The Shepherd’s Voice

Readings for Sunday, March 28^th
Isa 50:4-9a
Phil 2:5-11
Lk 22:14-23:56

Our service today started with a parade, a procession that is reminiscent Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The text said, “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.”

Our second gospel reading ended with Jesus death, a sense of despair, a sense of defeat, a sense of loneliness. Maybe we should ask ourselves what happened. What happened, that enabled us to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory?

We announced “Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” That’s celebration, isn’t it?

These two events are like two benchmarks, two goalposts if you will on a football field.
If we ask ourselves what happens between the two end zones on a football field we’d have to say, ‘the game.’ That’s right the game. What happens between the two goalposts is the game, the activities of life, the guts of the matter so to speak.

Let’s look at what happened. If we were to outline the gospel readings we could say –

• A miracle – fulfillment of prophecy
• A meal, the breaking of bread, a very Lutheran thing, and
• The Messiah

A miracle – Looking between the goalposts: First we see Jesus telling his disciples to go ask someone for a donkey, and a colt with her, the foal of a donkey (Matt 21:3-6) so he can ride into Jerusalem. Asking for the colt was no miracle, riding on a donkey was no miracle, but the way it was done and is the fulfillment of scripture, that’s a miracle.

A donkey, in the context of the day, was like a horse in the old west, or like a car today. In the old west if you took someone’s horse you could be shot. If you ask for someone’s car in the way they ask for the donkey you might get arrested for car jacking, a felony.

But, they simply ask for the colt and Jesus told them to say ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately. This worked because it was prophesized that the king would come mounted on a donkey. The text says, “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey.”

Yes, there was confusion in the city, there was chaos, but people’s expectations for the king were sky high. I liken it to our expectations today for a political leader who gets built up far beyond his or her ability to deliver the goods. Eventually, we become disappointed, disillusioned, dissatisfied, and discontent.

The people in Jerusalem became disappointed, disillusioned, dissatisfied, and discontent. They expected another King David or Solomon. It wasn’t going to happen.

What do you expect out of your king? This is where the meal comes into play. Again let’s look at the Passover event. It also appears in Matt 26 and Mark 14, and if you read both of these texts you will see there is a bit of a miracle that occurs again. They are told to go and do, find a place for the meal as Jesus says and they find it just as He says.

The point being, that when we rely on what Jesus says we will not be disappointed. When our expectations align with God’s expectations we can be assured that we are on God’s side of struggles with life and death.

Just a side note: This congregation has experienced two miracles in the last couple of weeks. Harold suffered a stroke, a brain hemorrhage and doctors have been amazed by his fast and seemingly miraculous recovery.

Last Sunday night, John Lenhardt suffered a heart attack, he was released from the hospital on Thursday and they say after testing that his heart suffered no permanent damage. He can go back to work in 10 days; unheard of, unbelievable. God’s fast healing – a miracle.

Back to our meal, the Passover. Jesus must have been a Lutheran – look what he says, “I have desired to eat this meal with you.” We don’t do much around this church where food isn’t involved, but in this case Jesus is setting up the disciples for the meal, the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion the most precious meal we can have together.

And again, we rarely meet for worship as Lutherans and not take part in this Sacrament of the Altar. Why is that? It’s because of what Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

This is a way to remember the king. In worship, the time when we show our devotion to God, when we acknowledge God’s existence and control over all life we want to remember the king and I don’t mean Elvis. Elvis has left the building, he’s gone, dead, not a part of reality anymore, but God is not dead. God is real, worthy of worship, worthy of our respect and honor and remembering the king with a meal, a banquet in the kings honor is important work, it’s the people’s work.

During this meal we share bread and wine remembering the king’s final entry into Jerusalem. We remember the king’s triumph over sin, death, and the power of evil. He died so that we might have new life.

When we eat this bread and drink this wine, as celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we once again bow before our creator, our redeemer, remembering that God, through Jesus Christ has poured out a new covenant in his blood, Jesus words, for us.

We believe that Christ is present in, under and with the elements so that we might know once again, we might be reminded once again through the elements that God’s love for us is real, it’s rejuvenating, it provides new life.

A miracle, a meal, and the Messiah; and this is where the Messiah comes into play in the middle of life. We can see from the rest of the text that Jesus prays, he is betrayed, and Peter denies him.

Jesus prays that he might be released from his path to the cross. He prays with such intensity that sweat falls from his forehead as drops of blood. But God says no, this is your destiny, it is my will that one righteous man should die to redeem all the unrighteous.

So Jesus, as Paul said in our reading from Philippians 2 “he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.”

Why did he do this? Because he was the Messiah, the one called by God for the sake of the world. Paul again (vs 9-11), “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Isn’t this what worship is all about? When life disappoints, we worship. When life fills us with disillusionment, we worship. When life makes us dissatisfied, we worship. When life disappoints, we eat.

I’m not talking about a psychosis , or a mental disorder, although I do tend to eat when I’m disappointed, I’m taking about when life’s troubles have us down we need to share the miracle of God’s grace through the meal assuring us of God’s Messianic covenant.

A miracle, a meal and the Messiah; when we remember the king we must remember the cross, the bridge that God used to make it all possible.

When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour content on all my pride.

Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even on the cross. What does it look like when we humble ourselves at the foot of the cross?

Francis of Assisi, a great man in the history of the church was asked how were you able to accomplish so much. He replied, “This may be why: The Lord looked down from heaven and said, ‘Where can I find the weakest, littlest man on earth?’ Then He saw me and said, ‘I’ve found him. I will work through him, and he won’t be proud of it. He’ll see that I am only using him because of his insignificance.’”

When we are weak, God is strong. Meet Jesus at the foot of the cross this week.

Amen

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