A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church, Metuchen, New Jersey March 16, 2008 (Passion/Palm Sunday)

Texts: Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 21:1-11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. —Philippians 2:5-11, NRSV

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says any-thing to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” —Matthew 21:1-11, NRSV

It was an encounter some weeks ago with a provocative article in the Joyful Noiseletter of the Fellowship of Merry Christians that led to the theme of this message for Passion/Palm Sunday. “Did Jesus ride into Jerusalem in a Rolls Royce?” That is the title of the article which began with this quote from Charles E. Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa: “Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey. Do these ministers really need Bentleys and Rolls-Royces to spread the Gospel?”

Senator Grassley, who is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, made that comment after his committee began an investigation of whether six “prosperity Gospel” mega-churches used tax-exempt donations to fund opulent life styles for their pastors, according to The Los Angels Times. The committee asked the Rev. Creflo Dollar, Jr., senior pastor of World Chang-ers Church International in College Park, GA, how he affords a Rolls-Royce, a multimillion-dollar mansion, and a private Gulfstream III jet, The Times article said.

Senator Grassley also wants Joyce Meyer of Joyce Meyer Ministries from Fenton, MO, to explain the tax-exempt purpose of a $23,000 “commode with marble top,” the Times reported.

Some of the pastors have agreed to submit their tax records, according to The Times, but apparently Rev. Dollar has been consulting with a team of lawyers to determine if the request from the Senate Finance Committee infringes on constitutional protection of religious liberty.

Well, whether you agree or not with those who are challenging some American “religious leaders” to justify their luxurious lifestyles, I think we can all agree that in his own time, Jesus’ means of transportation for his entry into the city of Jerusalem on this day we call Palm Sunday was fairly modest. Indeed, as the quotation from the prophet Zechariah (9:9), embedded in Mat-thew’s Palm Sunday narrative puts it:

“Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5, NRSV).

No Rolls-Royce mentioned there…not even a sturdy stallion to bear the Savior of the world through the clamoring crowd waving their palm branches to celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city.
Indeed, humbleness and humility seem to be the order of the day. For in the assigned read-ing for this Sunday from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, there are these words about the Christ who “emptied himself…. And being found in human form…humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8, NRSV). Humility… humbling one-self…and eventually enduring the humiliation of the cross: None of that sounds like a self-serving ministry or a luxurious lifestyle to my ears.

Earlier this week those of us who are exploring these Lenten Lectionary texts in our weekly Bible Study encountered this passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and found ourselves en-gaged in some reflection around “Christ-Like Humility.” The author of our study guide, Simon Peter Iredale, suggests that “Humility is not a popular concept today it seems.” We all pretty much agreed. As he was receiving the Congressional Gold Medal some years ago, the comedian Bob Hope is purported to have said: “I feel very humble, but I think I have the strength of character to fight it.”

Ironically and sadly, those of us in the Lenten Study were confronting this passage from Philippians and the topic of humility in the days when the Governor of New York was considering his political fate. And I think while some commented that they perceived an absence of humility in the midst of that struggle, others of us noted that there was certainly humiliation painfully evident on the face of one who nonetheless stood by his side. Humility…humbling oneself…and humilia-tion. Three very different concepts and experiences. But each of them is in the forefront of the story at one time or another in this holiest of Holy Weeks when Jesus endures his Passion.

Despite the fact that humility may not be popular in our contemporary society, Simon Peter Iredale declares that, “Humility is, in fact, the powerhouse of the spiritual life.” And just how are we best to understand this concept of humility? “Humility is, in essence, a sober view of your own character. If you have that sober view of your own fragility, your center of gravity in the life of the Spirit is close to the earth from which Genesis tells us God formed the first human being. This does not mean that we go to the other extreme and have a low opinion of ourselves since we believe we are people loved by God, people for whom Christ died. What it does mean is that we are begin-ning to understand Christ’s humility. In these terms, people who practice Christ-like humility are strong when buffeted by the high winds of the world. They know their true strength, their center of gravity, is Christ.

“Christ accepted God’s will so that he could shoulder the burden of our weakness and sin-fulness. He ‘emptied himself’ (Philippians 2:7), as Paul says, setting aside any concern for his own safety or defense. For this reason, God exalted him (Philippians 2:9).”

So it is that, in his humility, Jesus as God’s Son lays aside his rights, his status, and his po-tential glory in the interest of people…people like you and like me. As one person has put it: “His downward mobility for our upward mobility.” We speak about the Incarnation of Christ—God’s literally taking on our human flesh. And when we consider letting “this same mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), then we are led to consider this world and those people and those places in which God wants us to be “enfleshed.” For whom do we need to be like Jesus? What places in our world cry out desperately for a Christ-follower to go and incarnate Jesus’ grace and love? Our schools? Corporations that pollute our rivers, lakes and air? Republicans? Democ-rats? Members of Congress from either political party? Our families? There is no end to those many places where we are called to encourage Christ’s mind and heart and Spirit to be at work within us as we grow into mature Christian discipleship. Paul does not indicate that we are to seek to imitate Christ’s divinity. But when Paul writes about the “mind of Christ Jesus” he is emphasiz-ing Jesus’ humanity and humility.

There are some folk who are not so sure that Christianity is offering a compelling counter picture of Jesus to a “confused culture.” Many years ago Mahatma Gandhi in India spoke painful words to that end: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Tragically, the name of Jesus has been invoked in so many ways to support particu-lar causes, or to favor “righteous” persons…leading those who stand outside the church to assume that while Jesus saves, we in the church have some pretty strict restrictions on who are the objects of that salvation.

While that might be some people’s version of Jesus, it is not the New Testament portrait of Jesus, who very clearly saves folk others might find rather unsavory: cheats and hookers and tax collectors and church-persecutors and a thief on a cross—while blessing just about everyone he meets. You see, Jesus didn’t die just for put-together people. He died for train wrecks…people like you and like me, actually. He died for the messed-up pretty people and the messed-up ugly people, as well.

So the question on this Palm Sunday…at the beginning of Holy Week…is this: As we watch Jesus the Savior forsake a mighty Rolls-Royce of a steed to ride into Jerusalem on that little donkey—a Jerusalem which is given this enormous opportunity to embrace his message and his mission—What do we think of this humble Christ? Do we agree that the name Jesus still means “the Lord saves”? And if so, then do we agree that anyone can be the object of that salvation? Even us? That’s good! Thank God!

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PRAYER
Humble Jesus, who rides into our cities, who draws near to our lives: We, too, rise to greet you, to shout our hosannas, to feel life stir within us, to sense hope quickening in our hearts. For you are a great God, a compassionate ruler, a loving friend, and a wise counselor. Like the people of Jerusalem, we discover you are more than we first thought. Beyond loud hosannas, you ask our obedience and our worship. And we are learning, piece by piece, to turn that over to you. This day, this week, move us into the deeper levels of ourselves. Let us feel again your pain of that last week. Let us touch our own wounds, trusting you, as Easter becomes the sign of new hope for us all. Amen.
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