There is nothing quite so fulfilling as good timing. And nothing quite so embarrassing as bad timing.
They say that the secret in being a comedian is good timing. Well, the secret in living is good timing. Quite a few years ago, a young lady in whom I was more than slightly interested had to be out of town for a week. However, during that week and that week alone, the radio was playing music she needed to hear for her music appreciation course. I overheard her worrying about how she was going to get that material and prepare for the exam. So while she was away, I quietly taped the music and then presented it to her when she came home. For once, my timing was good; so good, in fact, that next month we will celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the benefits of good timing!
There is nothing quite so fulfilling as good timing, especially when you see an opportunity in it.
But the height of embarrassment is bad timing. Bad timing is excruciatingly painful, especially when you just don’t understand the circumstances. One day I was at a reception for a man who was leaving one of our Baptist agencies. It was, I supposed, one of those sad-happy occasions ... sad to see you go, but, on balance, happy you have a new opportunity ahead of you. I greeted the man who was leaving, summoning up all my good cheer and jollity, and he promptly turned over his coffee cup, spilling coffee right down his jacket. Well, I was all into the jovial mode, so squawked out something like, "I see that your cup runneth over" and went babbling and laughing on ... until I noticed that his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He had spilled the coffee because his hands were out of control. Somebody pulled me off to the side and whispered, "Parkinson’s Disease, that’s why he’s leaving." I was about ready to fall through the floor.
The height of embarrassment is bad timing, especially when you just don’t understand the circumstances.
Do you recognize what time it is? Nothing is so fulfilling as good timing, when you see an opportunity in it. And nothing is so embarrassing as bad timing, when you don’t understand the circumstances.
I
For several weeks Jesus and His disciples had been making their way toward Jerusalem. Walking from town to town, teaching, preaching, healing, Jesus had provoked a variety of responses.
Some had rejoiced in His coming. It had been right on time for them and their needs. Ten lepers had been cleansed; the timing was right for them. A blind man begging beside the road had received his sight; impeccable timing for him. The tax collector Zacchaeus felt that the timing was good for him to find love and acceptance, and he scrambled up a tree to take advantage of the right time, the opportunity. Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem had been great timing for some. It had been an opportunity.
But it had been bad timing, embarrassing timing, for others. Certain Pharisees had criticized Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath, and His reply blew them away. Bad timing to bad-mouth a healer; embarrassing timing.
It had been bad timing for the rich young ruler, who thought he was asking a safe theological question about eternal life, but who got instead a command to go and sell all that he had. Bad timing and embarrassing to admit you won’t accept the answer you got.
Timing is everything. It’s important to recognize what time it is.
II
As Jesus and His disciples now approached the city, it seemed that the timing was exactly right. Just outside the city, He had asked for a young colt on which to ride. They thought they knew what this meant. After all, it was the Passover season. And if Jesus was entering the city at Passover, riding on this young beast of burden, it could only mean that the ancient prophecy of Zechariah was coming true. He was going to show Himself as the Messiah. This was it! This was the moment! This was the right time!
From the village of Bethany, across a little valley, now around the edge of the Mount of Olives, leading the way went the disciples. The crowd building, excitement mounting, people spreading their coats on the path as they might for a conquering hero ... and then the moment, the crowning moment, the right moment. They rounded a turn in the path, and there before them was their first view of Jerusalem. The great city spread out before them, its walls and pinnacles shining in the sunlight. It must have been much like seeing the city of Washington from certain vantage points across the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers …a golden glowing city, displaying history and power.
The timing was right for the disciples, and their voices rang out. "Blessed ... blessed ... blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven".
Nothing is quite so fulfilling as good timing, when you think you have seized the opportunity.
But following the shouting disciples, some paces behind, was the man on the colt. Riding, slowly riding, humble and yet majestic, quiet and yet purposeful. Riding, slowly riding ... from the village of Bethany, across a little valley, now around the edge of the Mount of Olives, the man on the colt ... and then his moment, his crowning moment, his right moment. He rounded that same turn in the path, and there before him was his first view of Jerusalem. The great city spread out before him.
And Jesus wept. Jesus saw the city and wept. His sense of timing was altogether different. He knew what time it was far better than his disciples. “If you, [Jerusalem], had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! ... Indeed the days will come upon you, when your enemies will surround you ... and will crush you to the ground ... because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."
III
On Palm Sunday we shout and sing with the disciples. We think it’s time to celebrate. That has its place, but have we recognized what time it is? Have we recognized the time of God’s visit, and do we see the cross that is only a short distance ahead? On Palm Sunday we shout and sing, but have we understood that it may be time to weep?
Jesus wept over Jerusalem, that great city. Is it now time to weep over our city, Washington? Is it now time to weep for a city which, though it is in the nexus of power, keeps many of its people powerless? Jesus said of Jerusalem, "Your enemies will hem you in on every side." What time is it? It’s time to weep for Washington as Jesus wept for Jerusalem.
Is it now time to weep for a city whose children are crushed at every stage from before birth to early death, a city where there are too many abortions, where the infant mortality rate is very high, a city which takes a terrible toll in child abuse, which has compiled a poor record in educational attainment. And the appalling reality is that violence or imprisonment will be the fate of many of our youth. Jesus said of Jerusalem, “They will crush you and your children within you." What time is it? It’s time to weep for Washington as Jesus wept for Jerusalem.
Is it now time to weep for a city whose homeless population is increasing daily, where some who want to work cannot find work, and others who do find work still cannot pay these inflationary prices?
Is it now time to weep for a city where housing stock deteriorates and is boarded up, but countless millions are spent on luxury offices and penthouse perks for the powerful? Jesus warned Jerusalem, "They will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." What time is it? It’s time to weep for Washington as Jesus wept for Jerusalem.
IV
It was time to weep for Jerusalem. Jesus wept for that city, knowing that in only a few days He would be on a Cross just outside its walls, bearing the sins of humanity. In only a few days, His passion for us would bring Him to the place of sacrifice. The time was right, the fullness of time had come. God in the flesh had visited us and would now show us what time it was.
It was time for the cross. It was time for sacrifice. Yes, because the things that make for peace are always self-giving and sacrifice and love. About that make no mistake. If you weep over the city, it will cost you. That is clear. But it is God’s way. It is God’s way in God’s time.
By the spring of 1968 it had become clear that the poor in America’s cities were desperate. It seemed there was no one to listen, no one to understand. It appeared there was no one who really knew what time it was for America’s cities.
But one man did know. He had been working for a number of years for the cause of racial justice. He had fought numerous battles for equal access to public facilities. But he sensed that now we were in a new time, now there needed to be an expanded vision of what must be done.
And so he went that spring to one of America’s large cities, there to support the claims of its lowest-paid, least-appreciated workers for a living wage. A peaceful demonstration was planned, but it met with violent resistance. As a result, on March 28, some 600,000 people walked the streets on behalf of justice. But again a peaceful demonstration became violent, with looting and arson by some, gas and clubs and guns by others.
He was distressed. It seemed that everything he had stood for was gone and forgotten. He thought about just leaving, just abandoning the whole mess. He almost did not even go to a rally at which he was to be the featured speaker.
But that night he recognized anew what time it was. Finding reserves of strength, he did go to speak. That night he cried out, “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter to me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop, I won’t mind. Like anyone else, I would like to live a long life ... But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will ... So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ... "
The next evening, the fourth of April 1968, exactly a quarter-century ago, a rifle shot rang out. And the world wept for the man who had wept for America’s cities, for Martin Luther King.
Recognize what time it is. It is time to weep for the city, even if weeping for the city can take you to a Cross. Recognize what time it is. It is time to weep for and act for this city, even though it will cost something.
Ride on, King Jesus; ride on. No man can-a hinder thee. Ride on, King Jesus. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. Ride on, King Jesus, ride on. Though a cross be your throne, ride on. Ride on. It’s your time. Your time. No man can-a hinder thee.
