Elma United Methodist Church

Whose Messenger Are We?

Elma United Methodist Church

Whose Messenger Are We?

Dan Shelly

Elma United Methodist Church

April 9, 2006

(Mark 11:1-11, Zechariah 9:9-10)

 

As I was reading our text for Palm Sunday it seemed so similar to what I preached on last year, that I just had to go back and look.

 

Last year we read the account of these same events, recorded not in Mark, but in the Gospel of Matthew.  And I explained that as Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day on the colt of a donkey, surrounded by a shouting group of followers and onlookers waving and throwing down palm branches and coats before him in his path.  As people cried out “Blessed is the one who come in the name of the Lord.”  Jesus knew that this entrance symbolically stood in direct contrast to the entrance of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who rode into the Jerusalem on a striding steed, surrounded by a legion of armed troops with their banners waving before them.  Pilate rode into Jerusalem in the name of Caesar, Jesus rode into Jerusalem in the name of the Lord, and this confrontational message that Jesus presented would not have escape the notice of the Roman authorities.  By his calculated actions, Jesus was thumbing his nose at the Roman authorities and proclaiming that the Lord God of Israel was greater than Caesar of Rome.  This was an action that would not go without being noticed, and would not be taken lightly by the Roman authorities.

 

Jesus was headed for a confrontation with the authorities that would cost him his life, but he knew that some things were worth dying for.

 

Jesus of course is the main character and the hero of this particular story, but what struck me when I was reading the story this time was not only the actions of Jesus, but all of the smaller yet faithful actions of others that allowed God’s plan for the World’s redemption to move forward. 

 

And as I thought about smaller things, I remembered a story that someone sent me in email a while back.  It seems that a small country town had just gotten over run with squirrels and these squirrels had decided to make themselves at home in all of the town’s church buildings.  When the pastors got together for their monthly meeting, these pesky little squirrels were a main topic of conversation and the pastors shared with one another what they were doing to try and get them out of their buildings.

The Presbyterian Church had called a meeting to decide what to do about the squirrels.  After much prayer and consideration they determined that the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.  So the squirrels were still there.

In the Baptist church the squirrels had taken up habitation in the baptistery.  The deacons met and decided to put a large plywood cover on the baptistry and flood it.  Somehow, the squirrels escaped and there were twice as many there the next week.

The Catholic group got together and decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creation.  So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free a few miles outside of town.  Three days later, all the squirrels were back again.

But -- the United Methodist church came up with the best and most effective solution.  The Methodist pastor baptized all of the squirrels and registered all of them as members of the church.  Now most of those squirrels only show up on Christmas and Easter!

 

Just like those squirrels, sometimes it’s the small things that play a key role in events.  So let’s listen again to part of this morning’s text again:

 

he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.  If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” ’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.

 

First of all, Jesus sent two disciples ahead and instructed them to find a colt that had never been ridden, untie it and bring it to him.  What if the disciples hadn’t done what Jesus asked?  What if they started to go into this strange village and decided “Hey, this is crazy!  Jesus is sending us out ahead of him to ‘borrow’ someone’s colt.  That’s horse thievery and it could get us arrested, thrown in jail, or even worse.  What if we just hang out a while, then come back to Jesus and tell him, “sorry Master, we looked all over but couldn’t find a colt for you.  Guess you’ll just have to walk into Jerusalem like the rest of us.”   How would that have changed the story?  Or consider this.  Look at where they found the colt. 

 

They found the colt outside in the street, but it was tied up right next to someone’s door.  And as they were untying it, folks from the neighborhood watch committee came up to them and challenged them saying “What do you think you’re doing untying that colt fellas?  That colt is brand new and belongs to Jacob and Miriam.  In fact, who are you guys anyway?  We haven’t seen you around here before!”  And what did the two disciples tell them?  “We’re only borrowing this colt because the Lord has need of it, and even though you don’t know us from Adam, we absolutely promise to bring it back when we’re finished.”  And with that, the neighbors let them take it.

 

That’s an awful lot like looking out the window to see two strangers trying to jump start your neighbor’s  brand new Cadillac convertible, the one he just parked in his driveway for the first time this morning.  And when you confront them about it they say, “Oh yeah, we don’t know this guy, but we’re on a mission from God, and God told us he needs for us to use this car, later, when we’re done with God’s mission, we’ll bring it back – honest!  Sometimes when you read some of these Bible stories with a critical eyes for the details, you begin to see what a different world they must have been living in then.  In our time, those actions would have led to a quick call to 911 and a one-way trip down to the county jail.

 

But the neighbors let the disciples take the colt.  What if they hadn’t?  If they hadn’t it would have radically changed the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem.  Because Jesus was well acquainted with Hebrew Scripture and he was aware of the passage from  Zechariah 9:9-10 which reads:

 

Rejoice Greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

      triumphant and victorious is he,

   humble and riding on a donkey,

      on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

      and the war horse from Jerusalem;

   and the battle bow shall be cut off,

      and he shall command peace to the nations;

his dominion shall be from sea to sea,

   and from the River to the ends of the earth.

 

Jesus knew that this passage declared how the long anticipated prince of peace, the Messiah, would enter Jerusalem and so he sent his disciples out to find him a colt, the foal of a donkey to ride into Jerusalem.  And when the people saw him on the colt, they thought, here it is, here’s the prophesy coming true.  “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord!”

 

None of that would have happened if all of the bit players in the story, all of the people involved, hadn’t done their parts.  It took everyone involved remaining faithful to what God asked them to do for the God’s larger plan to be successful.  At the time, the disciples didn’t know exactly why Jesus needed that colt, and many of those neighbors probably never knew the role they played.  But each of them was vitally important.  And that remains the same today.  God uses all of us to bring about God’s ongoing plan of redemption for Earth.  And we don’t always get to know or see that bigger picture.  Sometimes we’re asked to do things that as far as we can see just don’t seem like they’d really make much of a difference if we just let them go.  If we just don’t give that person a ride to worship service this week, or don’t call and check up on that person who keeps coming to mind.  If we don’t stop and speak to that person in obvious need, or we blow off the volunteer work we signed up for, or call in sick.  If we call in and say, “Sorry, but I have to go to the eye doctor because I just couldn’t see coming in today!”  What harm will it do?  Our part doesn’t really make that much of a difference does it?

 

Several years back, Nona & I got a unique opportunity to go back and see just what a difference those little things can make.  We led a team of volunteers to Kenya in 2000, and when we returned home, our team felt like we hadn’t really made that much of a difference.  Mostly all we did was visit instead of doing “real work” like building construction of something.  But in 2001 we had the opportunity to re-visit each location where our team had been in Kenya, and in every case we found new projects and new life flourishing because what those team members had brought with them was hope, and a sense that someone cared.  Someone cared enough just to come and be with those folks in Kenya for a while.  It was amazing to see the transformation that came about from a visit that we all thought accomplished very little.

 

And it’s the same in our lives today.  You hear a lot of talk and descriptions of what life will be like after we die and move into that heavenly, spiritual realm.  The apostle Paul talks about how our vision will be different.  How now we don’t see things very clearly, but then we will see and know even as we are known by God.  And one of the amazing things that I’m looking forward to is meeting others and hearing their stories – and seeing all of the ways that without even knowing it, our lives made a huge difference and a huge impact on others.  Seeing where those small acts of love and service helped reveal God’s love for someone else – because as Scripture tells us, God is Love, and as we share those small acts of love, we are sharing God with others.

 

Each of us has a unique gift and a unique way that we are called to bring beauty to God’s garden here on Earth, and each of us is asked to bloom in response to the warmth and the light of God’s Love in our lives.  Springtime reminds us that God’s garden is made more beautiful by every new flower that pokes its’ head out of the soil, dares to reach up to the light and open up to reveal the unique beauty that has been given for them to share.  Our lives and our roles are not insignificant but instead are vitally important for God’s plan in the World.  We may not get to see how we have been used in this lifetime, but God has asked all of us to do one very special thing.  Grow and bloom right where we’re planted.  Share the beauty that we’ve been given with others, and help God’s Love refresh and renew our Earth. 

 

It may seem a small thing to do, but as we respond to God, together, we are all a vital part of God’s plan for redemption in the World.  And by his life and his example, Jesus shows us, “Blessed are you who bloom in the Name of the Lord!”

 

Amen