Love's Journey

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April 5th, 2009

Rev. Dr. Craig A. Wagner

Introduction

     We like things that are successful. None of us want to fail at those things we consider important to life. Our entire culture and our sense of self-worth underscore this principle.

     In school when we write a great report or get a good grade, we feel that success. At work we close the deal, earn a bonus and feel accomplished and successful. At the end of our career, we feel successful if the company acknowledges our contribution. Our entire life is oriented toward being successful in every way. When things go badly we feel crushed and our sense of self-worth falls.

     Today we find a very successful Jesus arriving in the city of Jerusalem. It is a celebratory moment; a parade-like atmosphere. Everybody loves a parade, today as well as in Jesus’ day. The parade event begins as Jesus and his followers come near to the cities of Bethphage and Bethany. Jesus sends two disciples ahead to secure the donkey on which he will ride. They find it and the parade begins. The followers threw their cloaks on the animal and they spread their garments on the road; signs of respect and honor. Some cut leafy branches and spread them on the road and then the followers went before him and after him and they all shouted HOSSANNA! BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! The parade was underway and it wound its way down the Mount of Olives, into Jerusalem and to the temple.

     The people loved it and they loved him! The Messiah had arrived.

 

Love’s journey ends

     The parade route and the content of the parade were not just happenstance. The events were unfolding as were foretold in the Hebrew Bible concerning the Messiah. We see this in the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Zechariah: The king will come triumphant and riding on a donkey. This is the one who will overcome the oppressors and set the prisoners free and usher in the reign of God. The manner in which Jesus arrived in Jerusalem would point to the fulfillment of the prophecy. The expectation was high for the people. This is what they had waited for. Joy and excitement would fill the marchers and those who happened to see the parade (Mark has only the followers marching or walking the parade route with Jesus).

     One can not underestimate the joy and the excitement of those who believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophets. This moment was centuries in the making and those who walked ahead and behind Jesus certainly loved him. This was a journey of love…Jesus’ love for the people and their love for him.

     What’s not to love? Jesus was successful in his ministry. He had healed people, fed people, proclaimed the kingdom and brought new life into the lives of broken people. There was hope and a sense of expectation. Everything seemed to be going according to plan at this moment. When people are successful others will gather around and be part of the parade and bask in the glory and the wonder and the emotional high of the event; it was glorious. I think they waved their leafy branches with even more energy and excitement than we did today.

     Yet, their love was wrongly placed. If we were to examine their motives and their sense of love, we discover that it was about them. It was all about their expectations and their sense of fulfillment and their wanting a government that would be for them. Jesus was on a journey of love for all people and yet those around him had wrong expectations and misplaced love. It was easy to love Jesus when he healed your mother-in-law or raised someone from the dead or cast out evil demons or fed those who were hungry. It was easy to love Jesus when he met your needs, but soon it would be different. Jesus journey of love did not end with his arrival in Jerusalem, although many would cease loving him as the week progressed.

     In fact, by the end of the week Jesus will have been rejected by even his closest followers. The greatest sacrificial gift was about to happen and those who loved him in his successful days were no where to be seen! They could not understand. They felt let down and rejected by the one who had seemed so promising and so successful. Their self-centered love was a shallow love that eroded quickly when success stopped.

 

Do we love Jesus?

     We certainly love the enthusiasm of a parade. We stand and cheer as people and floats go by. We love it when things go well in life and we are successful in our endeavors. As things go well many of us even remember to thank God. But even the best of us hit those times when we forget God’s presence and love in our lives and think we are self-sufficient. Our love for Jesus is great when things go well for us. It’s easy to praise God when we are successful.

     That sort of love, however, is a selfish type of love that really doesn’t give, it only takes. We need to be on alert that our love for Jesus is not overwhelmed by selfishness on our part or by our attempting to direct Jesus’ agenda for our lives.

     Selfish love will quickly fail when things go wrong. When there is difficulty or struggles in our life then, so often our love will falter and fail. We ask our self, where is God in our suffering? Where is God when bad things happen to people who do not deserve it? If we lose our job, if we are lonely, if we have a difficult illness, if our friendships fail, if people die on us, is our love for Jesus still strong?

     It is alright to question what is happening, but we also need those circumstances to draw us closer to God and to deepen our love for him in the midst of the trials and struggles we have. Someone said, “The second kick of a mule does teach anybody.” Our love for Jesus needs to remain strong no matter how many kicks of a mule we receive….for that is our hope and our salvation.

     Perhaps the hardest thing for us is that we like to be in the driver’s seat in life. When I am a passenger in a car, it’s like giving up control. In fact, I’m always on alert when I’m riding with someone. Ask Lorna, I step on the imaginary brake again and again…and it does no good! We need to give it up for the love of Christ. We need to allow God’s agenda to guide our lives and to have the driver’s seat. We are called to empty ourselves and to allow Jesus to fill us. Be cause Jesus has been here. He knows what it is like to have that mule kick him again and again. He went through suffering, humiliation and death itself for us. His love endured for the Father and for us.

     It got so bad, Jesus even cried out “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” Through it all his love remained steadfast. Love’s journey can be difficult….until we rest in the love that is directed toward God and is lived unselfishly for others.

 

God’s great love never ends

     We are beginning our journey into Holy Week and as we do we see once again that great selfless love that God has for his people in Jesus Christ. It is a love that is freely given because Jesus loved us so much that he died for us and for our sins. Love’s journey in Christ is not about the successes that most of us desire, nor was it about the desire of the people at the parade. It is about a love that never ends; it is not temporal or finite.

     Our celebration and our worship today mark a turning point in Jesus mission and ministry. We are ready to travel with him from the high of Palm Sunday to the low of Friday’s death on the cross.

     Are we ready for such a journey? Are we ready to walk with Jesus in ways that contradict conventional wisdom and even our culture? Difficult, yes, but need to realize that God’s love is not about success in this world, it is about eternity, it is about the kingdom of God for time and eternity. As we move through the difficulties of life, we are assured that God’s love in Jesus is for us and that we have hope and promise of new life in that wonderful kingdom.

     Jesus’ kingdom was not as the world understood or even wished for. Jesus’ kingdom is so much more. The kingdom of our God reigns forever and ever, but this week brings us to the realization of the price that was paid for our salvation and our inclusion into that ultimate kingdom. God’s love in Christ is ours forever; and that love is to be shared with others in this community and beyond.

 

Conclusion

     There is an old legend told about Saint Martin of Tours. One day the holy man was sitting in his prison cell praying. There was a knock on the door and an august presence entered his cell. There was something imposing about this mysterious figure. Martin bowed deeply and then asked his distinguished visitor who he was. In a deep voice the visitor answers, “I am your savior come to release you.” The saint was uncertain and so asked, “Would you be so good as to show me the signs of your suffering?” Whereupon, as the story goes, the devil vanished. Jesus suffered with and for you and me.

     Love’s journey continues right into the very depths of human suffering and struggles until ultimately the greatest love will overcome; the love embodied in Christ our Lord.

     The love of Jesus moves swiftly beyond 40 Days into all eternity. Amen.