Palm Sunday, In Search of A Kingdom

Very familiar to most of us, reading. Reading comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. And the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them, and they brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them. And Jesus sat on them, and a very large crowd spread their cloaks in the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And 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 that word, Hosanna, means save, Lord, or save, Lord, we beseech thee, or, Lord, save our nation. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? And the crowds answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. And it is written, he said to them, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of robbers. And the blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them." Extravagant ticker tape parades are clearly a rarity in our culture. Perhaps you can remember back to 1980 when the hostages were released from Iran. Remember what happened in New York City? Big ticker tape parade. Thousands and hundreds of thousands of people gathered and honored them for their ordeal. Perhaps you remember 1975, something happened that was our version of a ticker tape parade here in Pittsburgh. What was it? I know it's been a long time, folks. Yes, it has. The Steelers won their first Super Bowl. And we threw whatever we could find on the streets. But it was our version. How many remember all the way back to sometime not long after World War II when the largest ticker tape parade in history took place in New York City for two days? How many remember that? Go ahead, you can admit that. We're glad you're here. You make the rest of us feel young. I was getting ready to be born then, I think. I'm one of those that are called baby boomers. I missed the parade, but I was here shortly after that. You know, that was a great outpouring. I heard that 5,000 tons of paper were dumped on the street. There were a few people who didn't think it was a great idea. They worked for the city maintenance department. Remember John Glenn when he came back from his mission of orbiting the Earth three times? He was the last individual, I believe, to have a ticker tape parade of that magnitude. Well, dear ones, let's just project for a moment 2,000 years back to a ticker tape parade in Jerusalem. For what we have here is that culture's way of saying the same thing to an important person. They celebrated what they perceived to be the arrival of their king into their city. And it wasn't bands playing, it was children on instruments. And it wasn't paper being thrown out windows. It was palm branches being waved and laid down on the path in which he walked. And the people of that city perceived that the king had arrived on the scene. We read here just a moment ago that as he came in, the whole city was stirred. I love that. The whole city was stirred and said, who is this? Palm Sunday was a celebration and a demonstration of an acknowledgement that an authority had arrived on the scene unlike any authority that they had ever seen. Even a greater authority than the Roman oppressors were exercising over them. The Messiah had come. The king of kings. The one they've yearned to see to break off the bondage of their oppressors had arrived on the scene. I want to ask you a question. What was different about it? What happened here on Palm Sunday? How many of you know that Jesus went into Jerusalem lots of other times? You may have come into this church lots of other times, but maybe something different will happen today. What happened that was different? Well, all four Gospels record the Palm Sunday triumphal entry story. But John's Gospel gives us an interesting insight. John chapter 12 is the story of Palm Sunday, but John chapter 11 is what caused Palm Sunday. What was John chapter 11? A man who had been dead in the grave for four days was called out. Now, you say, hey, this isn't Easter yet. Wait until next Sunday when we talk about the resurrection. But you see, the people had seen it with their own eyes. How many of you believe if you saw someone walk out of the grave after four days, it might stir you up just a little tiny bit? I know, and I was just at a funeral yesterday, and you see that person there, and you say, you know, they've been there a couple days. I've seen people praying over caskets and all those kinds of things. I've never seen someone raised up. Just imagine it. Imagine it. And a whole crowd watched him do it. And so they said, wait a minute. This is the real thing. This is the one that we've been looking for. A man dead for four days. Can you see the headlines in the Jerusalem Post? An incredible event had taken place, and the people were celebrating because if he could do that, what did it mean? Well, it meant whatever my problem was, whatever situation I had faced, if he could do that, he could do anything. And the people were responding accordingly. Authority. Jesus stood for, represented, and embodied authority over diseases, over oppression, over poverty, over the violation of the dignity of the people of which he was a part. Every single problem that they could conceive of Jesus had to be answered for. And so that brings me to ask you a question. Where is that authority today? Where is the kingdom of God today? Where is the one who embodied that authority today? If you're like me when I was growing up, I thought the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven was where? I thought I had to die to get there. My Sunday school teacher kept telling me I'd never get there. And I was told that, you know, watch out and be careful, and if you do things right and act properly, you might make it to the kingdom of God. And so all kinds of things happened in my life that kind of direct me away from that. And I'd go hear people who would threaten me and say, if you did this, this, and this, that you'd never make it to the kingdom of God. You could walk out of this building today and be hit by a car in the parking lot. You know, I would hear all these threats, but that didn't bring me into the kingdom of God. I walked a lot more carefully in the parking lot. Where is the kingdom of God? Well, Jesus said the kingdom of God is in your midst. It's there where you are. He has already come. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, those are interchangeable terms in the Bible, is at hand. It's right here. It's not just off there. Although, listen, folks, heaven is real. I'm getting excited about it. More and more excited as I just consider, you know, I'm getting up to the next level here in a month or so. Heaven is a great demonstration of God's presence and reality. But, folks, the kingdom of God is right here. Jesus said it's right now. You see, in fact, we pray, Lord, thy kingdom come, thy will be done where? On earth, as it is in heaven. See, Jesus didn't come to tell us just how to get to heaven. He wanted to bring heaven to earth. He wanted to bring the order, the peace, or as he said it, the righteousness, peace, and joy of heaven right down here to earth. And how many of you believe we have enough problems here? We need some of that. I'm so, you know, as a pastor, I'm sure you understand that when you look around an auditorium like this, full of people, and again in the next service, there are so many problems. And they are real problems. They're not made-up problems. There are children that are sick. There are people that are losing their jobs. There are all kinds of problems. I want you to know, I don't have the answer for you. But I want you to know that we can point you to one today whose authority rules in every situation. And whatever your problem is today, I'm going to share with you how you can touch that source of authority. And bring some discipline, some life into that situation that seems to be bringing death. How many of you know authority is not a popular word? I mean, right from the time we were little kids, we don't like the idea of authority. I got a few little letters here this week. And what happened was, back in the third grade room of Eden Christian Academy, some of the little guys got carried away a bit. And they broke one of the doors. Here's what they wrote, because their principal insisted that they let the pastor know. These things are dripping. They're folded because of the wet paper. And it says, Dear Pastor Jay, I am sorry for breaking, B-R-A-K-I-N-G, the door. And I will pay the three dollars to fix the door. Love, and he gives his name. His dad's here. All right. Here's the next one. He said, Dear Pastor Jay, period, I have hurt one of your doors. I will pay three dollars to fix it. I hope you will forgive me. I am sorry. Love. And his dad's here. And then this one. Dear Pastor Jay, I'm very sorry about the door in the third grade room. You don't know about this, but just recently the door in the third grade room just got broken. But we're praying for it. And then he signs it. You probably know me. And he gives me his name. By now. Okay. You see, we get exposed to authority early on, and we never really like it. But the Bible says that all authority is given by God for our benefit to help us and to enable us to live a life that's fulfilled and in order. Folks, I want to ask you today. Is there a part of your life? Now, most of you here have a personal relationship with Christ. Most of you say, Well, I already know that Jesus came to bring the kingdom. I want to ask you a question, though. The same question I asked myself this week. Is there a part of your life where the kingdom of God has not yet been set up? Where the authority of Christ is still vying for your authority? You see, the Bible tells us that there are competing authorities. In fact, the Bible tells us that man, through Adam and Eve, turned over the authority to rule the world to the devil. And it's only those who come under God's authority that gain it back. And God is looking for a people around the world today who will bring back his authority to the earth. That's what he's looking for. That's what the church is to be. When I was studying this this week, I was just so drawn by some simple, clear little things that we can do in order to be kingdom people. Kingdom people. All right, look with me now. In verse 3, the first thing you need to do to become a kingdom person. The first thing you need to do, and this is going to be something that's going to tweak some of your ears right off the bat. You need to perceive the Lord has a need. Now, if you're a theologian, if you know a lot about God, you say, well, God doesn't have any needs at all. He is El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One. How could he have any needs? If he needs something, he just thinks it and it's there. Dear ones, just follow this reasoning for a moment, would you please? How many of you know the Bible says God is love? He's love. That's his character. That's not just something that he does. He is that. Now, love is not God. Those aren't the same. God is love. And what is the fundamental characteristic of love? Love, above everything else, sacrificially gives. Love is giving. Love turns over to. It reaches out to. And the God that we serve today has a tremendous, burning desire to give to you. That's why he created you. He wants to make you the object of his affection. And the disciples right here get this simple little command from Jesus. Go tell them that the Lord has need of them. Now, I'm not trying to read that into the scripture. I want you to see, however, that the God that we worship here in this place yearns for your love. And somehow this week, I don't know why it is. It started on Monday night at that music ministry meeting we had. God, just burn in my spirit that he yearns for you to love him and to be the object of his love. To come in and know the exchange. God has so much love that really what he wants to do is overflow it onto you. But you know what, church? We miss it so many times because we don't give him the opportunity to do it. We don't give him the opportunity to pour out his love upon us. You say, well, this is an unusual concept. Listen. There's a couple in our church that I talked with not long ago. Who are in their early 30s and have tried for 8 years to have children. Have not been able to have natural children. And they said, Jay, we so want to have a family. And we prayed and we've done everything we know to do. We've been to doctors. We've done everything. And you know what they said? They said, we have so much love to give. And through some tears they said to me, we just want to have children to pour our love into. And that would be so fulfilling to us. And I stepped back and I said, have you ever considered renting a couple? Those of us who are parents know it's not always that glamorous. Isn't that right? However, the need to give. I mean, what benefit would that be to them? They could take their money that they're accumulating. They could go out and vacation twice a year. Whatever. And church, you see, we're no different. God is just like that. God has a desire to give love. And he's looking for those who will be kingdom people and minister to him, wait upon him. Give him the opportunity. If there's something about us that attracts God, if there's something about us in our need. Just this last winter, we have two cats in our home, which are there on a trial basis now. One for 18 years that I brought back from California with us. And one that I bought for my wife three years ago on Mother's Day because I thought the other one was dying. When I brought that second cat in, the old cat said, no way I'm leaving here. And so it's just gotten better. And, you know, they basically, you know, they tell the dog what to do and all those things that cats do. Well, this winter, this pathetic, and I'm talking as ragged a cat as you can imagine, discovered our house. Black cat, I mean, not even cute. With nicks in its ears, you know. And one of the fangs was gone. And it had this terrible sound and it sounded not well. And I just wanted to get rid of that cat so bad, you know. But members of my family loved that cat, you know. They brought that cat in and they made it a bed. And then every time we drive the car in it, we'd get off the bed and sit on the hood of the car because the hood was warm. And, you know, leave all kinds of terrible things on the hood of the car and make messes. And every once in a while, we'd get in the house and smell. And I so wanted to do something. You know, when I'd back the car up, I'd try to make sure the cat was in the way and stuff like that. I couldn't do it. But in a way now, I have to say this, in a way now, a cat is, you know. One day I went down and I put a coat over him because it's cold in the garage. And he slept that night. I'm beginning to realize that he's so pathetic that, yeah, I'm not going to say it. But you know what I'm thinking. And, you see, God looks at us in our condition and he wants to love us, dear ones, because we are more pathetic than we know. God wants to love us. And I rejoice. I'm getting letters. Let me say real quickly, I love to get your letters. And if I don't respond right away, I got them on my desk and I'm going to. Thank you for writing. One person wrote and told me how their life has changed in the last three weeks as they've been doing their 30-day prayer commitment, their 30-day listening commitment. Keep doing it. And sometime next Easter Sunday we're going to talk about that just a bit. Number two, kingdom people, purpose to obey him. Look, the disciples listened to Jesus. And then verse 6 tells us they went and did as Jesus had instructed them. Could there be a more simple statement of obedience? Somehow we slip into a mentality that God is tired. I'm sorry, that God is able to deal with people who don't care and who are indifferent toward him. Church, listen, I feel so strongly that if we will obey the simple things God tells us to do, the very complicated ones he'll take care of. Simple faith works every time. Simple obedience, just doing what God puts before us, that is what pleases God. Now, I talked two weeks ago about the tunnel of obedience. And I've had many people write and say, Jay, I'm right in the tunnel. It's dark in here. There's a lot of fumes. It's hard for me to go on because I don't see where God's taking me. But I want you to know, don't give up. And you'll never know when you take a step into that tunnel how powerfully God may use you to touch lots of other lives. What if the disciples had not done that? Would there have been a Palm Sunday? What if they'd said, well, you know, gee, I don't want to go steal the donkey and maybe the guy will get mad at me and all that. They did what Jesus said. And thousands of people worshiped him. Just last Thursday, Pastor Scott did a funeral for a friend of someone here in the church. And at the end of the service, he was prompted to take a step in the tunnel of obedience. These were almost exclusively people he did not know. Is that correct? People that don't come to this church normally. And at the end of that service, he felt the prompting of the Spirit of the Lord to give an invitation. I want you to know, having done that many times, you step out there. And when there are people who don't know the Lord, and the great majority, as there are in many funerals, there's this cold, distant look and stare and sense that you get. And Pastor Scott stepped into that tunnel. He obeyed what he thought the Lord was telling him. And 30 to 40 people said, yes, I need God in my life. I need God in my life. I need the Lord. You see, if he hadn't taken that step, then who knows? Who knows? Dear ones, kingdom people, people who bring the authority of Jesus in their life, purpose to obey, is leading in each and every detail. And number three, kingdom people are people who personally praise his name. It says very clearly to us, The crowds 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. You know, invariably when we gather here, we have people for whom North Way style is an issue. You grew up in a Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist church, whatever, and it really makes you uncomfortable to see somebody lifting their hands or somebody singing aloud and kind of just being real expressive. And we can sometimes make it sound or seem like, well, if you're really spiritual, that's what you do and we're better than you, and that's not the case. But let's not let that whole issue right now get in the way of what I want to share with you about this. You see, praise is not just what we do when we gather here on Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings. How many of you know that's true? In fact, if all you do is praise the Lord for this 45 minutes when you're here and 45 minutes on Sunday, you are terribly undernourished in the good things of God. In fact, what this should be is the overflow of how good it's been in your life during the week. And you see, Palm Sunday is an illustration of how when people carry the Lord on their praise, He invades their circumstance and changes it. When He showed up in the temple, what did He do? Well, He got some things in order, didn't He? He turned the table over, He threw this out, and then He healed and restored and gently ministered. Church, listen to me. If we'll get serious about coming before the Lord and obeying His voice and praising Him, I want you to know something. God will set some things in order. He'll say to some of the habits that you have or some of the problems, just this morning, I'll tell you, here's a fresh illustration. I got up early this morning, and I had been in, done a couple things the day before, and the Lord said, Son, that's the last day you're going to do that. Whew! When the Lord said, that's the last day you're going to do that, you know, you listen. I was worshiping, and I began to see how next to Him what I was doing was just unacceptable. And so He overturned one of my tables just this morning, folks. And just like this name tag, I'm saying, okay, Lord, I'm going to do it, but help me. Help me do it. You help me do it. People that I'm accountable, help me do it. Come on. Wake up. There we go. You see, praise just isn't something we do when we're here. Praise is something we do as a lifestyle, a way of living. I want you to just think on this illustration. When you don't think you can make it, praise is what ignites your faith to get you over the hilltop. Have you ever gone to a restaurant like I did just a couple of months ago, took some people out, thought I had ample cash, walked up to the register and realized that my dear wife had been busy cleaning my wallet. And, you know, I'd already played Mr. Big Shot. I'll buy for everybody. I'm up there. Has that ever happened to anybody, okay? And how many times, you know, I've heard it. Just at that moment, my second thought was, relax. This is just good PR. You have MasterCard. And lo and behold, she didn't take that out of my wallet, praise God. And I said, well, we'll just put it on the MasterCard. Now, this could be so tacky that you're going to say, forget it. I'm not even going to listen to it. But, in effect, your praise is God's MasterCard to pay for that which you just can't get through on your own. You see, when you're facing the obstacle, when you're facing the illness, the financial setback, the broken relationship, the lack of direction, and you don't know how to get there, if you begin to praise God, it's as though you draw on a resource that's beyond your own. It's like you present the devil, wait a minute, I am going to pay, and here's the card. It's the MasterCard. And I've experienced more than once when my resources weren't enough to obey God, I began to praise. I began to lift him up. In church, God never fails. Praise, I've never met a defeated praiser. I've never met a person who praises God regularly who's gone down this chute. And we read here today, God is looking for a church, and I have to say, of all the churches that I can think of, we ought to be the ones that lead the procession over this city, bearing the King of Kings on our praises and establishing his authority in this city. I want to see the whole city stirred to say, who is this? It's Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's the answer to the poverty problem. He's the answer to the drug and alcohol problem. He's the answer to the oppression that holds people in socioeconomic boxes in our city. He's the answer to every need. And he is born in on the praises of a people who see that he has a need for you. He's given his word for you to obey, and he calls you to personally praise him along the way. One last thing. You see, Jesus did not come into Jerusalem and set up a throne. How many of you know, it was just a few days later, that his grand entry, his wonderful, celebrative, triumphal entry, ended with him on the cross. What I need you to hear today as we conclude, is that God's way, God's way for each of us, may not begin with the celebration and the great victory shouts. It may begin by the way of the cross. And then it becomes God. For the Bible says, when we obey him, in Philippians 2, 9 through 11 it says, He was obedient to the death, even to death on the cross. So much so, that the Father then exalted him and gave him the name that was above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess. This week, Wednesday night, as we present a very powerful brief drama, and I have a word to minister. This week on Wednesday night and then on Thursday, as we have a day of corporate fasting together. This week as we meet on Friday morning at 6 a.m. to commune together with the Lord. I want you to know, we're going to come to the cross, so that we can arise together on Easter Sunday and celebrate the resurrection life. Celebrate the kingship of Jesus. And bring into our life the authority of God to answer every need. I can't wait for that to happen. I think it's going to be a marvelous week of God setting things in order. Are you ready for it? Let's stand and pray together. Thank you, Father. Lord, I praise you right now for what you would want to do in this body of believers, as we bear you in, as we bear you up on our praise and on our worship today. Lord, I thank you right now for the power that's in your name. I thank you, Jesus, that you are not outside the temple, but you've come inside. The kingdom of God is here in our midst. And I bless you for what you are purposing to do in this church, as we praise you and bear you along in our way.