In 1964, Gene Smith published his book entitled When the Cheering Stopped: The Last Years of Woodrow Wilson. It is the story of President Wilson and the events which led up to and followed WWI. Wilson was an international hero at the end of the war, and both in the United States and abroad there was a great spirit of optimism. Most believed that this was the war to end all wars, and that the world had now been made safe for democracy. When Wilson visited Paris he was greeted by cheering crowds wild with enthusiasm. He received the same reception in Italy and England. The book tells the story of a Viennese Red Cross worker who had to tell the children that there would be no Christmas presents that year because of the shortages caused by the war. But the children didn’t believe her because they said President Wilson was coming and he would make everything alright. The cheering lasted about a year, and then began to fade. Old rivalries surfaced in Europe which became more important than peace. Back in the States, President Wilson ran into opposition in the Senate, and his proposal for a League of Nations failed to be ratified. Wilson soon felt the strain and his health began to break. Then he lost the next election. Only a couple of years earlier Wilson was hailed as a new world Messiah, but the glory quickly faded, and he was spurned as a loser. He had experienced both the adulation of an adoring world and rejection by that same world. He came to the end of his days a broken man.
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday when many of the people of Jerusalem greeted Jesus and welcomed him into their city with shouts of praise, placing their garments and palm leaves from the nearby trees in his path. This was a reception usually reserved for kings and generals, but Jesus was hailed in like manner — a glory that soon faded. It is interesting that the tradition of the church is to save the palm leaves from Palm Sunday and burn them at the beginning of Lent the following year, placing their ashes on the foreheads of believers as a sign of penitence — which begins the lenten season of sorrow. It is a sign that the palms of praise soon turn to ashes. This was certainly the case with Jesus. One day he is hailed as Messiah and King. A few days later the crowds are shouting for his crucifixion — and the shouts lead to his ignominious death.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, he was giving the people an opportunity to receive him as the king he was. But not the kind of king they wanted and expected. He would not come riding a great strutting horse as a king or general would do. He would come humbly riding a donkey. Zechariah prophesied of it saying: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah. Hosanna was a Hebrew expression meaning, “Save us, we pray ” It eventually became an expression of praise for a person considered to be a kind of savior. The pilgrims from northern Galilee streaming into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, had been singing the whole way the words of one of the Psalms of Ascent: “O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you” (Psalm 118:25-26). Hopes were high that Jesus would be a hero who would save them from their oppressors. And when he did not do that, they turned on him with a vengeance. The world will always welcome a military deliverer, but they do expect him to deliver.
I want us to look at the events of Palm Sunday and see what we can learn from this event in the life of Jesus. There are things he knew and understood which we need to learn. They are the things that allowed him to go through the experience of Palm Sunday and the following week of suffering. If you are going to survive the fickle and shifting plaudits of the world, the first lesson that you need to learn is: It is necessary to understand who you are. Jesus had the proper perspective on the praise of the people because he knew exactly who he was. He was not dependent on them for his identity. He was the Son of God and he had been given a mission. So whether they praised him or hated him, it did not matter — he was secure within himself.
That is certainly is not where our culture is. Fame and praise is very important. I am always amazed at what people will do if you give them the hope of winning some money and promise to put their face on television. There is nothing they will not eat. There is nothing they will not sing — even if they can’t sing a lick. There is no race they will not run. There is no business venture they will not try — even if might hear: “You are fired.” There is no discomfort they will not tolerate. There is no danger they will not attempt. And there is no humiliation they will not endure. So hungry are they for five minutes of fame that they do not care how degrading the experience is. We call it “reality” TV, and perhaps it is the reality of this culture.
Jesus did not need the accolades of the world. And neither do you. You know who you are. You are a child of God. Your life has worth because of him — whether anyone recognizes that or not. Your relationship with God has helped you to see that he is not only your Creator, he is your loving heavenly Father. You have security because you are secure in him. You were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). You have a future, for the Lord has said, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). You have a secure eternity, for Jesus said: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). And you are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). That is who you are, and when you realize that, you also realize you don’t need the world to give you its stamp of approval. You have been accepted by the most important person in the universe. On the other hand, if you don’t know who you are, if you don’t realize your value to God, then you are going to run the gauntlet trying to get the world’s approval. You will undergo an extreme makeover of who you are. And in the end, the world will spit you out bruised and bleeding. One day they will love you, and the next they will hate you. One day you will be the greatest, and the next you will be on the rubbish pile.
But you not only need to understand who you are, the second lesson you must learn is: It is necessary to understand life. It is interesting that just as I wrote this second point, I stopped to check my email. There in the Inbox was an email from someone who had written before to ask me about something I had written on our church website. I tried to answer the question, and at the end of the message asked the person to tell me a little about themselves. She wrote back and said, “Well, I live in the Netherlands and I’m a philosopher, psychologist and psychical researcher. I used to be a Roman Catholic and at present, as a rationalist, I’m exploring reasons for believing in God, etc. So I’m afraid that might disappoint you a bit. For me, as a philosopher, it’s very important to know whether the Intelligent Design theorists have a point. Actually, if there is a God, I believe in approaching him through rational means, which would be compatible with most theistic religions. – All the best, [name]” I wrote back saying, “Dear ____, How interesting. You sound like someone it would be fun to sit down and talk with over coffee. So glad that you are in quest. Hope that you will be open to wherever the quest leads. Just one question. Do you approach love and friendships with pure rationality? We Christians believe that the heart of the Christian faith is a relationship with God. We like for emotion, intellect and experience to all be involved instead of just one part of all that. If you would ever like to discuss anything (by way of rational research, of course), please feel free to write. I believe that you are a creation of God and greatly loved by him. It really is a good thing.”
You see, you have to understand life. But if you try to understand only with your mind and forget your heart, you will miss out on the most fundamental understanding of life in all its reality. You must use your mind, but you must also use faith. You must understand your purpose in this life. If Jesus did not understand his purpose he would have been tempted to fulfil the purposes that everyone else had for him and missed God’s purpose.
Finding and understanding your life’s purpose is a powerful thing. We were all stunned this week when Brian Nichols, an escaped rapist and murderer abducted Ashley Smith. Ashley was a Christian who had been reading Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life. She witnessed to Nichols and read to him from the Bible. Here was a dangerous felon who was brought to his knees by a woman asking him a simple question: “What is the purpose of your life?” Isn’t that amazing? But you can only understand God’s purpose for you when you understand God’s purpose for the world and life itself. God created life so that there would be people he could have a relationship with — and you are one of those people. Our purpose is to know him, love him and live for him. A cold-blooded killer was stopped cold when he realized that was not true of his life.
I received another email just hours after hearing from my friend in the Netherlands. It was from a young man who was brought up never hearing about Jesus Christ. Here is what he wrote to me: “Hello, I am [name] from Pakistan. I came to a website and read out your sermon on John 1:1-14 about ‘The Word Became Flesh,’ and the story about the Korean artist [who painted a picture of Christ using the words from the entire Gospel of John]. This sermon has changed my life. I want to know more about Jesus and God. I am a Muslim. When I make a comparison [of Christianity] with Islamic theology I find Jesus [is] God, and I want to believe in him as God and Lord. Can you please send me some books to read about Jesus? Please give me reply and don’t give my name to anyone.” Please pray for this young man who has not had the privileges you have had, but has responded to Christ. It will be difficult for him. Already he understands that his purpose is to know Jesus and love him. He is going completely against his culture, his family and friends to follow Christ. He did not want me to give out his name because it could cost him his life. But, for him, it is worth it.
Once you understand who you are and what life is about, there is one more thing you need to understand, which is what this young Muslim realized: It is necessary to understand what is important. A lot of people understand the first two truths. It is great to know that we are the creation of God and that he loves us. It is great to know that life was meant to be lived in a relationship with God, but somehow it never filters into some people’s daily existence. They are brainwashed by the world and its values, even though they consider themselves to be Christian. There is a disconnect between their Christian beliefs and the things they consider important. The rich young ruler wanted to follow Jesus, but he was not willing to give up what he thought was important in life. Making and keeping money was more important than anything else — in the end, more important than following Jesus. Judas believed in Jesus, and at one time was a follower and thought he loved him. But when Jesus did not live up to his idea of how he should use power, he gave up being a follower of Jesus and became a traitor.
What is important in life for you? Is making money more important than it should be? Are things and appearances just a little too important? Do you do things that are not right just to please other people or have them think well of you? Are you overly concerned with how you look? Do you compromise morally, ethically or spiritually in order to fit in with others? Have you allowed others to force you to do something you knew was wrong because you were afraid to stand up to them? Have you been afraid to admit you are a Christian because you were concerned about what other people would think of you? This is the same spirit that overcame those who one day were shouting “Hosanna,” and the next day were shouting “Crucify him ” They went along with the crowd. They fit in. They were afraid to stand alone and go against what everyone else was doing. They lost sight of what was really important. The same thing might be happening to you. If so, you need to discover again what is important. You need to realign your priorities. You need to pray for new courage. You need to determine that you will do the right thing no matter what the cost, and even if everyone else is doing the other thing. You need to determine that you will follow God though all earth and hell oppose. As Paul said, “We make it our goal to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
Past failure is no reason to give up, for as Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). In the same letter he said, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. . . . without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you” (Philippians 1:27-28).
Not everyone will have the courage that it takes to truly follow Christ. They will fold under pressure and please people rather than God. They will give in and give up. That is why Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Determine today, that by the grace and power of God you will be one of the few. You will stand. You will be unashamed. You will speak up and not shut up. You will shout “Hosanna” even though everyone else is shouting “Crucify.”
Perhaps some of the same people were in both crowds. The very ones who praised him one day shouted for his death a few days later. But it is also possible that those who shouted “Hosanna” were intimidated by those who were shouting “Crucify.” It is not that they did not think Jesus was a good man, or that they did not love him in a way, but they were frightened. They didn’t realize how important this was. If all the people who were healed and helped got together don’t you think they would have outnumbered those who wanted Jesus dead for political reasons? They were the majority, but they were the silent majority. Where were the ten lepers who were healed? Where was the family whose daughter was raised from the dead? Where were the blind men whom Jesus healed? Where were those who had been forgiven? Where were those who had been demon possessed, but who were now delivered? Where were the people whose lives had been changed by the teaching of Jesus? They had gained a new perspective and been given a new lease on life. Where were the thousands who were miraculously fed?
Where am I when people are speaking against God and faith? Where am I when the coarse jokes and talk takes place? Where am I when I am expected to compromise and go along with something that is questionable, or just outright wrong? Where are my morals when everyone else is living as though there are no moral laws? Where am I when I have to go along with the others in order to be accepted?
I will stand with Jesus. If I have to be rejected rather than be accepted, so be it. If I have to appear unusual and out of it, so be it. If I have to face abuse and suffer some loss, then so be it. I can do that because I have learned what is important and what is not. I have learned that the accepting crowd can quickly turn into a crucifying mob. And I lean on the Word of God that says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Rodney J. Buchanan
March 20, 2005 Palm Sunday
Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
Fading Glory
(Questions for March 20, 2005)
1. What experiences have you had where you felt the pressure to get your approval from people rather than God?
2. Have you had an experience of being loved by those around you one day, and being on the bottom of the pile the next?
3. Read Genesis 1:27. What should be the source of our personal identity? Why is this important in resisting the pressure to accommodate?
4. What would have become of Jesus if he had searched for approval by the polls? What would he have accomplished?
5. How is it possible that one day the crowds around Jesus were shouting “Hosanna,” and less than a week later were shouting “Crucify him”?
6. Read Hebrews 5:7-9. What kept Jesus from caving in to the pressure to please the crowd? What can keep you from being so concerned about being a people pleaser?
7. Read Romans 12:1. How can understanding what life is really about help you in pleasing God rather than people?
8. Read Ecclesiastes 7:25 & 12:13. How can we do this today?
9. What are your priorities? What is actually important in life to you?
