Matthew 21:1-9 During the Lenten season our focus is especially on
the works of Jesus in his suffering and death and resurrection for our
salvation.
We rejoice in the Good News that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our
sins against us”. We recognize that
this is the central teaching of all of Holy Scripture. We remember that it is the doctrine upon
which the church stands or falls.
But it is
also important for us to remember, recognize and rejoice in the fact that Jesus
is not only our Savior—he is also our King who has an absolute right to rule
our lives: each and every part—each and
every day.
And so
today, as our confirmands publicly confess Jesus as their Savior and
acknowledge him as their King, I want to talk about the rule of Jesus over our
lives as king-- and secondly what kind of Savior we have in him.
The Bible says that when Jesus and the disciples drew
near to Jerusalem, he sent two of his disciples and said to them:
Go into the village in front of you, and
immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me…and the
disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
Up until
this moment the disciples’ track record when it came to obedience was not
always everything it should have been but this time at least two of them got it
right—Jesus the king commanded and his servants obeyed.
Jesus has
a right to command- and expect- obedience from his disciples-both then and now. It is his word and will that is to have the
final say in our lives because he is the King of king and Lord of lords.
And yet, truth be told, we forget that he is our king
whose lordship extends over every part of our life. We do what our king has commanded us not to do. We avoid doing what our king has commanded us to do. We find that often times in our lives there
is no submission to his will and no obedience to his word. Why?
At least
part of the answer is ignorance-we don’t know what the Scriptures say because
we don’t avail ourselves of every opportunity to read and hear and learn them.
Confirmation is not graduation and we must not stop
learning about the things of God. Just
like in the courts of our land, so in the courts of our king—ignorance of the
law is no defense. The king has spoken—his
word is readily available in the Bible -- and it is our duty to hear it, learn
it, and obey it.
God expects you confirmands to life-long learners
when it comes to his Word—that you would hold his Word sacred and gladly hear
and learn it--reading your bibles at home and making Sunday School a regular
part of your Lord’s Day worship so that you know what God’s Word actually says.
Second of
all, Jesus our King has a right to our possessions. Everything we have—he has given us. The two disciples that Jesus sent on into Jerusalem
were charged with finding a donkey for the Lord—an animal that belonged to
someone else. If the owner said anything
about Jesus’ request, they were to: tell him that the Lord needs them, and he
will send them at once.
We don’t
know who owned that donkey the Lord rode into Jerusalem-- but we do know it was
enough for him to know that the Lord had need of it.
The Bible says that, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” and so Jesus our
King has a perfect right to all that we have-- for it is his. We are only stewards of what belongs to the
Lord.
No less
now than then, the Lord has need of what we call “mine”. The work of the Gospel in this place is
supported entirely by the gifts God’s people give in grateful response to God’s
love. That is why you confirmands will
be getting your own offering envelopes—so you can give back to the Lord what is
his for his work.
Unfortunately, too many of God’s people do not have
the generous attitude of the owner of the donkey and simply say “no” to the
Lord when he asks for support from our tithes and offerings.
This
should not be. Jesus our king asks for
only a small portion of the first-fruits and so we are to give generously as
our Lord commands.
Thirdly,
our King Jesus has a right to expect that we will participate in some
way—whether big or small—in his mission.
Jesus needed two of his disciples to fetch the donkey
that day. He needed the owner of the
donkey to give it into the Lord’s service.
Later that week he would need his disciples to find and prepare a room
for the Passover meal.
The King’s mission of mercy and forgiveness that was
about to reach its fulfillment in the cross and empty tomb needed these workers
if it was to take place.
That is
still true today—the Lord needs you to be involved in his mission. The
Bibles says that: we are salt and
light in this dark and dying world to make the world a better place and reveal
the presence and purpose of our king—we are a kingdom of priests called to
serve others and pray for the lost—we are ambassadors of the king through whom he
makes his appeal to the world to come to him and be saved.
This is not my opinion about who you are. This is what the Savior has made you to be in
Holy Baptism and what the King says about you in his Word and he has a right to
our service in the mission of the church.
Besides
our serious responsibilities as Christians in the context of our vocations as
parents and citizens and workers and students, each of us has an important role
to play in in the mission of the King-and that includes you confirmands—whether
that is helping with VBS, or cleaning up after a fellowship meal, or serving as
an acolyte.
And so confirmands when I ask for your help, I am not
asking for myself but I am asking on behalf of the king. Each of us ought to be doing something with the
time and talent that God has given us to build up the kingdom of God in this
place.
Finally, our King Jesus has the right to our worship. The Bible says that:
A crowd spread their cloaks on the road and
others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that
followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
On any
given Sunday, about half of the people of St. Paul Lutheran
Church make a conscious decision not
to worship the Lord. On Wednesday
evenings it is even smaller percentage who worship the King.
And while
I cannot call everyone to ask them what they regarded as more important than
assembling together to worship their king, let there be no doubt that the
question does not remain unasked. The
Lord asks it of each of us: “Where were
you when the people of God came together to worship me”?
You confirmands will make a solemn promise this
morning to worship regularly and I pray that you keep it-- because to go week
after week without worshiping (as so many do) is nothing less than rebellion
against the King’s command.
When
we remember and recognize that: Jesus has a right to our obedience—he has a
right to our possessions—he has a right to expect that we will do our duty in
his kingdom—he has a right to our worship—then the cries of the people of
Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday become our own: “Hosanna
to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!”
Lord,
save us! Lord, save us from our disobedience
to your word! Save us from our lack of
reverent submission to your will! Save
us from our refusal to acknowledge every day, in every way, your rightful rule
over our lives as king! Lord, save us! And so he does. The Bible says that the events of Palm Sunday
Took place to fulfill what was spoken by
the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king come to
you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of
burden.
Just as then, so today, we have before us a day of
the King’s gentle grace—a day to acknowledge and confess that we have not
always been obedient subjects in Jesus’ kingdom—a day to praise him that he
does not come to us in terror and judgment as we deserve—but comes to us in
gentleness, bearing the gifts of forgiveness and mercy that he won for us at
the cross.
For the
sake of his disobedient servants and in our place, the King became an obedient servant
and died. It is the blood he shed upon
Calvary that is the new covenant between God and us—a covenant of peace for all
nations through faith in Jesus—a covenant we receive today at this altar in
Holy Communion.
Because
this is the kind of King we have in Jesus—one who is gentle and humble—we will
gladly kneel before him in grateful obedience and confess to the world that he is
not only our Savior but also our King.
May God grant that it would always be so in your life! Amen.