathan Pile
the King's parade into Jerusalem. And, and it would have been a very human, messy, uh, setup in my mind of Jesus getting onto the donkey and like, which way should I ride? Should I ride with both of my legs on one side or do I put one leg on one side and one leg on the other side?

00:08:28.93
Nathan Pile
Um, and like, So the just the chaos of that situation. And I hadn't, ah you know, I think about the palms for Palm Sunday. I think about blankets and claws being laid down in front of that.

00:08:42.49
Nathan Pile
But I don't think about the moment of preparation of them getting the king ready. And like if he was a real king, there would be, there'd probably be a set of stairs, you know.

00:08:55.62
Nathan Pile
And there would be a way that that Jesus would but would and could look regal and important on whatever animal.

00:08:57.38
Kevin Shock
Hmm. No, right.

00:09:02.49
Nathan Pile
And I wouldn't use a donkey either, probably. um Because, you know, donkeys are...

00:09:06.91
Kevin Shock
no right

00:09:08.01
Nathan Pile
You know, not as nice looking as other animals um necessarily. So, again, there's lots of um imagery in this passage, too, about the colt. And so, um but all of the things that we would do as human beings to make ourselves look good going into the city for the first time to be called king and lord.

00:09:31.06
Nathan Pile
um none of that is present here. and And my brain, as you read down through this, this idea of the disciples lifting Jesus onto the donkey feels like it would be just as chaotic because the disciples never get it that he is the Messiah.

00:09:46.73
Nathan Pile
Like them trying to put him on the donkey also feels like it would be chaotic and crazy.

00:09:52.05
Kevin Shock
Yeah. who

00:09:53.23
Nathan Pile
So that was the image that kind of popped into my head there because I had ah I don't think about, haven't considered, and and I'm sure it is in the other translations that we've re read that the that Jesus is on the donkey, but this idea of them lifting him up.

00:10:11.16
Kevin Shock
yeah

00:10:11.37
Nathan Pile
Like you see a disciple with one leg and another disciple with another leg, another disciple or two, like trying to hold his shoulders and they're like trying to get them onto the, like, it just seems chaos.

00:10:22.75
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Just fun to me. So yeah.

00:10:25.97
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah. um I, I wonder, well, the image that I had in my head was um when you were talking about, you know, how would a, how would an earthly king get on the back of an animal?

00:10:39.78
Nathan Pile
Right.

00:10:39.91
Kevin Shock
um And I'm probably like, you know, ah a king that had been like a military hero or something, or had come up through the ranks in that way would be, would probably, you know, have a saddle and be able to get on the horse by themselves.

00:10:54.25
Kevin Shock
um

00:10:54.45
Nathan Pile
Right.

00:10:54.81
Kevin Shock
But,

00:10:55.14
Nathan Pile
right

00:10:55.83
Kevin Shock
um But I'm also have that picture in my head of I don't even know what you call it, what the word for it is, but like the the carriage that doesn't have any wheels that um like, you know, there are four bars coming out from it or like supported by two long bars and it's carried by men, not animals like I.

00:11:15.14
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah.

00:11:17.30
Kevin Shock
And that's something that like, you know, a king would just step into and sit down and then and then be lifted, be hoisted up in the air in the thing.

00:11:22.89
Nathan Pile
Lift it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:11:25.03
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah, I know. I appreciate your reflection, because, again, I've in the same way, I've never thought about what did Jesus look like riding this colt?

00:11:36.51
Kevin Shock
um You wouldn't have really had anything to.

00:11:42.33
Kevin Shock
um I mean, first of all, ah donkeys are pack animals, aren't they? I mean, they're they're not.

00:11:49.52
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah.

00:11:50.51
Kevin Shock
This is not an animal that someone would have ridden into town.

00:11:51.02
Nathan Pile
Not typically ridden. Yeah.

00:11:54.63
Kevin Shock
This is an animal who would have been led into town that if he if the animal or if the owner had um

00:11:54.74
Nathan Pile
But...

00:12:03.59
Kevin Shock
had had something to bring back from market or something like that, it would have been put on the back of the animal to carry it back.

00:12:09.83
Nathan Pile
Right.

00:12:10.47
Kevin Shock
um

00:12:10.53
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:12:11.26
Kevin Shock
Yeah, so I can't can't imagine this was a very comfortable ride for Jesus, but I don't think the comfort was the point of the ride anyway, so...

00:12:19.97
Nathan Pile
Yeah, um and our conversation

00:12:23.80
Kevin Shock
Oh, Nathan's grabbing for something.

00:12:23.93
Nathan Pile
now makes now makes me wonder about, it does um Luke's gospel have Mary on a donkey

00:12:41.02
Kevin Shock
Oh.

00:12:42.51
Nathan Pile
I don't know why it would be a connection that would stick in Mary, mother of Jesus.

00:12:44.47
Kevin Shock
Mary, Mother of Jesus.

00:12:46.95
Nathan Pile
Yes. um You know, we, we have, you know, when we all think about our nativity scenes, there's always a donkey, usually with Mary and Joseph um because Mary rides the, um Mary is riding the donkey because she's pregnant.

00:12:53.97
Kevin Shock
Mmhm

00:13:06.74
Nathan Pile
um And if there was any,

00:13:10.96
Kevin Shock
Yeah, which, oh gosh, ah talk about an uncomfortable ride.

00:13:14.93
Nathan Pile
Right, right. Like, cause she, they're, yeah, at best there's a blanket that they might put down, um, you know, to ride on the back of a donkey. But again, it's not the animal that we think about riding, at least not today.

00:13:30.40
Nathan Pile
it doesn't mean that they're not strong enough for us to be able to ride them. Um,

00:13:35.83
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:13:38.01
Nathan Pile
So, I don't know. I'd have to look at this a little bit more closely. I thought there would be to be right there at the top of one of those verses, but of course it's not, so I'd have to read the whole thing um

00:13:50.39
Nathan Pile
the, uh. But again, that idea that

00:13:57.21
Nathan Pile
when the king is born...

00:14:00.04
Nathan Pile
you know Mary is ushered in on a donkey, now Jesus being ushered in on a donkey. And and there is Old Testament connections to that idea of the colt um um that is a part of this history as well. That's right.

00:14:18.47
Kevin Shock
Hmm.

00:14:19.12
Nathan Pile
as well so

00:14:19.33
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:14:21.14
Nathan Pile
but ah

00:14:22.61
Kevin Shock
Well, these are, these are the, um, these are the rabbit holes that we go down when we're, when we're two people who are, who have studied scripture and who are really interested in it and hear something new in it and want to know all the things that connects to it.

00:14:27.37
Nathan Pile
that's right and your

00:14:37.47
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:14:38.20
Nathan Pile
Right. Yeah. How many other, you know, that's one of the things, um those of you that are listening, one of the things they talk about in our theology classes, are biblical interpretation classes is like, well, how many other times does this word show up in all of the Bible?

00:14:55.44
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:14:56.35
Nathan Pile
You know, and so then you do these kinds of searches and studies to see if there's, is there meaning and connection there that did the author picked this, pick a colt, for a reason um and they're absolutely you know there's absolutely theologians that say yes and this is why um um kind of a thing um around that so um so that's in that and so I was just curious if if um

00:15:14.19
Kevin Shock
Yeah. yeah

00:15:21.81
Nathan Pile
Joseph and Mary in their journey um but Luke is a little bit bigger on Mary's song and um and the Zachariah story and Zachariah and Elizabeth story and so it might be Matthew that gives us the um the mother on a on a donkey um

00:15:31.48
Kevin Shock
Oh, of course.

00:15:45.30
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:15:47.77
Nathan Pile
kind of part of our story. So, um, but I wondered if it was Luke, but I don't, I don't see it here. Just kind of quickly scanning through, um quickly scanning through things. So, um, yeah.

00:16:05.15
Nathan Pile
What about you, my friend? What word, phrase, or image struck you in this passage? Um,

00:16:10.07
Kevin Shock
Well, um

00:16:14.35
Kevin Shock
there are two things, and one I'm just going to touch on, and people can go study if they want to. But, um of course, we begin this reading with another reference to something that we don't know what that something is, unless you go back and look at it.

00:16:30.85
Kevin Shock
After Jesus said this, he continued on ahead. So when I was looking at this earlier today, I thought, well, i want to know what the this is. he um He's teaching.

00:16:42.11
Kevin Shock
He tells a parable, ah ah difficult parable about the, the parable of the talents, I guess is what we normally call it. It's about faithful stewardship.

00:16:54.50
Kevin Shock
And it's a it's a troubling parable because the the king is a

00:17:03.34
Kevin Shock
is a harsh person to the one who expects the king to be a harsh person and I, yeah, I don't know I I spent some time this morning unpacking that parable and uh there are some words that are used in common english bible that help it make a little more sense and ah saw some connections that I hadn't necessarily seen before at least not recently so Anyway, I encourage you all to go go read the parable that happens in Luke 19 that has nothing to do with this reading, so I'm not going to talk a lot about it.

00:17:38.11
Kevin Shock
um What I would like to talk about, though, for this question is ah it's, "its master needs it," referring to the colt.

00:17:48.29
Nathan Pile
Mmm.

00:17:51.74
Kevin Shock
And I feel like in other translations, we read, well, what i what I automatically said, I stumbled on it the first time through, ah the master needs it.

00:17:57.20
Nathan Pile
Mmm.

00:18:05.97
Kevin Shock
And um this that that word, it's, makes a connection between Jesus and the colt that I had never necessarily heard before.

00:18:18.85
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

00:18:19.24
Kevin Shock
But I think it's a faithful connection because this is also the section in Luke where Jesus says, if if the people were not singing out praise, then the stones would do it.

00:18:34.15
Kevin Shock
The rocks would do it.

00:18:35.42
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

00:18:36.32
Kevin Shock
So I feel like we have two images in this in this short reading that point to um what theologians have called the cosmic Christ. ah That that Jesus Jesus is very much a

00:18:47.32
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

00:18:52.15
Kevin Shock
a human being, a male human being who is, enfleshed in a particular time and place and has interaction with other human beings. Um, and, and, um, wins salvation in a particular way.

00:19:10.30
Kevin Shock
Uh, and at the same time, this man who lived, you know, 2000 years ago in ah Galilee and Judea is also the author and Lord of the whole universe.

00:19:28.57
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:19:29.76
Kevin Shock
So Jesus created that donkey.

00:19:34.97
Nathan Pile
yeah

00:19:36.15
Kevin Shock
Jesus put those stones into place. So why wouldn't the stones praise him if no one else were doing it? yeah Yeah. I just, I love that image of the,

00:19:50.04
Kevin Shock
Jesus in the role of creator um and um or or perhaps we say um to use the term that's used here, the master of creation. Yeah.

00:20:04.57
Kevin Shock
Yeah, I really like that image.

00:20:07.25
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:20:10.07
Nathan Pile
Well, and and the um the owners of the colt don't put up a fight around the language of its master needs it.

00:20:17.88
Kevin Shock
They don't.

00:20:22.38
Nathan Pile
um And so there's even ah an acknowledgement by the owner who who could say, well, this is mine.

00:20:29.29
Kevin Shock
and

00:20:30.91
Nathan Pile
They knew who

00:20:35.13
Nathan Pile
they knew who who it was that was asking to use the colt.

00:20:40.71
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. we We've talked a little bit about this in Lent already. um

00:20:52.80
Kevin Shock
ah Abram had this encounter with a God whom he did not know. And he did everything that God told him to do. And God reckoned it to him as merit, as righteousness. um this This to me, and you know and the call of the disciples.

00:21:13.74
Kevin Shock
Jesus said, follow me. They left everything behind and they went and followed him. that This sounds to me like the same, it's it's a lower level example of it, but it sounds like the same kind of thing.

00:21:18.75
Nathan Pile
Right.

00:21:25.37
Kevin Shock
ah Why are you untying? it says the colt, but why are you untying my colt?

00:21:30.80
Nathan Pile
Right.

00:21:31.24
Kevin Shock
ah

00:21:31.78
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:21:32.88
Kevin Shock
Its master needs it. Okay. like there's there's a There's a leap of faith or there's some kind of perception that something greater is going on here than just what is what is perceived by the eyes or the senses.

00:21:48.36
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:21:49.56
Nathan Pile
oh Nice. Yeah, I do like that. I do showing for for us everyday people, seeing other everyday people living faithfully.

00:22:04.13
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:22:04.87
Nathan Pile
Trust, you know, there would have a bit of a stir. every You know, people show up for the parade, has Jesus' says triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So people had to know he was in the area.

00:22:20.95
Nathan Pile
And so these individuals um

00:22:27.01
Nathan Pile
would have been a part of some faith community. I'm assuming the Jewish faith community. um Knowing that they were looking and waiting for the Messiah to arrive.

00:22:40.78
Nathan Pile
People had to be talking about it everywhere. and so Jesus, And knowing that the master was somewhere present.

00:22:43.36
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

00:22:48.32
Nathan Pile
The master was asking for

00:22:52.29
Nathan Pile
it's donkey, um, or it's colt. Um, yeah.

00:22:59.74
Nathan Pile
What does that look like for us? Do we hear, do we hear God in the world inviting us into, um, or out of our, um, uh,

00:23:18.57
Nathan Pile
possession filled lives. Can we let go that which we own so freely just by someone one else saying it's master needs it.

00:23:31.28
Nathan Pile
Most of us would be like, I don't know what that means.

00:23:34.15
Kevin Shock
never

00:23:34.87
Nathan Pile
ah but

00:23:34.98
Kevin Shock
Right. Right. Yeah.

00:23:36.58
Nathan Pile
ah No, no, you can't have the donkey.

00:23:39.93
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:23:41.55
Nathan Pile
Because that would have been something of pretty value, you know, even though you didn't ride it.

00:23:45.14
Kevin Shock
Sure.

00:23:46.53
Nathan Pile
But carrying things, doing those, you know, there would have been some, been some value in having an animal.

00:23:57.20
Nathan Pile
So, yeah. All right. You want to do this a second time?

00:24:02.03
Kevin Shock
Sure.

00:24:07.75
Nathan Pile
As Jeru- Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. He said, go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever has has ever ridden.

00:24:28.23
Nathan Pile
Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, why are you untying it? Just say, its master needs it. Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said.

00:24:43.19
Nathan Pile
As they were untying the colt, its owner said to them, Are you untying the colt? They replied, Its master needs it. They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the colt, and lifted Jesus onto it.

00:24:58.15
Nathan Pile
as Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road. As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing.

00:25:09.76
Nathan Pile
They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen. They said, Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.

00:25:23.81
Nathan Pile
Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, scold your disciples. Tell them to stop. He answered, I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.

00:25:38.84
Nathan Pile
Kevin, toward what is God calling you in this text?

00:25:43.32
Kevin Shock
um I think that

00:25:48.45
Kevin Shock
God is calling me toward a more

00:25:55.56
Kevin Shock
The word that comes to mind is reckless, but I don't know if that's exactly the right word that I want to use. um

00:26:06.06
Kevin Shock
It seems to me that this group of people, the disciples and the other, well, all of the all of the disciples, um

00:26:18.11
Kevin Shock
not just not just the close-knit group, but everyone who's there welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem, um they' They're doing this without any kind of regard for how the public, the Pharisees, the soldiers, Caesar are going to perceive their actions.

00:26:37.51
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:26:41.79
Nathan Pile
yeah

00:26:43.77
Kevin Shock
um And I think that there's that's probably something that I think there are times when I don't make any I don't make any qualms about being a pastor or a person of faith.

00:26:58.58
Kevin Shock
um I'm, I, I feel like when I was, when I was younger, when I was newer to being a pastor, I think I, not that I hid it from people, but I didn't really, I didn't really offer it up.

00:27:15.13
Nathan Pile
Mm-hmm.

00:27:16.30
Kevin Shock
um I mean, it it can lead to lots of, odd reactions, ah ranging from ah someone wanting to tell you every single you know problem that they're facing, everything that's going on in their life, which you know is probably the better of the two, to people um just deciding they don't want to interact with you anymore because they don't know what they don't even know how to approach it.

00:27:40.97
Kevin Shock
um ah that That doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to. um um i tend to be pretty open about it. I think the thing that is more important for me to be open about is that I'm a person of faith. um and

00:27:57.84
Nathan Pile
Mmm

00:27:58.41
Kevin Shock
And that that doesn't mean necessarily wearing my faith on my sleeve. Like, you know, I walk up to people and they ask me about myself and I, well, I'm a Christian. You know, I, it,

00:28:12.19
Kevin Shock
Like, I don't I don't think that that, I don't think that's what it's saying. but But if I feel the spirit calling me to interact with someone in a certain way or to or to act in a certain way,

00:28:25.41
Kevin Shock
um I think I better do it without being too concerned about how other people might perceive it. Yeah. It's it's just like it's a collective image that I get from this reading.

00:28:42.85
Kevin Shock
that the people there are, there and and maybe maybe this is somewhat of what is behind it. ther- they don't They don't think about what all those other groups are going to think of them because they're so focused on Jesus.

00:28:59.21
Kevin Shock
Maybe they're not even thinking about.

00:28:59.39
Nathan Pile
yeah

00:29:03.20
Kevin Shock
It's not that they consider what other people might think of them and then decide to go ahead and do it anyway. Maybe they're not even thinking about what other people might think of them.

00:29:12.96
Nathan Pile
yeah

00:29:13.10
Kevin Shock
because they're just they're just focused on Jesus.

00:29:16.72
Nathan Pile
Well, and I think that's for me, um hearing your reflection, my words would would have been around, you know, what I feel called toward is faithfulness. And I think that yeah that point is, is that what I'm trying to get to with my word of faithfulness of, I feel called toward being faithful. Well, there's a faithfulness that, and and you've nailed it.

00:29:37.60
Nathan Pile
The peer pressure from outside doesn't weigh in.

00:29:42.22
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:29:42.71
Nathan Pile
They're so in. that they're willing to wander down and get a donkey that's tied to somebody's post in a town that's not identified um to us. So that's not the place that they frequented. It's not like, hey, go down to the bills and and grab his donkey.

00:30:02.67
Nathan Pile
This is complete strangers.

00:30:02.70
Kevin Shock
Oh, right. Yeah. It's the village. Right. Yeah.

00:30:05.49
Nathan Pile
It's the village. It's complete strangers. Wander in, get the donkey, bring it back. If they ask you it's ah it's master needs it. um Like that would be the kind of vague description if I gave it to a summer staff member that probably wouldn't get done.

00:30:20.08
Kevin Shock
Hmm.

00:30:25.72
Nathan Pile
ah Like the task wouldn't get completed because there'd be so much and anxiety and like this this sounds like he's full of malarkey um kind of a thing.

00:30:36.79
Nathan Pile
um But the disciples are in at this point. they they They take Jesus' instruction and they follow it to the letter even despite whatever they're feeling on the inside.

00:30:51.49
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:30:51.60
Nathan Pile
um or question the what what questions are in their head or the anxiety that they're feeling in their heart, um they they live into that. And so that that part of, I love your your reflection about that peer pressure piece, because I do think how often do, you know, your image of of being ah a young pastor, I agree when I was a young pastor, I can remember actually times you and I would meet for like a lunch and I'd take my collar off.

00:31:21.47
Nathan Pile
Like I'd have my black shirt on, but I'd take my collar off because it's not that, A, they're not the most comfortable thing. um

00:31:29.57
Kevin Shock
No, they're not, no.

00:31:30.25
Nathan Pile
um But ah even over the six years that we served in the those parishes that were side by side, um later in those years, I would have, I'd never took the collar off.

00:31:40.96
Nathan Pile
I just would wear it. It was just part of the outfit that I had on. But I had grown more confident and comfortable in my own skin and in the uniform of the office of pastor um that it didn't that it wasn't that I wasn't worried about, oh, what does this look?

00:31:57.33
Nathan Pile
what what What kind of strange looks am I going to get in the restaurant? Like, if they're strange looks. Okay. um

00:32:05.03
Kevin Shock
Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:32:06.19
Nathan Pile
Kind of a thing. And so, and I think we all have that a little bit of being human beings. Like, can I really do this? You know, what if somebody looks or says something to me?

00:32:16.79
Nathan Pile
um Those internal fears, those those um soundtracks that are in our own head that can kind of cause us to to shut down or shy away from something.

00:32:28.58
Nathan Pile
um The disciples don't have them at this moment in time. um There's, ah there's, there is excitement about this to go get the donk-, the Colt and bring it back.

00:32:40.98
Nathan Pile
There's, they're taking off their clothes and throwing it on the street and, um and streaming, shouting at the top of their lungs um about who Jesus is. And that, and of course builds excitement and energy and others, others become a part of those disciples. Yeah.

00:32:59.99
Nathan Pile
who are doing that. So they're there are more and more followers joining this celebration of ah the king and lord coming into the city. ah

00:33:08.35
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:33:10.77
Nathan Pile
And so what does that

00:33:14.20
Nathan Pile
What does that say to, you know, in my head, that takes me in all sorts of different places, but um because it's a small group that that begins this process and the group just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The disciples keeps getting bigger and bigger from the beginning of the journey where Jesus asks three disciples,

00:33:32.78
Nathan Pile
um ah Peter, James, and John to join the disciples. um Now we're talking, when we talk about disciples um here in, in these gospels later on, it's not just 12. Yes, there's 12 disciples, but there are many others that get wrapped into this group of disciples um that don't get named any, you know, that don't get named, but are a part of the, the following where Jesus goes.

00:33:57.50
Nathan Pile
And so it has, it has become a, um, a bit of a snowball effect here. And as they enter the city of Jerusalem, you have the feeling that, boy, it's a very big snowball and it's very powerful snowball. And then all of a sudden, as we, as the story gets lived out over the week of Holy week, um the snowball disintegrates very quickly.

00:34:22.77
Nathan Pile
um ah But, but right now, this moment in time in history, the movement is powerful. So.

00:34:31.46
Kevin Shock
Sure.

00:34:31.47
Nathan Pile
Hmm. so

00:34:34.10
Kevin Shock
Sure. Yeah. I, I, you said something at one point during your reflection that made me think, that um That's the difference between, in in this reading as we hear it, that's the difference between the the disciples, the followers, the people who are, um you know, ushering Jesus into town and the Pharisees.

00:34:56.62
Kevin Shock
Because the Pharisees called Jesus teacher. They recognize that he has some kind of authority, but they care about what

00:35:02.77
Nathan Pile
Mm-hmm.

00:35:08.14
Kevin Shock
the Herodians, the Romans think about, I mean, I I can honestly see, you know, maybe maybe this is the first step in Luke's gospel of the unraveling of the snowballs, because obviously the Pharisees are near Jesus when he starts to come into town.

00:35:11.77
Nathan Pile
yeah Sanhedrin. Right. Yeah. All of them.

00:35:25.64
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:35:25.79
Kevin Shock
um But I imagine they distance themselves pretty quickly ah during this scene.

00:35:30.81
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:35:33.30
Kevin Shock
Yeah, yeah.

00:35:35.14
Nathan Pile
Yeah. When he's out in the woods saying these kinds of things, they're like, wow, he's remarkable. Yeah. Let's. and And so they've come to be on the outskirts of this parade.

00:35:41.51
Kevin Shock
Right.

00:35:43.24
Nathan Pile
And then they start to see what his followers are saying. And they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

00:35:49.70
Nathan Pile
Jesus, you you need to curb this. And when he doesn't, when he doesn't, then they're like, well, we're going to.

00:35:52.53
Kevin Shock
Right. Right.

00:35:57.51
Nathan Pile
We'll take our our several steps back and and begin that process.

00:35:59.78
Kevin Shock
right Yeah.

00:36:01.60
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:36:02.89
Kevin Shock
And I think the big thing here is because they're calling him king.

00:36:05.85
Nathan Pile
yeah Yeah.

00:36:07.09
Kevin Shock
And that's, there is no king but Caesar. for the For the people who are who have any kind of power or authority,

00:36:17.95
Nathan Pile
They're protecting their power and authority.

00:36:18.55
Kevin Shock
there they're right their their power and authority originates not from not from God, not from Jesus, but from Caesar.

00:36:25.50
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:36:25.89
Kevin Shock
even Even for the the Jewish, the Judean spiritual leaders at this time.

00:36:32.59
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:36:32.76
Kevin Shock
Yeah. All right. Third time.

00:36:36.88
Nathan Pile
Yeah, just what you said there reminds me of, Kevin and I are leading a study study right now through Lent um on diet Dietrich Bonhoeffer um on Tuesday evenings. And there's a part of that message that we hear in Bonhoeffer of the idea of holding on to power means you know that that the church is trying to, part of Bonhoeffer's point is that the church is trying to perpetuate itself And so it's it it it slides in behind.

00:37:11.27
Nathan Pile
So Dietrich Bonhoeffer is in around in World War II and um Nazi Germany. And so the really the church, mostly a Lutheran church, but a Christian church in Germany kind of so falls underneath the Third Reich, becomes the Reich Kirche, the Reich Kirche.

00:37:34.30
Kevin Shock
Right.

00:37:35.06
Nathan Pile
um And so they're preserving the church underneath the power. And Bonhoeffer pushes back against that and says, we can't be this isn't who Jesus is.

00:37:48.35
Nathan Pile
This isn't who Christ is.

00:37:48.97
Kevin Shock
Right.

00:37:49.83
Nathan Pile
and And here the Pharisees

00:37:50.03
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:37:52.60
Nathan Pile
emulate that same example like oh yeah we're excited about this whoa whoa whoa he might be going too far um and and so then they put themselves back in underneath that's the Sanhedrin um the the the sadducees in the the ruling class of the Hebrew faith so that they're holding on umm preserving their their power and clout um in that space and place

00:37:58.51
Kevin Shock
yeah

00:38:17.77
Nathan Pile
and And it, you know, happens in this story, happens in World War II, happens in 2025. um We still see

00:38:33.04
Nathan Pile
um those who believe trying to hold on to power.

00:38:36.53
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:38:36.93
Nathan Pile
All all right. Third time through.

00:38:41.21
Kevin Shock
Okay. Yep. From Luke 19. After Jesus said this, he continued on ahead going up to Jerusalem. As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task.

00:38:57.20
Kevin Shock
He said, go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a c colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, why are you untying it? Just say, its master needs it.

00:39:11.56
Kevin Shock
Those who had been sent found it exactly as he said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying the colt? They replied, it's master's and its master needs it.

00:39:24.14
Kevin Shock
They brought it to Jesus, threw their clothes on the colt, and lifted Jesus onto it. As Jesus rode along, they spread their clothes on the road. As Jesus approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of his disciples began rejoicing.

00:39:39.24
Kevin Shock
They praised God with a loud voice because of all the mighty things they had seen. They said, blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord. peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.

00:39:51.72
Kevin Shock
Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Jesus, teacher, scold your disciples, tell them to stop. He answered, I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.

00:40:04.36
Kevin Shock
ah Nathan, in what ways do you honor Jesus?

00:40:10.04
Nathan Pile
Um, there are three that pop into my head. um but I would say before I start those, um, you know, I would always do these three, but I think they're probably particularly, um geared at where I live and where I am called currently at camp.

00:40:30.06
Nathan Pile
So, um, I would ah like, I always have a tune in my head. So I would always say singing is one of the ways that I give honor to God because not always,

00:40:37.05
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

00:40:40.52
Nathan Pile
But a large portion of the time, the songs that pop into my head are either hymns or camp songs. um And so those are usually connected to God. And um and the reason we sing praise and in our worship and and at camp is to give thanks and praise to God. So um so that that would be one way that that um I would even say that at times I don't even know like that I'm humming somebody will are you still humming you know and I'm like oh yeah I guess I'm um um

00:41:14.25
Nathan Pile
because I do do that. So that sometimes that's just an unconscious thing. A more conscious thing would be my prayer. um And because of where I live and because of the community that I live in, um a lot of times i throw um a prayer up and in a moment of, of, of, of thanks to give, you know, to give honor to God because of something that has happened or occurred.

00:41:39.49
Nathan Pile
um Or, you know, or yeah or even say the phrase, that's a Holy Spirit moment. um And then usually I have to explain what that means. But ah the the piece of of just that I take the moment. Sometimes it's on a hiking trail and I see something just amazing about creation.

00:42:02.45
Nathan Pile
And so giving thanks to the creator for a being able to see it, but being a part of this creation. Sometimes it's about being in community and um watching campers interact or a cabin guy do something ah amazing and compassionate or loving with a camper. you know, all of those pink- things um kind of stick out as a way of saying, Oh God, thank you for,

00:42:25.29
Nathan Pile
being allowing me to see that moment. Um, but that's giving honor to who, um, who Jesus is, who God is, um, in our world. And I would say those two things are, those kind of happen all of the time in my, are happening, you know, just as I live life.

00:42:46.45
Nathan Pile
Uh, the third thing that kind of popped out to me of ah ways that I give honor to God is, is that I serve. Um,

00:42:56.31
Nathan Pile
and And typically most of my service service, I tried to make it intentional, which means sometimes sometimes it happens organically every day, but sometimes it's it's more, a little bit more planned or intentional.

00:43:09.12
Nathan Pile
And so um so it might not happen every day. um but that that I serve the other. And the older I get, the more important the other becomes to me.

00:43:24.20
Nathan Pile
When I was in my 20s or even in my teens, um I knew the idea that as a Christian, I should love the other. But I think now in my um still 40s,

00:43:37.72
Nathan Pile
um

00:43:40.85
Nathan Pile
that I would

00:43:44.37
Nathan Pile
had to pause and let let it sink into my partner, sink into my 50-year-old partner.

00:43:45.54
Kevin Shock
took and Took me a second. Mm-hmm.

00:43:49.33
Nathan Pile
um

00:43:53.02
Nathan Pile
But the older I get, the more I think about how important it really is that I can see beyond myself and serve the other, live with the other, love the other, um seek to help them have a life of dignity.

00:44:08.89
Nathan Pile
And so... and And that to me is a ah part of my life of service and a part of that service. The reason the, the, the, the P the part behind that is because of Jesus it's honoring the way Jesus loves me.

00:44:24.27
Nathan Pile
And so those would be the kind of three ways that I see in my life, um, that I, I try to honor Jesus a to answer the question that's, um,

00:44:37.64
Nathan Pile
Well, I was going for succinct, but it kind of got long anyway. so

00:44:41.10
Kevin Shock
nice No, you were pretty succinct.

00:44:41.49
Nathan Pile
But those would be the three those would be the three ways that I would try say that I'm trying to honor

00:44:46.64
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:44:47.22
Nathan Pile
um honored Jesus

00:44:49.84
Kevin Shock
yeah Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate all of them for different reasons, but the last one, I I think um

00:44:59.45
Kevin Shock
I I think it's important for followers of Jesus to, well, it's important for us to serve. It's important for us to be, um, uh,

00:45:13.36
Kevin Shock
aware of the other and the situations of other people and respond accordingly. It's also vitally important for us to connect that work to our faith.

00:45:28.73
Kevin Shock
Like we we do, we do this because of how Jesus loved us. And I think that we, I see, um, you know, a lot of, and a lot of high schools, I don't know.

00:45:33.32
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

00:45:40.07
Kevin Shock
I don't know. don't know if it's still the case. It was probably a decade ago. Um, it was not the case when I was in high school that ah some students need community service hours in order to graduate.

00:45:52.68
Nathan Pile
Hmm. Yeah.

00:45:53.33
Kevin Shock
And so I think our society is doing a job of teaching that service is something that's important to do.

00:45:55.09
Nathan Pile
Hmm.

00:46:02.62
Kevin Shock
But the thing that society doesn't teach us why we actually do it, what the motivation is.

00:46:07.33
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:46:09.85
Kevin Shock
um And I think I think without the motivation, then eventually the service just stops. And, and then we, we find people who not only don't serve the other, but they don't even acknowledge the other, don't care about the other. Yeah.

00:46:30.80
Kevin Shock
Um, I, I think when I think about answering this question, ah I guess there, well, I don't even remember what I had in my head. Cause I was listening to what you were saying and it was making a lot of sense to me. So, um,

00:46:45.65
Kevin Shock
I don't know. Part of me went back to the conversation we were having about, you know, wearing our collars out in public. um and

00:46:52.47
Nathan Pile
Mm-hmm.

00:46:53.62
Kevin Shock
And ah not that I think, the I certainly do not think that you have to be a pastor in order to honor Jesus. And I also don't think that you, that a piece of clothing ah necessarily honors Jesus.

00:47:07.90
Kevin Shock
But one thing that I've noticed over time is that I,

00:47:15.05
Kevin Shock
Part of the reason I don't take my collar off in public places is so, is so that strangers know who I am.

00:47:29.44
Kevin Shock
And and that if there if there is.

00:47:34.26
Kevin Shock
If there is something if if someone needs prayer. um Easily visible. and they And they know, I hope, they know that they can come to me and ask for that.

00:47:47.74
Kevin Shock
um I think I think now, you know I I like you said, college is not the most comfortable thing. I take it off when I'm when I'm only around people who know me and know who I am and what I'm about.

00:47:59.87
Kevin Shock
ah But that's that's related to something that I want to continue to work towards in honoring Jesus. And that is... um live my life in such a way that people know that I follow him.

00:48:13.51
Nathan Pile
Mm.

00:48:15.35
Kevin Shock
And again, I don't think I don't think that it's, I don't think that it happens because I'm a pastor. I don't think it happens because I wear a collar, i don't a clerical collar. I don't think that it happens because, ah you know, I have a ah t-shirt on that says, you know, yay Jesus or something, you know, I don't I don't think that that has anything to do with it.

00:48:37.97
Kevin Shock
I might have a little bit to do with it,

00:48:39.20
Nathan Pile
new so new swag New swag from the Tend Bible a Podcast.

00:48:39.63
Kevin Shock
But I think,

00:48:43.19
Kevin Shock
oh gosh, yeah, yeah.

00:48:44.83
Nathan Pile
ah You can pick up your own Yay Jesus t-shirt um at our and our bookstore.

00:48:45.62
Kevin Shock
New Yay Jesus shirt.

00:48:52.10
Nathan Pile
um

00:48:52.91
Kevin Shock
oh

00:48:53.16
Nathan Pile
we don't have ah We don't have a bookstore yet, so don't go looking for it. But but sometime soon, sometime soon, it will be launched and we'll have a Yay Jesus.

00:48:56.41
Kevin Shock
ah No, we do not have an online store.

00:49:00.91
Kevin Shock
Sometime soon, really? You're putting that on us now too?

00:49:02.41
Nathan Pile
No.

00:49:03.75
Kevin Shock
oh my gosh. um

00:49:07.62
Nathan Pile
Yay Jesus.

00:49:08.74
Kevin Shock
Anyway, um, but I do think that I think that living, I've heard this from other people, not about me, but about their own experience that

00:49:26.52
Kevin Shock
you can, so you can sometimes tell a person of faith by how they interact with people. And I think, and I think that's how it should be.

00:49:32.75
Nathan Pile
sure. Yeah.

00:49:35.23
Kevin Shock
um, Jesus gives us that commandment, that mandate to love God and love our neighbor and who is our neighbor. And then he goes into more explanation.

00:49:47.50
Kevin Shock
um And I think that that's, that's what I want to wear, quote unquote, for lack of a better term ah in my life.

00:49:58.50
Kevin Shock
um Be a person who practices the fruits of the spirit.

00:50:05.13
Kevin Shock
Be a person who, exhibits love for the other. ah Because I think all of those, all of those things honor Jesus in an ongoing way.

00:50:24.38
Kevin Shock
um I know that it can be,

00:50:28.77
Kevin Shock
um it can be important for people of faith to honor Jesus by, you know, on, days like we're heading into holy week uh making the church ah ah a sacred solemn and then celebratory space um like I do think that honors Jesus, I also think that it honors Jesus out in the world when we live the ways that Jesus has shown us and enabled us and called us to live yeah I, again

00:50:51.37
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:51:06.27
Kevin Shock
You know, this, this crowd honored Jesus in very public ways that became dangerous for them. And then they deserted Jesus. ah You know, not all of them, perhaps, but most of them.

00:51:21.88
Kevin Shock
And in the same way, it's very easy for me to talk about this when I'm just sitting here in the house by myself and you're on the screen in front of me, Nathan.

00:51:29.95
Nathan Pile
Right

00:51:30.06
Kevin Shock
It's a different thing when I go out into the world and actually have to practice it.

00:51:34.06
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:51:35.34
Kevin Shock
I'm I'm not, I'm not perfect.

00:51:35.43
Nathan Pile
Well...

00:51:37.15
Kevin Shock
I'm not even good at it, maybe. um But, but it is something that I think is important to keep working toward.

00:51:44.52
Nathan Pile
Yeah. The thing that your your reflection kind of reminded me was that it was easy for you and I to put a collar on and to say, well... we're We're walking into the world and and God goes with us and we're reminding the world by our wearing a shirt and a collar that God is in the world.

00:51:59.47
Kevin Shock
Sure.

00:52:05.68
Nathan Pile
But the thing that you're calling us to is a much harder thing. And we have a God who says, you're going to fail miserably at it. But tomorrow, and so I'm going to forgive you. And tomorrow we're going to try again.

00:52:18.81
Nathan Pile
I'm I'm removing the barriers for you to keep trying this. keep trying to live in this, in this way, um, of honoring me and, and, and, and I give thanks for that.

00:52:32.18
Nathan Pile
I also forgive you when, when it doesn't go quite the way you really wanted it to go. Um, but let's, you know, as, as Luther would remind us, keep, let's keep trying.

00:52:38.46
Kevin Shock
Mhm

00:52:42.87
Nathan Pile
Tomorrow's another day. We'll do it again. Um, kind of thing And so how do we live into that way of of being able, without a collar on, without a black shirt on, how do we as as pastors, but how do all of us as everyday Christians, how do we help the world know they are loved and Again, I agree, some people help us to feel that love and we just know that this person is a disciple of Christ.

00:53:14.66
Nathan Pile
And so how do how do we practice that in such a way that um I think when I was younger, though I was afraid of wearing it at first, then I kind of put it on and it was an easy uniform to be able to say God is in the world.

00:53:31.51
Kevin Shock
yeah

00:53:31.66
Nathan Pile
how do How do we today it? do it live into that challenge of God is in the world, even without a uniform. Not that, you know, I still wear the uniform because it's part of my call.

00:53:45.18
Nathan Pile
and ah But I don't wear it as often as I used to when I was a pastor in a congregation. As a pastor at camp, I wear a t-shirt a lot of times. Um

00:53:55.08
Nathan Pile
And so, but how else can I live that out so that um those in our community see me as a disciple of Christ um because of of my words and and my actions, my care for them, um love for them more so than me just wearing ah a black shirt with a collar on it.

00:54:22.04
Nathan Pile
So so I love I love that.

00:54:22.93
Kevin Shock
Sure. Sure.

00:54:26.27
Nathan Pile
that part of your reflection and that that calls us to that because it it is a hard thing, but to kind of keep trying to seek that way of living, um, and that way of honoring, um, recognizing that we're going to stumble like the, these, these disciples who are in the parade and screaming on Sunday, but are hiding on Thursday, um, or Friday.

00:54:50.20
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:54:50.97
Nathan Pile
um

00:54:51.12
Kevin Shock
Mm-hmm.

00:54:53.37
Nathan Pile
you know

00:54:54.18
Kevin Shock
Yeah.

00:54:54.91
Nathan Pile
continuing to kind of strive to to live into that um that image. So, yeah.

00:55:01.80
Kevin Shock
Well, and, and let's, so we've spoken from our, our life experience. Let's lift up some other people's life experience too.

00:55:09.01
Nathan Pile
Mm-hmm.

00:55:09.24
Kevin Shock
You said, you said that it was, um, easy for us to put on a collar and, and, um, make a statement with that, that God is in the world.

00:55:20.29
Kevin Shock
ah It was also easy for us because we are ah white men.

00:55:25.66
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

00:55:26.90
Kevin Shock
that And in the area where we live, but but all throughout our nation, I still hear stories and will continue to hear stories probably until the day I die of the and difficulties that our female colleagues deal with.

00:55:47.07
Kevin Shock
Um, when they show up somewhere in a collar and someone says something ignorant to them, like, what are you supposed to be anyway?

00:55:55.22
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Right.

00:55:55.89
Kevin Shock
Um, that, you know, that's terrible. Um, and, and, and then, and then beyond that, we have colleagues who are in the LGBTQIA community who, um, probably just be, just because of their,

00:55:58.99
Nathan Pile
right

00:56:18.33
Kevin Shock
perhaps just because of their appearance, um catch the ire of the world and of other people who claim to follow Jesus.

00:56:25.14
Nathan Pile
Yeah.

00:56:28.54
Kevin Shock
um But certainly that is amplified when they put a collar on and present themselves as a duly and rightly called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ.

00:56:44.25
Kevin Shock
we Our church body has... um has extended that authority to them because Christ has extended it to them. And it um and can be, um, it can be difficult and it can be dangerous for them to present themselves in public that way.

00:57:04.70
Nathan Pile
yeah

00:57:06.02
Kevin Shock
Because because there are people who do think it's more important to wear a yay Jesus shirt than it is to actually love somebody who's different from you.

00:57:17.45
Kevin Shock
So I guess is why I'm called, um why I'm called beyond the yay Jesus shirt.

00:57:19.85
Nathan Pile
No, thank you. Those are good. no

00:57:26.62
Nathan Pile
All right. We're not making the yay Jesus shirt.

00:57:29.90
Kevin Shock
Oh, yeah, you can still make it if you want. I'll even wear it if you make me one, but yeah, but ah just ah just as a point of illustration, that's all. but

00:57:40.18
Nathan Pile
Yeah, yeah, yeah. and No, no. good.

00:57:42.20
Kevin Shock
All right.

00:57:42.27
Nathan Pile
good.

00:57:43.64
Kevin Shock
Tell us what else we can read, Nathan.

00:57:45.41
Nathan Pile
Yeah. Um, so this, um, week of Holy week, there's other texts or no, or the week before Holy week, um, other additional texts you might ah dig into Isaiah chapter 50 verse four through verse nine, a, the servant of the Lord submits to suffering.

00:58:07.10
Nathan Pile
Psalm 31 verses nine to 16 into your hands. Oh Lord, I commend my spirit. Um, Psalm chapter 2, or Philippians Psalm, I already said Psalm.

00:58:19.47
Nathan Pile
Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11, humbled to the point of death on the cross. And then the full narrative of the passion, which sometimes gets read in our congregations um on Palm Sunday.

00:58:34.20
Nathan Pile
Sometimes it is spread out over the course of the whole week of um of the Passion, and sometimes it is read both on Sunday and the whole week. um That whole entire Passion in the Gospel of Luke is Luke 22, verses to verse message.

00:58:56.61
Nathan Pile
so it is a long reading um but tells um from Luke's perspective Jesus's um last days as a part of his passion, living into, um,

00:59:12.33
Nathan Pile
the the story that is the the Christ story. So for us, Kevin, as always, I deeply appreciate your reflections in our chat today.

00:59:23.66
Nathan Pile
um Those of you who are listening, if there's things that um struck you today and you'd be willing to share those with us, feel free to email or to send those to us on social media.

00:59:36.20
Nathan Pile
um And we would appreciate your reflections of this passage. We hope to tend our faith with you again soon. Grace to you.

00:59:46.29
Kevin Shock
And peace.