March 25, 2018 – “Unburdened: Garbage Time” by Rev. Cody Sandahl
Lay Reader: Mark 11:1-11
11:1When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.9Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 11Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Introduction
This is our last Sunday in our series looking at how we can be unburdened from all the things that weigh us down. We’ve looked at the burden of busyness. We’ve looked at the burden of being self-absorbed. We’ve looked at the burden of pressure from others. We’ve looked at the burdens of convenience and attitude. This week we are seeing how Jesus handled his time in two very different circumstances.
We’re celebrating Palm Sunday today – the day when all of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus like a conquering king. And in fact, that’s what they hoped he would be. If he wanted to take on the Romans, they were ready to march with him. If he wanted to start a revolution, they were ready to throw off their chains. If he wanted to seek liberty or death, they were ready to enlist.
But we know that Jesus didn’t want to start that kind of revolution. He didn’t want to start that kind of kingdom.
In our second text, we’re going to contrast this Palm Sunday scene from the end of his ministry with a scene from the beginning of his ministry. He’s visiting his tiny, back-woods hometown of Nazareth. And by this time he has been performing miracles over in the big city, he has been preaching a powerful message all over. And now the golden boy, the hometown hero, has come home. Like those Palm Sunday crowds, his friends and family are expecting a show. And here’s what he gives them.
Luke 4:16-30
16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Context Matters
I always worry about reading this text as a preacher, because I worry that it reinforces the idea that if you don’t like my sermon you can throw me off a cliff in rage. And I’m especially worried this week, because I’m usually a pretty swift runner, but I wrecked my knee in basketball so I’m not sure I can outrun all of you today. It’s a pretty big risk I’m taking.
But what got his hometown crowd so riled up? Well, context is often key.
For instance, did you know that the Bible says “The more we sin, the better it is!” It’s true – Romans 3:8. Now the whole verse says “Some people even slander us by claiming that we say, ‘the more we sin, the better it is!’ Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.” A little different connotation when you read the whole verse, right?
And Jesus does something very peculiar with the text he reads from the prophet Isaiah. He reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Sounds good right? Who could get mad at that?
But here’s the rest of that verse – “and the day of vengeance of our God.” He stops short on that. And then he says that he personally is the fulfillment of all the good news he just read, but NOT the vengeance that they really want on the occupying Romans. So Jesus is telling them, “God has anointed me to give you what you need, not what you want.” So they get mad at Jesus for claiming he’s God’s anointed – as if Joseph’s son is better than everyone else. AND they get mad at Jesus for not meeting their expectations. I imagine them thinking, “He thinks he’s better than the rest of us from this country town. He thinks he’s better than us. Are we not as good as those city folk? Who does he think he is?!?”
So that’s two strikes, but that doesn’t quite get them to murderous rage yet. So Jesus pokes them a third time. He reminds them Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon. And Elisha only healed Naaman the Syrian. Those are two examples of God’s grace being extended to foreigners while it was being withheld from the Israelites. So Jesus is telling them – “This Good News is going to be received by foreigners – the ones you hate and want me to overthrow – but you’re going to ignore it.”
That’s strike three. That’s what puts them over the edge. And that’s the same reaction Jesus gets from the crowds between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. The ones who are cheering for him to save them from the Romans see that he’s not going to do what they want. They see that Jesus claims to know what’s best – claims to be equal with God. What an uppity little fellow. “We don’t want that Jesus. You can take him. Crucify him! Free one of our rebellious brigands instead. Maybe that guy will stick it to the Romans.”
I mean, imagine that I said, “I’m the pastor, so I have God’s favor. I’m holier than you. I have a closer connection to God than you. I know what’s best. And I know what you want – what you think is best. But you’re wrong and I’m right. Trust me – I’m holy. And if you don’t like it, I think I’ll get a better hearing over at the mosque.” Is that going to be one of your favorite sermons? Would I need to get my running shoes ready? That’s probably kind of like how his hometown audience heard this sermon from Jesus. It only makes sense if the person saying it does, in fact, happen to be the Son of God. Anyone else would be a charlatan or just plain crazy, right?
Garbage Time
So that’s why the crowd was so angry at Jesus: his refusal to meet their expectations and the implications he made about who he is. But what on earth does that have to do with becoming unburdened during this Lenten season?
In a bored moment in my car I was listening to sports talk radio this week, and they were talking about John Fox – former coach of the Broncos and most recently the Bears. And Fox is going to be a commentator for his next gig. But he’s known for essentially saying nothing when a mic is in front of him. Everyone’s a hard worker. And that 0-and-15 team could have won half their games if you watch the tape, so we have to take them seriously. Stuff like that over and over and over again. But Fox is also apparently known for being a blast to talk to off the record – insightful, interesting, funny. So one of the show hosts said he texted Fox congratulating him on his new commentator job and closed with, “Now you’re actually going to have to say something interesting into a mic.” He’s almost a different person on-air versus off-air. That’s very common.
Or take a look at lottery winners. Winning the lottery can increase your odds of getting a divorce. Lottery winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy within five years than the average American. Like Jesus in our text today, lottery winners find their relationships with family and friends are strained because suddenly people have expectations of them. Getting a ton of money changes people (and their friends and family and third cousins twice removed).
But it’s not what we see from Jesus. He knows what he’s about. He knows who he is. He knows what he really needs to do – and what he’s NOT going to do. That’s pretty key – when to say NO in addition to when to say yes.
Jesus spent 30 years preparing for his ministry. He spent three years preaching and teaching and healing and training the disciples. He spent three days in the grave. He spent forty days encouraging his disciples after his resurrection on Easter. And that was enough time to change the world forever, because he refused to be filled up with throw-away, garbage time.
But what if Jesus had healed everyone in Nazareth? What if Jesus had gone around Israel healing everyone in every back-woods town? What if Jesus had even just set up shop in Jerusalem to heal everyone who came – like a miraculous hospital in first century Palestine. Well someone did that three hundred years earlier – Herophilos of Chalcedon. You’ve heard of him, right? No? He was a very important physician, but nowhere near as impactful as Jesus. Jesus had a BIGGER impact because he REFUSED to go around healing everyone. Weird, right?
And what about that revolt that the crowds on Palm Sunday wanted Jesus to lead? Well about thirty years after Jesus, another person from Galilee led a rebellion. They wiped out the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. They routed the Roman reinforcements from Syria. Could this be the Messiah? Well apparently not, because then a Roman general named Titus came in with an army and wiped out the rebellion. Over a million Jews died. Jerusalem was destroyed. The Temple knocked down. Jesus saved more people because he REFUSED to lead the rebellion everyone wanted. Weird, right?
On Good Friday, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and even up on the cross, Jesus REFUSED to save himself. We are here in this Christian church two thousand years later because he REFUSED to save himself. Weird, right?
The greatest impact of Jesus’ ministry came about because of what he REFUSED to do. He knew when to say NO. He didn’t have any wasted time. He didn’t have any garbage time. He was able to do his ministry, fulfill his purpose, because he said NO.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, this is the essence of this whole sermon series. We can’t become unburdened if we can’t say no. And it’s hard to say no unless we know our purpose and our priorities. I’ve shared before that I’ve learned to prioritize God, Family, and Church in that order. It gets a little fuzzy since Church and God have a bit of overlap, but that has helped me know when to say NO.
How many pastors abandon their families to tend to their church flock? How many workaholics do the same thing with their jobs? I don’t think that’s what God intends. No one’s going to put your sales records or your patent numbers on your tombstone.
What are your priorities? Where do you need to focus? What will help you say NO – even if it makes people mad at you? Sometimes a smaller no leads to a much bigger yes. Just ask Jesus. Amen.