“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.” Did you ever wonder what kind of hill it was that Jack and Jill had to climb if they couldn’t make it up without cracking their skulls? You wouldn’t think it should be such a hard hill to climb if there was a well on top of it. Obviously others had made it to the top. Why not Jack and Jill? I don’t suppose there is an answer to that question, and who cares? It is just a nursery rhyme after all.
Our text this morning, however, does speak of a hill that we should care about. It’s a hill that we’ll want to climb even though it’s a steep and tall one. The hill is God’s hill – a picture of heaven. Let’s find out who can climb this hill.
King David gets straight to the point when he writes: “3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false” (Psalm 24:3, 4). Jack and Jill may have had a hard time climbing because they weren’t wearing the right shoes. Trying to negotiate a boulder-strewn hill in flip-flops, for example, is a sure recipe for a busted ankle. If you want to ascend the hill of the Lord, however, it’s not about having the right shoes; it’s about having the right hands and heart - clean hands and a pure heart to be exact.
I’ll bet your hands look clean right now since you probably showered shortly before coming to church. But are they clean? Would parents be pleased if their baby sucked on your fingers during the service? I don’t think so! Microscopic germs cling to your hands - germs that cause colds and other sicknesses. But God isn’t so much concerned about the germs that cling to our hands; he’s more disturbed by the sins that dirty them. Using your hands to pop that prescription medication you’re hooked on, or for thumbing through pornographic pictures, or for hitting a sibling certainly makes them dirty. But dirty also are the hands that hang limp when help is needed around the house. Filthy are the fingers that point and blame others for sins we don’t want to acknowledge in ourselves. And naughty are the knuckles that clench in anger even though they may not actually strike anyone.
Even when our hands seem clean, our hearts are not. For example hands that send cards to shut-ins, and hands that diligently complete an assignment are often motivated by hearts that hope someone will thank and praise us for our efforts. We can’t do anything good without it being tainted with the sin of self-righteousness and pride. So who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Based on what the Bible tells us, not us. We don’t have clean hands and a pure heart and so we’re a lot like Jack and Jill when it comes to climbing: we risk busted skulls.
But there is one person who successfully climbed God’s hill. You saw him in action through our Gospel Lesson. Jesus had clean hands - hands that never took anything that didn’t belong to him; hands that promptly acted when his stepfather said it was time to clean up the woodshop. But those hands that had healed the deaf, those hands that never shook in sinful anger or frustration over that hardheartedness of sinners around him were the hands that clutched the mane of a donkey as it clopped it’s way up the hill into Jerusalem to deliver Jesus to death. There, those clean hands were bloodied by a soldier’s piercing hammer blow. The blood that poured out of there flowed from a heart of pure love for sinners like you and me. It’s this blood that has now cleansed our hands and hearts. It does so every time we receive the Sacrament of the Altar. In fact you could say that when we come to receive Communion, we’re being fitted with the right equipment for our climb up God’s hill. Here Jesus slips his righteousness over our sin-stained hands like a white glove hiding ugly scars. With our sins covered and forgiven, God beckons us to his side on top of his hill. So who can climb God’s hill? Everyone. For everyone has received clean hands and a pure heart through the life and death of Jesus.
What is the proper response to the one who has done this for us? David tells us. “Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory” (Psalm 24:7-10).
Speaking the words of this psalm would have been most fitting for the crowds on Palm Sunday. Their king was coming to them – a king of glory. A king so great that the gates of Jerusalem should have been opened as wide as they could, even dismantled to make sure this king would fit through them. As it happened, the gates of Jerusalem were open to Jesus, but what about the hearts of the people? Some hearts were open to Jesus as they sang his praises at the top of their lungs, not caring who heard. They even gave the king the cloaks off their back for his donkey to walk over. Other hearts, however, were quite closed to Jesus as they grumbled about all the attention he was getting.
What about our hearts? Are they opened wide to Jesus our king? They may be open during this hour of worship but do the gates of our hearts close as soon as the church doors shut behind us? For example is what you have planned to do this afternoon going to bring glory to your king, or pleasure to the sinful nature? If it’s meant to bring glory to the sinful nature and not your king, what will you do about it? Don’t let Jesus’ appearance on Palm Sunday fool you. Just because he was riding the colt of a donkey and not atop a gold chariot doesn’t mean that he is a second-rate king whom we can pick and choose when to serve. David reminds us of that in the opening verses of our psalm: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” (Psalm 24:1, 2).
The whole world belongs to Jesus because he made it and controls it. He could have chosen a lion on which to ride into Jerusalem if he wanted. He could have demanded that his disciples, even his enemies get on all fours so that he could ride them into Jerusalem and they would have had to obey. While Jesus could rip open the gates of our hearts and force us to obey him, he’s not that kind of king. He endeavours to open the gates of our hearts through his love. He’s like the king who conquers a city, not by attacking it or laying siege to it, but by providing everything the city needs so that they come to trust their would-be conqueror and willingly open their gates to him. And so Jesus seeks to win us with his love. That’s why he washed his disciples feet. That’s why he gave his life for our salvation. Not only that, he provided your breakfast this morning. He gave you a loving parent who greeted you with a hug. He even supplied the aspirin you took and made it work so that your nasty headache would disappear.
The ironic thing is that in spite of all Jesus does for us we can’t open our hearts to him. Our sinful nature, with Satan’s help, wants to keep that gate firmly shut. Only the Holy Spirit can open our hearts to Jesus. He does so through the Word and Sacraments which breaks the sinful nature’s hold on us. Therefore if our hearts are to be opened wide for the King, we’ll want to open wide the pages of Scripture so that the Holy Spirit can do his work.
Jack and Jill may never have made it up the hill but we have and we’ve fetched more than a pail of water. We’ve found eternal life. We’ve found freedom from the fear of death. I shouldn’t say that we made it up this hill and found these blessings - Jesus did and pulled us up after him by anchoring us to the cross. As we stand with Jesus on top of God’s hill, let’s not think this means that we are his equal. He still is the King of Glory who made the world and everything in it. He made us and he saved us to live under him as we worship and glorify him in all we do. So lift up your heads. Open the gates of your heart. Let the King of Glory in! Let me say it twice, as did David: lift up your heads; open the gates of your heart; let the King of Glory in for this King of Glory loves you and wants to spend eternity with you! Amen.
