Gateway’s Core Values 2008

Avoiding “Palm Sunday Worship”

John 12:12-19

Today, of course, is Palm Sunday.  It’s the day when we remember the events that occurred when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem in the week before His death and resurrection.  The story is told in all four of the biographies of Jesus that we have, but for our purposes this morning, we are going to focus on the record that John gives us.  If you would, please turn in your Bible to the gospel of John, the 12^th Chapter, and the 12^th verse.  (If, by the way, you don’t have a Bible, please feel free to take one of the Bibles we have distributed on the chairs around you – as long as it doesn’t belong to the person sitting next to you!)

Anyway, John 12:12 begins our story,

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, 15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

No wonder we call this the “Triumphal Entry!”  Jesus is riding into Jerusalem, the ancient capitol of Israel, where King David and King Solomon had reigned from in the glory years of ancient Israel, and the crowds love Him!  They are welcoming Him as a conquering ruler, their great deliverer; the one who will deliver them from the oppressive Romans, and reestablish the glory days again.  Just look at their words,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

This was an amazing, spontaneous act of worship by the “great crowd” that had gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast.  The word “Hosanna,” is Hebrew, and means “Save,” or “Salvation.”  It was a common expression and shout of praise and joyful celebration.  It would be like when we shout out “yeah!” and give a high five when Bret Favre throws a touchdown.  But it’s much more – it’s a word of praise and worship, of hope and promise in God. 

We see that there were people in the crowd who had been with Jesus when he had raised Lazarus from the dead.  In fact, Jesus was staying in the village where Lazarus lived during these days.  Bethany is located just over the crest of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem.  It’s little more than a mile from Bethany to Jerusalem, and as Jesus left Bethany that morning, on his way to Jerusalem, a number of people from that town walked with Him from Bethany, over the crest of the Mount of Olives, down through the Kidron Valley, and up to the Temple Mount.  Those people from Bethany were in the rest of the crowd, repeatedly telling the story of Lazarus’ raising from the dead to everyone around them.  Make no mistake, these people were worshiping their Messiah!  They were welcoming their deliverer, the Son of God, their savior.

The celebration was so boisterous that the religious leaders were convinced that the whole world was following Jesus!

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Flash forward a few days, and turn forward a few pages, to John chapter 19, beginning with verse 13.

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

So what happened?  One day they were shouting words of worship and praise, a few days later they are shouting words of condemnation and death.  What happened?

I know that on Palm Sunday it’s kind of cliché to talk about the crowds that loved Jesus on one day, and then called for His execution a few days later, but I want us to really give it some serious thought for a few moments this morning, because I think that there is an important truth for us to learn, and a very practical application.  I believe that, for the most part, “religion” has gotten this whole week backwards.  There’s this great day of praise and welcoming the king on Palm Sunday, and grief and sorrow on Good Friday –right?  I think that’s backward!  I’m going t tell you why today, and on Friday – so be sure to come !

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So let’s talk about “Palm Sunday.”  How could a crowd of people, all raised in a religious culture, worship Jesus one day, and reject Him a few days later?  What do you think?  What do you see here?

[Solicit answers from the congregation…]

As I read it, and as you have mentioned, it seems obvious to me that the people were willing to worship Jesus as long as He was the Jesus they wanted to worship.  They were not worshiping the sacrificial “Lamb of God who had come to take away the sin of the world.”  They were not worshiping the suffering Messiah described in Isaiah chapter 53.  They were worshiping a military deliverer, a political leader, someone who would make their lives easier, better, and put them on top of the world.  It was celebration – but it was not so much the worship of God in His awesome glory as it was the celebration of what they thought they were going to get from Him.  They were “worshiping” a mistaken understanding of Jesus – they had a mistaken view of His mission, His agenda, and His expectations of them.

This is not the only time this occurred in the life of Jesus.  In John chapter 6 we read of a period of time when Jesus had huge crowds following Him, but then His teaching began to change – He began to talk about His death, and His body and blood being given as a source of life for people.  In verse 60 we read, “On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘this is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?”  A few verses later, we read, “From this time many of His disciples turned their back and no longer followed Him.”  (John 6:60)

Even the Twelve had their moments when they were on a completely different page than Jesus.  At the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough.”  To which Jesus answered, “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been with you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  Right up until the end, the disciples were still expecting that Jesus was going to set up an earthly kingdom, and some were even asking for high positions in the government! 

Now I share all that with you because I think that quite often, we today are guilty of what I would call “Palm Sunday Worship.” 

No we don’t bring palms to church, or thrown our coats on the ground in front of a donkey, but far too often we worship much like those folks did in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  We come to church, sing the songs, spread out a little offering before the Lord, and we may genuinely hail Him as our King and Lord.  But are we worshiping Him for Who He truly is, or are we worshiping a mistaken image of Jesus?  Are we worshiping Jesus as we find Him in our Bibles, or are we worshiping a Jesus that we have mistakenly shaped in our own minds Who fits our agenda?

We worship a Christ who saves our souls, and offers us a home in heaven – who wouldn’t? 

We worship a Jesus who died to take away our guilt and shame – of course! 

We worship the Jesus who said, “Ask whatever you will in my name and you will have it.”

“Yeah!”  “Hallelujah!”  “Hosanna!”  Yahoo! – Let the palm branches wave and the parades begin!

Now don’t get me wrong – it’s great and wonderful to worship and be excited about all those things about Jesus – forgiveness, eternal life, answered prayer – they are wonderful – but if we only worship a portion of Jesus – the part that feels good, that is easy – then we set ourselves up to be “Palm Sunday Worshipers.”

The problem with “Palm Sunday Worshipers” is that they become “Good Friday Deserters.”  As soon as the teaching gets tough, as soon as the demands get great, as soon as my comfort is sacrificed for His purposes, I’m out, or I’m grumblin’!  Palm Sunday worship is shallow, and self centered.  It worships as long as “I get what I want in return for that worship.”

Now listen.  To avoid “Palm Sunday Worship” we must embrace the Christ of Easter!  We must worship an accurate picture of Who Jesus is, and what it means to follow Him.

We have spent the last 6 weeks looking at the whole picture of what it means to follow Jesus.  We started with worship – and from that first week we said that worship is not music, it is not prayers, it is not communion, it is not testimonies, it is not going to church – worship is me, personally and individually, loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  It’s me – giving myself completely and totally to Him as a living sacrifice.  Offering my life to Him, relinquishing my ownership, my control, to Him.  That’s real worship – not picking and choosing what parts of Jesus I want to embrace and celebrate – but giving myself totally to Him.

We followed that discussion with fellowship.  Again, another misunderstood concept.  We usually think of fellowship as getting together and sharing a meal.  But genuine fellowship is much more – it’s holding one another accountable, praying with and for each other, bearing one another’s burdens.  In Jesus’ words it’s “loving your neighbor as yourself.”  It’s not hanging out with the people who are cool, and easy to hang out with, it means loving the unlovely, the unpopular, the “extra grace required” people in our lives.  Fellowship means putting the other person ahead of myself.

It is because those first two concepts are so often misunderstood that most people have no problem with them – ask the average church goer, and they will gladly agree to worship and fellowship – they’ll come to church and eat a meal – and think they have them licked.  But bring up the next three characteristics, and people begin to resist.

Like discipleship.  That is a scary word to many – because at it’s root is discipline.  It sounds like work.  And it is.  Disciples are people who have decided in their hearts that they are going to follow Jesus.  They are committed to becoming like Christ.  They choose not to ignore the Bible when it says, “Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”  They don’t ignore Paul’s teaching to “Discipline yourself to godliness.”  They are not content to come to church and be spoon fed spiritual baby food – they want to get into the word and study the meat of it!  They want to dig in and know the deep things of God.

Then there’s ministry.  “Whoa!  Now you want me to be a minister?  Not me!  I can’t preach!  I can’t teach!”  You don’t have to!  Not every believer is called to be a pastor or teacher, but every believer in Jesus Christ is called to be a minister – all that means is that we are to serve each other, and the world, using the spiritual gifts, heartfelt passions, natural abilities, personality traits and experiences that we have had.  Those elements work together to uniquely shape us in a way that allows us to reach and serve people that perhaps no one else can.

Finally, we looked at mission.  Here’s perhaps the part of being a follower of Jesus that gets selectively ignored more than any other – but it is perhaps the most vital.  As a follower of Christ, we have been commanded to “Go into all the world and tell the good news of what God has done for us.”  For some that is literally around the world – for most it’s simply going back to our homes and telling our neighbors, friends, family and coworkers about the difference knowing Jesus has made for us.

These five characteristics form a picture of what it means to be a Christ follower.  They form a whole – we cannot “pick and choose” which parts of Jesus’ teaching we want to embrace.

Over the next week, as Christians around the world prepare to remember His cruel death on the cross and celebrate His resurrection, are we willing to worship the Jesus of the Bible who said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”?   Are we willing to follow Him to the cross, deny our agenda, our personal comfort and our control to Him, or are we here as “Palm Sunday Worshipers,” willing only to celebrate an image of Jesus as our deliverer, but not as our master?

“Palm Sunday Worshipers” turn into “Good Friday Deserters.”  When times get tough, and the cross gets heavy that they are called to bear, they become bitter accusers of Jesus instead of devoted followers of Jesus. 

This Palm Sunday morning, I’m issuing a challenge.  I’m challenging every person in this church to reject “Palm Sunday Worship,” and accept the invitation of Jesus to “Come, Follow Me.”  To follow Him as a complete disciple:

Ø         knowing and loving Him personally and deeply,

Ø         engaging in real, meaningful fellowship with His body,

Ø         growing in maturity through personal study of His word

Ø         serving Him as He has designed us

Ø         and telling others about what we have found.

Will you accept that challenge this morning?  Can we as a church, become a people who embrace all of what it means to follow Christ?  It is my prayer that we can.  Will you join me in that prayer?

Lord Jesus, prevent it that we should be “Palm Sunday Worshipers,” and “Good Friday Deserters.”  Lord, as we do our part, by offering ourselves to you as living sacrifices, would You do Your part by “transforming us through the renewing of our minds?”  In our flesh we are so weak.  Forgive us when we stumble. Empower us by the Holy Spirit to worship You, grow in You, encourage each other, serve each other, and tell others of Your love and grace. Guide us as we follow Jesus every step of the way – to the cross, through the cross, and on to victory.  Amen

Now, let’s worship Jesus – presenting ourselves to Him, as He really is – completely and wholly!