Palm Sunday, From Success to Significance

You know, it reminds me of a story about the importance of referencing the right scriptures. I heard about a little tradition in Russia where the bride and groom were given verses by their friends, you know, for their wedding, and at a Russian wedding someone gave the bride the verse 1 John 4, 18, which says, there is no fear in love for perfect love conquers fear, a great verse. But the bride in all of her excitement turned to John 4, 18, which says, you have had five husbands and the man you are now with is not yet your husband. And she started to weep and break down. So, always be careful you've got the right reference. If someone says, I have a word for you. Let's read Matthew 21. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell them that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. Say to the daughter of Zion, see your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey and a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them and Jesus sat on them. The very large crowd spread their cloaks in the road while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, who is this? The crowds answered, this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Well, Monday night I arrived home from our first evening meeting about 1045 p.m. just in time to see the UCLA Bruins capture the national title over Arkansas. Yay Bruins. And I heard the commentators that night say, after 20 years of living in the shadow of the great John Wooden, the basketball program at UCLA was once again a success. By the way, just as a little sidebar, wasn't it great to see almost the whole team gather for prayer to thank God? And for some incredible reason, the cameras couldn't get off it quick enough. They had to show it. Yeah, almost the whole team were believers. What's your definition of success today? I mean, if I pressed you and said, come on up and tell me your definition of success, what would it be? Would it be making a million dollars a year, you know, in the stock market or some other enterprise? Would it be being a CEO of your own corporation? Maybe teacher of the year? Maybe it has to do with bills or maybe it has to do with maybe just for you success is being a great parent. You know, maybe it's just finding matching socks in the morning like it was for me today. But whatever your definition of success, how many of you would agree with me that our culture puts an incredibly high value on success? I'm going to say no doubt about it. We are taught right out of the gate that success is where it's at. High school seniors like my son David, you're going to be hearing these baccalaureate speeches and all. Everyone's going to say, be a success in life. Aim for the top and all that kind of stuff. Whether it's in arts or finances or your law or medical practices or athletics or marketplace, be a success. That's why self-help book titles are consistently number one on the bestseller list of nonfiction titles. Well, Jay, you're thinking, what's wrong with success? Well, there's really nothing wrong with success at all. In fact, I don't know anyone that would respond well to, you know, some kind of a challenge like, let's climb halfway up Mount Everest. That's not going to pump me up. In fact, Jim Leland said, the coach of the Pirates this week, he's concerned about his team accepting mediocrity as being the goal. We don't want to be just mediocre or average. I mean, even in scripture, there are abundant references. Psalm 20, verse 4, may he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. Joshua 1, 8, and I'll let this book of the law depart from your mouth, but meditate on it day and night. Hey, by the way, is the podium okay? I had 400 letters that you were blinded. Actually, I had a long quiet time last week, and so it was just radiating from me. But no, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Can you see? Is it okay? Better? Well, if you put your sunglasses on, I'll know that we need it. Okay. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. So apparently, God is interested in success. I guess I'd go as far as to say, who was the most successful man that ever lived? How would you define a successful ministry? Would you define a successful ministry as someone who crowds flocked to hear by the thousands? Someone who, when he laid his hand on people, they were healed or delivered? Someone who loved children? I'm going to say Jesus was a success in his ministry. So God apparently is for success, but we human beings have a way of taking success and twisting it around somehow and allowing it to destroy our lives. Dr. Stephen Berglas in an interesting book called The Success Syndrome identifies the four A's of success. Self-destructive behaviors that people fall into, almost because of success in their life. The four A's. Arrogance, abuse, alcohol, and adultery. Interesting. And we've seen some high-profile illustrations of that in the last five or ten years, haven't we? Maybe you know someone like that. Where self-destructive behaviors follow a pattern of success for reasons only known to those individuals. Success is okay. It usually isn't the four A's, however, that plague people. It's the fact that once they find success, it usually isn't enough to satisfy the deep soul yearning that lies within every human being. It, for me, is the only thing that explains Michael Jordan. I mean, at the very pinnacle, talk about success in every measure of secular terms. He had it, but it wasn't enough because he had to try something else to satisfy that deep soul longing. Was it Ryan Sandberg that walked out of his contract midstream last year, baseball fans, anybody? To be with his family because he was no longer finding fulfillment being the highest paid baseball player in the world. There are two sources of unhappiness, one author writes. One is not getting what you want, and the other is getting it. Now you say, well, I'd just like to try it for a while, you know. Let me get up on top for a while, then I'll decide what to do with it. But you see, that's the deceit of pursuing success as an end. It always lures you to think that it'll satisfy, and it doesn't. Now what Palm Sunday is all about, church, really, is the journey from success to significance. It's about what Jesus, the most successful prophet, most successful teacher, most successful healer of all time, it was about Jesus moving from the success of a ministry to the significance of his eternal destiny as savior of the world. That's really what began in earnest at Palm Sunday. And it's also about what happens in our lives as we begin to make that journey. And I want to talk about this today, and I really pray that you'll just allow God to speak to your hearts about where you are. Because as I labored over this message this week, I really have a deep conviction that some of us would settle for something less than the full eternal significance that God has for your life. And I have a burden about that. I have a deep desire for each of us to see that. You know, in our little Friday morning Bible study, I have a group of men, about eight or nine men, that I meet with every week. And this past week, we were talking about what we wanted to be remembered for. And there wasn't a man in that group that talked about, well, I just want to have my name all over a skyscraper. Or I want to have my name remembered, you know, as the greatest visitor. Almost every individual talked in terms of leaving a legacy of integrity and of character to their children and their grandchildren. About being remembered for being a man of faith and godliness. About fulfilling their destiny that God's planned for them. If I could change the language, Palm Sunday really is about finding God's dream for your life. That's what it's about. It's about the dream that God has for you, what He's designed and created you to do. And here's where I just pray that you'll grasp this. Folks, I don't really see it as being something, some one thing out there that you've got to find somehow in this big search, and that's it. Rather, I see that God's destiny in your life is discovered by simple daily decisions that welcome the kingship, the rulership of Jesus into your life. If you'll do that on a daily basis, I will promise you from the scripture that you'll discover what it is that God has designed and created you for. And it will be satisfying. And fulfilling. Take a look at that outline that I gave you, if you wouldn't mind. Do you all have it? Somehow I'm not getting past many of these steps, it seems. Got it? All right. Jeremiah 29, 11. Would you read that out loud with me? For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Anyone here would say that's your favorite verse in all the scripture? It's a wonderful verse, isn't it? That's God's dream. That's what he wants. That's where significance lies for each of us. Plans for you, your families, your church, even nations. Now, this is by way of a little bit of background about this passage. Understand that what was taking place as Jesus entered the city was both profound and very significant for the nation of Israel. You see, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. When he asked for that donkey and that colt to be brought out, he knew that Zechariah 9, 9. If we could flash that up, please. That the prophet had said hundreds of years before, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And so Jesus made that clear decision to fulfill this prophetic word. But very fascinating how the Jews that were lining the streets, some of whom embraced that prophecy and some of whom just closed themselves off to it. Isn't it funny how we can hear a teaching or hear a word from the Lord or whatever and decide what part of it we want and what part we don't want? I really like that teaching, but I don't really like the part about, you know, doing this. We're good at that. And the Israelites of that day did the same thing. They wanted a Messiah that was going to come with the Roman government behind him in chains, with their nation being set over the Romans. And when Jesus didn't deliver on that, that view, that image in their mind, a lot of them just wrote off the prophecy and said, eh, too bad. Not exactly what I had in mind, Jesus. And dear ones, for the next 2,000 years, the nation of Israel has suffered because they didn't receive the Lord the way that he came. Now for a few moments here, I want to just talk about your journey. No matter where you are in your journey with God, no matter what your age, this is important. This isn't something just for, you know, the teenagers who have their whole life in front of them. No matter where you are in terms of your current success level in life, how do you move toward significance? You know, that sense of deep fulfillment that you're doing the will of God, that you're fulfilling your destiny. Now a couple of these principles I'm going to share with you are very general and broad posture kind of principles, and a couple of them are very specific. And I've used a little acrostic. I hope it's not too corny for you, but I've used the acrostic, you see there, D-R-E-A-M, dream. You know, Rob, we just try to keep it so the kids would understand. That's what we're working on here, alright? So the first one is this. The first principle is this. The first thing you've got to do if you want to know God's dream and move toward significance, you might want to write it down, is to dedicate yourself to the Lord. I know this may seem obvious to many of you, but the Lord takes the issue of commitment very seriously, doesn't he? I mean, you won't find many folks moving along the continuum of significance in their life who just have God in their compartment. And, you know, I was thinking about this. How many of you find people in any arena of life who are successfully fulfilling their optimum potential, just kind of doing it half-hearted? It's no different with God. The Lord expects us to give Him our best. I've had conversations with folks that go like this, you know, they'll say, well, I just wish God would show me His will. How many of you pray, Lord, show me Your will? And I'll say, well, would you do it if God showed you? And they say, well, it depends. It depends on what? Well, it depends on what He shows me. Then I'll decide. And I have to tell you, you'll be waiting a long time for the Lord to lead you if you have this sort of conditional obedience in mind. See, the beginning of this journey from success to significance, it begins with the surrender of your will that says to God, Lord, I will, whatever it is, I will. I'll do what You call me to do. My loyalty to You supersedes any other opportunity or temptation that might come my way. It's, Lord, I'll sign the contract that You give me, then I'll read it. Hello? It's saying, yes, Lord. Now, what's the question? And many of us want it the other way around. But, Lord, because I trust You implicitly, because I know You have my best interest in Your heart for me, I'm going to commit, I'm going to dedicate myself to You. And that has, if you look at that scripture, it says, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice, dedicated to His service. And that means that you give your whole life to the Lord, your time, your energy, your resources, first things, your ideas. You've got to start there. If you're not willing to do that, folks, the rest of this message, and really the rest of any message, is not going to get you where significance is going to matter in your life. It starts with that commitment. You know, one of the great problems that we face, if you would ask me really presciently, I think the number one reason why so many believers live down here in sort of the less than fulfilled arena is because we are caught up in pursuing not God's dream, but the American dream in our lives. And we're torn back and forth. I mean, we're just sort of in that flow of attaining and achieving and acquiring. You know, the American dream has changed a lot in 30 years, hasn't it? 30 years ago, the American dream was pretty easily defined. It was dad trooping off to work, you know, and mom staying home and baking cookies. It was Ozzie and Harriet. It was Ward and June Cleaver. It was father knows best, right? Now, does that define most households now? To really pursue the American dream, in most cases, it takes both parents out there, if they're both at home, they're still married, out there giving their all in order just to meet the bills, because the bills have escalated, because the goals have gotten so much higher. It's an all-consuming dream. And every single day, I talk to couples, literally almost every single day, who are caught up in trying to sort out what they really want most. Do they want the American dream or God's dream? Do they want the good life or God's life? Do they want materialism or ministry? Do they want the rat race or God's race? In Hebrews chapter 12, the Bible talks about laying aside everything that distracts you and running with perseverance the particular race, Hebrews 12.1, the particular race, the one that God has designed for you. And this is a challenge that we all face. Let me just ask it candidly, how many of you maybe need to rededicate your life? You know that down here, you've got things going on that are fine, but you're not moving this way. It begins with dedication. Number two, it begins with receiving the Lord when He comes. You know, as you walk with the Lord, kind of fully dedicated to Him, I want to promise you one thing, there will be moments, specifically identifiable moments, when the Lord will come right into your face and say, now's the time. I mean, an intersection with your path and the path of God. I want to call them today, there's a spot in your outline down at the bottom, Palm Sunday moments. That's what they are. They're when the parade of God intersects with your life parade. See, in this Palm Sunday, there were three groups of people. They're watching this parade go on, and they're very clear images for us. You know, when we see Jesus, we're one of these three people. When we know He's coming and saying, these are my values, this is my purpose for you, this is where I want you to go. We have one of three responses. And remember, especially when He comes and it's not what you expected Him to be like, and that's the rub. I mean, Jesus wasn't coming with a white stallion. No, He's on this little donkey. Three groups receive Him. The first group, the ones I want to call the bitterly resistant ones. They wanted nothing to do with this Jesus guy. I mean, they already had a king. His name was Caesar. And by the way, folks, please hear this. Many of them were very religious. They knew their scriptures. They were the leaders of the synagogue. They didn't want anything to do with this Jesus. And my own conviction is this. The more control you have of your life, the less you want the Lord to control your life. The neater everything is, the less you want the Lord to mess it up for you. Because you perceive that He will. But can I say this? The only way to get to significance is to let the Lord kind of mess with your stuff a little bit. Those Pharisees didn't want anything to do with it. This luncheon that we had on Monday was an interesting turnout. I wish I could just talk about it for 10 minutes. People from all different kinds of disciplines. Community college, the superintendent of schools, Geneva College, business people, the county government, the newspaper, the radio. And interestingly, when I reviewed the list of people that didn't come, interesting to me, a number of them were people that I personally know and had invited who I know are real uptight about everything being in control in their lives. And just the idea of coming to a meeting that maybe had something to do in a church was too much for them to handle. They didn't come. It's control. See, the Pharisees said, you know, you're nuts. What are you doing that for? It's a scary thing, isn't it? Because they really challenge you. But it's normally because they're resistant to what God is doing in their own life. The second group that I see are the reticent group, the ones that are just kind of looking, you know, kind of looking on. They weren't bitterly opposed, but neither were they really for what the Lord was doing. They're not the enemy of God, but they're not his friend either. And though uncertainty is normal for many of us as we hear from the Lord in the church, are faced with things. Folks, listen, you can end up missing God if you wait too long. I was down at the mall a couple of weeks ago, and I ran into a young man who 20 years ago had been in my youth group. And at that time, when I say in my youth group, he showed up now and then, you know. He kind of was there sometimes and not there, but always kind of wanted me to know when he was there. One of those kind of deals. 20 years, I hadn't seen him for years. I ran into him. He'd lived out in the West Coast for a while and just moved back. And we started talking. 20 years later, the language was the same. Well, I'm not really sure, he would say. The issues were the same. Well, I just haven't decided what direction I'm really supposed to go. And do you know what was really fascinating to me the more I went on? I realized in 20 years, this young man had not moved in his walk with God. And the likelihood of him ever moving was diminishing as he went along. He was just a looker. Just looking. I want to say this with my pastoral heart today. One thing that I fear about our church. Listen up, please. A number of us are just looking. We see the Lord moving, but we're just looking. Just checking it out. And it's okay for a while just to check. But at some point, you have to allow God just to intersect with your life and make a decision of your will. Because if you don't, you might find the Lord's parade passes you by. And you don't move. There's a third group here. It's the group, the rejoicing group. What an interesting band of people they were. These are the folks who with open-heartedness and full surrender are welcoming Jesus as he comes. His purposes, his way of doing things, even though it didn't match up with their mindset either, even though it wasn't what they expected, they were ready to open their arms and say, Hosanna to the son of David. And they did some crazy things. Where's my palm branch up here? Oh, there it is. Thanks, David. How many of you think it's pretty cool to stand with one of these in your hand? I mean, if you had enough of them, then you could do one of these. So no one would see you. By the way, John chapter 12, it says they were palm branches. This group was not afraid to identify with the Messiah as he came. They were willing to say, Hey, in so many words, I'm one of the ones that believe he is who he says he is. I'm one of the ones that's committing my life to what he stands for. Some wave branches. The Bible says some shouted and cheered. And some, lo and behold, took their garments off and laid them right down. So the donkey of the Lord would walk right over him. Pretty amazing. You know, and each of those things, there's a neat little symbolism there. I mean, the people, the waving of the branches is sort of symbolic, you know, of people who are making a statement. Look, see me, I'm one of them. The speaking out is, that's another way of just saying, I am declaring that I'm part of it. And laying down your garment for the donkey to step on it and, you know, who knows what else. That's a way of saying, I'm even willing to spend myself for him. To give up something that's important to me. And folks, you know, that is not easy for us to do. Now, I am not at all saying how we, praise God, determines everything about our life. But can I say, in this church, we have discovered something. And I'll say this quite candidly. If you were to come up to me, some of you, I'm just getting to know and say, well, what was one of the most important things you ever learned as a Christian? I will say, I will take you back some 22 years ago when I learned that coming to terms with my own hesitancy as a man to praise God. I mean, it was a watershed issue in my life. I was a seminary student when I realized that, hey, I had this kind of defined way. That that's how, you know, that's how godliness was. You know, it's just kind of straight laced, you know, and your underwear too tight. Like this. But I'm of the conviction now that one of the points, if you're to be fully discipled as a man or a woman of God, it has to do with opening up in your spirit to biblical praise and worship. And this is new territory. I know it is for a lot of you, especially if you've been new to North Way the last six months. It's new territory. And I'm convinced it's part of what God is requiring of his whole church in these days to open up more and more to what the Lord wants to work in us. And it isn't easy. You know, we men especially, I mean, we don't sing all that well. So we don't like to sing. You know, we don't like to speak very loud. We don't want to show our emotions. We're just kind of schooled that way. And I had the same kind of hesitancies and same kind of questions. Very slow and cautious to open up to learn biblical praise. You know, for me, the first time I lifted my hands was a lot like the first time I put my arm around my date when I was in junior high. Remember that, guys? And it was a movie or concert. Some of you, you do one of these things like, and you scratch your head and you do it like this. I mean, because you didn't really know. I mean, if she looked at you like this, you went, oh, like this real quick and just put it back down. I mean, you're a junior high guy. This is like, oh, and I'll never forget that. You know, the time I did it and did this, and then she moved like a millimeter my way. You know, there's this connection. Oh, great. And you know what I found after the first time that happened? There's no problem after that. I was just right around her, just as soon as I could. Lifting your hands to the Lord. I'm not making this, please. This is not like God isn't deciding who is holy. But isn't it strange that in the church at large, lifting of hands, which is all throughout the Bible, is perceived as sort of an aberrant kind of expression by, you know, a weird bunch of a few. I mean, it's throughout the Bible. I would just want to guarantee you something. I'll stake my little plot in heaven on this. When you stand before the throne of God and see Jesus Christ face to face, you're not going to be able to. Right. I mean, that's the way it's going to be. But that doesn't, that's not to put a slam on those of us for whom that's just difficult. Please, I'm not trying to transmit that to you. I am saying, however, that the opening of that is the beginning of something in your heart that's saying, Lord, you're welcome to work here. And you know what? I'll just tell you this, guys. 20 years later, it still isn't all that easy for me in certain settings. We have our own sort of praise march here in Pittsburgh called the March for Jesus. You know, it happens about once a year now, doesn't it? And it's the closest thing I can think of to a Palm Sunday parade. Right. And we walk through the city streets and there's banners, right? And there's singers and there's people. And let me, can I just confess this to you? The last time I went down there, that's the last year. And just before I was ready to go, I didn't know if I really wanted to go. It was on a Saturday morning and I'm always, I had a lot of things getting ready for Sunday. And I thought, well, you know, that's not that big of a thing and so on and so on. And I'm not sure, you know, walking through the streets of Pittsburgh, business people looking at you, the police stare at you. And then I had asked a friend, hey, are you going down to the March? And they said, I'll quote them, they said, I'm not really sure what difference it makes. And I said, you know, you're right. I don't know what difference it makes either. Yeah. What difference does it make? I mean, I don't ever see anybody just falling on their face. You know, I don't see USX repenting and like, you know, we believe. None of that. So that's all I needed to hear was, you know, you're right. Why go and basically display myself in this sort of demonstrative way and walk through the streets of Pittsburgh with banners and stuff and shouting the Lord's name and everything? Why do that? What's it going to change? And the moment I thought that, the Lord said, it's going to change you. Because something in me just wants to stay, you know, respectable. Like I have any left, you know? I mean, what difference does it make, right? So, man, this isn't a push. It's just an encouragement that a Palm Sunday moment, you can open to it by your willingness to be a little forthright with your praise, with your declaration. Lord, I want to be counted amongst those who do believe, that do receive you, because it will open to you the possibilities of God. Very quickly. Third thing is to expect a cross. You know, as Jesus moved on the journey, it clearly became an experience unlike that which anyone was prepared for. Things appeared to be like that. When you read this, you say, hey, the whole city was into it. Well, the fact of the matter is the whole city wasn't into it. The fact of the matter was most of the city wasn't opening to him. In fact, Luke chapter 19, when Jesus looked to see, here's what it says at the same story in Luke chapter 19. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, if you, even you, had only known on this day what it would bring you, peace. He knew that just three days later, he would be brought in and questioned and then tortured and then eventually crucified. And he knew that the only way from success in ministry to significance eternally was to go to the cross and that's what he did. And dear ones, can I say, I can attest to this personally and time doesn't permit me to give illustration, but I know my journey along the way to discovering my daily significance in God has been marked with times when I had to die to the things that I wanted. How many of you would like to have an Easter resurrection celebration without a crucifixion? Hey, I'm one. You can keep the Good Friday stuff, I'll just take the resurrection, but it doesn't work that way. It can be painful, but it's part of the process so that God is exalted in our lives. I want to introduce you to a person who has known something of that pain, something of the success, something of the death, and now is discovering. He's not there 100% but he's discovering significance. Welcome here with you, Mr. Matt McDermott. Matt? Thank you. Good morning. Approximately three months ago, I turned a half a century old and when the AARP card arrived in the mail, I thought, it's got to be from my dad or they've got the wrong address. About that time, reality started to set in. This was a good time to reflect on life and success. I always wanted to write a book about success and I thought the title would be And What Price is Success? The dictionary defines success as a favorable or desired outcome and attainment of wealth. By those standards, I was a success. We had a large company. We had 100 employees. We had two homes, five automobiles, etc., etc., etc. But I was still empty inside. I was afraid that I was going to lose it all. Work was my identity and I did lose it all. Not once, not twice, but three times. This caused me to stop and try to understand what are my priorities. As Jay would say, what's in the box? I'd like to read to you a piece I wrote on understanding which I've recently rededicated. On understanding, sometimes we pay a very high price for this luxury which God has blessed some of us with. Most of us who count this as a blessing wrestle with the real problem of understanding just what it is that makes us perhaps too sensitive. I myself have wrestled with the reality of running a company and trying to look out for one's fellow man. How does one go from Vietnam to fatherhood from college to the boardroom from our first date to marriage in this ever complex world? Why is it that we who are trying to understand probably need to be understood more than we realize? Along the way, did we see too much pain and experience the same? Is the anxiety that we live with worth a few moments of emotional release that we sometimes feel? Me thinks that each one of us must continue to seek that answer for himself. Personally, I have found my souls in many places and many times in many ways. While at other times, it just never seems to come. It's usually at times like this when I'm alone that this inner satisfaction comes to me. And at this point, the understanding is really a blessing. Thank you, my beloved Lord. Thank you for helping me. To get back to this point, you have helped me to better understand myself by being what I needed most in this world, a friend. Today, I'm striving for a balance in my life. My significance is coming through God's grace and letting me fulfill a 10-year-old dream of starting up a ministry for the separated and divorced. And it will be here at North Way, and it's called Rebuilders. Its purpose is to help all of us to have healthy relationships. What a blessing starting to build this ministry has been for me. It has given me an inner peace and satisfaction that I've never before experienced in my life. And who knows? Maybe in the next 50 years, God will have a gold AARP card for me. Than