Luke 19:11-48

"Riding High"

A Sermon preached by The Rev. Douglas M. Donley

Palm Sunday

April 8, 2001

University Baptist Church

Minneapolis, MN

I remember as a child the wonder of Palm Sunday. It was one of those special Sundays in the church year when the junior choir was allowed to sing. Dressed in our choir robes, Kim and I and about one hundred other obnoxious cherubs would walk into church singing that fabulous tune, "The Palms". I was always enamored by the pomp and circumstance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. I loved the imagery of Jesus riding high on his horse as people waved palms and hailed him as the King, the Messiah. This was followed by the joy of Easter a week later. This was great celebration time. But I was also perplexed by his coming crucifixion and how the crowds could be so fickle that they would change from being so elated by his coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and then call for his death just a few days later. It’s so much easier to celebrate Jesus than it is to walk with Jesus the way of sorrows of Holy Week leading to the cross.

It is no secret to anyone who knows their scriptures that the reason for his persecution and his eventual death was the very mission of the gospel--the very fact that his good news is bad news to those in charge. The very fact that he exposed the breaches that existed in his society and attempted to span them. The offense of all of this caused him to be crucified on the cross. And we, as the followers of that Christ are called to decide today whether or not we are ready to take up that cross ourselves.

On Palm Sunday, five days before Good Friday and seven days before Easter, will we remember Jesus as one who rode high and was hailed as a King when he entered Jerusalem? Will we focus on Jesus lifted high above us on the cross? Will we race toward the resurrection where Jesus rides high in heavenly eternity? Or is there another way to which Christ calls us this day?

He wanted to be emulated, not sainted.

He wanted to be copied, not codified.

He wanted to proclaim Good News, not be the news.

He wanted people to take responsibility for their faith, not simply tune in and then tune out, like the fickle disciples.

He did not want to be King.

He wanted to be viewed as righteous, not righteously looking down on others.

He wanted to be the embodiment of the suffering servant, not the owner of servants who suffered at his whims.

Jesus did not want to be King in the way that the people would have it.

Christ does not want to be royalty in the ways that we would have it today, either.

Jesus throughout his life kept pointing to the coming reign of God. The people and even the church by extension pointed at Jesus and forgot where Jesus was pointing.

Our scriptures teach us that we need to beware of leaders who ride high on their high horses and proclaim themselves king. But the people didn't want to hear that. They wanted a king. We don't want to hear that. We might want a king, too.

We are much more comfortable with the picture of the triumphant entry of Jesus than we are with the crucified Jesus.

The popular church is more comfortable with a Christ who rides high than one who humbles himself and calls on us to take action.

We are much more comfortable having a high priest than one who calls us all priests and calls each of us to accountability.

The scripture readings from Luke today hold within them both the hopes and the fears of Jesus who seeks to forever be the suffering servant.

This Christ knows our tendency to want to crown him King.

The scripture starts out by saying in Luke 19:11 that the people supposed that the reign of God was close at hand. They were becoming convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, the new David, the mighty messianic warrior who would swoop down and make everything right. A savior, at last, from Roman rule! And the people were all ready to crown him King. And that is when Jesus told them the parable of the pounds.

I have always been perplexed about this parable and its mirror the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. Now, often, this parable is used during stewardship campaigns to speak against people who don't invest wisely and who do not submit to the power and the authority of the church. I believe that we need to invest wisely, and giving to the church is a high priority in my life, but I have always had trouble with the ruthlessness of the Master or the King in the story. But when it is read as a precursor to Christ's Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it takes on a whole different meaning.

Jesus does not explain this story, he just tells it, possibly to let the people know that they had better watch out if they say they want a king.

You know how it goes, a nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and he gave 10 of his slaves a pound (a pound was about 3 months wages for a laborer) and they were told to do business with them until he came back. There were some who didn't want him to be a King, so they went after him to oppose his coronation.

There is a very likely parallel to this story which we know of from the Jewish historian, Josephus. When Herod the Great died in 4BCE, his land was left to his three sons. The land around Judah was left to the most ruthless of them all, Archelaus. Now, Archelaus wanted to be named King, just like his father, and he traveled to Rome to secure his title. But not all of the people were very thrilled about Archelaus being king, so Josephus tells us that the people sent 50 Palestinians, Jews and Samaritans to Rome to oppose his kingship and argue for autonomy. Among their claims was that Archelaus had ushered in his reign by slaughtering 3000 people. Caesar Augustus finally awarded him the title of Ethnarch instead of King, but that did not stop his brutality. When Herod the Great died, Mary and Joseph and Jesus came back from Egypt, but settled in Nazareth because they were afraid of the wrath of Archelaus. He was finally deposed by Rome in 6CE and is remembered as the worst of the three sons of Herod the Great.

Everyone knew that when Jesus was telling the parable of the pounds, he was telling the people about the reign of "King" Archelaus. The people had forgotten how awful it was to have a King. Especially a King who sat on his high horse and thought he was God.

In the parable, there was one person who stood up and told the truth to Archelaus. One person who knew the truth. One who dared to say that the emperor had no clothes on. This person is the one who dared to not participate in the evil economics of the wicked would-be King. This is the one who put the money away in a blanket. In brutal honesty, the person said, "Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth for I was afraid of you, because you were a harsh man; you take what you do not deposit, and reap what you do not sow." This man told the truth about the wicked King. This man was a suffering servant for as soon as he said this, the King made him suffer for his honesty.

The King had the nerve to tell this man that even though he was evil and even though he was a murderer and a liar and a cheat, the slave should have put the money in the bank so that he could have had a little return on his investment. The King then took everything that the man had, gave it to the rich people and killed all of his enemies.

Beware of those who would call themselves Kings and justify their robbery and murder in the name of preserving the monarchy.

The powers that be would later kill most of the disciples, the apostles and many members of the early church because they dared to tell the truth about what was happening in this world. They dared to stand up and say, "there is a better way." They dared to say, "put an end to this bitterness and strife, this killing and domination. Usher in instead, the life-giving reign of God, not the life-taking reign of a King." They tried to repair the breach.

Jesus told this story so that the people would not crown him King. He told this story so that the people would commit to a new way. He told this story so that the people would repent and possibly embrace the good news.

But the story went right over the people's heads. They rode him into Jerusalem and hailed him as King, they hailed him as the Messiah. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!"

What was Jesus' response? With loving eyes, the scripture says, he then wept over the city. He wept for all of the misunderstanding that was still so apparent. He wept over the obstinance of his followers, who still didn't get it. He wept for his own heart which must have been breaking. He wept for the many souls who would be killed until the people will finally wake up. He wept in fear of his own persecution.

But they kept singing and waving palms and saying, "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." The chief priests tried to silence the crowds but Jesus said, "if you silence all of these people, the rocks and the stones would cry out." In other words, the very foundations of this fragile city want a King. One they can glorify and crucify. It's gonna happen.

And Jesus wept and said "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, and you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God."(Luke 19:42-44) "Instead, you tried to make me into a King. You lifted me high when I preferred to be low. You looked up when God's work was down on the ground among the people."

Do we recognize our visitation from God? Do we acknowledge the holy in our neighbors, our families, our enemies, even in the image we see in the mirror? Is that not the way that makes for peace? Is that not the goal of justice?

As Christians, do we ride high on our high horse, showing our way as better than the others? Is the fact that we are a Welcoming and Affirming congregation make us better than other churches and make us want to ride around on our high horse? If we do so, we had better beware. We must beware of our judgementalism lest we become what we despise in our enemies. When we ride too high, others look smaller, less significant, more expendable.

Sisters and brothers, as we enter Holy Week, let us turn our attention to the suffering of this world. Let us turn our attention to the suffering of the city. Let us turn our attention to the voiceless. Let us become their voices. Let us become voices of healing and reconciliation in a world bent on the making of enemies and negative posturing. Let us take the high road and see if we can find the way toward Peace to which Christ calls us.

Isaiah tells us that it is only when we refrain from trampling on the Sabbath,

only when we loose the bonds of injustice,

only when we let the oppressed go free,

only when we share our bread with the hungry,

only when we bring the homeless poor into our house,

Only when we serve God's interests instead of our own, only then shall we truly ride high.

As it says in Isaiah 58:14 If you do all of that "Then you shall take delight in the YHWH, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestors." That is what riding high is all about in God's plan.

Sisters and brothers may we move from Palm Sunday to Holy Week, riding high on the wave of our mission as suffering servants of God. For it is to those of us who do that the resurrection is promised.

AMEN.

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