First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Luke 19:28-40
I never saw it that way!
I have a book at home that is a collection of artistic images. The particular type of art is really special. It is 3-D art. The pages appear to be just regular pages with some consistent design across the page.
The trick is to look into the design. You have to relax your eyes and gradually, an image will become fuzzy and then, something you never saw before will pop right off the page into a realistic 3-D image that appears to float above the page. But some people, try as they might never actually find anything in the design. No matter how instructed, each person has to find the secret to seeing the 3-d image.
It is really cool to watch someone who has been struggling mightily to suddenly see what everyone else in the room has been talking about.
There is another famous saying that I probably over use. Certain people are said to be unable to “See the forest for the trees”. What does that mean exactly? Well, it pretty well indicates that the big picture is lost on that person. Their world is the key focus and sometimes the scope of the person’s imagination is rather limited.
But like we have spoken of before, I enjoy pushing your imagination to the limits. I really like to challenge you to think big. After all, God is bigger than we can ever imagine. Let us not get into the practice of placing limits or restrictions on our expectations of God. We must also continually our concept of what God can do.
I am an office manager during the day. I only play a preacher on Sunday. But this week, I had an opportunity to be in the middle of a, shall we say, “difference of opinion”. As a manager, it is my job to find common ground, to find it quickly and to resolve conflicts for the betterment of the organization.
In fact, it was this situation and the reply I got that inspired me on the title of our sermon. After calmly explaining ALL perspectives, the person at the center of this situation looked at me and calmly said, “You know, I never saw it that way!”
It was as if a light went off. He had the same reaction I have seen exhibited by those who suddenly see the 3-D image just pop off the page…”Oh…there it is! I see it now! Wow! That is so cool!”
In our scripture passage this morning, Jesus is greeted like a celebrity. He is a celebrity! There is a lot of buzz about this guy. Everybody is talking about this guy and his entourage. During the Passover, when everyone is required to show up, the gossip, rumors and conversations would have reached a fever pitch.
Let’s look at the way Jesus arrived. It reminds me of some of those entrances made into coliseums by rock stars, celebrities or people famous just for being famous. It was staged. Jesus entry was completely staged.
Our call to worship this morning is from the prophet Zachariah. It was this exact prophesy that Jesus was using to make his grand entrance. Some say he did it just so he could claim by fulfilling that prophesy, that it was a lock. He was the messiah.
Others counter, “Anyone could have done these things.” In the book “The Case for Christ, author Lee Strobel interviewed Louis S. Lapides, M.Div.,TH.M. It was Lapides that a point out that Jesus of Nazareth was the ONLY person in history to have fulfilled all of the forty eight prophesies, many of which were completely beyond Jesus control.
But what I really want to look at is what happened next. Jesus is received like a hero! Jesus has the paparazzi after him. He is a target of great interest that is a fascinating figure. Everyone realizes how this person has begun to change the very way people thing about the world and the people around them.
People are so funny. All people across all of time, we are so funny. Anything bright and shiny, oh how we love it. Bells and whistles, we can not resist. I read in a National Geographic article once that scientists have proven that “Novelty produces dopamine”. Dopamine is a pleasure chemical in our brains. When we get a rush of this chemical, we get a small pleasant buzz.
Retailers know that novelty produces dopamine. All you have to do is pay special attention to the placement of merchandise in stores. In this sense, we are no different than an old bass hanging around in the Lilly pads. When something bright and shiny comes by, it is all over with.
So there was a high tide of sympathy, of novelty and of attention as Jesus made his prophetic entrance. Even the coats were part or the Old Testament prophesies from 2 Kings 9:13.
But let’s admit it here and now, when we see or hear about a ruckus, we want details!
People are so funny! Have you ever seen television shows or books featuring former stars? Many are called “Where are they now?” What has happened to someone who used to be a house hold name? As a society, throughout history, our collective attention spans have never been that great.
And, holding true to that theme, look what happened when Jesus first came under close scrutiny by the authorities? Even Peter, (Luke 22:57) who I can identify with very closely, denied that he had ever met Jesus, not once, but three times! When things started going badly, or when things get uncomfortable, we tend to cut and run. It becomes every person for themselves.
We have all heard the stories about how the officials were intimidated, spooked or even envious of the attention Jesus was getting from the surging crowd. But that is not where I want to focus.
Over the next few minutes, I want to draw a parallel between the crowds at that particular Passover celebration and you and me today. Oh how we love to gather to celebrate the Christ. No, wait…our numbers are down across the nation. Oh well we love to worship Him just as the crowd did…no wait, our worship has really become about the things we worship with.
Well, at least we still love to talk about Jesus and the stir and excitement is still… hum. But the crowd was excited, the crowd had something novel and new happening. This was a big deal in history!
Oh if only we could recapture that novelty!
This is Palm Sunday. This is the day we traditionally celebrate what is known as Jesus Triumphant entry into Jerusalem. But this is also the beginning of what we know as Holy Week. Holy week contains some elements that we sometimes would rather not speak of.
If we simply go from the triumphant entry to the resurrection, (people are so funny) we gloss over the entire sacrifice and suffering that made this event relevant to you and me two thousand years later. Holy week contains Maunday Thursday, when the church is stripped of all liturgical color and officially enters mourning.
Maunday Thursday is when the ghoulish reality of what Jesus suffered comes home. But we would always prefer to look away. The recent film Passion of the Christ was reviewed by most as being to horrific to be seen by minors. Even those of us who saw this Hollywood reenactment had a hard time watching.
But we are talking about the actual torture and killing of an innocent man for our sakes.
Another element of Holy Week is Good Friday; the burial of Jesus. Holy week is full of major events that we must not relinquish. We must remember them and have them present as we gather to worship this Sunday and on Easter Sunday.
When things got bad, where was the crowd that cheered him on when he rode into Jerusalem? I’ll tell you where we were. When the tide of popularity began to turn, we were the very ones spitting on him. We were the very ones who had cheered earlier and who were now jeering. We, the crowd had suddenly turned. It was now popular to be against Jesus.
Oh, SHINY…let’s go this way and do that popular thing. We turned on Jesus, just like that (snap). We lost sight of the forest.
I must stop you before you make yourselves too forlorn. Even as the film “The Passion” was released, different groups began the old routine of blaming the Jews for executing Jesus, or blaming that group or this group…
But please don’t forget the big picture. Look beyond the surface to see what will pop up and surprise you. Let’s remember to see the forest for the trees. Let’s remember the prophesy! Do you remember that we were told centuries before Jesus death that he must suffer and die? It had to happen for the forgiveness of our sins. Another prophesy fulfilled indicating the validity of the claim of Christ.
I encourage you, this holy week to remember the crowd. I encourage you to think, to believe and to develop faith…for yourselves. Sometimes that means going against the crowd. Know you are His beloved for whom he sacrificed everything, live like you are his and show His light and life to all around you.
Before we gather again on Ester Sunday, I want to leave you with the words of the Roman Centurion at the foot of the cross (Mark 15:39) as Jesus died. As if to say, I never saw it that way, oh now I see it, Wow!…after all something new and novel and different was happening…”Surely, this man was the Son of God!”
AMEN
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
New Pastor @ Ripley First Presbyterian Church
I have been working as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Ripley Tennessee for a while now. This is a wonderful congregation of people who love each other and love the Lord. I have come to know them as friends and as fellow servants. They have joy and they have sorrow. They are God's people and I love them as such.
But because our lives are so busy, I have decided to begin to share some of my thoughts and to publish my weekly sermons here to share the Gospel with those who may not have had the opportunity to worship with us.
So! Here we go! Please enjoy and provide feedback. I hope you will go with me on the journey of a lifetime...what a great ride!
But because our lives are so busy, I have decided to begin to share some of my thoughts and to publish my weekly sermons here to share the Gospel with those who may not have had the opportunity to worship with us.
So! Here we go! Please enjoy and provide feedback. I hope you will go with me on the journey of a lifetime...what a great ride!
Sunday March 21, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Ripley Tennessee
March 21, 2010
5th Sunday of Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21
John 12:1-11
Perspectives of Humility
There are some ways of displaying humility that are more powerful than other ways. There are varying reasons and motives for displaying humility or feeling humble. There are times that demonstrations of, or feeling of humility are more appropriate than other times. Generally I think we can agree that humility or humbleness is appropriate when we perceive something to be much more important than self.
When we perceive ourselves to be less than someone or something or feel overpowered by a situation in life, we feel humble; we feel smaller; we feel inferior. Sometimes, in our human nature, we compensate for that inferior feeling we get through various methods of revenge, intrigue and retaliation that are old as Cain and Able.
Sometimes our reaction is humility and sometimes our reaction is rage.
This morning I want to spend some time visiting with you about one of these two reactions we have when we have occasion to brush up against overpowering situations or personalities. I want to visit about the reaction of humility.
One definition of humility states in part: modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.; now my words – in relation to another person or thing or situation.
I had an experience once that I think taught me a lesson. I was helping my father when he was at an advanced age. His health had declined and he was precariously living alone. I worried about him. I was all he had left. I tried to help him as best I could. However, he was a very proud and stubborn man dealing with the advancement of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
I remember one afternoon, I decided to go to his house and build a railing at his front steps. I was worried about him falling as he had already fallen and had hip surgery.
The only problem was that I had to sneak in and build it when he was not there. Number one, he would get mad at me for trying to help him, and number two, I probably could not build it to his satisfaction (roll of the eyes). Never the less it had to be done.
I chose an afternoon that he would not be home, loaded up all my tools, equipment and supplies and headed off. Sure enough, he was not home and like a summertime Santa, I got straight to my work. The work progresses according to plan for a while. Then I hit a snag. You know like you always do. In my stealth and cunning, I had forgotten to take several design features into consideration.
I could not make it work! I had a problem. Things began to snowball rapidly from there and the simple became complex and an afternoon project turned into four afternoons of torture. My humility of servitude began to be assailed and confronted by my own personal levels of comfort. I began to think, “This is ridiculous, I have done enough.” My humility began to erode as my frustration grew.
It was after about the second or third trip back to the lumber yard that a thought occurred to me. “If an act of kindness becomes too much trouble, was it ever a true act of kindness to begin with?”
In other words, I will be kind to you, but my charity will only extend so far. I do not want to put myself in a position of being taken advantage of. I began to wrestle with that thought. Your answer will vary from one situation to the next and from one recipient’s attitude to the next. We will treat appreciative folks better than those who feel entitled or who are demanding, I have found to be the general rule. Yes I said general rule…not the golden rule.
There are several ways we can take stock of our humility in general or in any specific situation.
First
Do I see what I am doing as humble? We must begin to think in Christian terms and temper our actions and especially our re-actions keeping this humility in the front of our minds. Jesus is our model of humility. When faced with a reaction or an action we must use Jesus as our standard. Is our response adequate for Him?
The popular bracelet that folks wore, especially our young people, was WWJD. That stands for What Would Jesus Do? That is a wonderful overture. It is a wonderful thought. But again, it runs the same risk of everything in popular culture; the risk of becoming cliché; rendering its usefulness only to those circumstances where everyone can see your humility demonstrated. True humility is present in spite of the absence of witnesses.
Second
Is what I am doing seen by others as being humble? Here, I suggest that we look around ourselves to friends, neighbors, those we respect, the Bible and fellow Christians. These are the people who hold us accountable. These are members of the Body of Christ.
Living life sometimes can get us very disoriented. Life can turn upside down, sometimes within the span of a phone call, the visit of a friend, or a conference with a doctor. It is at times like these, that our humility is brought out to the forefront and put on display. Our fellow members of the Body of Christ help us keep our bearings, they support us, they nurture us.
By the same token, it is these same members of the body of Christ that are called upon to straighten us out when we all occasionally get to big for our britches. Sometimes we feel a bit more important than we really are. Some of our actions can sometimes be motivated more from the standpoint of self than the standpoint of Christ.
By acknowledging that we are a MEMBER of the body, we can constantly maintain our bearings of humility.
I am reminded of a great story. There was a man standing in a very long and slow moving checkout line. The casher was obviously having trouble of some sort and was doing the best he could. Before long, and we have all been in this situation, the crowd began to grumble. One man became especially bold after several egged him on. He really began to voice his frustration to the point of protest.
He was humbled however, by a man who turned and noticed that the boisterous complainer was wearing a “Promise Keepers” shirt. Promise Keepers was a broad sweeping and very popular men’s movement that stressed honor and duty and Christian values. The man confronted the loud mouth and said, “Hey buddy, if you are going to act like that, take off the Promise Keepers shirt!”
Third
Is what I am doing seen by God as being humble? Thinking about Mary and her act of humility, I frankly don’t see any of us stooping to this level of self humiliation. That is what it ultimately is. An act of humility, to be humble, is to at times, from the perspective of others, allow yourself to be humiliated.
The strength and gift of God through the Holy Spirit is being able to keep this humiliation in context. We worry about our humiliation before men, who are equals and we defend against that. Humiliation in the secular world equals very bad. Oh NO! I never want to allow myself to be humiliated.
Friends, that is exactly why we don’t reach out to others the way we should. That is why we have become introverted. That is why we don’t ask people their names when we feel we should know them. We are protecting ourselves against humiliation.
I once walked up to a lady in Church, shook her hand and welcomed her to church. She replied, “Conner, I am Charlotte. I was your fifth grade teacher. I have been a member here all my life!” You think I wasn’t humiliated. But what I learned was that the world did not end. I developed a motto: If I can survive the Charlotte Gordon incident, I can survive anything!
What Mary did, she did out of an act of pure humility; first, in washing Jesus feet. This in itself is an overt act of humility and servitude. Second, she washed his feet with an incredibly valuable pint of ointment. She used the nard as a means of expressing the incredible value of Christ relative to the value of anything man made. Lastly, as if to really put things over the top, she didn’t just use linen or a cloth, but the very hair of her head.
Now ladies, Imagine your husband or father coming into your house from the garden or the field or from working in the yard; or in my case it may be coming in from hunting. Now imagine his boots caked with mud and dirt from working outdoors.
Now add to that, the image of washing his boots with Clive Christian No.1 from Saks Fifth Avenue. It sells for $2,350 an ounce. What Mary used was worth about a year’s wages, so that would be about right. Have you got that image?
Now, in your mental image, begin to use your hair to wipe all that off his boots until they are clean enough to come in your house. That is how vast Jesus was above Mary from her perspective. That is how humbled Mary, whose brother had just been raised from being dead by Jesus, was to have this man in her home. That is, from Mary’s perspective, what it took to display her humility to the greatness of Christ who sat before her.
I resolved my frustration with my father that day by remembering the 20th chapter of Exodus verse 12; “Honor your Father and Mother…” This holy perspective placed my father above me and lowered myself to a subordinate position.
This Easter season, search your heart; look deep inside to see where you need to grow spiritually. Do you have the perspective of Mary sitting at the feet of the master? Or are you somewhere else looking on watching Mary absolutely humiliate herself?
AMEN
Ripley Tennessee
March 21, 2010
5th Sunday of Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21
John 12:1-11
Perspectives of Humility
There are some ways of displaying humility that are more powerful than other ways. There are varying reasons and motives for displaying humility or feeling humble. There are times that demonstrations of, or feeling of humility are more appropriate than other times. Generally I think we can agree that humility or humbleness is appropriate when we perceive something to be much more important than self.
When we perceive ourselves to be less than someone or something or feel overpowered by a situation in life, we feel humble; we feel smaller; we feel inferior. Sometimes, in our human nature, we compensate for that inferior feeling we get through various methods of revenge, intrigue and retaliation that are old as Cain and Able.
Sometimes our reaction is humility and sometimes our reaction is rage.
This morning I want to spend some time visiting with you about one of these two reactions we have when we have occasion to brush up against overpowering situations or personalities. I want to visit about the reaction of humility.
One definition of humility states in part: modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.; now my words – in relation to another person or thing or situation.
I had an experience once that I think taught me a lesson. I was helping my father when he was at an advanced age. His health had declined and he was precariously living alone. I worried about him. I was all he had left. I tried to help him as best I could. However, he was a very proud and stubborn man dealing with the advancement of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
I remember one afternoon, I decided to go to his house and build a railing at his front steps. I was worried about him falling as he had already fallen and had hip surgery.
The only problem was that I had to sneak in and build it when he was not there. Number one, he would get mad at me for trying to help him, and number two, I probably could not build it to his satisfaction (roll of the eyes). Never the less it had to be done.
I chose an afternoon that he would not be home, loaded up all my tools, equipment and supplies and headed off. Sure enough, he was not home and like a summertime Santa, I got straight to my work. The work progresses according to plan for a while. Then I hit a snag. You know like you always do. In my stealth and cunning, I had forgotten to take several design features into consideration.
I could not make it work! I had a problem. Things began to snowball rapidly from there and the simple became complex and an afternoon project turned into four afternoons of torture. My humility of servitude began to be assailed and confronted by my own personal levels of comfort. I began to think, “This is ridiculous, I have done enough.” My humility began to erode as my frustration grew.
It was after about the second or third trip back to the lumber yard that a thought occurred to me. “If an act of kindness becomes too much trouble, was it ever a true act of kindness to begin with?”
In other words, I will be kind to you, but my charity will only extend so far. I do not want to put myself in a position of being taken advantage of. I began to wrestle with that thought. Your answer will vary from one situation to the next and from one recipient’s attitude to the next. We will treat appreciative folks better than those who feel entitled or who are demanding, I have found to be the general rule. Yes I said general rule…not the golden rule.
There are several ways we can take stock of our humility in general or in any specific situation.
First
Do I see what I am doing as humble? We must begin to think in Christian terms and temper our actions and especially our re-actions keeping this humility in the front of our minds. Jesus is our model of humility. When faced with a reaction or an action we must use Jesus as our standard. Is our response adequate for Him?
The popular bracelet that folks wore, especially our young people, was WWJD. That stands for What Would Jesus Do? That is a wonderful overture. It is a wonderful thought. But again, it runs the same risk of everything in popular culture; the risk of becoming cliché; rendering its usefulness only to those circumstances where everyone can see your humility demonstrated. True humility is present in spite of the absence of witnesses.
Second
Is what I am doing seen by others as being humble? Here, I suggest that we look around ourselves to friends, neighbors, those we respect, the Bible and fellow Christians. These are the people who hold us accountable. These are members of the Body of Christ.
Living life sometimes can get us very disoriented. Life can turn upside down, sometimes within the span of a phone call, the visit of a friend, or a conference with a doctor. It is at times like these, that our humility is brought out to the forefront and put on display. Our fellow members of the Body of Christ help us keep our bearings, they support us, they nurture us.
By the same token, it is these same members of the body of Christ that are called upon to straighten us out when we all occasionally get to big for our britches. Sometimes we feel a bit more important than we really are. Some of our actions can sometimes be motivated more from the standpoint of self than the standpoint of Christ.
By acknowledging that we are a MEMBER of the body, we can constantly maintain our bearings of humility.
I am reminded of a great story. There was a man standing in a very long and slow moving checkout line. The casher was obviously having trouble of some sort and was doing the best he could. Before long, and we have all been in this situation, the crowd began to grumble. One man became especially bold after several egged him on. He really began to voice his frustration to the point of protest.
He was humbled however, by a man who turned and noticed that the boisterous complainer was wearing a “Promise Keepers” shirt. Promise Keepers was a broad sweeping and very popular men’s movement that stressed honor and duty and Christian values. The man confronted the loud mouth and said, “Hey buddy, if you are going to act like that, take off the Promise Keepers shirt!”
Third
Is what I am doing seen by God as being humble? Thinking about Mary and her act of humility, I frankly don’t see any of us stooping to this level of self humiliation. That is what it ultimately is. An act of humility, to be humble, is to at times, from the perspective of others, allow yourself to be humiliated.
The strength and gift of God through the Holy Spirit is being able to keep this humiliation in context. We worry about our humiliation before men, who are equals and we defend against that. Humiliation in the secular world equals very bad. Oh NO! I never want to allow myself to be humiliated.
Friends, that is exactly why we don’t reach out to others the way we should. That is why we have become introverted. That is why we don’t ask people their names when we feel we should know them. We are protecting ourselves against humiliation.
I once walked up to a lady in Church, shook her hand and welcomed her to church. She replied, “Conner, I am Charlotte. I was your fifth grade teacher. I have been a member here all my life!” You think I wasn’t humiliated. But what I learned was that the world did not end. I developed a motto: If I can survive the Charlotte Gordon incident, I can survive anything!
What Mary did, she did out of an act of pure humility; first, in washing Jesus feet. This in itself is an overt act of humility and servitude. Second, she washed his feet with an incredibly valuable pint of ointment. She used the nard as a means of expressing the incredible value of Christ relative to the value of anything man made. Lastly, as if to really put things over the top, she didn’t just use linen or a cloth, but the very hair of her head.
Now ladies, Imagine your husband or father coming into your house from the garden or the field or from working in the yard; or in my case it may be coming in from hunting. Now imagine his boots caked with mud and dirt from working outdoors.
Now add to that, the image of washing his boots with Clive Christian No.1 from Saks Fifth Avenue. It sells for $2,350 an ounce. What Mary used was worth about a year’s wages, so that would be about right. Have you got that image?
Now, in your mental image, begin to use your hair to wipe all that off his boots until they are clean enough to come in your house. That is how vast Jesus was above Mary from her perspective. That is how humbled Mary, whose brother had just been raised from being dead by Jesus, was to have this man in her home. That is, from Mary’s perspective, what it took to display her humility to the greatness of Christ who sat before her.
I resolved my frustration with my father that day by remembering the 20th chapter of Exodus verse 12; “Honor your Father and Mother…” This holy perspective placed my father above me and lowered myself to a subordinate position.
This Easter season, search your heart; look deep inside to see where you need to grow spiritually. Do you have the perspective of Mary sitting at the feet of the master? Or are you somewhere else looking on watching Mary absolutely humiliate herself?
AMEN
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