An Ending and A Beginning

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

March 16, 2008

Text: Philippians 5:1-11 (and Matthew 21:1-11)

A Strange Parade

Jesus enters a city full of raucous excitement. Passover, Israel’s Fourth of July, is in full swing and Jesus rides in on a donkey! Bobbing along, bouncing with each step up the hill.

His disciples expected him to enter on a war horse like a conquering hero. But he chooses a donkey. Children shout, palm branches are waved, there is celebration. But soon, very soon, the music shifts to a minor key. Jesus’ entry is a contradiction of the enthusiasm of his followers. (Adapted from Will Willimon, “Shall We Dance,” 4.5.1998, Duke Chapel, @chapel.duke.edu.)

“Let this same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God …emptied himself …he humbled himself and became obedient to the path of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5, 7-8)

Did Jesus have to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? How embarrassing for the Son of God, the Anointed One, to enter the Holy City with his legs dangling, almost touching the ground! Even an ox drawn cart would have been more dignified.

But Jesus has surprised us before, hasn’t he? Remember when he came to John the Baptist for baptism? Remember when he dared to touch the sick, the diseased, the demoniacs, lepers, paralytics---not the people a King would associate with? To our astonishment we were told us that the “happy” people were those who were poor in spirit, the meek, and the grieving.

Jesus seemed always to be going against the grain, acting contrary to our expectations.

So here he comes, climbing up the hill, as in a parade, with his followers around him and on the road, waving palms and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

He comes to die. He told us he would do this.  He has been warned. But he comes anyway. He has given of himself to so many; now he will give himself flat out. He will not turn aside from the calling God had laid upon him.

Costly Discipleship

 By the time Paul was writing his letter to the Philippians, he had had time to ponder the meaning of Jesus’passion----his last week before his death. And he knows that the gospel of Christ Jesus is not merely information. The gospel lay out for all to hear and see what is God is like, and what kind of persons we are called to become by grace through faith.

When Paul, stuck in prison, writes to the Philippians, he is very much aware of the price that has to be paid for following in Jesus’ steps. It would not be a stroll in the park.  As Christ gave of himself, so must we. And this is never more important than in living our lives around those closest to us. We are, in the koinonia, the fellowship with other Christians, to empty ourselves as Christ did, pour out our lives in service to others. We are to “have the mind of Christ, not the mentality of those who helped sentence him to death.” (Darrell Jadock, Christian Century, March 22, 1995)

(Isn’t that the way Paul does theology----in the middle of real life of Christians, reflecting on the daily life of those who love Christ.)

Side by Side

“Side by Side,” is the way Paul describes life in the Christian family. “Do this one thing: order your common life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (1:27, translated by Stephen Fowl, quoted in Grieb article; see below for source.)

The description he gives sounds almost too good to be true. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

In a consumerist culture, where people shop for their religion as they do for a comfortable pair of sneakers, will this sell? Some think not and so trim the message to speak only of how their church or their god will make you happy and prosperous.

The example for such a mind-set is Jesus. Jesus who, though he had place and power, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant….”

To be in Christ is to have the “mind of Christ” and this means to find ways to give ourselves within the community of faith in ways which build each other up.

This is the manner of life for which we have been created. In Jesus, we learn that our Creator is this kind of God. God is not “acquisitive, grasping and seizing, but is self-giving for the sake of others.” (IVP Commentary @biblegateway.com) The church is the place, the extended family, where this kind of mutual self-giving is to come alive.

“It is by this that we know what love is---that Christ laid down his life for us. And we in our turn are bound to lay down our lives for our sisters and brothers.” (First John 3:16)

Just as Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem looks comic, even pathetic, so such a mind-set on the part of fragile human beings may look the same. The prevailing mind-set of our world does not highly value self-giving as a life-style.

Strong Servant Love, not Servility; not Self Neglect

And, we may say, servanthood sounds too much like thinking poorly of ourselves. Is the gospel really telling us to deny ourselves self-respect? After all, Jesus did say that we were to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow after him!

The best way to clarify the meaning of servant love is to look again at Jesus’ example.

From a position of strength, Jesus chose to serve others. As God’s beloved Son, he had strength, self-worth, gifts to share, and a calling from God to follow. Though Jesus was a servant, he was not servile. To the contrary, even his closest friends, even his mother, could not turn him from his mission.

Within the body of Christ, we are all given gifts to share. To have a servant heart is to recognize and thank God for these gifts, and then, having the mind of Christ, “put yourself aside and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” (The Messag, Eugene Peterson) (Sometimes the best service you can render is to allow others to serve with their gifts, and not hogging all of the servant roles to yourselves.)

A servant-love life must be distinguished from grandiosity. There may be times when we have to stand up for ourselves, because we are stewards of our own lives, too. In fact, a healthy self-respect as a child of God is essential to self-giving life-style.

This is self-giving by which we neglect our own selves. There is a reason they tell you on the airplane that in case of an emergency, you should put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put them on the children under your care. We can be so obsessed by serving that we forget our limitations; we can believe that every person’s needs are our responsibility. This is grandiose servanthood.

So the servant love mind-set has to be tempered with wisdom about our own finitude, and humility about what we can accomplish----and in trying to be like Jesus, realizing that we are not Jesus! Jesus has other helpers. Jesus gave himself courageously. But he also took time to refresh and renew, to pray, eat and sleep. God never slumbers, but he did.

There is self-giving and there is self-depletion, and the two are not the same.

There is involuntary service and there is service we choose to do, and they are very different.

Paul is calling for a mind-set of servanthood, not spelling out a strategy for living as a servant after the example of Christ.

Servant Love Nevertheless

Even with all of these footnotes, we must yet realize that servant love is costly. Caring is costly. Serving with Jesus means serving others in his name and spirit. There are times when “our hearts break for the things which break the heart of God.” (Tony Campolo, “The Cost of Commitment,” Cassette tape, Word Ministries) There may be times when we are called to literally give our lives for the sake of others. Most of us, however, give our lives--- take up our crosses--- one day at a time. This means a disciplined life of self-giving and self renewal.  

The Power of Servant Love

Is the servant-love life effective? Is this a good way to get good things done? Well, Jesus looked like a failure. He entered the capitol as an itinerant rabbi and prophet. He was greeted as a Messiah and King. But he had no possessions to speak of, no political base of support, and no army. He was already on the suspect list of the religious leaders. He immediately went to the temple and drove out the money-changers. He began to engage scribes and Pharisees in hot debate. And we know how the story ends, humanly speaking: with his arrest, questioning, humiliation, torture, and inhumane execution. That, as they said, was that.

And yet. Here we are today remembering him, praying to him as a member of the Triune Godhead. What happened?

Paul adapts for his use the stunning hymn about Messiah Jesus:

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I carry in my pocket a cross which had inscribed on it, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This is the heart of it for me. There are, as Paul reminds us, many so-called gods and lords. But I believe and proclaim to you that the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, this rabbi who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey is indeed the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

(I borrow the following illustration from Will Willimon, adapted for this occasion.)

In Matthew’s gospel account, a turning point is when Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Who do people say that I am?” What would have happened if the following responses were made?

One says, “You are one who helps people with their problems, who helps people succeed in life.” Another says “You are a great moral example and teacher.” Yet another says, according to the Jesus Seminar, you are a ‘God-intoxicated Galilean.”

Then Jesus began to teach them that he must suffer and be crucified and die.

With one voice his confused disciples asked, “But why would anybody want to kill you for being a therapist, a moral example, or a God-intoxicated Galilean?”

Why indeed?

(Adapted from Will Willimon, Pulpit Resource, March 28, 1999.)

Our time is not one to be timid about our belief that God’s love was uniquely revealed in the One who emptied himself, who took the form of a servant! 

The forces of Evil militated against him because they knew he had gotten it right: Jesus had God’s mindset right. “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (First John 4:9) Advisors and moral teachers and enthusiasts can be safely ignored. But in Jesus’ apparent defeat, there is victory. God vindicates Jesus servant-love life and death.

And we are given the privilege not only of believing in Christ but in suffering for him as well.

Matthew tells us:  “Jesus not only courageously…spoke the truth. Our claim is that he is the truth. He did not just talk about God; he  is God. In him, in this sometimes comforting, often abrasive Jew of Nazareth, we claim that we have seen as much of God as we ever hope to see.” (Willimon, in work cited above)

In a world obsessed with power of all kinds----economic, economic, economic and political, and military----hear this: there is no thing as powerful as Agape Love, love which impels people to serve the brother and sister, the neighbor near and far, and even the enemy!

“When he died, Matthew says, the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom, the veil separating us from the living God. It was ripped because, in Jesus, we now are brought close to God.” Or, as a teenager once told a visiting professor, it means that in Jesus, “the heavens were ripped so now it means God can get to us anytime God wants! Now, nobody’s safe!” (Tom Long in Willimon, adapted)

Now that is power!

Let us pray.

God of our fathers and mothers, you have loved us with a depth and breadth we can scare imagine. We stand in awe of this gift, humble and silent, awaiting the power of your risen crucified Son to bring new life to each of us and to your church. Amen