The Palm Sunday Crowd Was Right After All

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

November 21, 2004

CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

Text: Luke 19:36-40

Today is Christ The King Sunday.

But in what sense is Christ the King?

The Palm Sunday crowd celebrated Jesus as King, and I have preached, heard and read many sermons about how wrong that Palm Sunday crowd was. They were celebrating the coming of the one who was going to defeat the Romans. They were celebrating the one whose coming signaled God's day of judgment was at hand and soon all that was wrong would be set right; their problems would be solved. As we say in Texas , “All that needed “fixin'” would be “fixed.” The people in that Palm Sunday celebration were not expecting Jesus to be arrested and tortured to death. They were expecting some kind of divine intervention that would crown him as king. But instead, he was crucified like a common criminal. And all that needed “fixin'” still needed to be “fixed.” The problems they dreamed and wished were about to be solved that Palm Sunday, were still with them a week later.

The truth of the matter is, those same problems are with us today. Their form may be different, but the basic problems remain the same. Life is still not the way God intends it to be. As we read the headlines about war in Iraq , upheaval in Israel , declared and undeclared wars in Africa , mistrust and suspicion between governments, lives distorted and destroyed by drugs, the planet recklessly plundered for profit, as we listen to TV news tell us about the latest crimes and business scandals, it is clearly evident Christ is not in control.

And yet today, we dare to proclaim, and not only proclaim but celebrate Christ is the King.
Looking back, we declare that while that first Palm Sunday crowd did not understand what they were saying, they were speaking the truth. The Messiah has come --not the one they desired and expected but he has come nonetheless. Christ is king, even though Jesus was not the kind of king they wanted.

So, what kind of king is he? Obviously, he is not the kind of king who calls all the shots -- one who is in total control, even overriding our freedom to sin. Yet we declare Christ is King in the sense of Christ being the one who is the true authority on living. Through Christ we discover life as God intends life to be. Christ is king in the sense that it is only in following Christ that life can be as God intends life to be. Through Christ we receive the grace that is essential for being set free from our bondage to sin and evil in their various expressions.

From time to time, we look at the mess the world is in; we look at the mess our lives are in, we look at the mess the lives of some we love are in and we ask: “Is there any hope?” When we declare Christ is king, we are declaring our hope is in Christ. Our hope is in what is revealed in Christ and through Christ. And in offering hope for us and the world, Christ really is the only worthy king.

The question for us is not: “Is Christ the king?” The question is: “Is Christ our king?”

The Palm Sunday crowd hailed Jesus as the king, fully expecting Jesus to set the world right for them. And in that, they were disappointed --just as we are disappointed when we expect Jesus to solve our problems and make life be the way we want life to be. Jesus did not make life be the way the Palm Sunday crowd wanted life to be, even though they hailed him as king. Christ is not the controller of our circumstances, but he can transform of human hearts, and in that he can transform not only us but even impact our circumstance.

What Jesus can do, is to set us free from the worst within us so we can be as God intends us to be . And when we live as the persons God intends to be , we are able to do what God wants us to do in the midst of our situations. This is not to say, Christ enables us to do whatever we want; It is to say, that by the grace of God revealed in Christ, we are able to do what God wants us to do in the midst of our situation. When Christ is our king, his way of life revealed in the scriptures shapes our way of living, regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves.

Christ was not in bondage to the situation in which he found himself. The pressures and fashions of his day did not determine the extent of his faithfulness. He was able to stand up against sin and evil.

In dealing with life and society around him, Jesus was not defined by what he was against as much as by what he was for. He was for what had been revealed in the law and the prophets of the Old Testament. He was for loving God with all that we are, and for loving our neighbor as ourselves. He was clear about his primary allegiance, and that set him free from the pressures and fashions of his day.

Jesus said “no” to self-centered living. He said “no” to using his abilities merely to serve himself. He said “no” to the temptation to turn away from what he was convinced God intended him to do and thereby avoid the confrontation that would lead to his crucifixion. His living did not revolve around “What is best for me?” or “What's in it for me?” His living revolved around his commitment to be the embodiment, the incarnation of the grace of God. He said “no” to self-centered living.

Because he was clear about his priorities, Christ was not in bondage to the pressures and fashions of his day. He was able to say “no” to whatever was contrary to God's grace. But even when Jesus said “no” it was not merely because he was against “whatever.” His “no” was consistently a reflection of what he was saying “yes” to. He knew the most important question is is not “What are we against?” but rather “What are we for?”

Jesus knew what he was for. He was for all that flows from loving God and neighbor. This was his primary, fundamental commitment: to embody in all he said and did, what it is to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves.

Christ was the embodiment of God's grace. This is reflected in his merciful deeds that reached out to those in need, regardless of who they were. Even his tough words of warning to those who were selfish and stingy, were an embodiment of God's grace. Obviously, his words of forgiveness to sinners and his kindness to the outcasts embodied the grace of God; but so also were his overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple and his harsh words to religious hypocrites. These too were expressions of his embodiment of God's grace. All Christ said and did flowed from his love of God and neighbor.

This is why Christ is king. He is the one true authority on living. And when what shaped his words and deeds, shapes our words and deeds, not only is Christ the king, Christ is our king.

Twice in Matthew and twice in Luke, Jesus tells his followers to pick up their cross and follow him. The Greek word for cross, “stasis,” literally means “stake” or “pole.” It refers both to the upright piece of the cross, the stake or heavy pole that was left standing at the sites where the Roman army frequently executed enemies of the state, and “stasis” also refers to the cross piece the person to be executed was often required to carry to the site of crucifixion. At the execution site, the criminal would be nailed to the cross piece and lifted into place, so that the cross looked a capital “T”.

In Greek the meaning of the statement “pick up your cross and follow me” is like a two layer cake. One layer of meaning is obvious in English. If we are to follow Christ, we must be willing to endure whatever flows from following Christ. But there is another layer of meaning. That Greek word “stasis” or stake also means the stake to which animals are tied or the stake that ties down a tent. So the statement “pick up your ‘stasis' or cross” also carries a secondary meaning of “pulling up stakes and moving on,” or “picking up whatever is tying us down.”

When Christ is our king, we are not only willing to pick up our cross in the sense of being willing to accept the burdens that may come from following Jesus but we also pull up, take up, pick up the stakes or whatever ties us down and holds us back truly following Christ.

Today is “Christ The King Sunday.” In this world where there is so much that is obviously sinful and clearly evil, is there any integrity in celebrating Christ as King? Only to the extent Christ rules in our daily living and we pick up our “stasis” and follow him.

God, help us live that way. Amen

  Pastoral prayer:

God, all too often we enjoy the blessings you have given without any sense of gratitude. We are like spoiled children who have been given yet another toy. We enjoy the gift but genuine gratitude to the giver is missing. God, forgive us. When we pause to think in depth about our lives, this planet and the magnificent complexity of the universe you have created and continue to create, we are filled with awe that is beyond our ability to express. Thank you for brilliant days of sunshine so bright we squint in amazement. Thank you for days of drizzle and rain that washes the earth, that refreshes and replenishes life. Thank you for family members who love us regardless and for friends who laugh and cry with us. Thank you for the children who give us joy and motivate us to hope. Thank you for work to do and for all the forms of play we enjoy. Thank you for this nation – especially for the ideas and ideals of those who got it started. We confess neither we nor this nation are all we should be. Thank you for the gift of forgiveness; enable us to so embrace your merciful grace that we are transformed as persons and as a nation. For all the ways your grace it at work in life and in our lives we give you thanks. Enable us to do more than just say thank you; enable us to live as you intend us to live, to live as Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: “Our Father ....”

see Matthew 4:1-11 see Matthew 16:21-23 See Matthew 10:38 & 165:24 and Luke 9:23 & 14:27 THE INTERPRETER'S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, Vol. A-D, page 745.