Stop Looking For A War Horse

Two parades enter Jerusalem at the same time, and only one of them tells the truth about power. Rome arrives with intimidation and spectacle. Jesus arrives on a donkey, fulfilling ancient prophecy and showing us that the kingdom of God does not move through domination, but through humility, mercy, and love that isn’t afraid of chaos. 

We walk through the Palm Sunday story from Matthew’s Gospel and sit with the cry of “Hosanna” meaning “save us.” That plea is honest, raw, and still familiar, especially when life feels charged and out of control. We connect the moment to earlier stories of “even now” hope with Mary and Martha, and the challenge of spiritual blindness: where are we not seeing clearly, and what is the Holy Spirit trying to heal in our perspective? 

Then the uncomfortable questions land close to home. What happens when we praise Jesus but resist letting Jesus reshape our choices? Why do we reach for a war horse version of strength when Jesus keeps choosing towels, tables, and foot washing? We talk about fear, Peter’s sword, nonviolence, and the practical shape of Christian discipleship: feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, freeing the oppressed, and choosing the way down as the way of the kingdom. 

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Transcript

Welcome And Palm Sunday Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the First Love Church podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the Revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, Florida. So grateful again. Thank you so much to be here with you this Palm Sunday. I'm sure there have been many other Palm Sundays in your life, but this one in particular. And why this one? Because this is the one we have, beloved. This is the one we have been given. And so we celebrate together, we remember. And I appreciate very much what the cycles in the Christian calendar remind us about: death and rebirth, this dying and then living again. This is what all of nature teaches us. This is supposed to be for us not only a reminder, but a hope that when we see something dying or changing, that we would not give up, but that we would look with expectations at it and say, what is new is coming? What else can be born? And there is so much goodness that is around us in the world that nature testifies of these things. And so in this particular Sunday, as we're gathered together, I'm encouraged by the Holy Spirit to remember the past couple of Sundays we've been together, Mary and Martha in the story last week, whose brother Lazarus is dying and has died. And then they say to Jesus, if you had only been here, our brother would not have died. But even now we know that God is going to hear you and that things are going to be different. And so I encourage you with the even now, whatever it is that you find yourself in this place in your life, that you could go to the next part of Martha staying, even now I know that God hears you. And then a few weeks ago, I remind you that as Jesus is healing a man blind from birth, the people around him, the religious leaders, say, Surely we're not blind. And so I ask you to ask yourself, are there areas in my life that I am blind? Are there things that I am not seeing? Is there a perspective difference that God is offering to me? And so this morning, I invite us into this scene. Jesus has already been a big part of the people in this particular geographical uh region. He's been performing miracles. He has followers. Jesus has not only been performing miracles, but he's been telling them about a kingdom that is available right now, a kingdom that is available now, as close as the next breath, that God's kingdom is here because the people are looking for regime change. The people around are saying, hey, this is not good, the way that we're living. We need something different. Jesus shows up and begins offering teachings to them. And Jesus said, I want you to change the way that you think. I invite you to change the way you think. And Jesus said things like, Do you know how you used to take vengeance on your enemies? Don't do that. Pray for them. Do you know how you used to disregard the poor? Don't do that. Feed them. And Jesus began to challenge the way that the status quo was, how everybody behaved. And Jesus began to say, This is the kind of kingdom that God is offering and asks us to have our sight healed, asks us to listen and to see things with the deep intuition that we are given. And no, there are many things that you have looked at in your life and you have said to yourself, that is not right. And then someone in your life, maybe someone older, maybe someone in some kind of, you know, authority, maybe a school teacher or something else, said, Oh, no, no, it is, just overlook it. This is the way we do it. But you knew, deep within you, you knew, oh no, we can't do things like that, or that's not how things are supposed to be. And what Jesus is asking us to do is to return to the good, is to return to that place where that inside the teacher, the Holy Spirit in you tells you, this is how it looks when God walks among us. And the people there were in such an incredibly, like almost frenzied state. There is um political theater happening at the same time as Jesus makes this entrance. At another city gate, there is already a political person there, and he is going to interrogate Jesus later in the story, but he is there on a war horse. He comes in on a stallion. And this is what Rome does. Rome flexes, and Rome, the empire there, brings thousands of troops in, and just the sound of marching feet is meant to intimidate and to dominate people. And so, again, we're gonna look at Jesus showing us another way as we go to the scriptures in Matthew's gospel. As Jesus and the disciples approach Jerusalem, I do want to remind you that Lazarus being raised from the dead. Well, I just want to tell you word got around. A lot of people see him, a lot of people were talking, and it the scripture tells us that it made the religious establishment really angry because they understood that what you do shows who you are. And Jesus did miracles and showed that he was God. And the religious leaders were very angry, and so as he's going to Jerusalem, the story is not just telling you this geographically, he is entering a situation that is already charged. People are already upset, people are already angry, people are already frustrated, and there is an electric like energy in the air. It's not peaceful, this is not calm, and Jesus is entering right into it. I remind you that Jesus is not afraid of storms, Jesus is not afraid of disruptive situations, and love is not afraid either, beloved. Love can go into situations that many other places would tell you you have no business here, but love rides right into the middle of that. As Jesus and the disciples approach Bethlehem Jerusalem, they come to a town of Beth Page on the Mount of Olives, and Jesus sent two of them on a head. Go into the village over there, he said. As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. Now, Jesus was referring to a prophecy in the scripture in Zechariah. And actually, Zechariah is referring to something in Genesis 49, where it talks about the kingship of God will come through humility, will come not on a war horse, not come with might, but come with mercy. So even since the very beginning of the story that is being told by the people, God is saying the kingdom, how it's gonna come is going to surprise you. And it's not gonna look like it looks everywhere else. So the invitation from Genesis, from Zechariah, and Jesus brings the people into remembrance. If anyone asks you what you are doing, just say the Lord needs them, and immediately he will let you take them. Maybe it's your friendship with your neighbors, maybe it's the way that you'll treat the person who is checking you out at the grocery store. What do you have in your hand that God will use to usher in the kingdom? But the disciples go, they ask, they take the the donkey and the colt. And I don't know if you if you listen to the story well enough to think about how clumsy this is gonna be. I just I just want to tell you, this is just not gonna be smooth. Because Jesus has said in in the other gospels too that he's riding the donkey and it's tied to the cult. And then then there's another one where the cult is right next to it. And I don't know if you've seen like little animals with their mothers, they are um obtrusive at best. And imagine trying to make a parade of this, and and this becomes something that is a little chaotic, is what I'm reminding us about. And again, fulfilling of the prophecy, but Jesus is showing us something that God comes not in might, but in mercy. And God does not come proudly, but God comes humbly. And we see this over and over again. Again, the cycles in the Christian calendar remind us that God comes through this woman as a baby, so vulnerable, so in need. And so, this point of the story, when we're looking for saving, very often we do not look for the humble things. When we say we need saving, very often we want big, strong, and flashy. And Jesus is coming and he's saying it's going to look differently. This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, Tell the people of Jerusalem, look, your king is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. And the two disciples did as Jesus commanded. That's an important part of the story, beloved, and all of us in our discipleship. This is a very important part of the story. They did as Jesus told them to do. Beloved, that's our job to do what Jesus told them to do. Again, we learn this from the Mother Mary, and at the first miracle of Jesus, Jesus is at a wedding, and Mary has identified a huge problem. There's no more wine. And she says to Jesus, You're gonna do something about this, right? Let us do something about this. Now ask yourself this question, just do it for fun later. Why did she ask him? I suspect this was not the first time she knew that he had the power to do something. So she asks him, Do something about this. And Jesus doesn't say anything at first. And Mary leans over to all the people and she says, just do whatever he tells you to do. Like they don't, they don't, this is his first like public display of this kind of power, but Mary already knows it. And she's like, just do it, just do it, just do whatever Jesus tells you to do. And I tell you today, as followers of Jesus, whatever Jesus has told us to do, beloved, that's what we're to do. We are to love our enemies. We are to pray for those who despitefully use us. We are to be people full of forgiveness, we are to feed the hungry, to loose the oppressed. These are the things that Jesus told us to do, and this is how we usher in the kingdom. This is how we are, in fact, saved. And they brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. And most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and then others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. They were making a spectacle because they were believing a really big thing was happening. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, he's coming into the city. They really believe now this is gonna happen. Now everyone is gonna see that Jesus is the king, that God is coming, and now finally Rome will be destroyed. Now finally, the people that oppress us will be taken care of. And they're excited, but they're also realists. They also recognize, and maybe they can even hear the sound of footprints, of footsteps and soldiers, and they know that oppression is so close, but they're recognizing, save us, and they begin to say, Hosanna, Hosanna, God save us, God save us. This becomes a chant, and this becomes something that is making a stir. Jesus was at the center of the procession, and the people around him were shouting, praise God for the Son of David, blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord, praise God in the highest heavens. They are shouting these proclamations like, save us, this is the God who is going to save us, this is how things are gonna change. And the entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. Who is this? They asked. And this is the question that the whole world is still asking. Who is Jesus? Who do you know Jesus to be? What have you seen Jesus do? How does the knowing Jesus affect you? But who is he? And the crowds replied, It is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. They're partially right. He is a prophet from Nazareth. But beloved, he is much more than that. He is so much more. And sometimes what the crowd is shouting is partially right. But there is so much more. They begin to say, This is who he is, he is the king. And I want to tell you that the people in Rome who were so insecure and so bloodthirsty and so dominated by power began to get so jealous of this. They began to feel threatened when the people said, He is a king, he is the Messiah, he will save us. Now, in the next week, as part of the Christian calendar, we will go through the days today, Palm Sunday, and we talk about today what it looks like to make loud proclamations of who Jesus is, but then never let who Jesus is change the way that you live. What it's like to be the person shouting, Hosanna, God save us. And then by Friday, you're crowning, crucify him. I don't want to be a part of this. I recognize this is not the overthrow I thought it was going to be. And now just don't crucify me with him. And so they began to ask for even a criminal, give us someone else. And so there's this huge turn from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. And sometimes when we recognize that in other people, we should also look at ourselves. Where are the times when I am so disappointed with how things have turned out? I'm ready to take a criminal instead of Jesus. I'm ready to say, I will take this other way. And Jesus is inviting us into this path of humility, into this path of following. And God is coming to save us, beloved. When somebody asks you who Jesus is, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is life. Jesus has come to show us what being alive really is, what it means to flourish in our humanity and in our flourishing. How do we help the whole world flourish? How do we help our brothers and sisters flourish in their humanity as well? Jesus came because God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Because God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Jesus might be saved. Beloved, this is the hope of the gospel that God is saving the world, that the kingdom is coming and that love is the way. And on this day we remember what it's like to be in a situation when you say, God save us from this. And then Jesus shows up and you're like, Yeah, that's great. He's the king. And then Jesus shows us that kingship looks like washing the feet of the people around you. Kingship looks like putting on a towel and washing feet. It looks like taking on the position of a slave. It looks like surrendering ultimately to death. Because love keeps coming for us. And so in this situation, it asks us to look where have I given up on the kingdom and all of the goodness of God coming, interrupting my life? When have I said, Well, it can't be the Jesus way because it's not gonna come this way? We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovchurch.org, reminding you to like, follow, and subscribe. Beloved, this is how the Creator works. In the beginning, there was chaos and darkness, and the Spirit of God began hovering over the face of the waters. Beloved, God is not afraid of chaos. God is not afraid of uprising. What God is offering is God's own spirit, a new way of living, and it's going to be a way of humility. It's going to be the way up in God's kingdom is down. And so the invitation for all of us, instead of finding a ladder to climb, find someone else to serve. This is the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus shows us this is how God wants the world to work. There is an invitation for us in listening to this. This is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. They begin to talk about his lineage and they begin to say, listen, we know him since then. And Jesus is showing up going, I know how this is going to end. And what he does when things get crazy is he goes and he gets his friends and he has dinner with them. Sometimes, beloved, our nervous system can get so dysregulated that we can't even think. And I don't tell you, follow the way of Jesus, gather up some friends and have dinner. Sit down together, eat something, talk about it. Jesus did this when he was with his disciples. And this week we will remember, we will remember Maundy Thursday when Jesus washes the feet. We will remember when betrayal and love are in the same room. We will remember when a friend is so confident that they know how things should go, that they make a huge betrayal, trying to push an agenda that fails. And Jesus invites us into another way, into a very localized way of saying this is what it looks like when trouble comes. Get into community and find hope together. It's one of the reasons we gather. The church has gathered since Jesus has showed us the way. It is in our gathering, it is in our telling stories, it is in our sharing of communion, it is in our collective saying, How do we feed the poor among us? How do we do what Jesus told us to do? How do we practice loving our neighbor? How do we practice loving ourselves? And the invitation into this day, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Thomas mentioned it earlier, but the truth is when we are in trouble, we are looking for war horses. When we feel threatened, we look for strength. And God said it's going to come differently. Strength is not, in fact, the psalmist said this years ago, even before Jesus, many, many years, and he said, Some people trust in chariots and in horses, but we don't do that. We trust in God and in God's way of doing things. And that has been a blueprint for the people of God. What is God's way of doing things? Jesus said, When someone strikes you, turn the other cheek. I know it's in there. Look it up. It really is. And what Jesus is saying there is you will not use violence to change someone else's violence against you. That violence is not the way. Now, Jesus' disciples did not even really get this because Jesus is in the garden just a few. Days later, and he's praying and he's agonizing about something. The guard comes to arrest him. Peter takes out his sword. Peter is ready to fight. Peter has been with Jesus for three and a half years, watching the way Jesus does things, listening to him. And I want to tell you something: Peter loves Jesus. But when Peter is afraid, Peter gets to fighting. I wonder how often the invitation that Jesus is giving us to a new way is not being heard because we are so afraid. Peter takes out a sword and Peter laps the guy's ear off. I don't suspect he was hoping to lop the guy's ear off. I don't think that's where he that's an opinion and it's a judgment. I suspect it was somewhere close to his ear, but I don't think he was trying to cut his ear off. And Jesus picks up the ear and heals the man. That miracle is the last miracle that Jesus does, and I think about it a lot. How very often I am like Peter. And in my fervor or in my belief, because I love Jesus, I am whacking people's ears off. I am telling them this is the way. And here Jesus, before the hour of his death, has to go and heal this man that Peter, in his love and in his fear, has harmed. And Jesus is still showing us that is not the way. Beloved, our voice is supposed to be the voice of love, reminding all people and reminding ourselves the call has been returned to love, return to God, come back to God. The crowds are there saying it's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee, and they see part of it. Yes, that is part of who Jesus is, but that is not all of who Jesus is. And this morning I'm asking you, where will you allow the Holy Spirit to expand the way that you see Jesus? The way that you see the kingdom that is coming and that is so close it's here, even now. The promise is God's kingdom now, not in the sweet Pai and Bai. Right now among us, the world can be different when we choose to allow Christ to change the way that we think. And when we, like the people who are there, begin to do exactly what Jesus told us to do. One of the things Jesus told us to do, and you know this, you've heard it, maybe since you were a child, but this is what Jesus told us to do do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. There is an invitation into relationship, into paying attention to how someone else receives the message. Today we're at this place where we celebrate and we remember Hosanna. God save us, God change this, God do something for this. And then I invite you into the story to remember that Jesus may show up on a cult, a donkey. And you're like, how is this gonna help? I don't know. This clumsy parade, how is this going to be how we overthrow Rome? Beloved, the overthrow of empire does not come with a stronger empire. It comes in the way of love. It comes in the promise of a life being reborn. And for all of us who stand at places and say, maybe it is like the tomb that we are Mary and Martha, and we've said, you know, we we sent word ahead and now we're here and it's too late. And maybe we're like the religious Pharisees who saw a miracle and then said, Well, are we the blind ones? Beloved, Jesus is here to give us sight. Jesus has come that we would live differently, that we would love differently, that we would allow ourselves to be changed. Beloved, the transformation that you want in the world begins with you. You are the change that is needed. Very often we begin to see other people and how they need to change. Well, if they'd stop doing this, then I wouldn't have this problem. And you know what Jesus told us? Don't be picking splinters out of your brother's eyes when there's telephone poles in your own. Take care of you. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform you. Surrender to this humble king. This season here in the next holy week is it is allows us to ask, what is a king? If Jesus is in fact our king, then we will be the most humble of people. Jesus was meek and humble. And humbleness is not without power. Jesus had all the power in the universe at his disposal and would not take it against people. It frustrated some because they said, You have power. Tell the angels to come down and get you off the cross. And Jesus said, No, I will suffer. This is what is happening. Jesus does not ask us to ignore reality, but Jesus invites us into a personal transformation that is the transformation of the world. For the things that you want changed, beloved, change it in you. Let the Holy Spirit change you. You change the way that you're thinking. You allow God to bring you to a place of mercy and you follow Jesus and what Jesus commanded us to do. Jesus said to us, This is the way that you would visit those who are in prison, that you would free the oppressed, that you would take care of the sick, and that you would feed the hungry. In fact, Jesus said that's the big test. When I went to school, I always wanted to know what's going to be on the test. I don't know how it was in your class or who the people were. There were a lot of us, and I just wanted to know, is it gonna be on the test? Because I felt like I would pay attention if it was gonna be on the test. If it wasn't gonna be on the test, then okay, just talk to do whatever you need to do, but I'm not, I'm not checking in. But if it's gonna be on the test, I want to know. And I was I blessed the teachers that had me. God bless them, bless them so much. I had a lot of questions, my hands were going up, I was paying attention. And one day I will bring in and it will be darling. I know that you will love it. I have a second grade report card from a teacher who said Heather is capable of doing all her work, but she is worried about the work that everyone else is doing. I was seven years old and I wanted to make sure all of the class was doing their work. And so she was asking for my mother to help her keep me, just worry about yourself, darling. And this invitation to us, though, is what is on the test? Why does it matter? Because will this be something that comes back? Beloved, feeding the hungry comes back, it's on the test. Jesus is gonna ask. And in fact, Jesus said, This is how it's gonna go. When you stand before God, when the world stands before God, this will be the criteria. Jesus told us this. Did you feed the poor? Did you rescue those who were oppressed? Beloved, then that needs to be what we are about. And we need to understand or allow the Holy Spirit to give us invitation into this. The world changes as we ourselves allow ourselves to be changed. When we put ourselves in a position where our humility offers somebody else the way, the story of Hosanna, God save us, is us humbling ourselves and going, I am not going to try to save myself in a way that I have planned where I come out the victor. But Jesus said, and the way that saving works is God intends to save the whole world. God intends the flourishing of all people. This is the hope for us. From the prophet Amos and also the prophet Isaiah, God says this one day when you allow God to live and be among you, you will no longer train your sons for war. One day the lion will lie down with the lamb. And we need to look at ourselves and go, where am I looking for a war horse instead of a donkey? Where am I looking for power instead of when the spirit came upon him? God's power, the power that made every single thing in this room, every single thing that is, everything that ever was, that power is alive within you. The scripture says the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. And so, what does it mean for us to learn and discern how to activate that inner power? How do we learn how to give up the egoic grabbing of power for ourselves and go, the way of Jesus compels me to service of all people, of communion with all people, of recognizing everyone is invited to the table? I remind you, as we're about to celebrate Holy Communion, that Jesus invited Judas and Peter to the table. There were others too. The table is prepared for all people, and the table is open to all people. And God is doing a work here. This is how the kingdom comes, beloved, through communion, through oneness, through changing our minds about things, and allowing Jesus to get to say to us, This is how I want you to live. I want you to live in peace. The scripture says that He is the Prince of Peace, He is the King of Peace. This is what the kingdom looks like: a kingdom of peace. God's mercy is shown to us in the way of Jesus. When the scriptures tell us that children would come to Jesus to be blessed by him, to talk with him. Children adored Jesus. And the disciples were like, away with the kiddos, that is taking away the time. And Jesus said, Do not, do not forbid the little ones to come unto me. In fact, Jesus said, It would be better for you to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to have harmed one of these. Jesus tells us that children are to be blessed, that children are the way of the kingdom. Unless you become like a child, you will not be able to see the kingdom. There's an invitation into a new way of being, a new perspective, a new way of living. And Jesus is saying, if you do this, if you give away your old life and choose this life, this is where the real life is found. You must give away that life to receive God's life. And there is incredible hope in it. In just a moment, we're going to go to the communion table, but I would like to take a second to bless you. It's going to be more than a second. It's going to be two minutes. I've already I've already timed it. Breathe deep with me this morning. You're safe here in the house of God. I don't know where you live and what's happening around you, but I want to remind you for this moment you are safe. You are loved. And you are wanted in the presence of God. Beloved community, blessed are you who still carry the cry of Hosanna, save us, not as a polished hymn, but as a trembling truth that rises from deep within your chest. Blessed are you who do not silence your longings, who dare to name your need before heaven and earth. Blessed are you who gather here today, not because you have certainty, but because something sacred has called you together. You who come this morning with open hands and weary hearts, who bring your questions, your fractures, and your fragile hope. You are the living body of communion, the holy meeting place where love insists on being known. Blessed are you who will choose the way of Christ, who does not enter on a war horse but on a donkey. Gentle, unarmored, refusing a language of domination. May you have the courage to follow this way of humility, this subversive tenderness that remakes the world not through force, but through mercy. Blessed are your eyes that they may receive the ancient illumination, a quiet, burning knowing that has always been seated within you. May it rise now like the dawn within your seeing. Healing in you what has been dimmed by fear, restoring your vision to be able to behold the Christ in one another, in the other, in the broken places, and in the ordinary made radiant. Blessed are you as you enter this holy week, this sacred passage through shadow and sorrow, through betrayal and bewilderment. Do not turn away from what is hard. For even now the mystery is unfolding. Not beyond you, but within you, among you. I bless your staying. I bless your watching. I bless your willingness to remain near the story when it asks more of you than comfort can give. And I bless the promise already stirring beneath all of these things. That what feels like an ending is not the end. Beloved, you will see it not all at once, not without ache, but truly, you will see the promise unfolding right before your eyes. Let it be the doorway through which salvation finds you. I bless you, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon. If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurch.org.