“CREATING QUITE A STIR”
Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion)
March 20, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in
this Man.” But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people,
teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”
Luke 23:4, 5 (ESV)
I realize that I have mentioned this to a few of you in the past, but
a number of years back I read a book, written by a Baptist pastor
named Gerald Mann, that really caught my attention. The book was
entitled Why Does Jesus Make Me Nervous? and the subtitle was “Taking
the Sermon on the Mount Seriously.” Pastor Mann’s whole premise is
that most of us don’t really take the Sermon on the Mount all that
seriously and, if we did, Jesus would most certainly make us nervous.
The reason is that if we were to read those three chapters of
Matthew’s Gospel carefully and take them at face value, we would
realize that Christian discipleship requires a lot more of us than we
are willing to give. In this sermon Jesus tells us that we can find
true happiness only by being willing to sacrifice our superficial
happiness in the pursuit of better things--the things that He has
gained for us by the shedding of His blood and has given to us by the
power of His Spirit at work in the Gospel. Jesus tells us that the
true child of God is willing to be humble--even unnoticed--and to
place total, unwavering trust in the Lord and in Him alone.
If we’re going to be honest about it, I guess we have to admit that
Pastor Mann has a point. Jesus isn’t always what we would like Him to
be. We’d like Him to tell us that it’s okay for us to pursue material
wealth, but instead He tells us to seek the kingdom of God and His
righteousness. We’d like Him to tell us that it’s okay for us to try
to get even with those who’ve wronged us or at least to prevent them
from doing it again, but instead He tells us to “turn the other
cheek.” We’d like Him to tell us that it’s okay for us to loosen up
the requirements of God’s Law, but instead He makes those requirements
even stricter. We’d like Him to tell us that it’s okay for us to take
pride in our devotional life, our good works, and our giving, but
instead He tells us not to let our left hand know what our right hand
is doing. It seems as if He is always telling us the exact opposite
of what we want to hear. On this Sunday of the Passion, as we hear
“the chief priests and the crowds” accuse Jesus of creating quite a
stir among the people, let’s think about how He stirs us
up--particularly how He stirs up our complacency and how He stirs up
our values.
The Son of David stirs up our complacency. The reason why the Jewish
religious leaders were so upset at Jesus was that His teaching made
life very difficult for them. They were in a survival mode. As
devout Jews living under Roman rule, they were in a precarious
situation. The idea of owing allegiance to any foreign government is
hard enough for anyone to take, but for the chosen people of God
living in the land that was rightfully theirs by God’s promise, it was
intolerable. Their identity as God’s chosen nation was diametrically
opposed to their identity as subjects of the Roman emperor. If they
dared to let their true feelings be known, they would be slaughtered.
All the leaders wanted to do was to keep the peace, and that required
compromise--you know, give and take--the trade-off--whatever it
takes--peace at any price. Well, along comes this Jesus telling
people that the truth of God’s Word cannot be compromised. The
religious leaders certainly couldn’t allow Him to go unchallenged.
They felt as if they had to protect themselves and their people.
A lot of times we are like that. Like the Jewish religious leaders
of Jesus’ time, we crave a “safe” religion--a religion that is not
controversial--a religion that keeps us out of trouble. And we are
often tempted, as they were, to make our religion more compatible with
the culture in which we live. “After all,” we think, “we’re living in
twenty-first century America. What would the majority of our
countrymen think of us if we really stuck to all of our outdated
teachings? Why should we go around deliberately getting people mad at
us? So let’s not talk so much about things like hell and sin and
morality and commitment and responsibility and all of those other
things that aren’t very popular these days. Maybe that way we’ll not
only survive, but possibly get more converts. On the other hand, if
we really stick to what the Bible says, we’re going to turn a lot of
people off and invite persecution. Some of our own members might even
get mad and leave and turn against us.” Sad to say, this is the kind
of thinking that has pervaded much of Christendom over the past fifty
years or so. Isn’t it funny how history repeats itself?
The Son of David also stirs up our values. Many of the people who
heard Jesus’ preaching and witnessed His miracles were impressed with
Him--so much so that on at least one occasion they wanted to “take Him
by force to make Him king” (John 6:15). But they were looking for an
earthly king. They figured that anyone who could heal the sick, raise
the dead, and feed five thousand people with a small boy’s sack lunch
had what it takes to be a leader. But what they were looking for was
so trivial compared to what Jesus really had to offer. It wasn’t
physical food that He wanted to give them; it was the Bread of Life
and Living Water. It wasn’t the Romans that He wanted to free them
from; it was sin. It wasn’t physical sickness that He wanted to heal
in them; it was the sickness of sin, which is the root cause of all
other ailments and problems. And it wasn’t their homeland that He
wanted to conquer for them; it was death and the grave.
We need to remember that as well. As Jesus Himself told Pilate
during His trial: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). We
often make the same mistake that the Jews of Jesus’ day made. We too
are looking for the spectacular rather than the quiet miracle. We too
are more interested in being taken care of in a physical sense than we
are in having our deepest spiritual needs met. We too want to glorify
Him by wielding power and influence in His name. In other words, we
try to make Him fit into our worldly values. But He will have none of
that. His power and glory are manifested in the sacrifice that He
made to make atonement for human sin. His crown is made of thorns.
His throne is a cross. He turns the values of this world upside down
and inside out, revealing to us what really matters.
What is it that you are looking for in Jesus of Nazareth? This
morning we see our Savior on the threshold of His suffering and death
for our sins. If you are looking for anything other than a Savior
from sin, you’re looking in the wrong place. Jesus doesn’t offer
financial security. He doesn’t offer a guarantee of good health and
freedom from illness. He doesn’t offer a life of ease. He doesn’t
offer an escape from the trials and tribulations of daily living.
Instead He offers you a cross and He calls you to pick it up and
follow Him. The way will be rough and it will surely create quite a
stir in your life, but in the end He will bring you to the greatest
happiness that can ever be--an eternity of living in perfect
fellowship with God and all of His people--all given to you freely as
a result of His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death.
Amen.
May the One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
making us kings and priests before His God and Father, lead you to a
life of repentance and trust. May He also be glorified in the lives
of you, His people. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
Amen.