Sermon Tone Analysis

*This is Not What You Expected*

Matthew 21:1-11

*Introduction:*

            Have you wanted to experience a surprise?

I mean have you ever wanted to lay your expectations aside in hopes of maybe experiencing something better?

There have been a few occasions in my life where this has been true.

Amanda and I have discovered something that we’ve done a couple of times and it has been a lot of fun.

In fact, I encourage you to do at some point in your life.

What you do is go to a nice restaurant…a restaurant that fits into your price range.

Instead of ordering off the menu, look your waiter or waitress in eye and tell them to surprise you.

Tell them that you’d like a dinner and a dessert, but you don’t care what it is…you just want it to be nice.

First, it’s fun to see how the server reacts.

Will they look forward to the challenge or will they back out of it?

Sometimes they try to back of it, because they fear that you will be disappointed, but usually they get a little spark in their eye and rise to the occasion.

Second, it’s fun to try and guess what you are going to get served.

You’ll have no expectation other that than the simply hope for an enjoyable meal.

When the meal comes, it’s fun to eat something that you probably would have never ordered.

It’s fun to not be saddle with expectation.

Expectations do have a positive side, but sometimes they lead to the long dusty road of disappointment.

We Americans struggle with this quite a bit.

Author Bill Bryson illustrates this by explaining the difference in how products are sold in Great Britain and the United States.

For example, an advertisement in Britain for a cold relief capsule would promise no more than that it might make you feel a little better.

You would still have a red nose and be in your pajamas, but you might be able to put a smile on your face.

A commercial for the selfsame product in America, however, would guarantee total, instantaneous relief.

A person on the American side of the Atlantic who took this miracle compound would not only throw off his pj’s and get back to work at once, he would feel better than he had for years and finish the day having the time of his life at a bowling alley.

The drift of this was that the British don’t expect over-the-counter drugs to change their lives, whereas we Americans will settle for nothing less.

The problem is the wrong kind of expectations will always lead to long dusty road of disappointment.

It’s sort of like a "Peanuts" cartoon from years ago.

In the first panel Charlie Brown says, “I learned something in school today.

I signed up for guitar, computer programming, gym, and home economics class."

He continues, "I got spelling, history, arithmetic, and two study periods."

Linus asks, "So, what did you learn?"  Charlie replies, "I learned that what you sign up for and what you get are two different things.”

That lesson could be applied to most things in life, couldn't it?

How often do our expectations and our experiences clash?

How often do we sign up for one thing and receive something entirely different?

I imagine Jesus' disciples felt that way all the time.

Jesus was always surprising them.

They zigged, he zagged.

Every time the disciples thought they had Jesus pinned down, he did something unpredictable that sent their expectations into a tailspin.

This was exactly what happened in the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

You remember that happy occasion.

When Jesus entered the great city of Jerusalem, the townspeople came out to cheer for him.

They threw palm branches--the symbol of victory--in his path.

And of course, the disciples and follows of Jesus had some expectations.

Let’s read about the occasion.

It comes from Matthew 21:1-11.

Read.

It all began on Palm Sunday and it was a day of great celebration.

It was Passover time.

The city was jammed with pilgrims from all over the world.

Families were exhausted from the long trip but will filled with excitement for the festivities that awaited them.

Traders had filled the market places with high aspirations of making a large profit.

It was one the most celebrated occasions of the whole year.

Roman authorities were on pins and needles.

The last thing that they wanted was a political revolt of any kind and the entire city was aware of the unusually large number of soldiers on duty, with their clanking arms and shiny swords.

Early one morning a commotion arose on the road east of the city.

A peculiar Galilean rabbi, riding on a donkey, was the center of interest for a growing number of villagers.

Generals and kings rode a horse only when they went to war.

But when a king or a general came in peace, he rode a donkey.

The whole procession seemed remarkably excited.

Palm branches were being waved and thrown into the path of the rabbi; cloaks were being thrown down, songs and shouts arose from the crowd.

“Hosanna,” they kept shouting.

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

Don’t you wonder how the disciples felt…especially the two who were sent on the donkey mission?

They probably felt, “Hey, this is great!

Something big is about to happen.

We're finally getting some respect around here.

All our hard work and sacrifice are paying off.

People are coming around to Jesus' view of things.

It's time to begin campaigning for that new kingdom the Master's always talking about.

Time to get our candidate's message out there.

And what better place to do it than Jerusalem and in what better way than fulfilling the words of Zechariah the prophet?

Yes, Jesus sure is savvy.

He knows exactly how to get a donkey and work a crowd.

He must have planned this all along."

In the disciples' minds, this was the day they had been waiting for.

Finally they are on the same page with Jesus.

This fit perfectly with all they had been waiting for.

But then some strange things begin to happen.

Jesus zigs and the disciples zag.

“Very truly, I tell you,” Jesus says, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

The disciples think to themselves, “What's that?

If it falls?

If it dies?

What's he talking about?”

But Jesus doesn't stop there.

He goes on to say, “Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

The disciples get that sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach.

“Why does Jesus have to make everything so hard?

Why can't he just relax and enjoy the moment?

He's never been more powerful or more popular than he is now?

Can't he just muster up a rebel army, take over the throne, and name himself king?

This is the man who can walk on water and raise the dead!

Why doesn't he just use a little bit of that power?”

As the week progressed, these first disciples were beginning to sense that there was a little more to being a follower of Jesus that just a great celebration.

They were beginning to realize that there was a cost…that discipleship could be tough…that following Jesus might actually cost them something…maybe even their life.

This is not something most people get excited about.

We don’t talk about a lot about carrying the cross.

We are much more likely to lift up the superficial benefits of following Jesus, than we are to talk about the dying part, the surrender part, the cross carrying part.

It is sort of like the old hymnal that contains a hymn titled “Jesus Demands My All.”