The City of Justice
A Sermon on John 12:12-16 and Mark 11:1-11
By Griff
Martin
For the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of
faith
On the Sixth Sunday of Lent
March 25 2018
Incarnate God, we ask that you once again take the Word and
transform it into a living and breathing reality we can all together
experience. Be present here in this space and in these words God for if you are
present here then nothing else will matter, but if you are not present here
then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and the
Comforter. Amen.
It happened late at night after another full day of
ministry, the disciples had all finally settled down around a campfire,
securing their place to stay this night, once again realizing that Jesus really
meant this “Foxes have holes and birds have nest but the Son of Man has no
place to lie his head” business, wishing just once that they could have a
miracle… that this stone could become bread or even better a pillow, that their
aching backs would be restored, that this water might once again change into
something a bit boozier.
At first there were lots of small conversations going on
around the campfire….. Some talked about the day, Thomas and Phillip were
busy trying to figure out this Zaccheus story, why a tax collector and what was
his back story, they surely was more to this short little man in a Sycamore
tree ,whereas John and Judas was wondering about this Bartimeus, the blind
beggar: How had he known about Jesus? How had Jesus heard him above the crowds
noise and why did none of the other guys notice it?… Others were still trying
to figure out the words Jesus had given them last night about his death, Peter
and Bartholomew were heatedly exchanging words about what this meant and what
this might mean for them. John was listening in, but a deep silence had settled
over him, he was lost in his own heart once again…. Others were back in their
normal patterns: Simon was trying to figure out where they were headed next and
as always there was a hint of “why must we change and why are we moving so fast
and weren’t things okay before” in his voice, whereas James was passionate
about how much still had to change and needed to change now, they were coming
quite close to having another argument. Thaddeus was busy lamenting the state
of the world and how everything was falling apart. Andrew was busy trying to
organize a plan and figure the logistics of everything out…. And all the while
Jesus just sat their silently taking it all in, listening, sighing and at times
closing his eyes as if he was suddenly in another place.
And then like most nights, all of the conversations seemed
to slowly die away and attention shifted back to Jesus. Their eyes meet quietly
as they wondered, who would be the first to speak and to ask Jesus a
question.
But unlike most nights when Jesus waited until a question
was asked of him, tonight Jesus started talking: “Last night I know I said some
difficult truths about sacrifice and death and love and losing your life. I
could see questions and fear in your eyes today, I saw you trying to figure it
out, I saw flashes of fear as it started to piece together, I saw moments where
it made sense and moments where it was still a mystery. I am trying to sum this
all up as best I can….. All of this, all of what we have experienced together
the last few years is about love and that love is going to look different than
you would have thought. It’s a love not just for those who are easy to get
along with and those you agree with, but it’s also for those who are really
difficult to get along with and those you disagree with. It’s about fairness
and justice and equality, it’s about trying to bring about a way of living that
is peaceful. It’s about trying to create the world that God has always wanted
for us. It’s about standing up to powers that are in the way, speaking scary
truths, going places you don’t want to go, making friends with the wrong kind
of people, even loving the wrong kind of people. It’s about making room for all
people. And it’s costly… it’s going to cost you everything, it’s about to cost
me everything.
And tomorrow is an important day, but I need to tell you
it’s going to be a hard day. Tomorrow we are going to Jerusalem and we are not
going quietly, we are going to form a parade…. I don’t want to slip in
unnoticed, I want to be seen and I want to make folks who don’t agree with our
words, folks whose power I am threatening… government and religious leaders,
wealthy and powerful… I want to make them uncomfortable, to take notice.
So I need a few of you to go into Jerusalem first thing in
the morning and get me a colt, there will be one tied up as soon as you get in
town, just take it. We are going to need it. Tomorrow that is what I will ride
in on….”
And before he could finish his thoughts, Peter (because
it’s always Peter) spoke up: “I mean not to be too legalistic but this whole
taking a colt thing, well that seems to be stealing and isn’t that a big
one?”
And then Bartholomew: “Jesus I know this seems like a good
idea, but remember tomorrow is the day Pilate is going to enter town, and that
is a pretty big deal, your idea of an entrance might easily disrupt his
parade?”
And then Thomas, “Jesus this just seems to be bit
disruptive, isn’t there a more orderly way we can do things? Maybe something a
bit slower and less big… maybe there is a safer way of doing this? Or at least
a way that won’t possibly put us in danger?”
Simon immediately followed, “Jesus Passover is a pretty
religious deal, and you know religious means rituals and rituals mean doing
things they way we have always done them, surely you don’t want to mess that up
right? You don’t want to change how things are always done?”
And then a moment of silence.
Phillip finally broke the silence, it did not appear Jesus
was going to respond, “Jesus I don’t know how to say this, but this parade just
does not seem to make any sense… especially after what you said last night and
the danger we know exists in Jerusalem."
Judas followed quickly, “You know Jesus the way you are
talking about this it seems a bit political, and maybe you know since we do
religion and religion and politics don’t mix, we need to stick to religion… we
don’t want to be seen as too political.”
And then Andrew: “Jesus, I mean I am just going to say it…
that seems scary.”
And then silence, that deep silence where words hang so
heavy in the air you can almost see them like fog. It seemed as though these
questions and concerns might linger all night, as if they were supposed to go
to sleep in the midst of this uncertainty or as if they might even be called to
make uncertainty their home.
Finally after what felt like forever Jesus spoke: “God’s
way and the world’s ways are not the same…never have been, never were and that
is about to be as clear as it can get. Yes this will disrupt Pilate’s parade of
power, it might even threaten him. Yes it will put us in danger. Yes it changes
the way things have always been done. Yes it might not seem to make any sense.
Yes it’s political. And yes it’s scary…. But that is our calling, that is the
summation of everything we have done yet.”
Silence fell over the group once again as they let his
words sink in…
And then Jesus interrupted the silence for the final time
that night, “One more thing, and this one is big… tomorrow you are not
followers, tomorrow you go first. Some of you will go first to get the colt and
then you will all go ahead of me as we enter the city, I will ride in last.
Tomorrow following me means you go first, it means you lead the way.”
And with that they all just sat, some of them closed their
eyes and tried to sleep, others pretended to be asleep, but no one slept…
following was never easy, but Jesus had never asked them to lead the way.
And maybe on this day, this Palm Sunday, we need to
remember that…. Sometimes following Christ looks like leading the way.
Because church our days and the disciples days are all too
similar… We still have a lot of questions about Jesus and are still trying to
work our way through the Gospel story and make heads or tails of it, we are
still trying to figure out the calling and the mystery of the Cross, we still
argue over change and the speed of change and struggling with moving too slow
and being too reactionary, we still try to figure things out and make plans, we
are all too overwhelmed with the world and the way things are right now (and I
think that is something we ought to acknowledge more because we are carrying it
with us, we all know it, so let’s just say it so it does not drive us… the
world feels crazy and out of control and often we retreat here to church and
fool ourselves into thinking this should be our safe place, as if this was ever
supposed to be safe)….. we don’t look that different than the disciples sitting
around the fire that night.
And Jesus’ message to us has not changed that much either…
If we are quiet enough in our hearts and we put away our questions, our worries
just for a bit I think we could hear it again:
“Church I see the questions and fears in your eyes… valid
questions and fears…. And you keep putting it all together bit by bit, brick by
brick…. It’s the same words: love, sacrifice, death, losing your life, hope and
resurrection. And it’s still all about love: love is going to look different
than you would have thought. It’s a love not just for those who are easy to get
along with and those you agree with, but it’s also for those who are really
difficult to get along with and those you disagree with and those who voted differently
than you. It’s about fairness and justice and equality and it’s about that for
all people regardless of race or religion or sexual orientation or gender
identity or immigration status or wealth, it’s about trying to bring about a
way of living that is peaceful and joyful and hopeful. It’s about trying to
create the world that God has always wanted for us. It’s about standing up to
powers that are in the way, speaking scary truths, going places you don’t want
to go, making friends with the wrong kind of people, even loving the wrong kind
of people. It’s about standing up against violence, against kids getting shot
in their classrooms and bombs hidden in a city. And it’s costly… it’s going to
cost you everything just like it cost me everything, but that is still the path
to life, losing it…. It’s about the cross and the tomb, death and resurrection.
It’s the way of life I came to show you how to live. It’s about
salvation.”
And how I wish that was all the similarity between us and
the disciples on that night, but we know better… because we hear it in our own
hallways and we ourselves say it….
Jesus living like that might disrupt the powers that be in
our world, and maybe we are brave enough to finally admit that it might even
disrupt our own privilege because all too often we, those of us here today, are
the powerful.
Jesus this seems too disruptive, surely there are other
ways we can do… ways that are a bit safer, tamer.
Jesus maybe we need to slow down this seems all too radical
Jesus, this is not the way we have always done things,
surely you don’t want us to change.
Jesus, some of this just does not make any sense.
Jesus, this seems a bit too political and this is church.
Jesus this just all seems so scary.
I think if we listened carefully we would hear Jesus just
sigh, that deep sigh because he’s heard it before and then we hear silence,
because Jesus wants us to sit with our words because if we sit with them long
enough maybe we will finally see them in light of the Gospel and see the truth.
And once that happens once we see the Gospel truth and our
calling, I think Jesus’ eyes light up and then he has one last thing to say to
us: “One more thing, and this one is big… tomorrow you are not followers,
tomorrow you go first. Some of you will go first to get the colt and then you
will all go ahead of me as we enter the city, I will ride in last. Tomorrow
following me means you go first.”
May we be so bold. May we build the city Jesus wants to
ride into. Amen and Amen.
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