A Place in the Sun

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.

It's our hope that these sermons will draw you

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Son, and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming

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you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Let me pray

again for us. Lord, we're thankful for your Word,

and most of all we're thankful that your Word

directs us to the Word made flesh. The true God

of true God, the mystery of our holy religion,

God man, Christ, took on flesh for us. He might

redeem us. God, as we just cried out with the

crowd, crucify him. And we have cried out with

the crowd, Hosanna. Lord, would you help us to

see ourselves as not detached from the great

story of redemption, but a part of it. That our

sin is what drives Jesus to the cross, and our

redemption is what we have through the empty

tomb. God, I pray that we would not be detached

this morning, but just as we heard from many

of us the words of your holy scriptures, that

our stories would be placed into yours. God,

speak to us now, we pray. Draw us evermore into

the life of Christ, our King. In his name we

pray. Amen. Okay, so I have something to share

with you. This is one of my favorite beer glasses.

And some of you years ago saw another one of

my favorite beer glasses. I'm gonna tell you

about that other one. And then eventually I'll

tell you about this one. That other one I got

was from a trip. that I took with my youngest

brother, who's now 29, but this was 17 years

ago. I was graduating from a seminary in St.

Louis. He flew out as a 12 -year -old. My parents

put him on a plane from Seattle to St. Louis.

And he went and he spent the last week with me

there when I lived in St. Louis, where I lived

for four and a half years. We went to some Cardinals

games. We went to City Museum. Tannis, has y

'all been there? If anyone, this is just some...

Pastoral advice if anyone's in st. Louis go to

the City Museum back to my sermon And and then

when we left we drove straight from st. Louis

over to the front the mountains in Colorado and

then we camped at each of the national parks

my brother and I in Utah and I got one Souvenir

and then we made our way up through Crater Lake.

We camped at Crater Lake and then up to Seattle

Crater Lakes the National Park in Oregon I got

one souvenir from that trip, and it was a beer

glass from the Moab Brewery. And what happened,

maybe some of you will remember, because I know

I've told this story years ago, was that Melissa

and I got married a few years later. We were

living in Richmond, and we had our first place

where we were renting, and three months into

our young, fragile marriage, we only dated three

and a half months, and we were engaged for five,

so we barely knew each other a year. That glass

fell to the floor of our kitchen and crashed.

The one glass that I had from my trip with my

youngest brother, and I had moved all the way

from Seattle to Virginia away from my family,

and I just start bawling. And my young bride

is looking at me. What's going on? What do I

do? What do I do? But it was my one souvenir

from this sweet trip that I had with my brother.

It was so much more than a glass. And y 'all

know that, right? I mean, it's so much more.

It had so much that it carried with it, so much

that it meant beyond just being a glass. We know

this. This is not just a random, you know, thing

of metal that was made into a ring. This carries

with it so much more than just being a metal

band. We know that the sounds hate spoken in

certain... context to certain people with certain

tones are so much more than sounds that the sounds

of love spoken the right time can be utterly

transformative. So when a crowd gathers outside

of Jerusalem and shouts things like, thank you,

thank you, Jane, you got it, and shouts things

like, Hosanna. It means a lot more than just

sounds, right? When a crowd gathers and takes

palm branches and waves them and throws them

at the feet of somebody entering into the great

city, they are not just thinking, man, you know

what? This will be a good time. This will be

fun. Why don't we all just grab branches and

wave them? It's got so much more. When they take

their cloaks and they throw them down in front

of somebody riding in on a donkey, they are not

thinking, you know what, let's play the floor

is lava with the donkey. That's how they're thinking.

It means so much more seeing something about

their hopes and their desires and their thoughts

maybe about what Jesus might do for them. in

the gospels, in Mark and Luke and Matthew and

John, we often have texts that are inviting the

people that are engaging with Jesus and also

us, the readers, to ask, what do we think of

this Jesus? What do we make of him? Who is he

for us? And I think the events of Palm Sunday

are sort of doing the same thing. What do we

do with Jesus? What do we make of him? The telling

of the triumphal entry actually is one of those

stories that happens in all the Gospels. I've

mentioned before that, you know, that's something

that we should always be attentive to, important

event. In some, well in John, there's only palm

branches that are mentioned, but the others,

like the Gotham Arch we've been in, and then

the Gospel Matthew that we just heard from, mention

these branches and these clothes. And so I'm

gonna talk about these. Talk about these which

we've talked about in years past here and there

in different kinds of ways But let's first consider

these palm branches Isn't it kind of fun y 'all

to like have something different and to wave

them. I think it's fun I think it's fun to like

attach it to my guitar and get a little action

with that I think it's kind of fun. It's fun

to shout hosanna together But of course these

these things have a history and they have import

they have meaning They have, of course, a history

in our church, but they have a history in our

church because they have a history in the text

and they have a history behind them because they

have a history with the Jewish people. It wasn't

just something random that they were doing. When

you join your voice with others, shouting things

like, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the

name of the Lord, the King, waving branches,

it has a certain kind of meaning behind it. Palms

were the symbol of victory. and specifically

Israel's victory, Israel's national hopes. It's

a nationalistic symbol, the bald eagle, the stars

and stripes. You all may know that there are

some books that the Roman Catholic Bible has,

that our Bible here does not, though they're

very important books. A couple of those are first

and second Maccabees. And part of what's happening

in those books is telling the story of the Maccabean

revolt. What happened was because the celly seeds

were suppressing the Jewish customs and all that.

There's this revolt. And in those books, palms

are used in celebration of the restoration of

Israel. The restoration of the Jewish temple.

Palms were a way of saying we fought and we won

and we got what we wanted Of course beyond this

actually I mentioned this in years past I'm sure

I have the palms were actually stamped onto the

Jewish coins that symbolized this time the we

won We won against the Romans So to wave a palm

branch was to say, here's the one that's going

to do it again. Here's the one who's going to

give us what we want, who's going to establish

our desires to bring us our national freedom.

They shouted a part of Psalm 118, Hosanna, blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord, but

actually occasionally some of the gospel texts

add that then they say the King, they add on

to it. They wanted Jesus, and here's part of

what I'm saying. They wanted him as long as he'll

give them what they want. He'll restore their

kingdom. And of course, in some ways, it's not

like what they wanted was a bad thing. What was

bad about it was that they wanted him to give

them what they wanted. We wave our palm branches

or we did wave our palm branches and and it's

fun and we cry our hosannas and All that is good.

But part of what we are also saying is that we

engage with Jesus in the same way We are the

fickle ones that say hey come Establish my kingdom

Give us what we want Jesus Give us pretty hair

Or hair Give us friends. Give us food that we

can delight in and jobs that give us meaning

and the spouses of our dreams and kids that listen

to us. Give us politicians that can enact the

laws that we deem right for our world. Give us

what we want, Jesus. Be our King. Be our King.

A pastor friend once told me this, everybody

is ready to receive Jesus as long as it means

a place in the sun. As long as coming to Jesus

makes you go, ah. Everybody wants a Jesus to

support what they do and how they think and how

they want to live. Everybody wants that Jesus.

Everybody wants the cosmic yes man. Everybody

wants the God who says, I'm on your side. And

when we have palm branches and we're waving these

brother sisters, we are saying we do the very

same thing. We are just like them. Just give

us what we want, Jesus. But I said, you know,

there's these two things that happen, right?

The palm branches and the cloaks. We've talked,

of course, about the donkey and all kinds of

other things in years past, but the cloaks. So

there's this wild story in Second Kings chapter

nine. It tells about a really bad time in the

history of Israel when kings forgot about God

and sort of did whatever they wanted. You know,

they established their kingdom. God, I'll use

you as long as I get to do my thing, that kind

of thing. And they led Israel away from God,

and God through Elijah, one of his servants,

anoints Jehu, this new king. And when he does

this, he tells him that he is going to be specifically

a king who brings judgment on Israel. And as

Jehu is anointed for this task of bringing judgment

on Israel, we hear this, okay? Then in haste,

every man of them took his garment and put it

under him. And they blew the trumpet and proclaimed

Jehu's king. Sound familiar? Throw the cloaks

down. You're the king. Cloaks have a history

too. weren't playing floor is lava with the donkey.

They were saying something. There's a story of

the king of Israel being anointed and declared

king and cloaks being put on him. Everybody's

saying, you're the king. But for us, what you

have to hear is that king was anointed for judgment.

To bring judgment upon Israel. So what do we

make of that? What do we make about this symbol

that evokes the judgment of God? And rather unquestionably,

the triumphal entry is the beginning, in a way,

of this story of judgment. In the Gospel Mark

that we've been in this spring, the very next

story after the triumphal entry is Jesus cursing

the fig tree, which is symbolizing Israel and

their rejection of God. In Matthew, the very

next story is not the story of the fig tree.

That's the one after the next one. In Matthew,

the story is of Jesus going into the temple and

what does he do there? Hey y 'all, it looks good

in here. Let's have a good time. No, he doesn't.

He flips tables, right? What the triumphal entry

does is it enters into this very great time of

judgment. Judgment of God. Palms and cloaks.

A do -what -we -want crowd. A crowd that says,

Jesus, I will take you as long as you can be

my king. And then a symbol of the judgment of

God upon the very people of God. The crowd wanted

a king. They wanted a king who would restore

what they wanted. They wanted a king who would

give them their heart's desires. They wanted

what he would give them. But here's the thing,

when you take that with the cloaks, there's a

sense in which what is happening is Jesus saying,

I see what you desire. And if you could just

put the symbols together in a way, you might

see that I want to give you something far better.

A king that doesn't want to give them their kingdom,

but his. And in order to do that, the king must

come in judgment. And here's the thing, unlike

the story of Jehu, where he goes on and assassinates

King Joram to help restore order in Israel, here

with Jesus, we have this king who brings judgment.

and the king who bears judgment. I mean, part

of what Jesus is doing is he is bearing or bringing

judgment, flipping tables, cursing the tree.

But as we go to the story, he's not the one just

who brings judgment, but the one who bears the

judgment. Jesus is the king. Not always that

we want but he is the king that we need and he

is specifically the king that we need Because

he is the king who brings judgment and then he

bears it himself And he does this again not to

bring about what we always want but but we what

we most need Jesus himself rides into Jerusalem

on a donkey not just to enter in and say, look

at this victorious entrance, but to make the

journey to the cross. He goes to Calvin to bear

the judgment properly of sin, properly of rebellion,

properly of the rejection of God. He bears the

judgment that we deserve, that he might bring

us not to our kingdoms, but in his kingdom. Judgment

we deserve he takes upon himself that the kingdom

we don't deserve can be given to us. What I'm

suggesting to you is these symbols in some ways

are mixed. Mixed symbols. They're rich and they're

deep. But we see their import when we can kind

of feel it all together. I want to tell you a

little bit about this glass. This is also not

just a glass. And if for some reason one of you

comes and breaks it, they're going to cry again.

Because this glass I got half of my life ago

When I went with one of my dearest friends my

oldest friend outside of my family known him

since I was three When he and I hitchhiked around

Ireland He's a stocky redhead guy. It was awesome.

It was perfect and We I got this at the Guinness

Brewery If you if you've gone to that tour you

go you end at the top where you get to look out

over the city and you get Free glass of Guinness

And I bought this one there. You can't even see,

but there's a Christmas tree on it. But it's

one of the fond memories of my life with one

of my dearest friends. And this dear friend is

going through one of, actually, I can say the

worst time of his life right now. And so I was

looking at this glass and thinking about this

sermon. And I was thinking of how mixed this

feels. where it brings such deep joy and also

my heart breaks. And in some ways, I sort of

want you to hear your own cries for Hosanna.

And feel how mixed they are. Cry out to Lord.

Save us, right? That's what we're saying when

we say Hosanna. Save us Lord. And our shouts

are mixed. heavenly hosts, the kingdom of God,

an establishment of our way, our sinful desires.

But here's the wonder, right? Is that zero question,

Jesus knew how mixed they were as he entered

into Jerusalem that day. He knew what palm branches

meant and what cloaks meant. He knew that their

hosannas would soon become, crucify him. He knew

that. And in the wonder of God's grace, Jesus

makes it today, not to the throne, but to the

cross. And he does this because The kingdom that

you want is not the kingdom that you need. The

kingdom you need is the kingdom of God. And He

brings that through His death and the resurrection.

And the judgment that He brings is also the judgment

that He bears for you. So go to Him. Go to Him

in your mixed stuff. mixed hosannas. Jesus goes

to the cross for you. Brothers, sisters, let's

say this again. Hosanna. Hosanna. Say this after

me. Blessed is the one who comes in the name

of the Lord. Blessed is the one who comes in

the name of the Lord. Hosanna. Hosanna. Let me

pray. Lord God, I pray that we would come to

you in our mixed stuff, sometimes crying out

heartedly, Lord. Save us and Half -heartedly

also the other half saying establish my kingdom

and that you would work that through that half

-hearted palm waving hosanna shouting cloak throwing

That you would go to the place of the cross for

us that we would know that you went there for

us to bear the judgment that we deserve To give

us the kingdom Not the one that we always think

we want but the one we most need God, do this,

please. This week, Lord, convict us that it is

not just their shouts long ago that were mixed,

that were tainted, that were distorted by sin,

but it is even ours. Our sin that cries out,

crucify Him. Show us our sin, Lord, this week.

And may the cross loom large. Amen. Thank you

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