June 1, 2003

“A Tale of Two Kingdoms”

Matthew 21:1-11

Do you have pet peeves, those little things that other people do that bother you to the point of aggravation? I have just a few. One was eliminated when both of my daughters graduated from adolescence and stopped wearing my clothes. The other is still with me. I hate fickle sports fans, those fans who support their team when times are good, but abandon them with things begin to go bad.

I love baseball. I am a faithful Kansas City Royals fan. Lately, that has been an exercise in faith because the fortunes of my team have been anything but royal. I love going to the ballpark to support them. I stay to the very end, even when it is bitter!

Kansas City fans are notorious for leaving early. They start heading for the exits around the sixth inning, with a third of the game yet to be played. I am tempted at times to stand in the middle of the aisle and order these fickle fans to return to their seats. Can’t you just see me standing there with my open palm lifted high with authority, “GO BACK AND SIT DOWN! THE GAME ISN’T OVER YET!”

My classic Royals memory was of a Thursday afternoon game several years ago when two all-star pitchers were schedule to play, Nolan Ryan for the Texas Rangers and Bret Saberhagen for the Kansas City Royals. I was at the ballpark early as a surprisingly large crowd of over 30,000 fans found their seats. The game was not a disappointment. The pitching was superb and the score close. But as was the usual practice, people started leaving around the sixth inning with the Royals down by only a run. In the seventh inning more left. In the eighth even more headed for the parking lot. By the ninth only a faithful few remained. I, of course, was among those who stayed.
In the bottom of the ninth inning the Royals trailed by one run. The first batter of the inning made an out. The faithful few grew restless. The second batter was retired. The faithful few prepared to leave because an immediate end seemed inevitable. Then the public address announcer heralded the appearance of a pinch hitter, “Now batting for the Kansas City Royals, Carmelo Martinez.”

The few fans around me began to curse, kicking half-empty beer cups, and questioning the sanity and parentage of the manager. “Carmelo Martinez? He can’t hit his way out of a paper bag!” And they were partially correct. They all doubted, but I believed. As a lonely voice in a sea of doubt, I began to cheer, “Carrrr…melo! Carrrr…melo!”

Carmelo stepped to the plate and took a pitch for strike one. The next pitch was a ball. The third pitch was in his favorite spot and the ball exploded off his bat like a rocket and didn’t stop rising until it landed in the leftfield bleachers for a home run! The game was now tied and the faithful few now rose in unison and cried, “Carrrr…melo!

Carrrr…melo! Carrrr…melo!” He was our hero.

The game proceeded into extra innings. The faithful few remained. The tenth inning passed, then the eleventh. In the bottom of the twelfth, it was Carmelo’s turn to bat again. The faithful few, who had doubted before now believed. We knew Carmelo would end the game with another home run and we could all go home. He strode confidently to the plate. His first swing was a strike, but we were not deterred since we knew Carmelo only needed one swing. The second was also a strike, a curveball to be exact and the primary reason Carmelo finally retired. But we were still undeterred in our enthusiasm. We believed! The third pitch came. It was in his favorite spot and he swung with all his might. But instead of landing beyond the fence for a home run, the ball landed securely in the catcher’s mitt for strike three. And the faithful few, excluding me of course, because to curse aloud, kicking anything and everything in sight, and re-questioning the sanity of the manager for leaving Carmelo in the game.

Carmelo Martinez started out as a goat. He became an instant hero and, after exactly three innings, returned to being a goat again. Boy, talk about fickle! After all, Carmelo’s only human.

Why did this happen? It was all about expectation. The first time Carmelo came to bat no one (except me of course) expected anything from him. The second time he came to bat everyone (including me of course) expected everything from him. When he failed to live up to the crowd’s expectation, he was immediately returned to goat status.

Our text for today is about a fickle crowd. The text is a familiar one. It is the account of Jesus entry into Jerusalem on that day we have come to know as Palm Sunday.

(READ THE TEXT)

I am intrigued by the dynamics of that day and the week that was to follow. As Jesus rode down into the valley and up the hill to Jerusalem the crowds were ecstatic in their praise. “HOSANNA! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!” They threw their cloaks on the ground and waved branches of adulation. It must have been an incredible scene.

Yet, just a few days would pass before some of those same people would stand in Pilate’s courtyard and lift their voices in scorn as Pilate asked them, “What shall I do with Jesus?” “CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM! WE HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR!” What could Jesus have done in those few short days that would cause them to change their minds and allegiances so dramatically? I have thought about that question a lot and I think I’ve found an answer. The clue is in their expectation and the answer is in the donkey.

Before you think that I’ve lost my mind, hear me out. In Jesus’ day, when a king wanted to impress or intimidate his subjects with his power, authority, and charisma he would ride in a royal procession on the back of a great and mighty steed with the aura of a conqueror. All would bow in subservience to this overpowering symbol of might. But when a king needing no proof or intimidating symbols of power, when a king only needed the truth of his character as symbol of his authority, he came gentle, riding on a donkey. In Jesus day, the donkey was a noble beast. They didn’t insult each other by using the donkey’s name nor did they ridicule anyone who rode one. Our text today tells us that Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. But I am convinced that everyone saw a mighty steed instead.

The crowds who were there that day sang songs of praise and Jesus ascended the hill to the city gates. Their songs were messianic songs reserved for the one who would deliver them from Roman bondage, who would restore the kingdom of Israel to her glory days when David ruled and her citizens could go anywhere in the world with their heads held high. They wanted the prosperity they dreamed their messiah would bring. The wanted a king with power might. The saw in Jesus their messiah riding into Jerusalem on a great and mighty steed. But Jesus came riding on a donkey.

The Pharisees who were there that day were afraid of Jesus. He challenged their power and authority and threatened the status quo of the religious system they worked so hard to maintain. Unlike the crowd, the Pharisees sang no messianic song. They saw a maverick prophet whose words and deeds had the power to start a revolution. These Pharisees, who were no friend to Jesus, saw him riding into Jerusalem on a great and mighty steed. But Jesus came riding on a donkey.

Even the disciples who were there that day had expectations for Jesus. What they were experiencing was pretty heady stuff. They heard the crowd’s adulations. They were present when Peter made their confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. They had visions of power and authority dancing through their heads. Even on the way to Jerusalem they had argued about which one of them would be greater when Jesus established his kingdom. Not long before the mother of James and John asked Jesus to allow her sons to sit at his right and left hand in the kingdom. They were fully in favor of the request. Jesus asked if they were ready to “drink from the cup he was going to drink”. They replied with a hearty “We can!” (Matthew 20:22) James and John dreamed of powerful seats of authority, thrones next to Jesus--one on the right and one on the left. But Jesus knew that what awaited him in Jerusalem was not a throne, but a cross--with one on the right and one on the left. Even the disciples, who had been with Jesus throughout his ministry and had heard him speak of his suffering and death, saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a might steed. But Jesus came riding on a donkey.

Expectations. The Pharisees expected that Jesus had come to achieve power and authority over the system in which they believed and worked diligently to maintain. They just couldn’t let that happen. The crowd and the disciples expected that Jesus had come to establish an earthly kingdom of power, authority, peace, and prosperity. They just knew it would happen. But Jesus wouldn’t live up to their expectation. He wouldn’t come riding into Jerusalem on a great and might steed. He couldn’t. He was a king who came gentle, riding on a donkey.

There is a fundamental difference between the kingdom of the king who rides on a steed and the kingdom of the king who rides on a donkey:

The king who rides on a steed says, “Power is the difference.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “Power is made perfect in weakness.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “You must climb to the top to lead.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “The one who would be first must be servant of all.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “The one with the most toys wins.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “Love your friends and hate your enemies.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “Love your enemies, anyone can love friends.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “Keep score of wrongs, you never know when you’ll need an edge.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “When you are wronged, forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive …”

The king who rides on a steed says, “Take care of number one. After all, who will if you don’t?” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “Consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, aren’t you more valuable than they? Your heavenly Father knows what you need.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “To the victor go the spoils.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

The king who rides on a steed says, “Save your life.” The king who comes riding on a donkey says, “The only way to save your life is to lose it for the king.”

The words of these kings are not my own. I didn’t make them up. I know the words of kingdom of the steed well for I have spent a lot of time there and used a few of them as my own. I know the words of the kingdom of the donkey for they come from the lips of the king of that kingdom. They are his words.

The kingdom of the king who rides the mighty steed … or the kingdom of the king who comes riding on the donkey. There really is a fundamental difference. Which will it be? You cannot be a citizen of both kingdoms!

Please allow me a moment of personal reflection. I have been a Christian my whole life. To be perfectly honest, I do not remember a time when my heart was not “turned toward God.” I am grateful for Christian parents who loved me in the Lord and nurtured my in faith. I thank God for their faithfulness to God and to me.

When I was in my mid-30’s I began to grow uncomfortable with how “comfortable” I was in my faith. I was a Christian. I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew what I was supposed to say. I knew where I was supposed to go and not go. I even knew how I was supposed to dress. I looked like a Christian, talked like a Christian, acted like a Christian. I couldn’t do or be anything else if I wanted to. It was the only thing I ever knew! In fact, being Christian to me was kind of a “no-brainer”. I didn’t have to think about it much. And that was the source of my discontent. Surely there was more to being a Christian than that.

I set out on a quest to discover what it meant to be authentically Christian. Beyond the right words, the right look, the right behaviors (as good and right as these are), there had to something deeper, more essential to being a Christian. There had to be something else. I wanted to find out what it was.

One day I was talking with one of my heroes. He pastors a church in southeast San Diego. He is white, the congregation in primarily African/American, and the neighborhood is predominantly Hispanic. The combination makes little sense--in the kingdom of the might steed. I asked him what he was trying to do. I treasure his response for was an open window through which I gained an image of authentic Christian faith.

“All we are trying to do”, he said, “is to present a snapshot to the world of the kingdom of God by the way in which we love God, love each other, and love our community and world.” That was it, a snapshot of the kingdom of God! That was what I was looking for--pictures, captured in a moment of time, which represent authentic expressions of Christian faith. And I began a search to find them.

Terry Anderson, one of the scores of persons who were held hostage in Lebanon several years ago, is in my kingdom snapshots album. Many of the hostages, upon their release, mentioned his name as one who had provided spiritual comfort and strength during their ordeal. He was the last to be released. I was anxious to know something of his character. I rejoiced at the news of his liberation and waited for the press conference at which he would speak. Anderson, a journalist, stood before his peers as a free man for the first time in six years. He began to weep and apologized for his tears. His sister, Peggy Say, stepped to the podium to provide him some relief and said something incredible. “This is not the same Terry Anderson I knew six years ago. I like the new Terry Anderson better.” How could that be? In captivity for six years; held in isolation; tortured psychologically and physically; taunted by his captors. How could he emerge from such an experience better?

Anderson composed himself for the first question from the press, “Do you hate those who’ve done this to you?” I will never forget his response. It is burned as a brand onto my heart. “I don’t hate anybody. I am a Christian. It is required of me to forgive no matter how difficult that might be. And I am determined to do just that.” I was awed by his response. He was a Christian. He was required to forgive, not by obligation but by definition. It was a snapshot of the kingdom of God. That’s the way I want to forgive, and forgive, and forgive.

Mother Teresa is in my album too. She was interviewed for Time magazine. The columnist kept probing for her perspectives on “greatness.” “What is it like to be revered by people all over the world,” he asked. She humbly responded, “I am closest to Jesus when I am with my friends, the poor and dying in Calcutta.” Again the interviewer probed, “What is it like to know you have so much influence in the world?” Again she humbly answered, “I see Jesus in the faces of my family, the poor and needy in Calcutta.” “Yes, yes, that’s well and good,” the reported grew frustrated. “What was it like to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace?” She answered, “All I ever wanted to be was a pencil in the hand of God.” Mother Teresa never did answer the questions. She couldn’t. She and the reporter spoke completely different languages. His was the language of the kingdom of the great and mighty steed. She spoke only the language of the kingdom of the donkey.

I want my life to be a snapshot of the kingdom of God. I want my family, my church, my school, my community, my world to be a glimpse of what the kingdom of God is like in its fullness. I know it is only a glimpse, but I want it to be authentic. It is my compelling conviction. I can hold citizenship in only one kingdom. I can have only one king. I want it to be the king who came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Jesus is here today. He is riding triumphantly into this sanctuary even as we speak. Can you hear the shouts of praise? Can you feel the breeze of the waving palms? Can you see him coming? The question for us all is this, “What is he riding on, a great and mighty steed or gentle donkey?” Which do you see? Your answer makes all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference for eternity.