Palm Sunday - Jesus our Master, Model & Mindset

Kia ora, and welcome to the St. Francis Church

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As a church, we are learning to faithfully follow

Jesus by practicing His way at His pace. For

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among us, head to stfrancis .co .nz. Grace and

peace. Hi family. Hi. It is good to be with you

this morning. Today is Palm Sunday, as Tony has

already mentioned. It is the beginning of...

what is known to us as Holy Week. A journey that

leads us through the events of the final week

of Jesus' life, culminating in his crucifixion,

death, and eventual resurrection. Now I say eventual

when referencing the resurrection, not because

I am sceptical as to whether it did and or did

not happen. I believe that Christ is risen. He's

risen indeed. Yeah. But I think that as followers

of Jesus, it's important to stick with the process

and the journey of Holy Week in its fullness.

It can be tempting to skip over the events of

Holy Week. We want to celebrate God's victory

over sin and death and the powers of darkness.

And so we should. Yeah? Yeah? Yeah. But I do

wonder if often it is more to do with our aversion

to pain and to suffering, the human condition

and the darkness in our own lives than the beauty...

of our resurrected saviour, that we can be tempted

to land in Easter Sunday without experiencing

Holy Week in its fullness. As humans, I think

it is a very normal thing to like or want things

to resolve. Who loves cliffhangers? Cliffhangers.

Who loves it when... somebody goes to say something

and then forgets what they're about to say and

then carries on. Yeah, wow, we know that, Janine.

But that whole, like, wait, no, what were you

about to say? Or like, no, what was meant to

happen kind of thing. It's like that moment at

the end of a movie, Inception, where the spinning

top is spinning and you start to see it waver

and you're like, is it going to tip? Is it not?

Are they in a dream? Are they not? And there's

no, say. It could be that having finished a good

book you're wondering what happened to that character

in chapter 13 that was there for most of the

journey and then not and there's kind of like

a plot hole and you're like wait no the writer

forgot to write him out or in or like whatever

it was or maybe it's just that there are certain

songs that like grate on you because it doesn't

end on the first or the fifth and we're left

going no give us that resolving chord at the

end. Whatever it might be I think it's just a

really normal and natural thing to want to know

the end of the story. My wife in all her amazement

loves to read the last page of a book purely

because she's like I need to know where this

goes kind of thing and whether it's worth my

time kind of thing. We like to know the end of

a story, right? And this is one of the things

that this week that lies ahead of us now, it's

going to drag on. Not because it's overly slow,

but because it's hard. Because we are moving

towards a whole lot of stuff that as humans we

struggle with. And we're a part of that story.

if we're really honest with ourselves. So as

we move through this week, we are ultimately

going to be faced with the reality of human suffering,

of fear, of betrayal, of abandonment, of our

old foe death. And above all, as Scripture puts

it, he was pierced for our rebellion. He was

crushed for our sins. He was beaten. so that

we could be made whole. And he was whipped so

that we could be healed. And so a disclaimer

up front, there may be moments this morning that

you and I find confronting. And we might feel

uncomfortable at times, heaven bid in church.

Heaven forbid we feel uncomfortable. But that

is the journey that's ahead of us, in front of

us. Or as the old hymn goes, it was my sin that

held him there until it was accomplished. His

dying breath has bought me life. I know that

it is finished. There's no running from the reality

of what this week in front of us holds. Yes,

there will be Easter Sunday, but let's avoid

the temptation to skip over all that Christ had

to endure for us on our behalf because we feel

a little uncomfortable. And so let us, let it

sink in. How much God loves this world. How much

he loves you and I. And so this morning as we

wrestle, this week as we wait for Easter Sunday,

that glorious morning, we will be sitting with

the reality of, yeah, who we are and the effects

of our sin on this world. And that Jesus had

to undergo and go through that for us. But I

think that also, and maybe just as, like, uncomfortably

for us, we can end up in a position where we

can zero in on that and skip over the fact that

God did it for me. Like, for you. Like, this

is personal. Like if anything could be taken

personally, this. This should be. For you and

for I. For God so loved the world that he gave

his only son. For you. For me. And so yes, every

Sunday is a celebration of what God has done.

Every Sunday is a mini Easter Sunday in that

sense. But Palm Sunday. And Holy Week shows us

that the way of Jesus is one of downward mobility,

a downward descent by choice. And it's really

important to add that, a downward descent by

choice, that Jesus, with intention, went into

this. For the joy set before him, he endured

the cross, scorning its shame. Yes, knowing that

he would be raised up and that glory would be

given to him. Glory unlike glory ever been given

and or known. But you are a part of the joy.

You are a part of that joy that he considered

when he endured that cross. And so it's this

wild gamut of emotions, yeah? where we recognise

that we put him there and by choice he went.

That we did not inflict anything on him that

he did not choose. And that in great love he

moved on our behalf, doing for us what we could

not have done for ourselves. Is this good news,

guys? Yeah. But let's not skip over Holy Week.

There is no resurrection without first dying.

Yeah? There is no resurrection without first

dying. This is the way of Jesus, the way of the

cross. Our readings today, the gospel account

of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, his triumphant

entry from Matthew chapter 21, and our epistle

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

reading from Philippians chapter 2, both use

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

royal or kingly language when speaking of Jesus,

which is befitting of him, of who he is and what

he was doing. But it was so unlike any other

that he rides in, not with grand stallions and

chariots and fanfare, although there was some

fanfare, but not from the political powers or

religious powers at be, but from the day -to

-day folk. Not necessarily also because they

knew exactly who he was, but they recognized

that there was something different about him,

and so they cried out, Hosanna, save us. We think

there's something different about you. The example

that we see of Jesus' kingship is so radically

other from any kind of leaders or ruler that

history or this present day has ever known. In

a world clambering for status, refining the art

of one -upmanship and claiming power for oneself,

we see instead Jesus willingly giving it up,

even to the point of giving his very self come

Good Friday. If anyone had the right to claim

power, it's him. And here we see him willingly.

Giving it up. Just as we heard about in Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. Taking on the form of humans. Humble

servant as a humble servant. And so this morning,

as we look to Jesus, fixing our eyes on him,

because that's what we're here for, yeah? This

is what we're here to do, to fix our eyes on

Jesus. I want us to ponder together who he is

as king, the nature of his rule, and the kingdom

that he brings and is establishing. And so we're

going to, as I like to do, have a bit of a korero,

have some question time, where we're going to

talk with some people around us. If you are an

introvert and you are dying inside, it's okay.

Just put your head down and you will be left

in peace. We've got a reader. This is the question.

What does the language of king and kingship evoke?

And by in you, should I say, let's finish the

sentence, evoke in you. And by evoke, I'm just

talking about thought or feeling or a memory,

okay? So we're not talking about things that

are necessarily like hyper -spiritual or anything

like that. We're just talking about when we consider

the word king. or the language of king and kingship,

what does it evoke in you? What does it produce

in you? It can be a theological thought, it could

be a feeling of some description, or it could

be a memory of, well, that you had, that you

have of some sort. So let's take a couple of

minutes to discuss that and we'll come back together.

Is that cool? Yep, awesome, let's do it. So that

together we can kind of track. Because I think

that although each one in some way kind of links

to the other and speaks to the other, that there

are important things to note from each one. And

just also to go, as followers of Jesus, as we

move into Holy Week together, as we move toward

the cross and the empty tomb on the other side

of it together, what might God be saying to us?

What might He be, by His Spirit and through His

Word, identifying in us in regards to, If I'm

claiming to be a follower of Jesus, are these

things outworking in my life? And so let's talk

about when we follow Jesus, he becomes our master.

So the language and idea of master is unusual

in today's vocabulary. At most, we might hear

the notion of... Being the master of one's own

destiny, like that seems to be something that

we hear thrown around a bit, or mastering something

that person has mastered the art of, or somebody

who's sitting their masters kind of thing. Those

were three kind of immediate examples that I'm

at least familiar with hearing around the place.

But even so, those... even though those ideas

may be common, we're not necessarily hearing

that language like a whole lot. But the idea

of being mastered, so not mastering, but being

mastered, or having a master, strikes against

the modern notion of freedom and self in every

way. But as followers of Jesus, That is who he

should be to us. That as a follower of Jesus,

he is our master. He is our king. He gets to

say. And as a follower, will I listen? Will I

obey? Will I be attentive to what he is saying

and is doing? He isn't just a king or even the

king. He is our king. And Philippians, of which

we've had a portion read from chapter 2, uses

this language of citizens of heaven all the time.

And Paul was contrasting that the followers of

Jesus were to be different to the citizens of

Rome. That they were not to be about elevating

oneself and oppressing the poor. That they were

to look out for their neighbor and to love them.

Not... to practice one -upmanship on them. The

language that is contrasted in the letter to

the church in Philippi is significantly different

to the culture of the day in the Roman Empire,

and may I say, potentially not all too dissimilar

to the culture of today in modern Western culture

and thinking. There is a famous story of Sir

Walter Raleigh. who laid down his cloak in the

mud for Queen Elizabeth I to walk on so that

she didn't get her royal shoes dirty. Now, whether

this story is true or not, it is endured because

it captures a powerful act of honouring. To lay

down your cloak for another is to value them

as highly as you can. It's to put something of

yourself at their feet and to show that nothing

you have is too precious. to place before them.

A willingness, you could say, to give your everything

to them. In our gospel reading this morning,

we see people throwing down their cloaks on the

ground as Jesus comes in on a lowly donkey. Throwing

their cloaks down onto the dirt. These weren't

paved grounds. This was dirty grounds. They would

have been dung and all sorts. And then hooves,

trotting on the cloak. Probably going to rip

stuff. But this is the entrance that Jesus makes,

and this is the response that the people give

to Jesus entering. What is interesting is that

in ancient Near Eastern cultures, a cloak is

something that you had one of if you had one.

Cloaks were a symbol of status. And so in some

way, there were people, at least some of the

people, well off enough to throw their cloaks

on the ground. And that's probably partly why

there was also palm branches being used. Just

grab something around you. Let's pave the way

for this guy riding in on a donkey. This wasn't

laying down one of many that they had. It wasn't

one of 10 shirts in there. This was giving the

only of what they had. Their all, their everything.

And again, not necessarily because they understood

fully who Jesus was, but they noted that there

was something different about this one who rode

in, not on a stallion, but on a donkey. At the

beginning of Lent, On Ash Wednesday, when we

gathered, we heard the words of Jesus from the

Sermon on the Mount that gives us the practices

of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for the season

that we are about to come out of. We are on the

last Sunday of Lent. From Matthew chapter 6,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

we read this. Do not store up for yourselves

treasure on earth where moths and vermin destroy.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will

hate the one and love the other, or you will

be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve both God and money. No one.

No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve

both God and. You cannot serve both God and.

What is that and for you and I this morning?

What is the and for you and I this morning? Does

God truly have every part of our hearts and lives

or is there a section that is reserved? Dave

only. Don't touch. Don't you dare come near.

This is mine. This is mine. Start to sound a

little Gollum -esque. To follow Jesus means to

live an active, daily surrender to him, yielding

to his will, his work, and his way. As our master

and our king. And so, what do we do with this

as followers of Jesus? If we claim him as our

king, does he also have the office of master?

Does he get to have the last say? Does he get

to have the only say? I say this not because...

Hey, I'm there and I'm amazing. I'm saying this

because I see the gap in my own life between

the hands being raised and declaring that he

is king over all, and yet I know that there is

that thing in my heart and my life where he doesn't

have authority. Not because he isn't big enough

or strong enough, but because I stand back and

I say, no, you can't touch that, or no, this

is too ugly for you. We can resist his rule for

a myriad of reasons. And so as followers of Jesus,

he is to become our master. Will we yield? Will

we surrender? Your kingdom come, your will be

done on earth as it is in heaven. And so as we

move to the next point, I think it's important

that we consider the kind of king that he is,

as we've already had a bit of a discussion about

the example of Jesus versus the example of human

monarchy that we have known throughout history.

And so when we follow Jesus, he becomes our?

Master. Well, yes, master. Point two is he becomes

our? Model. Awesome. All right. When we follow

Jesus, he becomes our? Master. When we follow

Jesus, he becomes our model. Awesome. Cool. As

a parent, it is confronting watching your kids

growing up in both good and not so great ways.

As you see them mirror you, your attitudes, your

manner, your behavior, your responses, your reactivity,

your values, or... lack thereof. On the night

of the Passover, during Holy Week, we see Jesus

bend down and he washes his disciples' feet.

And we read this account from John 13, where

it says, when he had finished washing their feet,

he put on his clothes and he returned to his

place. Do you understand what I have done for

you? He asked them. You call me teacher and Lord,

and rightly so. That is what I am. Man, I know

he's not condemning them here, but this idea

of how easy it is to call him teacher and Lord,

because that is what he is. But then gets this.

Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed

your feet, you also should wash one another's

feet. I have set you an example that you should

do as I have done for you. Very truly, I tell

you, no servant is greater than his master, nor

is a messenger greater than the one who sent

him. Now that you know these things, you will

be blessed if you do them. In this example, just

before the meal, where Jesus gathers with his

friends and followers to enjoy Passover, He sets

this example of service even as he is facing

the prospect of death. He knew what was ahead

of him and yet he served. He washed his disciples'

feet. The teacher, the Lord, washed the followers,

the students' feet. But, get this, As followers

of Jesus, just as the first followers of Jesus

were not only considered servants but friends,

we read this in Ephesians 5, verses 1 and 2.

Ephesians 5:1

Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved

children, and live a life of love, just as Christ

loved us and gave himself up for us, as a fragrant

offering. and a sacrifice to God. Follow God's

example, therefore, as dearly loved children.

We are adopted into and made members of his royal

family and household, heirs to the very promises

of God, and called his dearly loved children.

And so going back to the illustration of parenting

and children, modelling or imitating the mums

and the dads. Yes, Jesus is our example. But

look at what kind of example. Look. Look and

see. And if what you read in Scripture is contrary

to your experience of God, then keep... Sit with

Jesus. Stay with Jesus. Don't get up and leave

until you have tasted and seen that he is good,

that he is God, that he is who he says he is.

I think too often we push off from the table,

the family meal, ready to accomplish great things,

when we need to sit and stay. Receive from him.

And so just as Jesus said to his friends and

his followers sitting around the table at that

final meal, may we also hear, do you understand

what I have done for you? Do you understand what

I have done for you? Do you understand what I

have done for you? Not because of who we are.

Not because of what we can do. Definitely not

because of what we have accomplished. Look at

human history. But because of who he is. Because

he is good. And in love, he moved on our behalf

when we could not. That we would cry out with

the peoples, like on that day, Hosanna, save

us. Do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

And which leads us to our final point for the

morning. When we follow Jesus, his mindset is

formed in us. To know the mind of someone takes

years of study. People spend their lives trying

to understand certain individuals, to think like

them, to view the world the way they do, to understand

why they did what they did, from psychologists

to, what's the term, criminologists? We're trying

to understand the mindset, the frame by which

people perceive the world and why they think

the way they think. But scripture goes way beyond

this, knowing how somebody thinks, by literally

inviting the follower of Jesus to have the same

thoughts and way of thinking as Jesus. Imagine

that, just for a moment. The very thoughts of

Jesus are the thoughts... we are invited to have,

as followers of Jesus, to think, to see, to love

the way that Jesus does. As we read in Philippians

Philippians 2:5

2 verse 5, in your relationships with one another,

have the same mindset as Christ. Have, have the

same mindset. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse

1 Corinthians 2:6

6, it also says that we would have the mind of

Christ. Imagine if our thought life was so radically

touched and transformed by the very person and

presence of Jesus that his thoughts became our

thoughts. Imagine if we saw people and saw the

world around us the way that Jesus does. And

I say this not again because I've mastered this.

No, I say it because of the exact opposite. The

more I see Jesus, the person who he is, and I

say yes to his kingship, to him being master

of my life, the greater gap I see between his

thoughts and the way I see this world and the

people that fill it. I say, Lord, have mercy.

We live in a world Bombarded by noise and messaging.

We live in a world bombarded by noise and messaging.

Does anyone else have those moments in the kitchen

where you're wondering why you're feeling so

overwhelmed and you can't think straight, only

to then have someone walk in and turn the range

hood off and all of a sudden you can think clearly?

Anybody else have that moment in their day? No?

Okay, it might be the radio in the background.

You know, like, or the volume of the house, the

ambient volume of the house going up with kids

or grandkids screaming around, like, whatever

it is, that you're sitting there, like, Laws

and I, like, the amount of times, because our

dining room is in our kitchen, and we're sitting

there, and yeah, we're trying to feed kids and

get food into their mouths, 100%, so there's

like a layer there already. But we're wondering

why there's just like this general tension like

in the room and we're wondering what the heck

is going on. And then one of us will go over

and turn the range hood off and the overall volume

of the room just drops. And you hear kind of

everybody breathe, kids included. Oh my gosh.

Why was that still on? But in all seriousness,

we are called as followers of Jesus not to try

to be more like Jesus. but to actually become

more like him. And scripture goes after our thought

life as a key way that this happens. Do not conform

to the pattern of the world, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind, as we read in Romans

Romans 12:2

12 verse 2. John Mark Comer in his book, The

Ruthless Elimination of Harry, writes this, the

noise of the modern world makes us deaf to the

voice of God, drowning out the one input, we

need most. And so the question that we're asked

is, what's that range hood in your life? What

is that thing that creates that or raises the

ambient noise in your life that drowns out or

deafens us to the very voice of God and the source

of all life? What is the rangehood in yours and

mine, my own life? In just a few chapters over

in Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul writes this.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again.

Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all.

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything.

Is that not a wild statement for today? Don't

be anxious about anything. Yeah, oil prices,

so what? Oh, the Houthis have joined. Oh, wow.

Feels like my family is falling apart. It's okay.

Work is super hard right now. I'm with you. Do

not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let's

not forget that bit, present your requests to

God, and the peace of God, which transcends all

understanding, it doesn't make sense, will guard

your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally,

brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever

is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if

anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think

about such things. Think on these things. Let

them fill your mind. Dwell on them. Let them

dwell in you. In the peace of God. And the peace

of God, which goes beyond all understanding,

beyond all anxieties, not diminishing anxiety

or the things that we feel as humans, enters

into our circumstance, into our experience. The

peace of God is not distant from it. The peace

of God can be experienced right in the midst

of it. And we will struggle to know the mind

of Christ or have his mindset formed in us if

we are inattentive to the voice of God by being

careless about what we fill our days and our

minds with. Our attention shapes our affection.

Our affection forms our allegiances. When we

give ourselves to lesser things, we begin to

love them most and start living as though they

are actually our masters. As the late poet Mary

Oliver so aptly put it, attention is the beginning

of devotion. And as Jesus, our rabbi and savior

taught, where your treasure is, there your heart

will be also. And so as we begin this journey

through Holy Week and toward the cross, this

morning, there is no easy landing. There's no

summary of what we're about to enter into and

what Jesus, entered into on our behalf. Yeah,

there's some things we can take away from this

morning, but there's no comfortable, pithy, yeah,

this is good, and then I can forget. No, this

Holy Week, we enter into with Jesus the realities

of human experience and our own darkness. that

his light may shine brighter in us, through us,

around us. And so I end with these three questions

again, not in summary because we're journeying

this together, but to provide, I don't know,

something for the week that is ahead that we

may consider if we are Jesus' follower, how is

he my master? How is he my model? And is his

mindset actually being formed in me? So the questions

are, where is Jesus not yet master and king in

your life? As you consider the example of Jesus,

where might the spirit be nudging you this morning?

And what has captured your attention and affection

more than Jesus? Again, family, I say this not

because... I've mastered any of this. I'm so

far from. But in God's goodness and grace, as

I fix my eyes on him, the author and perfecter

of my faith, I'm slowly wanting him to be my

king more. I'm wanting him to be my master more.

I want him to be my example and model and I want

to mirror him more. I want his thoughts in my

head more. Because in love he came and did for

me what I could not have done for myself. Hosanna,

save us. Hosanna in the highest. Lord, we now

just, Give ourselves afresh to you in an active

surrender, in yielding to your word, to your

spirit's work amongst us, and to the way of the

cross, knowing that there is no resurrection

life without death first. And so help us this

week to be faithful in walking in your footsteps,

moment by moment, day by day. knowing that, yes,

Easter Sunday is coming, but that we would not

shy away from the reality of the cross and all

that you underwent for us. For your glory's sake,

we pray these things, King Jesus. Amen.