Sermon for
March 20, 2005
Palm Sunday
“He Comes to Win”
Mt. 21:1-11
Is there such a thing as a “good
loss?? There has been some discussion about this in the sports world
leading up to the NCAA basketball tournament (called “March Madness).
Is it ever good for an undefeated team to suffer a loss in the final days
of the regular season to somehow prepare them for the grueling tournament
ahead?
Every athlete I know wants to win.
Make no mistake about it. When God comes, God comes to win.
People of God want God to come. And we want God to come to win.
Creation is so full of conflict, power struggles, war, turmoil, hunger,
and injustice, don’t we just want God to win for a change? In our
own homes we experience too much conflict, disagreement, suffering, and
pain for us to desire anything else other than for God to come and for God
to win. That is the deep longing of the people of God.
As the crowd began to
hear that Jesus of Nazareth was about to enter Jerusalem and they gathered
along the way with their cloaks and palm branches in hand they were
preparing as if to finally greet a great conqueror. Reminiscent of
the triumphant entry into the defeated city by great conquerors of the
past, they perhaps were expecting the sight of him upon a great white
stallion. Alexander the Great was known to enter the conquered
capital city in just that way in order to institute his authority and
establish allegiance among the populace. No more powerful message of
final defeat could be delivered than for the great conquering king to
enter so triumphantly into the city with the defeated and beaten host army
following behind him in chains. But the Jewish people’s yearning
for deliverance far exceeded their political aspirations. They
longed to be saved from a world, like ours, too long held hostage by
forces that deny the rule of God in creation.
And so they cry out to
the Son of David, the heir to the throne of the people of God, the
promised king, the long-anticipated Messiah, “Hosanna! Save us.”
In Jesus they see the hope of the final triumphant victory of God over all
of the enemies of the people of God. Wouldn’t it be great?
All the enemies of God finally defeated! Justice done! All
oppressive regimes, every hardened criminal, all terrorism, every conflict
ended! Evil conquered Yes, they long for God’s victory of their
enemies. They want God to come. And they want God to win.
And so do we
But isn’t it
interesting how we people of God, in our sincere desire for justice, are
so sure that we are always on God’s side, as if we’ve always been
good, that there is no place in our lives where God could contend with us?
We so easily forget, it seems, that the Scripture says, “All have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.” If God came to destroy all
God’s enemies, would there be anybody left?
Jesus comes—the Son
of David; the heir to the throne of the people of God; the promised king;
the long-anticipated Messiah—he comes, not triumphant on a white
stallion but “humble, and mounted on a donkey.” Jesus comes, but
does not take up a sword; he comes to take up a cross.
Make no mistake about
it. When God comes, God comes to win. This Messiah does not
come to overturn and defeat and destroy in the ways of war. This
Messiah comes to win you over in the ways of peace. His deliverance
is not found in the violent overthrow of all God’s enemies,
destruction that we ourselves on our own merits could certainly never
avoid. His deliverance comes through his own suffering on our behalf
as he takes upon himself all the power of the enemy even to death.
His triumph over death by his resurrection brings the ultimate
victory we all so long for.
A small child, upon
learning of the way they treated Jesus during this Holy Week, cried out,
“Why didn’t Jesus pick up the cross and hit them over the head with
it?” Indeed, the Scripture said he could have unleashed 10,000
angels to deliver him from that fate. But if he came to destroy, all
of God’s disobedient creation would vanish.
When God comes, God
comes to win. When our Lord enters Jerusalem to secure the final
victory over evil and death, he does so not upon a valiant steed by the
sword, but humbly, on a donkey, by a cross.
Is there ever such a
thing as a “good loss?” If a loss is ever good, the Gospel of
Jesus Christ proclaims what looks every bit like a loss has become the
greatest win ever. He comes to win. He has won us. And
he continues in his winsome way to draw us back again and again. In
this way we also can win others to him.
