John:12:1-19 Common English Bible
Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound, of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.)
Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.”
Many Jews learned that he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. The chief priests decided that they would kill Lazarus too. It was because of Lazarus that many of the Jews had deserted them and come to believe in Jesus.
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him. They shouted,
“Hosanna!
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the king of Israel!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
Don’t be afraid, Daughter Zion.
Look! Your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.
His disciples didn’t understand these things at first. After he was glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
The crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were testifying about him. That’s why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard about this miraculous sign that he had done. Therefore, the Pharisees said to each other, “See! You’ve accomplished nothing! Look! The whole world is following him!”
What is the most challenging thing that you have ever done?
What required the most courage?
I remember clearly --- November 11 and 12th, 1989.
Nancy and I were the parents of a one-and-a-half-year-old baby --- living in a new community.
Late in the afternoon on November 11th --- it was a stormy night --- rain, lightening, high winds --- Nancy and I went to the Warsaw Community WMCA, gathering with a few volunteers to help set up chairs for the inaugural worship service for Celebration United Methodist Church.
We had made 35,000 phone calls ---- sent out thousands of letters --- drank more coffee with folk than I ever imagined possible --- with the hopes that interested people would show up.
The runway was not very long --- the conference provided enough funds for one year --- and then the funds would drop dramatically --- we were expected to become self-sustaining very quickly.
I will never forget that day --- even as I speak of it right now --- my stomach gets into knots.
I had no idea if it would work.
I was trying to start a more open congregation in a very conservative community.
As I made those phone calls --- what I heard over and over again was --- “you don’t want me – I am divorced.”
Even though I had only been in town since June --- churches in the community were attacking me and this none-existent church from the pulpit saying that I was soft on sin – since I kept reaching out and welcoming those who had been kicked out of those churches, primarily for getting divorced.
As we finished setting up the gym with 250 chairs, I wondered --- no --- I worried --- would anyone show up?
By the time we finished --- and we headed to my car to go home and try to get some sleep --- knowing I would have to be there at 6am to turn the heat on in the gym ---
the rain had stopped
--- and right there in front of me was the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen.
As I got into my car --- I broke down into tears.
Four years earlier --- my brother had died on this very day.
And as I sat there, I was able to thank God for sending me this sign --- this sign that everything was going to be OK --- even if I wasn’t completely sure all the time.
The gospels don’t recount any rainbows in the sky during this last week of Jesus earthly life.
Yet again and again --- we will be reminded that in the midst of all that is taking place --- God is there to fortify our courage.
As Jesus stood on the top of the Mount of Olives --- a place many of us stood just last year --- and as he looked over the beloved holy city of Jerusalem --- one has to wonder what Jesus was feeling.
Was he afraid?
He certainly knew what the likely outcome was.
DEATH
Death by torture on a cross.
John tells us that Jesus has just reminded his followers that his fate would be death.
If you follow Jesus’ story this week, the gospels tell us that it was a roller coaster ride --- not only for Jesus, but also for those who were with him.
It all began on what we call Palm Sunday.
The Rev. Denise Anderson defines what transpires on this Sunday as political theater.
She writes:
We begin the high drama of Holy Week with a reading in three parts.
. . . Everyone’s motivations are exposed and the week’s events foreshadowed.
. . . All eyes right now are on Jesus. That’s a problem for the chief priests, who then set their eyes on Lazarus to undermine Jesus. We witness what is both secret and open.
. . . Everything is now set in motion. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a spectacle. It’s a protest, a counternarrative to the Empire’s extravagance and repression. It happens opposite the Roman governor’s own parade into Jerusalem for the Passover. It’s the people’s declaration of a different reign. The use of a donkey is Messianic imagery. This is political theater, and it would ramp up the plots against Jesus’ life.
. . . When we consider the full Palm Sunday picture, these are frightful times. So much is happening that is both hopeful and terrifying. Tensions and tears are plentiful. But the Word will remind us to “take heart.”
Again and again, we take heart amid the drama. The script is unsettling, but we have not yet reached “The End.”
We can look back on it and see the ways that John and the other gospel writers tells the story as theater, but I believe there was much more going on.
Rev. Anderson alludes to it, but one of the most provocative and profound looks at this last week of Jesus’ life is Borg and Crossan’s The Last Week.
They wrote the book, in many ways, as a counter narrative to the story that Mel Gipson presented in the movie The Passion of the Christ.
They write:
“We intend . . . to tell and explain, against the backdrop of Jewish high-priestly collaboration with Roman imperial control, the last week of Jesus’s life on earth as given in the Gospel According to Mark. . . . Mark tells us how the story of Jesus was told around the year 70. As such, it is not ‘straightforward history,’ but, like all the gospels, a combination of history remembered and history interpreted.”
Imagine, if you can . . . a ragtag group of peasants --- gathering together on the top of the Mount of Olives.
Across the valley is the Temple --- the dwelling of God on the earth.
The center of the world --- if not the universe
This group of peasants had made their way with other pilgrims, coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover
The Passover --- the celebration of liberation from Egypt, the promise of a homeland --- the acknowledgment that the Jewish people are chosen by God
They had come from the Galilee --- about 100 miles north of Jerusalem
As they looked at the Temple, off in the distance, Jesus climbed upon a donkey and began the decent into the Kidron Valley and then back up into Jerusalem.
People came and began shouting Hosanna.
“Hosanna!
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the king of Israel!”
And they took branches of palm trees and began to wave them as the shouted all the louder:
HOSANNA
Without a doubt --- the leaders of the temple and the Roman officials, charged with keeping the peace --- were keeping an eye on this motley crew.
But at the same time --- something else was going on.
Another parade was taking place on the opposite side of the city.
Pontius Pilate --- the Roman Governor was entering the city from the West.
Pilate had traveled with Roman imperial troops from Caesarea Maritima to provide a military presence during this Jewish festival.
Jesus’ procession seemed to be proclaiming the idea of a Kin-dom of God --- a kin-dom that lifted up the poor and impoverished, that equalized the marginalized and excluded.
Pilate too proclaimed his reality --- Pilate came proclaiming the might and power of the Roman Empire.
Jesus, I am convinced knew what he was doing ---
I am not sure he fully understood the consequences of what he was doing.
Jesus rode in on a donkey, and Matthew reminds us this was to fulfill a prophecy found in Zechariah.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion.
Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem.
Look, your king will come to you.
He is righteous and victorious.
He is humble and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the offspring of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 CEB)
It is the very next verse --- Zechariah tells us what kind of King --- Jesus will be:
He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the warhorse from Jerusalem.
The bow used in battle will be cut off;
he will speak peace to the nations.
His rule will stretch from sea to sea,
and from the river to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:10 CEB)
This is a king who will banish war
No more chariots
No more war-horses
No more bows
This will be a king of peace!
Knowing this --- it took great courage to climb aboard that donkey and ride into the city amid the Hosanna’s and palm branches.
But again and again --- we see the presence of God --- giving Jesus AND US --- the courage we need to stand up against injustice.
On March 3rd, 2019 I stood in this very pulpit and preached the scariest sermon of my life.
(https://smconger.blogspot.com/2019/03/grace-upon-grace.html)
Like November 14-15 thirty years earlier --- this is burned into my memory.
Earlier that week, the Special Session of the General Conference of the UMC meet in Saint Louis and strengthened the discriminatory and (to me) evil language found in the Book of Disciple.
I knew that I would have to address it on the next Sunday --- and I knew --- that some people would be very unhappy about what I would say.
I wrestled with God in ways that I had never done before.
Would I play it safe and not speak what I have come to believe?
Or
Would I say what God seemed to be putting on my heart?
I didn’t sleep the night before church on the 3rd.
I wrote --- threw out and wrote again my sermon --- repeatedly.
Could I, would I --- say what I believed?
I invite you to go back and read that sermon.
I believe it was the best I have ever preached
It has been read almost 900 times on my blog
--- I have no idea how many times on the church website
I titled it Grace upon Grace --- an illusion to John 1:16 and a constant theme of my theology professor Tom Langford.
Since then the past two years have been ones of constant turmoil
There are no easy answers as we try to expand the table to include everyone.
The signs we have put up to show: we welcome all --- over the past two years have been vandalized or stolen
I remember while in seminary, Dr Langford shared with a class an early draft of a book that he was working on --- I don't believe it was ever published --- but it was entitled GRACE UPON GRACE
It was his premise that God's grace is sufficient
That God is big enough to defend God's self and it was our job to invite people in
One of the things that has always struck me is the idea that some people actually see God's love as being somewhat limited.
If God loves you --- there might not be enough for me.
But there is grace upon grace --- sufficient for all of creation
--- our job is to humbly accept it and to invite others to experience it.
When you come to God's table, I hope you understand that:
NO ONE HERE MERITS BEING INVITED
But just the same, God invites you.
As long as I am pastor at Meridian Street UMC, this table will be open to ALL.
Straight, gay,
Married, single, or divorced
Black, brown, yellow, white or any other color
Citizen or alien
Rich or poor
Sinner or Saint
This table will always be open
And I will do everything that I can to open the doors of the church to all of God's children.
I will support any who believe they are called by God to ministry even if they happen to be LGBTQI+
God's table is big enough --- even if we disagree
No one --- regardless of which side of this issue you are on --- is being excluded from God's table by God
We may exclude ourselves
We may think we are being excluded --- but God excludes NO-ONE!
And I promise to do my best to exclude No-one
Two years ago a devotion was shared prior to a finance meeting that has stuck with me ever since.
He talked about being on a youth retreat when the leader of the retreat,
as they were sitting in a circle,
turned to the person that he really disliked and said to them "I love you most of all (and then gave a reason).
As you can imagine, this young person was upset that their leader had made this affirmation to a person that they struggled with,
because they thought they were loved most of all.
And for a time he said he sat there in his indignation
But soon, the leader turned to him and said: "I Love You most of all . . ."
I encourage you to think of the biggest sinner you know.
Can you see them?
Can you put them in your minds eye
If you can't see anyone, then just think of me --- I am a pretty good sinner
And listen as God says to them: "I Love You most of all . . ."
And unless you can hear them say that to the one you really struggle with ---
I doubt you can really understand or appreciate it when God says to you: "I Love You most of all . . ."
Mark Twain is often credited with saying, but the truth is it more likely was the Rev. Ernest T. Campbell ---
The two most important days in your life are:
The day you are born
And the day you figure out why.
I am a slow learner --- it has taken a number of events to help me figure out why I was born --- but once I learned it --- it changed the way I live.
Do you have the courage to follow Jesus into Jerusalem?
Do you have the courage --- to stand up for what you know is right?
Again and again --- God gives us the courage and walks with us through the valley and into the Holy City.
