Behold Your King! Palm Sunday Sermon

    I remember vividly back in 2008 when Barak Obama was elected president of the United States of America.  I know this was not a popular choice here in Texas or in Austin County, but in the scope of the nation, at the time, this was a minority position.  The newly elected president had somewhere around a 71% approval rating even before his first act in office.  The senator from Illinois had burst on the scene with outstanding rhetoric and capitalized on the extreme unpopularity of President Bush.  He cruised to victory in the presidential election, and his victory party was a sight to behold.  So was the inauguration.  The president drew thousands upon thousands of people.  Shortly after entering office, he drew thousands to a speech in Germany.  He won the Nobel Peace prize.  Millions of people around the world celebrated Barak Obama’s ascension to the highest office of leadership in the United States–arguably the most powerful seat of authority in the world.

    Most new regimes are welcomed in such a fashion.  If you study history, you know this well.  For whatever reason, people usually grow tired of the old leaders.  Countries and nations become stuck in a rut.  They hear the same tired old speeches.  Their lots in life never seem to change.  Corruption enters the picture.  Friends of those in power get rewarded.  The rich get richer.  The poor get poorer.  Those in power enjoy the perks of the office, and there often is a growing perception that those leaders are out of touch with the reality of common folk.  Before you know it, people are clamoring for change.  People are clamoring for new leadership.  And when it comes, they welcome it.

    Case in point, let’s look at a snippet from Jewish history.  Long ago, the Greek armies under the Selucid empire invaded Israel.  They overran the country side, but as the Greek empire became stretched thin, some rebellions became successful.  The Jewish Hasmoneans rebelled against this empire and briefly issued in a time of independence for Israel.  Briefly.  Please know I am painting in large brush strokes here.  The details are much too intricate to get into in this sermon.  The Jews were all to happy to rid themselves of foreign rule; however there was also dissension.  As time passed, the people became less and less appreciative of the Hasmoneans.  They became disenchanted with their corruption, and supposedly, when the Roman empire began asserting itself in Israel, instead of offering resistence, the people of Jerusalem opened the gates of the city to welcome the Roman armies in.  Interesting historical note there, isn’t it.

    Of course, the Jewish folks then resented the Romans who governed them.  All to happy to welcome them to begin with, they were more than ready to overthrow them and become independent once again.  They were all to ready to have new leadership and new governance.  The seeds of rebellion were indeed planted, and all they needed was some energy to begin germination. 

    This is one of the reasons for the crowd’s enthusiasm on that day when Jesus made his way into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey.  This is one of the reasons the crowd placed palm branches and cloaks in His path.  They had all heard about Jesus.  They had heard about His deeds of wonder and power.  They had heard about Him healing the sick, making the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk.  They had heard of His feeding of the multitude.  They had heard of Him calming the storm.  They had heard about Him raising the dead.  They knew He claimed a special relationship with God–the Son of God; the Son of Man.  Here was, they felt, the one who would now lead them; who would defeat the Romans; who would usher in a new Jewish dynasty.  And he was riding on a donkey to prove it!

    This act of Jesus was intentional.  It was no act of humility.  The people knew that the prophet Zechariah had foretold in a vision long ago that the king would come to them in such a fashion.  You can read the prophesy yourself in Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!  Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Jesus knew that prophesy.  The people knew that prophesy.  The King was coming!  Regime change was on the way.  Celebration ensued! 

    But, you know, there is something that must be said about Kings.  There is something that must be said about political and religious leaders who rule over others.  These folks demand obedience.  These folks place demands upon their followers.  There is no king, no ruler, no prince, no president, no despot, no monarch, who does not give their subjects complete and total freedom.  None of them.  Zip.  Nada.  Zilch.  All of them, yes, all of them expect something out of their subjects.  This is probably one of the reasons people long for regime change after so many years.  They begin to reject the rules imposed by their king or leader.  They begin to rebel against the things that they perceive to be an imposition upon their lives.  Subjects begin to want to do what they want to do–even if they know the King is looking out for their best interest.

    It didn’t take long for people to rebel against Jesus.  For Jesus made demands, and He still makes demands of His subjects.  His teachings are clear, and He continued to make those demands after He entered Jerusalem on that day long ago.

    “Pray for your enemies and bless those who persecute you.”

    Jesus, do you mean I have to pray for those Roman soldiers up there?  Do you mean I have to ask God to bless them?  Yes.

    “Your neighbor is the person who is in need.  Even an infidel who acts in kindness is doing the will of God–if your enemy is neighborly, He is fulfilling the command of God.”

    Jesus, do you mean that God approves of and loves those outside of the Jewish faith? Does God look down upon them with kindness?  Yes.

    “If anyone wants to become my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.  For you cannot be my disciple unless you give up all of your possessions.”

    Jesus, do you mean I have to give up everything to follow you?  Do you mean that I have to die to follow you?  Yes.

    “Give to anyone who begs.”

    Jesus, do you mean anyone?  Really anyone?  What if you know they are taking advantage of you?  What if you know they have plenty and are using you?  You still want us to give?  Yes.

    Is it any wonder why people rebelled against Jesus?

    Is it any wonder why we rebel against Jesus today?

    The obedience He asks for is simply too much.  It is an unobtainable reality.  We simply value our freedom too much.  We value our time too much.  We value our money too much.  You want everything from me, Jesus?  It’s too much to ask.  I can’t give it.

    Is it any wonder that the very crowd crying “Hosanna!” began yelling “Crucify!”?

    And here is a most interesting twist–a most interesting twist indeed.  For usually, when people rebel against their rulers, their rulers react swiftly and harshly.  Violence is usually the order of the day.  Imprisonment is certainly an option.  Fear of arrest, of marginalization, of being audited by the IRS, and a host of other such methods is usually the rule of thumb to keep people in line.  Kings throughout the ages have come up with nasty ways of keeping populations in line and in control.  Gas chambers, bombs, tanks, tear gas, you name it.

    But what was Jesus response?  How did this King handle our rebellion?

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through Him.

    Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested.  He allowed Himself to be beaten.  He allowed Himself to be condemned, and He willingly stretched out His arms and died.  He died for His rebellious subjects so that they may see His great love for them and then moved by His love, they may strive toward obedience–not out of fear, but out of love for their King.  A King who willingly dies that His subjects may have life; abundant life; eternal life.

    Behold, this is your King!  Amen.

So What if the Government Shut Down Permanently?

October 1, 2013.  All non-essential parts of the U.S. Government are currently shut down because of an inability on the part of Republicans and Democrats to put together a bill for funding.

Let's put the blame game aside for a little while.  I am sure more than a few people will have a lot of fun jumping into it and deciding the political fallout from it.  I am not much interested in such matters.  Seems to me no matter what party holds power, nothing much really, truly changes.  The rich keep getting richer.  The poor keep getting poorer.  The cyclical narrative which has occurred throughout history keeps repeating itself as it will probably keep repeating itself until Kingdom come.

But I ask the question today: what would happen if the government shut down permanently?  More specifically: what would the Church do if the U.S. Government shut down permanently? 

Now, I am going to look at my own particular denomination: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  How would such a thing affect the mission and ministry we strive to accomplish?

On one level, it wouldn't change much.  I mean, I know most congregations would still have worship services.  Most congregations would still seek to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, care for the poor, sick, widowed, and imprisoned.  The Gospel would still need to be preached.  Of this, there is no doubt.

On another level, however, I think there would be substantial changes.  There are more than a few within my denomination who believe the government should take on the responsibility for feeding the hungry and caring for the poor and needy.  They base such thought in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament and seek to be modern prophets who criticize our government for "buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals."  Of these modern prophets, many seek to influence the political system to bring about their own particular visions of justice--economic equality and redistribution of wealth.  This is not unlike the so-called "Religious Right" which seeks to use the political system to impose a particular set of sexual and familial morals on the U.S.

So, what happens if the government goes away?  What becomes of such efforts?  What happens if there is no political/legal system to appeal to?  What role does the church (ELCA) play?

I have argued in this blog on several occasions that the church's role in society is to stay away from the political process and act much like the first century Church acted.  In that time and place, the Church had no legal or favored status.  It did not seek to influence governmental policy or procedures.  Instead, it sought to proclaim the Good News of Jesus even in the face of governmental persecution.  It steadfastly held to its teaching, preaching, and practice of care and concern for the poor, widowed and orphan, regardless of what particular stance the government held.  It risked life and limb to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings.

It wasn't until the Church received a most favored status in the Roman Empire that the Church had the ability to influence policy and procedure.  And, I would argue, it went down hill from there.  As the Church gained power and influence, it also produced corruption.  In the name of Jesus, people were persecuted, crusades were conducted, Protestants and Catholics fought for 30 years.  Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The power Christians are called to wield is the power of the Gospel, and that power is wielded regardless of whether or not a government is or is not functioning.

Now, I know that there are those who argue that the need of those around is tremendous.  There are those who argue that the numbers of people who are in need and the cost of providing for those folks is too much for the Church to handle.  I say, "Where is your faith?"  Do we not believe in the One who turned five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food to feed 5000 men plus women and children?  Do we not believe the One who said, "Do not worry, if God provides enough for the sparrows, won't He provide enough for you."?

I believe one of the greatest reasons the Church in the United States has declined in the past 30 years or so has less to do with the rise of secularism and more to do with the Church's desire to exert power in the political process.  That's not our job.  Just let the government stay shut down for a lengthy amount of time.  Then, it will become much more evident.

Why I Will Not Unplug

Thanks to Edward Snowden and the Guardian (British newspaper), those of us in the U.S. have now been informed that tons of internet (email, Facebook, Google, etc.) data is being collected by the U.S. government.  We also know that Verizon Wireless customers have had their metadata collected by the U.S. government.  It's a pretty safe bet other phone companies are being required to hand over their metadata as well--even though we don't have those news stories at this point.

I remember reading 1984.  Anyone else having flashbacks?

But here is the thing for me: I refuse to unplug.  I refuse to watch what I say.  I refuse to code my language or cease and desist from saying certain things on this blog or on my Facebook account.  I refuse to get rid of my cell phone.  Was there a desire to do so?  Yep.

Unplug.

Get away!

Don't let them look at you.

Now, I like my privacy.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not exactly thrilled with the knowledge that someone is monitoring every word I type or put out there.  I'm not exactly thrilled that there are those who might try to use what I say as fodder for coming after me in one fashion or another.

But if I give into those fears, then I've truly lost my freedom.

If I give into those fears, then my voice gets lost because of a perceived or real threat.

If I give into those fears, then I have to run into a field to hide and find just a little bit of escape.  (Remember that from the book?)

I refuse to do that.

There were those in early Judea who tried to silence Christians.  Thankfully, the early disciples and followers refused to keep silent.  What would the world look like if they had kept their mouths' shut?

There were those in the Roman Empire who tried to silence Christians.  They even went so far as to kill and feed Christians to wild animals in arenas.  What would have happened if such tactics would have silenced those Christians?

Where would the Church be if those souls had ceased speaking about Christ and His death and resurrection?  What if they would have succumbed to the pressures of government and the authorities?  History would be vastly different, that is for sure.

In many ways, we as Christians shouldn't have to worry about such matters.  St. Paul instructed us in Romans 13:

Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. 

This is not rocket science.

Of course, we are to remember who the ultimate authority is:

But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. --Acts 5:29

So, if we are commanded to do something against the will of God, we are to disregard any rules which would force us to do this; otherwise, we are to go about our business--doing good; proclaiming Christ; being responsible; working to make the world a better place.

The world includes the internet and the technology of cell phones these days.  I don't believe in running away from this.  I believe in being courageous--and not living in fear.