Bending Knees

Receiving praise

I’m not always good at receiving praise.

What to do and say at a piano recital

Even if you know what to do and say, it sometimes feels awkward.

How did Jesus manage all the praise.

Jesus didn’t focus on the praise. He focused on His own humble obedience.

Humble Obedience

Humble Obedience. So much of our faith comes down to that.

Part 1: Two donkeys making stew

God

Matthew 21:1–9 NRSV

1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:1–11 NRSV

1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Comment

 6–7* Matthew summarizes Mark 11:4–6* in biblical language: the disciples “did as Jesus had commanded them.” For Matthew, only the disciples’ obedience is important—not, as for Mark, that they found everything as Jesus had predicted. The disciples bring the two donkeys, lay their garments on them, and Jesus sits “on them.” It is difficult to decide whether with “on them” (ἐπάνω αὐτῶν) the clothes or the animals are meant. Linguistically, the “clothes” is the more probable antecedent, but because of the context the readers will first think of the animals. In either case it is difficult to imagine Jesus’ ride.41 With an author like Matthew who is frequently careless in concrete details, we should not even try to imagine it. Luz, U. (2005). Matthew 21–28: a commentary. (H. Koester, Ed.) (p. 8). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.

Matthew 21:

Matthew treats this prophecy like making stew. It doesn’t matter what order you get everything into the pot, only that it all gets in there and the heat is turned on.

Part of humble obedience is not worrying about every single detail. We are not in control of the big picture. We each have our own part to play.

A different kind of CEO (Chief ENCOURAGMENT OFFICER)

Jeff Henderson is the Lead Pastor of Gwinnett Church, one of the multi-site locations of North Point Ministries.  Prior to Gwinnett Church, Jeff also spent 21 years in marketing working with the Atlanta Braves, Callaway Gardens Resorts, Lake Lanier Islands Resorts, and most recently for Chick-fil-A, Inc., before embarking for his roles with North Point Ministries.

Jeff’s idea of being a pastor is to preach and write thank you notes. Chief Encouragement Officer. He knows he cannot do it all. He is one of the top preachers in our country but he does not try to do everything himself. If he is this kind of pastor, it makes me wonder what kind of a boss he was in his marketing jobs.

He also spent 21 years in marketing working with the Atlanta Braves, Callaway Gardens Resorts, Lake Lanier Islands Resorts, and most recently for Chick-fil-A, Inc., before embarking for his roles with North Point Ministries.

A person who does not know their role either will not show up at all… or they will show up and try to do everything. A person who does not know their role does not ask for help.

Even Jesus asked for help.

Humble obedience begins with knowing our part to play and asking for help to get the job done. It’s like making stew and the longer we cook together, the better our teamwork gets.

Part 2: Leaving home

Matthew 21:10–11 NRSV

10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew

賀知章 He Zhizhang: 回鄉偶書 Coming Home - Fortuitous Lines

1 少小離家老大回 1 In youth, I left, now aged, I’ve come home,

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”

- translation by Huangfa Wong -last President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule.

“Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America -- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement. At any rate, that is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train. And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there. It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.” ― Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

Homeless on purpose

The word “refugee” has taken on a political life of its own in the last few years and while it is true that Jesus, as a young boy was a refugee living in Egypt because the rulers of Israel wanted to kill Him, the bigger sacrifice he made was in leaving heaven to come to earth in the first place. He was not a refugee from heaven. I’m sure heaven could not wait for him to come home. If anything, Jesus left heaven like the prodigal son, taking God’s inheritance of eternal life with Him, and later, after the world treated him so bad, returning home to a great celebration. The difference between the prodigal son story and the mission of Jesus is that God the Father was in on the plan the whole time. Jesus was sent to rescue us, the other prodigals who had forgotten the way back home ourselves. So Jesus chose not to be a refugee, but to be homeless - a wanderer with no place to lay his head, when He had the greatest home in the universe just waiting for Him in heaven.

So when Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and to become a homeless wanderer with the other disciples, Jesus was not asking him to do anything Jesus had not done Himself.

What we can see in He Zhizhang and Thomas Wolfe both… and what we learn from humble obedience, following Jesus is simply that this world is not, and can never truly be our home.

Philippians 2:5–11 NRSV

5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:1-

1 少小離家老大回 1 In youth, I left, now aged, I’ve come home,

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”2 鄉音無改鬢毛摧(衰) 2    My tongue unchanged, my hair thinner grown.

3 兒童相見不相識 3 Unknown am I, to the children I meet,

4 笑問客從何處來 4    Smiling they ask, “Where are you from?”

- translation by Huangfa Wong -last President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule.

“Perhaps this is our strange and haunting paradox here in America -- that we are fixed and certain only when we are in movement. At any rate, that is how it seemed to young George Webber, who was never so assured of his purpose as when he was going somewhere on a train. And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there. It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.” ― Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again

The late Dwight David Eisenhower had the distinction of being the only American President to have been baptized and received into church membership upon confession of faith while in office. The memorial service in the Washington Cathedral witnessed strongly to his faith—there can be no mistaking of it. The simple service, the hymns sung by choir and congregation, the Scriptures read, the prayers given, the Apostles Creed—all bore witness to Ike’s faith in his Lord. The leaders of one hundred nations were present and they heard the witness. More than that, national television brought the witness before the American people.

We were not only reminded of Eisenhower’s faith, but of his humility. There might have been much pomp and ceremony. Eisenhower was the Commander of the Allied forces for the invasion of Europe. He was one of the world’s most decorated military men. Many honors had been heaped upon him in life. In death, the services were simple. It had been planned that way. He was buried in a casket just like those used for common soldiers. This speaks of the humility of the man. With all the honors bestowed upon him, and having been the 34th President of the United States, and having enjoyed a personal popularity seldom matched in America, he chose the common lot.

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 1615–1616). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Choosing humble obedience

How can we be simply obedient: submitting to our role on God’s team and choosing to make our home in heaven instead of here? There are unique ways for us all to do it. Here is one example of how a great leader of our nation chose God’s kingdom over his own.

7393 Ike’s Faith And Humility

The late Dwight David Eisenhower had the distinction of being the only American President to have been baptized and received into church membership upon confession of faith while in office. The memorial service in the Washington Cathedral witnessed strongly to his faith—there can be no mistaking of it. The simple service, the hymns sung by choir and congregation, the Scriptures read, the prayers given, the Apostles Creed—all bore witness to Ike’s faith in his Lord. The leaders of one hundred nations were present and they heard the witness. More than that, national television brought the witness before the American people.

We were not only reminded of Eisenhower’s faith, but of his humility. There might have been much pomp and ceremony. Eisenhower was the Commander of the Allied forces for the invasion of Europe. He was one of the world’s most decorated military men. Many honors had been heaped upon him in life. In death, the services were simple. It had been planned that way. He was buried in a casket just like those used for common soldiers. This speaks of the humility of the man. With all the honors bestowed upon him, and having been the 34th President of the United States, and having enjoyed a personal popularity seldom matched in America, he chose the common lot.

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (pp. 1615–1616). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Now most of us will probably not wield the power and authority of a national president, but we will all be tempted by some kind of authority over others. It may be employees we supervise. It may be children we raise or babysit. For many of us it will be people who serve us in stores and restaurants. Many people in the customer service businesses cringe when they know groups of Christians are coming through, because over the years we have built up a bad reputation of being incredibly picky about service and often not very generous or grateful in our tips. When hotels and restaurant staff think about Christians, many of them think about people who like to complain. And it is not just out there in the business world. It happens in church too.

Moving from me-centered listeners of worship music to other-centered singers of worship music. (Josh and Beth, Glenda and Bobby, Kathy, Leonard, etc...) Moving from a congregation that doesn’t sing to a congregation that has special music every Sunday in 3 years. Humble obedience.

From listening to singing

For some of you, the idea of singing a solo in front of a crowd is the most terrifying thing you can imagine. Not everyone has to be a singer. Some are cooks. Some are teachers. Some, like Jeff Henderson have a calling to write thank you notes to everyone else. Whatever your calling is though, expect it to take a lot out of you. Expect it to be something that takes effort and may even hurt. We do it, not because it is fun or it gives us the attention that we secretly want. We serve because God has given us a gift that we were made to share. The throne that this world gave Jesus was a cross, and He promised us that there is a cross with our name on it as well. We will change the world not by being talented or smart or funny or even nice and helpful. We, like Jesus will change the world when the world offers us our own cross and we accept it by asking for help (because nobody goes alone, not even Jesus) and taking it up with humble obedience.

Philippians 2:5–11 NRSV

5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.