Let’s See Part Six: Kings

Jerseys

I don’t think the Penguins are going to make the playoffs…

But I’ll still wear the jersey, right?

Gotta stick with your team to the very very end!

Jersey Switcher Mark Rober

Mark Rober is a youtuber who used to work for NASA and uses his scientific knowledge for chaos and pranking, and I love it!

And while this is one of his lower tech inventions…I think it proves a point today:

Play Mark Rober video.

Which jersey are we wearing?

I think this is exactly what this text is asking us to wrestle with today.

Luke’s Gospel

After he said “this.”

Any time we see something like this in a text, we ought to look up just a little bit and see what came right before it.

A parable about the coming kingdom.

Luke has just finished his rendition of the parable of the “talents,” though Luke uses the word “pound” here.

10 pounds, 5 pounds, 1 pound.

The first two take a risk, and invest it.

The last guy gets nervous…and hides what his master has given him.

But Luke includes something else in this discussion:

As the King (who is God in most of Jesus’ parables, this one included) is getting ready to go away, and we get this nugget in verse 14:

Luke 19:14 “But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’”

And then in 27, it gets way worse…

Luke 19:27 “But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to rule over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.’ ””

After saying “this…”

Jesus heads up to Jerusalem.

Luke’s spending a lot of time on details.

Parchment wasn’t cheap!

So Luke repeats a bit of detail in this story, and we probably ought to take note of it.

“The Lord Needs it” hilarity.

Go steal me a donkey.

What do we do if they catch us?

Just tell them the Lord needs it.

…right.

Hey, what are you doing with that donkey?

“The Lord needs it.”

And then nothing.

I sure wish I knew what happened next.

Did the guy who owned the donkey just cave and let them take it?

Were they running down the street with the donkey’s lead yelling over their shoulder “The Lord needs it…”

We’ll never know.

But Luke wants us to know something…

Luke really needs us to know this is a humble procession

Not only is Jesus humble enough to ride on a donkey…

It’s not even his donkey!

What little “power” Jesus has, it’s borrowed.

And make no mistake: this parade has a lot to say about power as we understand it in the world.

The Kings

This is Jerusalem, and this is before Passover.

This was usually a military parade.

Think of all the images like this from dictatorship countries.

They put out all the weaponry they have

Missiles, tanks, dudes marching in wave after wave of soldiers.

In Jesus day, this would have looked slightly different.

Governors like Pilate would have come in with chariots, which would have been like tanks.

Kings like Herod would have come through with spears and shields, surrounded by soldiers.

Don’t mess with these guys.

It was meant to keep people afraid of the rulers.

Both then and now, it was a kind of ruling by fear.

You don’t step out of line because you don’t want the consequences.

Bad actors are pretty unlikely to rise up and try any funny business when the most powerful military is standing right in front of them.

The more people are afraid, the easier it is to control them.

And these kings needed to keep the people under control for a reason.

What can the people do for their Kings?

The whole point is for the people to serve their Kings.

It’s all about how much the farmers can grow.

It’s all about how much wealth the people can produce.

And most of all, it’s vital that that wealth stay in the hands of the Kings.

And so the Kings had to look powerful, so that the people would stay afraid, so the Kings could control them, so that the Kings could use the people for their own gain.

That’s the kind of procession the people of Jerusalem would have been used to this time of year.

Like clockwork.

So imagine what they would have thought of Jesus rolling through town…

Jesus’ procession

Hard to look intimidating on a donkey.

Like seriously, try it.

Even the most well-armed, completely ripped muscle, jack booted soldier sat on top of a donkey…

You’re probably already laughing!

And Luke even says that Jesus needed help getting on the donkey!

His disciples put him up there!

So…intimidating?

No, I don’t think so.

It wasn’t even his donkey!

Jesus doesn’t want people to be afraid of him.

I don’t know a single story in any of the gospels that make me think Jesus was the least bit interested in having people be afraid of him.

Let the little children come to me.

Daughter, your faith has made you well.

Blessed are the meek.

Jesus seems to want to welcome anyone and everyone to be a part of this kingdom.

It’s not an exclusive club, and he’s not the kind of leader that wants people to be afraid.

Instead…

Jesus is all about how he can bless the people.

Look at verse 37:

Luke 19:37 “Now as he was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen,”

The people are cheering because Jesus has blessed them.

Jesus is about providing healing.

Jesus is about providing belonging.

Jesus is about providing a place in the coming kingdom!

Irony: The Pharisees wind up afraid.

Kind of have to love who actually is afraid at the end of this story.

Luke 19:39 “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.””

There may be a couple of reasons for this:

They are losing followers

We always kind of paint the Pharisees like the kids who are a bit jealous that more kids are going to someone else’s party, not theirs.

But I actually think there’s another reason, particularly in this passage.

They could also end up in trouble with the Kings.

The Pharisees are afraid, but not of Jesus.

They’re afraid of those Kings who just walked through with spears.

If the townspeople get all whipped up over a religious matter, the religious leaders like the Pharisees are going to end up at the pointed end of that spear.

Jesus tells them about real power.

Luke 19:40 “He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.””

Real power can’t be stopped with intimidation.

Real power is singing praise no matter what threat it lives under.

For us today: What Jersey are you wearing?

The Culture Says pick the jersey of a King.

Our culture these days is particularly obsessed over which King’s jersey you’re wearing.

Even if they are more about might than about service.

Look, Kings today are absolutely no different than they were back in Jesus’ day.

Kings in our world want to look powerful.

Kings in our day hate looking “weak.”

Kings in our day will tell you that might makes right.

Even if they are more about fear than they are about comfort.

What’s the dominant theme in just about every political ad when it’s election season?

Fear.

Our ads don’t tell us how this King is going to be good for us.

They tell us that if you vote for the other King, things are going to be terrible.

And then should one of those Kings take office, they find another “they” for us to be afraid of.

Immigrants.

Terrorits.

This or that race.

But the lesson is still the same: be afraid.

Even if they are demanding more from the people than they are providing.

Kings might talk a big game about how they want to provide for the people.

But really, especially at it’s most craven, Kings want us on their side because of what we can give them.

We can give them our votes.

We can give them good poll numbers.

And yeah, we can keep right on giving them our resources and wealth too.

It matters very little what color their jersey is.

Maybe our kings wear the red or blue jerseys of politics.

Maybe our kings wear the green jersey of commerce.

Maybe our kings wear the black jersey of influence.

Doesn’t much matter what color the jersey is…kings are gonna king!

Jesus demands humility.

The humility of presence.

Rather than ruling by intimidation, Jesus invites us to be on the team that just shows up for each other.

Jesus invites us not to have the separation of a spear, but the closeness of an embrace.

Jesus invites us not to intimidate each other into submission, but instead invites us to gather around the table of fellowship.

Jesus invites us not to divide ourselves based on the red or blue jersey, but rather to the new humanity of the Kingdom of God.

The humility of kindness.

Where as the Kings most want people to be afraid, Jesus seems interested in how much we can be kind.

How we can look after each other?

How we can speak loving words over each other?

How can we counter-act the fear and intimidation of those Kings?

We do it by being nothing like them.

In fact if we claim to be citizens of the Kingdom of God, but our actions are indistinguishable from the Kings of this world…we ought to take stock of things.

The humility of service.

It takes humility to be of service to folks.

It takes humility to want to help, rather than to be helped.

It takes humility to give rather than receive.

It takes humility to offer time talents and treasure, rather than ask “what have you done for me lately.”

Maybe that’s the whole point of the donkey.

Maybe Jesus wants to make sure that we remember that his Kingdom requires humility, and he sets the example for us.

The Lord needs it indeed!

Still…

Some Christians want to wear the reversible jersey.

I’m team Jesus…until the Kings of the world have something better for me.

I’m team Jesus…until I feel like my Kings are starting to lose power.

I’m team Jesus…or at least the version of Jesus my Kings agree to!

And let’s be real about this one:

Kings of all stripes and persuasions will try to co-opt Jesus to look like he’s on their side.

There’s a story about Lincoln that I heard this week.

Someone comes up to him and says “Aren’t you glad Jesus is on your side in this war?”

And Lincoln’s response was “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on my side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, because God is always right.”

Jesus won’t wear the jersey of our Kings.

And however tempting it might be, we should never wear that reversible jersey either.

Spoiler alert: That’s what this crowd does.

Pastor’s have pointed this out from time immortal, but it’s worth remembering:

On palm Sunday

This crowd is roaring!

This crowd is spreading their cloaks on the road!

This crowd is blessing King Jesus!

This crowd is demanding peace and glory in the Kingdom of God.

And on Friday.

All of those chants and cheers have a new tune.

Crucify. Crucify. Crucify.

Interesting what can happen when we allow ourselves to have the reversible jersey.

It makes it entirely too tempting to ditch Jesus at the first sign of trouble.

And so we have to ask the question:

How to stick with team Jesus

What does the Lord need?

Twice in this story Luke makes sure we hear that line.

The Lord needs it.

The Lord needs it.

So I wonder, what is it that the Lord needs from us today?

Does the Lord need to signs of power and domination, or does he need humility?

Does the Lord need us to win that political argument on Facebook, or does the Lord need us to make sure the person we’re arguing with knows we love them?

Does the Lord need us to fill our sanctuary on Easter to feel good about our church, or does the Lord need us to bring in the hurting, the outcast, the broken so that they can experience resurrection?

(There’s a thin line there)

And what do we do when the things that the Lord needs from us are different from what the Kings of our culture need?

Practice humility.

This world could do with a little more humility, couldn’t it?

And here it’s important to remember that great definition of humility that C.S. Lewis gave us:

Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.

You can be confident and humble at the same time.

You can confidently practice the humility of presence, showing up for those who are feeling alone in this world.

You can confidently practice the humility of kindness, reminding ourselves every day that it might just be the most powerful force in our world today.

You can confidently practice the humility of service, making sure our neighbors have everything they need to thrive in this life.

Practice is a key word here.

This kind of humility, particularly in our world today, doesn’t really come naturally to us any more.

We need to keep it at the front of our minds, making sure that we practice the humility that Christ’s Kingdom celebrates.

Let those praises ring (in the right direction).

It is ok to praise Jesus after all!

This week especially, we have lots of opportunities for you to praise Jesus, and I hope you all will join us for each.

Join us on Thursday at 7, as we gather around the table and remind ourselves of the humility of service.

Join us on Friday at 7, as we gather around the cross and remember our savior’s humbling himself even to the point of death on a cross.

Join us Sunday at 6 if you’re up for it, as we gather for the Sunrise and shout the praises of resurrection at first light.

Join us Sunday at 9 for traditional worship.

Join us Sunday at 11:15 for contemporary worship.

Join us for all of it if you can!

Because this world is demanding too much of our praise for its Kings.

I think they’ve had enough.

Instead, let’s join this crowd and sing the praises of our Humble King Jesus

Luke 19:38 “saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!””