Here He Comes
Text: Luke 19:28-40
Title: Here He Comes!
Thesis: Jesus makes himself known as God’s Messiah.
Time: Palm Sunday, C
A father tells about a lesson in faith he learned by observing his children cleaning their room. He said, “Somehow, pain, problems, and suffering do not fit into our concept of life and success. My sons, with the help of their mom, have designated places for their belongings. Toys go in specific tubs, clothes in the dresser and closet, and books in the book box. Even when the room is a mess, someone can quickly order it, primarily because everything has its place. But what do you do with an item, which does not have an assigned spot? You stand in the middle of the room, holding it, perplexed, unsure of what to do with this foreign body. That is how most people handle their pain, discouragement and disillusionment. Their sense of direction halts. They stall as they search in vain for a place to put it, to make it fit into their orderly lives . . . why in the world to bad things happen to good people? We can understand why they happen to bad people . . . but somewhere we learn that good things should happen to good people, and of course, we’re on the good people list. That’s why we often do not deal well with obstacles and turmoil; we have no place to put them in our ‘good person’ scheme of things.”
The dad has makes a good observation: bad things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people as well. However, he doesn’t make much progress in answering the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people.” If only we knew the answer to that question. Much less, if only we could more easily find a place to fit the bad things that happen to us – the obstacles, the disappointments, the painful experiences.
There is a place to fit in the bad things that happen to us in our lives. Just as we can find a place to fit in the good things like the birth of a child or grandchild, or getting a promotion or making a new friend, there is also a place where we can fit in the bad things that happen to us. Luke 19:28-40 gives us some direction in doing so; and so let’s go to Luke 19.
Luke 19:28-40, this story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, is often referred to as “Jesus triumphal entry.” And in many ways Jesus’ does enter Jerusalem with the reception extended to royalty. For example, his disciples tag behind him, giving their full-fledged allegiance. However, Luke later informs us of Judas Iscariot, a disciple who betrays Jesus. Many of the townspeople of Jerusalem rush out to greet Jesus as he makes his way into the city. They wave palm leaves, a gesture of hospitality reserved for royalty. They chant, “Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” Yes, in many ways, Jesus is given the treatment of a king as he enters Jerusalem.
But the story isn’t clear-cut. There are some people missing who definitely should be present whenever a royal person enters Jerusalem. Although they are not named in the text, their absence is easily identified taking into consideration the customs of the day.
In the ancient world, there was a specific pattern for welcoming royalty into a city –a donkey would be provided to ride on, the waving of palm leaves, the chants of the townspeople, so what is missing? It’s the presence of the elite –the political and religious authorities. They should have been present to give a speech praising the attributes of Jesus and welcoming him into the city. They should have welcomed Jesus to a feast in his honor, a king in their midst. It’s no wonder that Jesus in verse 41 weeps over the city and says in Luke 19:42, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!”
The religious and political elite believe Jesus is a threat. If Jesus claims that he is God’s Messiah, the divine king come to Jerusalem to claim ultimate authority then they must step down. But, they were unwilling. But for those who were present to greet Jesus, the townspeople of Jerusalem, they were longing for the peace Jesus would bring, they had so much to gain. As their lives were full of bad things –inadequate housing, a lack of food, inflated taxes, so little hope that things would get better –they had faith that through Jesus things could be better.
The way that we fit in the bad things that happen to us begin by first stepping out in faith and welcoming Jesus into our hearts. That is why Jesus has come, to give us peace. We continue reading in Luke’s Gospel the accounts of this holy week. And what we read is Jesus walks further and further into the city of Jerusalem, placing his life more in danger, but he does so as the one who will bring peace.
Yesterday on TV I watched a documentary about the French automaker Bugatti who in the early 1900s turned pieces of steel and chrome into beautiful automobiles that he sold to princes and presidents and rich people around the globe. Bugatti was more an artist than a car manufacturer. He designed his car more for their aesthetic value than their practicality. One of Bugatti’s clients once critiqued his car by telling Bugatti that the brakes were inadequate. Bugatti responded, “I build my cars to go fast, not to stop.” God has designed us to go, not to be stopped. Often our reaction when something bad happens is to quit, or to think that we can never get over whatever bad thing has happened. True, bad things can be life changing. But we can go on. By welcoming Christ into our hearts, Christ continually goes forward for us, giving to us the peace that we need. This word peace, the Hebrew word shalom, means wholeness, that there is nothing lacking. That everything about is complete, everything in our lives fits together.
The San Francisco Chronicle had this story, “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” God has created us to keep moving, to continue enjoying life and experiencing the love of living in relationship with God and others. The way we keep moving is through faith. Faith allows us to continue moving forward, it’s knowing the Christ becomes our way of peace.
Moving forward, living by faith can sometimes seem scary. We don’t always know where God is leading or what the outcome will be. Living by faith, giving God control over our lives, the neat little compartments of how we spend our time, or who we associate with and don’t associate with, those types of life choices sometimes change. For example, the popular Christian author Philip Yancey writes about a time when the church he attended in Chicago faced something of a crisis. He shares this story, “The pastor had left, attendance was flagging, a community outreach program now seemed threatened. The leadership suggested an all-night vigil of prayer. Several people raised questions. Was it safe, given our inner-city neighborhood? Should we hire guards or escorts for the parking lot? What if no one showed up? At length we discussed the logistics and the “practicality” of such an event. Nevertheless, the night of prayer was scheduled. To my surprise, the poorest members of the congregation, a group of senior citizens from a housing project, were the ones who responded most enthusiastically to the prayer vigil. I could not help wondering how many of their prayers had gone unanswered over the years –they lived in the projects, after all, amid crime, poverty, and suffering –yet they showed a childlike trust in the power of prayer. “how long do you want to stay –an hour or two?” we asked. “Oh, we’ll stay all night,” they replied. One woman, in her nineties, who walks with a cane and can barely see, explained, . . . “You see, there’s lots of things we can’t do in this church. We aren’t so educated, and we don’t got as much energy as some of you younger folks. But we can pray. We got time, and we got faith. Some of us don’t sleep much anyway. We can pray all night if needs be.” And so they did. Meanwhile, a church of older people and younger people in a downtown church learned anew a lesson of faith from the Gospels. Faith appears where least expected and falters where it should be thriving.”
Today, let us choose to live by faith. So that we can have a wholeness about us, so that we can continue forward, enjoying life, let’s live by faith. Let’s keep moving forward as we welcome Jesus, the giver of peace.