Happy Palm Sunday! Today is the day in the Christian church when we remember that Christ is not only our priest, He is not only our prophet, but He is also our King! Though His Kingship did not come with an earthly crown made out of gold, or rich robes of purple. His Kingship did not come with a fancy palace filled with all the finest of all things. His Kingship did not come with thousands of loyal subjects. But…He is the King nonetheless. Yes, Palm Sunday is a glorious day…but nothing beats next Sunday!
Today, I want to put a pause on the book of James for the sake of celebrating what we celebrate today. So, to start, I want us to look at what makes up a life. I have a short video for you about what makes up my life, and as you see this video, I want you to think about what makes up your life. There are some things written in your bulletin that will help those thoughts, and a few blanks under the question “What Makes up Your Life?”, for you to write down anything else that comes to your mind.
Our lives are made up of dozens of things. People are a big part of it, as you know. Your family is likely the people most involved in your life. But there are others. Friends that we see frequently, or not so frequently that we still deeply love. People we like that we work with, even people we work with that we don’t like! Our lives are made up of activities, jobs we work, hobbies we love; not to mention the activities of others in our lives that we get invited to participate in. If you’re a part of the church, which you are if you’re here today, there’s not only the people in the church that make up your life, but there’s also church activities and church services. We may have other interests too, that take up our time and attention.
But that’s not all our lives are made up of. Our lives are made up of emotions that go with the moments we live. Our lives are made up of cherishing moments that are sweet, and feeling the crush of moments that we wish we never had to live through. Sometimes we go through things that are so dramatic and life-changing and unforgettable that even the emotions tied to those events will remain fresh and poignant years later. Our lives are made up of thoughts. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have a running inner-monologue of thoughts constantly running through my head. I’m always thinking! Probably over-thinking if I’m honest.
But, what our lives are made of goes even deeper. It goes to how we have responded to either good events or bad events or the in-between events in our lives. When we go through events of all kinds, we respond, and those events help to shape who we are. Through those events we either grow and thrive as people, or we put up walls and experience set-backs and failures to mature. Who we become as people is largely because of what we go through, and that makes up our lives too.
I’ve put a few other things on this list as well. Things we experience in life that are fun. Learning new things. Comfort we have. Maybe you thought of others. But the thing we clearly see is that our lives of complex, nuanced, and full of so many things we call “life”. Just hold this thought in your mind, all these things that make up a life.
Now, we’re going to look at a small portion of the triumphal entry. It’s the moment we celebrate today, Palm Sunday, when Jesus was entering the city of Jerusalem in victory, so the people thought. What the gathered crowds didn’t realize, what no one except Jesus and the Father knew, is that He came to sacrifice everything that His life was made up of.
As He rode into this city, this was the scene, “The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” (John 12:12-13, NIV)
It was a beautiful scene, and we celebrate that He is our king today! But for His purpose to be realized, for Him to be truly king, required a more heartbreaking scene.
This is from Luke 22:39-44, “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, He said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (NIV)
To be He who comes in the Name of the Lord, one recognized as truly from the Father, one with the Father, part of the Father in everything, requires Not My will, but Yours be done.
See, Jesus understood what true discipleship is, and He passed that understanding on to us, those who desire to be His disciples. Matthew 16:24-26 says this, and I’m reading it from the ERV, it’s the Easy-To-Read Version because I just really like the way it’s phrased, “Then Jesus said to His followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will find true life. It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. You could never pay enough to buy back your life.”
What Jesus understood is that discipleship requires willingness to lose everything and to hold on to all that you love very loosely. This is exactly what He says, right? If you want to be His follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want, and be willing to do as He asks. If you try to hold on to the things in your life, even the good things, that you love, you will lose them because none of those things will last. Jesus understood that all the things that make up our lives are fleeting and temporary, and only that which is done in obedience to the Lord is eternal. He understood that nothing on earth is worth our souls or the souls of those we know.
We know that the call to follow Jesus is not a passive one, it’s not a complacent call, it’s not easy. Jesus understood this in the garden as He prayed. He prayed for the Father to provide a different way forward. He cried so fervently in the garden, He had sweat like drops of blood falling to the ground. Yet, despite wanting to do things differently, He did what the Father told Him. He didn’t think about Himself, didn’t think about what He wanted. He laid down even His own life for the sake of doing what the Father said.
The truth is, there’s a real good chance that the Lord will never ask any of us to die for the sake of the gospel. We will likely never be asked to walk away from our families. But we must be willing to risk all for the sake of the gospel. Even if we never have to leave everything, we must be willing and ready to.
Luke 14:26 says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” (NIV) Does that mean that we must despise our family? No. But it does mean that our love for Jesus must be such that if He asks us to leave families we must. The cost of following Jesus may be your FAMILY.
Luke 14:33 says, “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (NIV) When Jesus talks about everything you have, He’s partly talking about your possessions, things you actually own, but the meaning is also deeper. His words also talk about anything that you belong to, anything that has your heart, devotion, or attention. Those things too you must be willing to risk.
Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (NIV) We can and must put to death anything of the FLESH. This isn’t something the Spirit may ask, it is something He will ask, because we know you cannot please the flesh and the Spirit at the same time. You cannot follow Christ and self at the same time.
Romans 15:1 tells us not to please ourselves. We must be willing to give up anything that PLEASES you. Remember, Jesus said that we must stop thinking about yourself and what you want.
Matthew 19:29 adds this, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (NIV) Not only does this talk about being willing to leave families for the sake of Christ, but it also talks about being willing to leave your fields. Of course, we don’t have fields anymore, at least not most of us, but what this is speaking about is our livelihoods. It’s the way we provide for those we love. That too, we have to be willing to lose.
Discipleship is costly. But, it is worth it, because, “It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost.”
1. Have you experienced a great cost for the sake of following Jesus? What was it? What made it so difficult to give up (or at least risk giving up)?
2. As we look forward to celebrating Resurrection Sunday, is there anything in your life the Lord is asking to let die, in order for you to have true life?