Sermon from Matthew 21:1-11 for Palm Sunday

So…

The good news is Jesus is King. Hallelujah! Hosanna in the Highest!

The bad news is we don’t want a King! Crucify Him!

I know this may seem a bit harsh, but the reality is, it is truth!

We humans like being the rulers of our own lives.

Look at public discourse, the stuff on Fox News and MSNBC. How much of what is argued about is the complaint that others should not have the right to dictate how we live!

The ongoing debates about taxes, medical marijuana, guns, borders, even abortion all have to do with who gets to decide what you do with your time, energy, money, and stuff.  Are you the King of your Kingdom or is someone else?

We live in a democracy and like it because of its promise that we will get to decide our destiny, but are deeply perturbed when that turns out not to be true and things don’t go our way!  Why?

Because we want to live in a world that is not based on compromise, or even on grace, but in a world where our needs, our desires, our hopes and dreams take precedence. Some call that freedom. Others note that is also the stuff of original sin. #MeFirst

Jesus as King sounds like a good idea, unless Jesus as King would act Kingly; because when Kings act Kingly they generally are empowered to tell us what to do and when to do it and for how long; even to tell us what are to believe.

The good news is Jesus is King. The bad news is we really don’t want a King!

And to be sure, we are quite conflicted about it all. We want the right to decide for ourselves most things, most of the time.  We want to be independent, the rulers of our own small universe. But, here’s the rub…

We are not at all sure that other people should be able to decide for themselves.

We like freedom, but only when it applies to us, not when it allows others to be free to do what we don’t approve of.

We love the idea of Jesus being King with all the pomp and circumstance and are willing to celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem! Yet at the same time we prepare to join the crowds to condemn him if being King means that he gets to decide what we can or can’t do or be.

We want a king who will follow our agenda, not be a king with his own.

In the Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis, the Lion character in the seven books is called Aslan. He, for Lewis, is the Christ figure whose overwhelming love in the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe results in Aslan’s sacrificial death.

But we are reminded by Lewis in several places that Aslan is not a tame lion. He is powerful beyond all imagining - but chooses to be gentle and humble unless confronted by those who choose evil.

Remember, this Jesus is the one who in the passage right after our Palm Sunday reading in Matthew, cleanses the Temple! Sweet Jesus it appears he is not; but rather a true King and Lord. How ironic!

Yet there is something about this Jesus that is different! He doesn’t sweep into power with a sword. Rather he comes and asks to be invited in; to become your Lord and Savior and King by your choice, a choice added by the Holy Spirit for sure, but by your choice none-the-less, made King by you placing the crown upon his head; a crown perhaps of thorns.

This King Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey; and in Matthew’s gospel, not a male donkey, but a mother with her young colt. No pretense or artifice, no white stallion in full armor like the one ridden by Pontius Pilot through another gate accompanied by Rome’s finest military.

No proclamations of being the best, the most powerful, even the smartest. Jesus does not even declare himself as King. Rather he teaches and leads with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.

Jesus comes to Jerusalem in a quiet symbolic moment that the disciples would never forget, a pivotal moment, a Kairos moment, one where the meaning of time pauses even as the physical clock continues to tick.

Jesus teaches in the Temple. And he gathers his disciples close, and soon they are in an upper room with a Seder feast. He invites them to follow. He never compels.

There is much that is about to happen in the week ahead, that makes clear that this King is like no other.

For this King will offer himself as the sacrificial, the one whose death takes away the sin of the world. Indeed…

The good news is Jesus is King.

The bad news is we really don’t want a King!

The best news, is that if you are willing, you can take up your cross and follow him.

Amen.