The Lutheran Hour
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"April Fools? Or an April Call to Faith?"
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Text: Phil. 2:5-11
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, hosanna to the Son of David, in His Name, Amen.
Today is Palm Sunday. It’s a day when many Christian churches around the world celebrate the event in Jesus’ life where He rides into Jerusalem triumphantly, amid the hosannas and praises of the multitudes. But He rides in on a donkey and not a stallion. He rides in humbly and lowly, yet in God’s power to accomplish God’s salvation for the world. He rides in as the Messiah, the Anointed One who has come to accomplish God the Father’s will for humanity, amidst the cheers and loud hosannas only to be rejected later that week and hung on a cross.
This year, the celebration of this unique day just so happens to fall on the 1ST of April. Yes, you heard it right, April Fool’s Day. Now April Fool’s Day is a day when people go around faking you out and finally making sure that you know the joke is on you. About the last thing you’ll want to hear on a day like today is “April Fools.” There have been a whole lot of people who heard those words and suddenly felt very foolish at that.
I wonder if those first disciples felt a little April 1st discomfort that first Palm Sunday. Maybe they wondered later that week if the joke was on them. Palm Sunday becomes Good Friday; the cheers of this Sunday become the jeers at the foot of the cross. I’m sure that they went through every emotion from great exuberance to great despair, from Palm Sunday rejoicing to fear in the face of Jesus hanging on the cross. Was this merely the greatest April Fool’s joke of all time or the most unique, all-encompassing offer of grace, and peace, and love, and forgiveness for the whole world? Today, the Apostle Paul says it clearly, this isn’t an April Fool’s message, not an April Fool’s event, this is an April call to faith, a faith for this month, the next month, and every month of every year, forever and ever.
In fact, through God’s Word today, we see that all of this was part of God’s plan. God, Himself, taking the nature of a servant, so that real life and salvation might once more be shared with a world mired in sin and death!
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be clung to, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.”
You know, I often wonder why people don’t believe in Jesus Christ. He is so amazing, so wonderful, that it sometimes boggles my mind why they don’t see His unique love and forgiveness for them. But maybe that’s because I, like many Christians, have gotten so used to His story, so used to the events of this week that we fail to see how incredibly unique they are. Look to a cross for salvation? That’s like saying my Savior is the One just electrocuted in the chair. Hosanna to One riding on a donkey? What victory has He accomplished that I should follow Him? What kind of Lord and Savior is this? Sometimes we’re so used to the incredible answers to these questions that we have forgotten how dramatically unique they are in all the world.
In Oliver Goldsmith’s novel, “She Stoops to Conquer” we see a similar kind of love. In this novel, a young man mistakes a prince’s home for a public inn and order’s the prince’s daughter around as if she were a barmaid. Because she wanted to avoid embarrassing him and because she eventually wanted to win his love, she allowed him to treat her this way for a time. She stooped, or humbled herself, to conquer.
Some think of this kind of love as an April Fool’s joke. Who stoops to conquer, who serves to save? Many today might think of this message of Jesus, His cross and Resurrection, as a cruel, April Fool’s joke from God.
But the Bible actually says that this message is God’s salvation, God’s rescue from this world’s eternal April Fool’s reality of sin, death, and damnation.
You know, April Fool’s jokes can really hurt because they get our hopes up only to dash them, they get our emotions heightened only to make us feel the full weight of our foolish response.
Do you remember the April, 1985 edition of Sports Illustrated which reported that there was a new rookie signed up to play for the Mets? This rookie, named Sidd Finch, supposedly was trained by Buddhist monks, was said to have a 168 MPH fastball that he delivered with pinpoint accuracy. He was supposedly unlike any pitcher that had ever lived and the Mets had him. Amazing, phenomenal, happy days are here again, right? Yes, Mets fans rejoiced until they found out it was an April Fool’s joke.
So the question on this Palm Sunday amidst all the zaniness of the day is which message dashes mankind’s hopes and which one can ultimately fulfill them? What if I told you that all the world’s bravado was one big April Fool’s joke? And that God’s humble victory on the cross was the most real thing of all? Would you believe me?
What if I told you that all the world’s wisdom and power and strength were nothing compared to this picture of a humble King named Jesus who makes final preparations to face God’s righteous wrath for all sin and rebellion meekly in your place.
Well, take a look at the uniqueness of this Jesus for your answer. Go deeper than the outward events of the day.
The Apostle Paul says, “Let’s look at the mind of Jesus, His heart, His attitude, and trust in Him.”
For the life of this Jesus, amidst the dashed hopes of humanity’s bravado, demonstrates God’s consistent, concrete love for us!
He is a Palm Sunday King. He is no Leader hungering for power. He is a King who serves. We see it all the way back to Creation itself. God created us to have a relationship with Him, as precious sons and daughters. And when that relationship was broken, He promised to do all that it takes within His justice and mercy to restore that bond with you and me!
Here we see the uniqueness of God’s consistent, concrete love showered down on the world in His Son, Jesus!
This text demonstrates God’s passion for the world, His love. Just look at the words, at the actions that they are describing! It says:
The Son of God, Himself made Himself nothing, took the nature of a servant, He humbled Himself, obedient unto death. Therefore God has exalted Him.Such a love sounds so foreign to us today, but it is our views of love and success that are cockeyed, in fact, if you want an April Fool’s joke, look at how the world handles love today. Is there any grater tragedy than the ‘hook-up’ mentality in our relationships, the incessant devaluing of marriage, and family, and self-sacrificial love?
But there still is hope even in the midst of the April Fool’s versions of love that exist in our world. Check out Jesus’ attitude, His mindset, His heart. You might say in Him real love entered the world one day. Real love even rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday. It’s the love that gives freely. It is God’s love.
This is the love we see being acted out today. But more importantly, this is the love that is being offered to you today. Jesus, who could have marshaled the forces of an embittered people, who could have created a political movement that would have toppled even Caesar, who could have placed Himself in the positions of power that so many of us covet. No, see His mindset. He rode to victory on a donkey, a humble animal of servant kind. He rode to victory by serving the very people who would in a matter of days call for His crucifixion. He rode to victory on a cross, where your sins were punished on Him, for you.
Look closely at this Jesus because He doesn’t just teach us how to love or call us to love, He is love in action for us.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be clung to, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, He humbled Himself, obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”
So, look closely, yes, but, more so, believe. Put your trust in Him and live your life to His glory, serving others as He serves you.
This text ultimately calls for action. Have this mind of Christ in you. It’s not April Fool’s. It is an April call to faith in Jesus; a faith life to be lived out in service to others. Will you trust in this Jesus? Will you let Him be your King and your Savior?
But that’s not just me saying it, Paul challenges us to this as well. Let Christ be your King. Have this mind in you.
Let Him be your Savior and King by accepting Christ’s gracious royal status.
Make sure that you understand His status. Don’t be like the fickle Palm Sunday crowd that trades true spiritual royalty for a mess of human power or convenience!
Accept His gracious status. Why, because you can’t handle service without Christ’s status. The kind of life that God wants to pour out through you to others is the one that He must pour out upon you first. It is the merciful love of God that flows from the very Name of Jesus Christ, the Exalted Servant who died and rose again that you might live!
His is the Name that will last. Paul says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
His is the Name that provides us real identity and real purpose in life. And His Name, poured out upon us in Holy Baptism is the fact that His life, His status, His power is now ours by faith, too; the very power to serve others as He serves us.
I remember, as a young man, going to apply for a job at a Ford Motor Company plant. I remember pulling into the parking lot of this massive structure, getting out of my car and making my way to the Human Resources department. As I ventured into the office, I suddenly found myself in a large waiting room, among 20 or 30 people. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to just sit down and wait for my turn. I wasn’t even sure who to talk to, but after a few minutes, I composed myself. I walked up to this woman who looked like she was somewhat in charge and I told her that I was Larry Seltz’ son and that I was here to see about a job. She looked at me and said, “Oh, your Larry’s son, come on back. We’ve got your paperwork ready for you.” Within the hour, I was on the job.
You see, my Dad’s stature gave me a shot at work. His name gave me access. Well, there is no name like the Name of Jesus for eternal stature, access, and power. Let Him be your King and accept the stature that He has earned for you. In Him you are an heir of the eternal God, you have peace that passes all human understanding and you have the joy of the Spirit as your strength.
And in His stature and strength, put His blessings to work. Have His mind in you; let this Jesus be your Savior, your King, then model Christ-like service to others in His Name!He is a King. He is the Lord. He ultimately has no need of us, we needed Him and yet He did not consider His dignity, His being God, something that one should keep for oneself, for one’s own advantage.
All servanthood is a matter of lordship. Whom do you serve? Whom will you follow? As Christians, we follow Christ. We follow His Word. We seek to reflect His love to others in our lives. We’re not the perfect ones, He is. But we are His forgiven sinners who daily take up the challenge to have His mind in us and in our actions for one another.
This daily challenge shows up in different ways, different events, but each one is an opportunity to put the “Mind of Christ” to work in our lives.
Events in the life of former judge William Bontrager serve as one very powerful illustration.
Judge Bontrager’s story is interwoven with that of Harry Fred Palmer. Palmer was a young Vietnam veteran who became a Christian in 1977. At the time, he was awaiting sentencing for a string of house burglaries. His crime was petty, but since it was his “third time,” well three strikes and you are out! His offense carried a mandatory 10-20 year sentence in Indiana, even for these petty crimes. Days later the legislature changed the law, but it came too late for Harry Fred Palmer.
Judge Bontrager, who had himself been become a Christian a year earlier, reviewed Palmer’s case carefully. He realized that the mandatory 10-year sentence would destroy rather than rehabilitate Palmer, so he declared it unconstitutional. Bontrager ordered him to serve one year in the state penitentiary and then, upon release, to reimburse those whom he had robbed and provide community service.
Palmer did just that. He was a model prisoner; after release he was reunited with his wife and family, and began paying back his victims. The case seemed closed, a model of justice, restitution, and restoration.
But the Indiana Supreme Court swung into action claiming that Judge Bontrager had erred, they ordered him to send Palmer back to prison–for at least nine more years!
Trying to be faithful to God, to the law, and to this man…well, a nightmarish sequence of events followed. The Court slammed Palmer into the Westville Correctional Center, declared Bontrager in contempt, fined him $500 and sentenced him to 30 days in prison, too. Though that sentence was suspended, proceedings were begun to remove him from the bench. Rather than allow his own case to endanger Palmer’s appeals for release, Judge Bontrager resigned.
Months later, there were several interested parties looking for the judge. Where did they find him? In the cell with Harry Fred Palmer, praying and studying the Scripture….He told them, “I guess this is where God wanted me all along.”
A world that is so much built on self-glorification needs a Savior. It needs a Savior that rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a stallion; who rides into our hearts as a Servant, not as an overlord. And this world needs a people who have His mind, who will serve and not be served; who will strive for Christ’s justice, mercy, and wisdom!
What a God we have! He is willing to leave His throne of power and open up for us a way for life and salvation, a way for us to come home in Him in the Person and work of Jesus. Don’t just look at Philippians and try to understand it. Open your heart to the Lord of Philippians 2. And begin to live life that way, the way life was meant to be lived. Have His mind in you. Have His word on your lips.
A servant Messiah, a humble King, this is no April Fool’s joke, this is an April call to faith in Jesus for life, now and forever, an eternal life of faith to be lived for others, starting today.
Hosanna to the Son of David, your Savior, your King. April Fool’s? No, an April call to faith in Him, life in Him, forever!
Amen!